Fall is Here...Whether I Like it or Not

I have said it before; I love summer. It's my favorite season. I love the heat and the sun. I love swimming and cookouts, and eating outside. I would rather wear tank tops and flip flops than a big, thick sweater and Uggs. And I am very sorry to see another summer end.

But.....I also love fall. It's not my favorite, but I do love it. And what better way to kick start the fall than by going to Patterson's Fruit Farm to pick apples. Last Friday, my nieces, Paige and Chloe had the day off from school for a staff day. Taylor and Shea did not have the day off so they couldn't come. (I tried to keep the outing a secret, but they found out and were a little miffed that they had to spend the day in school.) The little kids and I met Penny and the girls and my parents at Patterson's and picked some apples and then went to the Holden Arboretum for a picnic.

I permitted Nicholas and Isabella to eat one apple each while we were picking, and I made sure that they were small ones.

Even my Dad's youngest and most favorite daughter, Abby came with us. (She's the one in Black)

Penny found a Wooly Bear and it crawled all over Nicholas' arm. He thought it was cool, but was a little leery when it started to get higher up his arm. Isabella kept a far distance.

Wireless Router Working Again....And I have 10 minutes to Myself

Sorry for the delay in posts. Our wireless router decided to reset itself and not work on any computers in our house. My options were to sneak up to Shea's room and sit at the computer while Isabella and Nicholas reeked utter chaos downstairs alone, or ignore my blog for a while. After an hour long chat session with a woman from Linksys, I got the router back up and running. So here I am on the laptop in the kitchen where I can see all the goings on in the house.

Here are some pictures from my mother-in-law's birthday that we celebrated on the 12th. Unfortunately, Nicholas and Isabella were both getting over colds, and Nick got his while we were there, and felt terrible towards the end of the evening. My mother-in-law says that her sore throat the next day was not from our family, but I am pretty sure we infected her with our sickness. Happy Birthday - Here's some pneumococcal just for you! Next time we are not taking any chances!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Poison Control - Member's Club

I seem to be becoming a regular customer of the Poison Control Center. In the last year, I have had to make that call 4 times. So far, Isabella and Nicholas are even with 2 and 2. I never once called poison control with Taylor or Shea. What gives with these little ones? It must be because they are Nick's kids. (Just kidding darling).

The first time was last summer when Isabella ate a packet of flower food. That was the day when I called 911 to get poison control's number, and the overzealous dispatcher called every fire truck, sheriff and ambulance to our house. It was a very exciting day at the homestead.

The second time was a few months ago when Nicholas found a tube of hand cream in my diaper bag and figured out how to open the top. By the time I realized how quiet he had become, he had a glob of hand cream coming out of his mouth. I read the tube and it said "Keep out of reach of children". I scooped most of it out of his mouth, but I had no idea how much he had swallowed. The nurse told me that because the hand cream had all natural ingredients, he would be fine.

The third call was about a month ago. Nicholas likes to stand on his tippy-toes and reach his hand above his head into my bathroom drawer to look for treasures. This particular day, he found my face cream and unscrewed the top and was eating the lotion off the pump. I quickly checked the ingredients, and was not so lucky with the "au natural". It had Alpha Hydroxy in it and said if ingested, seek medical attention. Poison control said that it's not so much the ingredients but that the lotion is so thick, that they worry about gagging and choking. I was pretty sure that I had removed most of the lotion from his mouth with my hand, so we seemed to be ok once again! My bathroom counter is a mess of scattered bottles so that he can't reach any more lotion in my drawers!

The most recent call was Monday. Isabella has a cold with a cough. Last winter, she had a bad cough, and the pediatrician's office told me I could give her Triaminic. The bottle had expired, so I bought another one, and gave her a dose before her nap so that she wouldn't be up coughing. Out of curiosity, I read the back of the bottle about an hour after I put her down for a nap, and it said "Do not give to children under 4". I was instructed to wake her up from her nap to make sure that she was able to be aroused. It worked, thank god. The nurse said the American Academy of Pediatrics keeps changing the age for when it is safe to give children cold medicines. So, 6 months ago, it was perfectly fine, because the age was 2 and up. But now it is not safe because it is 4 and up. I thought I had poisoned my own child with cold medicine, and then sent her off to a comatose sleep. But 6 months ago, it was perfectly acceptable to give her cough medicine so that she could sleep soundly. These doctors are going to make me crazy.

The poison control center always asks for my name, my child's name and our zip code. The next time I call I am going to hear a game show bell - Ding, ding, ding! That crazy guy's voice will come on the line and say, "Let's tell her what she's won! A free visit from social services!" Yay for me!!!

Seven Springs

Let me preface this post by pointing out the blurry right side of every photo. SOMEONE put their grubby fingers on the lens and left smudgy fingerprints on it. I didn't realize it until I downloaded the pictures onto the computer! So please disregard the blurriness!

We went to Seven Springs, PA on Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend with my parents and sister's family to stay at their condo. On Sunday we stayed at the resort and rode the Alpine Slides a couple times. This was the very first activity that that all six of us have been able to do together. Usually, the event is either to small for the little kids or to little for the big kids. We rode the chair lift up the mountain, which was a little scary with "never-sit-still-Nicholas". I of course, made Nick hold him, because I was too afraid he would slip through my death-like grip. He did fine, because I think even he was a little nervous when he looked 50 feet down and realized the only thing keeping him up there was a measly metal bar. He hung on the Nick just a closely as Nick hung on to him. On the actual slide, you can go as fast or as slow as you like, but leave it to my husband to race to the bottom with our precious 18 month old on his lap. Fortunately Nicholas loved it. My mom had 2 people behind her probably cursing her the whole way because she rode the break all the way down the mountain. I'd like to think I fell somewhere in the middle. No one was squawking at me, but I wasn't breaking any records either.

We ate dinner at the condo, and then we took the big kids to a bonfire and fireworks show that night. Nick and my mom stayed behind with the little kids.

On Monday we drove to a town called Ohiopyle. There was a river where people could kayak or white water raft. They had a long bike trail that ran the length of an old railroad. It was a really cute little town, and the scenery was really pretty.

Poor Taylor was left with the task of keeping Nicholas from falling into the jagged rocky waterfall.

First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Isabella's first day of school. It was a shortened day for 1 1/2 hours and the parents stayed for the whole day. She loved playing with the toys and met a friend who is just as shy as she is. Monday is her first day alone. She should do okay, but I am a little nervous. Getting Nicholas to leave the room filled with children and every toy imaginable is going to be another story. He will have his mother all to himself for 2 whole hours!

Guess Who's 15 1/2 Today!!

We have 6 short months to turn this kid into a responsible, confident driver.

God help us.