Cape Preview

Ok, very delinquent in adding pictures from Cape Cod, but here are a couple to start with. We went to the beach one day. Brrrrrrrrr. Here are the scenery shots.

As you decide on the issue of healthcare...

http://www.freemarketcure.com/brainsurgery.php

I urge you all to watch this video. The candidates who are supportive of a single payor healthcare plan, like the one in Canada, I hope will seriously consider the downside of this type of plan. That downside is clearly demonstrated here.

National healthcare is great for everyone, until you need it...

Baby's First Concussion??

So...the kids went out sledding today. And Julia and her friend S. and her sister N. went also. (Mom who is an OB/GYN was thrilled to have an afternoon to herself!) The girls had many successful runs down the school hill. Then, in a run where Julia and S. were on the tube together, they suddenly veered. Neil, who was at the top of the hill, could only watch in horror as they headed right towards the baseball backstop (metal posts and all). They spun, went backwards and THWAK. Julia's head connects square on with a metal post. Neil said the sound itself was horrifying.

My first instinct was to panic and call the doctor's office. However, she didn't lose consciousness, wasn't dizzy or nauseous, no blood. Just an ENORMOUS goose egg on the back of her head. She let me hold ice on it for an hour, swelling went way down, and has been acting fine all day.

Once again, the tough-as-nails Hartzog head to the rescue!! I'll try to get a picture of her tomorrow as she has a really nice scrape on her cheek too. Our rough and tumble little girl!!

Julia Update

So, Julia got sent home mid-day again today b/c of her coughing. We coincidentally had an appt. with her asthma doctor (whom I love and adore, but we literally both have to be there b/c he talks so fast we have to piece it all together later) this afternoon.

So, he thinks she has a sinus infection which is keeping her coough alive. So, antibiotics. Then he wants her back on the Orapred (prednisone, steroids) for the cough. The good news is we get to take her off the nebulizer, b/c now she's old enough for inhalers. Yeah!! So, two new inhalers.

And, not to be left out, Devin got a new nasal spray and a pep talk from Dr. G. on how "Mom is ALWAYS right, so do whatever she tells you and you'll feel better." He must have gotten my check...

So, she's still coughing her brains out tonight, but I'm hoping the antibiotics may be the missing link from this week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Look what I made!!

Ok, tooting my own horn a bit. Check out the sweater I made for Julia! I made a hunter green one (same pattern) for Devin too. Isn't she cute in it??

Those of you who know knitting will be kind enough not to notice the color graduations don't match on the sleeves...

Ascutney

The boys had their annual ski trip to Ascutney this past weekend. From all accounts they had a GREAT time. Devin started off a little rusty and wasn't sure he wanted to stick with it, but he rallied and had a great time. By the end of the weekend he asked Neil to take him up the "big" mountain and then tried to race him down. Ah, boys.

Apparently he does much better without ski poles. Makes me laugh to think what I'd look like without them!! No bones were broken, and everyone had a ball.

Once I learn how to do my video editing on my computer I'll try to upload a skiing clip!

Julia's Got a Whole New Look

Ever play that game "Where's Waldo?" Well, see if you can look at the picture and see what's missing...that's right! Julia's first baby tooth fell out last Saturday. Poor thing was so sick that day she barely cared. I had to remind her the next day to check and see if the tooth fairy had come.

We think we might have thrown the TF off a little b/c Julia slept with me that night (the boys were away skiing, see next post) and we wondered if the TF would know to come into our room to look for it. Well aren't we silly, of course the Tooth Fairy knew just where to look! Julia got $1 for her first tooth. Inflation rocks!

First Prize Winner

I'm very behind on my blogging this week as Julia has been home intermittently with what everyone seems to think sounds like pnemonia without a fever. But a trip to her asthma doctor this afternoon should help us figure out how to get her better!

One VERY exciting thing that happened to Devin a couple of weeks ago was when he won FIRST PLACE of all the Bears (3rd grade Cub Scouts from 2 elementary schools) for his submission to the Genius Bag competition. What it is is that all the Cub Scouts get a ball full of donated items. Mostly smallish things like paper plates, paper clips, rubber bands, chop sticks etc. Then they have to come up with an idea and build it. All the entries are put up in the room (without names attached to bias the judges) and the 2 judges (this year the principals of the 2 schools) decide which one they think is the best idea and execution.

Well, Devin has had some great ideas in the past, and has made some cool stuff. But this year he had a great idea of building a carnival. So he had a "hit the bell", a ferris wheel, a merry go round, a wheel of fortune, a dunk tank, all the things you'd want at a rocking carnival.

Well, hats off to our young genius, congratulations Devin!!

Superbowl Sunday

Finally downloaded my pix from Superbowl Sunday. Got invited to a party at friends of ours from Cub Scouts, The Ehrlich's house. Their oldest son and Devin are always thick as theives at camping events, as are the Dad's! They put on a spread... to call it a feast would be downplaying. It was like Thanksgiving dinner! There were lots of fun adults, lots of kids for the kids to play with, we all had a great time.

Here are a few photos. A couple of the kids playing touch football in the family room (check out the defensive line"person" with red nail polish). One of Julia helping Neil choose boxes for the "statistics game" we were playing on the white board (don't ask, don't tell). Lastly when we rushed to get home before the 3rd quarter got too far under way I got this photo of the boys trying to hitch a ride. All I was doing was pulling the van away from the snow bank so they could get in, but they must have thought we were leaving without them. After looking at those gams, we thought about it...I literally stopped the van and got out with my camera b/c it was too funny a moment to pass up.

Sadly, even in the Pats defeat we still look back at Superbowl Sunday 2008 with great memories in tow.

More Orange Belt Photos

Here are a few additions to the story below...

Orange Belts!!

The kids did a bang up job on their orange belt karate tests this past Saturday. Apart from all the hard work they did just to get here, there were a few other challenges they set for themselves.

Besides the physical tasks they need to perform there are many questions that they are asked. At their level, answering the questions is typically voluntary, but as they continue they will be asked and required to answer without volunteering.

Master Gray, who conducted the graduation, told everyone he knew this wasn't an easy thing to do, even for grown-ups. There were 42 kids graduating plus all their family members in one room, so the place was PACKED. Julia is consistently one of the first ones with her hand up. So, it's not at all unusual to see her get called on once, sometimes twice. She's still one of the youngest and smallest kids in this group so she's pretty noticable. One thing we noticed this time around was that Master Gray knows her on a first name basis! Pretty impressive since he only sees them, at most, every 2 months.

Devin, rarely puts his hand up. Not because he doesn't know the answers, but it's something that's much harder for him to do (I know where THAT comes from). One of my proudest moments was seeing Devin with his hand up, not just once but several times. He even was called on and did a smashing job. As proud as we were though, I think he was even prouder of himself, which is fantastic.

Another of my favorite moments from the day was seeing Julia with the world at her command. She strove to have the lowest horse stance, the highest jumps and the loudest "ki-yah"s. (Not sure where any of this competitiveness comes from...hee hee).

At the end of the graduation, before the belts were handed out, the kids who have committed to go on and work towards their black belts and become leaders get their "Leadership" uniforms and equipment. Our kids have made this committment and they now have black uniforms with their names on them. They also get this HUGE bag of stuff. When Master Gray called Julia up and handed her the bag (which is literally almost as big as she is) you could see him laugh to himself as he realized there was no way she's be able to carry this back through the crowded dojo. So he, very nicely, carried it for her. BUT, if you know Julia this was just another moment where she was the rock star and was loving the feeling of having "staff" at her disposal. I think the photo says it all. If you look closely you can see how she's carrying her body that says, "Yes, this way please..." HYSTERICAL. Master Gray is a VERY nice man but he's also larger than life to these kids as a 5th degree black belt and is a very commanding presence. So, to see Julia leading the way was just too much.

We love seeing them working so hard, and loving karate. Master Gray said something about how much these kids have grown, not just physically, but in their karate since he saw them last. And I started to think about that and realized how true it was.

The kids were just thrilled that they had so many people there supporting them too! Mima and Stipa, Auntie Heather, Grandma and Oompa came to cheer them on (despite the numb feet we all got sitting on the dojo floor!). It was a great day!