Dentist

Anais had her first dentist appointment and has 3 (!) cavities. We made the mistake of letting her take a sippy cup with 1/2 juice + 1/2 water to bed with her each night. On top of that she has an overbite thanks to her long-term pacifier use - yet another thing she takes to bed with her! Oh the guilt I feel as her parent!!! Fortunately, she had the 1st side done and came through as a very good and non-traumatized patiant. She has her 2nd appointment on Monday. Wish us luck!

Sybil has a party!

Ellen had her 5th birthday party today. When starting to prepare for the party a couple weeks ago, she was very particular about an "Under the Sea" theme. So we sent out the thematic invites, I ordered the requisite favors and crafts from Oriental Trading and Jenny helped Ellen decorate the basement, painting large Ariel and Prince Eric pictures and plastering them all over the walls. We even had "Ariel's Secret Grotto" behind a curtain with the ball pool and her Ariel slip 'n slide set up outside. And I bought her a rather expensive Ariel costume from the Disney Store to wear. Needless to say a 5 year old has an ever changing mind, much to the frustration of her 39 year old mother with "control issues". By the afternoon of the party, she had a fairy t-shirt on, Tinkerbell tattoos in the goody-bags, and a Wall-E cake (???!!!). My dear friend Al would have had a heart attack but I think everyone had a good time despite the inconsistent theme :-)

Nicolas in the hospital

Nicolas spent 2 long days in the hospital with low oxygen levels in his blood thanks to his asthma. He was admitted primarily for observation and has now started pulmicort via a nebulizer for long-term control of his symptoms. Hopefully this will keep him healthy for a while. This last weekend was the 3rd trip to the ER in less then a month! We are very happy he is now home and breathing easier.

Gail visits

My good friend, Gail, from the Blue Devils was able to spend a night with us between drum corps shows. It was the first time she'd met 3 out of the 4 kids and was able to "enjoy" our family. Luckily she has granddaughters Ellen and Anais's age so could sympathize :-) Anais warmed to her quickly and is still asking about her. Thanks for your help and I'm sorry we weren't able to spend as much time together as I would have liked.

Aunt Jodi

Jodi, my best friend since forever, came for about a week to visit. It was nice to have her here. She was going to join me to do an adventure race that I've been training for but it was canceled due to a thunderstorm. We did get a chance to go on a long run - by my standards - and enjoy some time together. Thanks for all your help, Jodi!!! We miss you!

Behind the wheel

The boys have discovered the "auto" cart at the grocery store. They love the ride and get lots of oohs and ahhs from passing shoppers.

At the beach

With Jodi in town and Jenny here to help, I took a much needed day off work and we went to the beach. Nicolas was a bit fussy and sat in my lap most of the day. Anais wasn't much interested in the water and decided to take a nap in the tent. Ellen spent most of the day in the water with Jenny and Barbie practicing for her role as Little Mermaid this Halloween. Dylan managed to injest many sand coated snacks and enjoyed playing in the sand with Anais. With a stop at DQ on the way home, it was a very nice summer day spent with family and best friend.