Tre's skin...

Pick up your jaw, this is an actual current post, not a catch up!

Remember "Strep Boy?" Even with the blood work that was done at the time, I'm pretty sure (after a visit to the dermatologist this morning) that our diagnosis was wrong.

In July, he broke out with these blistery things on his legs. There is still evidence of them. We thought maybe they were bites. We were at my parents and there was all sorts of things for him to get into. So recently, he broke out again. He had no symptoms, just these water blisters on his foot. I was just keeping an eye on them and mentioned them to the dermatologist this morning when we went to follow up on his excema. It's apparently a really common childhood virus: molluscum contagiosum. I elected not to treat it unless it starts to bother him or spreads.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/molluscum/index.htm

7/4, Travel Day, Must Cache along the way.

When we originally logged this cache (taking a picture with the GPS & Snoopy), PrincessFlower didn't have her own account yet. How could we not stop in the pass this time through. Being as Angelo has the memory of an elephant, he remembered where it was. I, on the other hand, have had 3 children and lack the capacity to remember such things.

I never knew this was here. This is in Cheney, home of Eastern Washington University. It's a monument for The Battle of Four Lakes. Apparently, caching can be educational. ;)

7/4, morning, Little Farmer Fiats

We've talked about the people that make Tery's house so great. Well, we haven't talked about the 4 legged varieties. Meet, The Boys. There are 6 of them, yummy, Angus cows.

Farmer G was pretty sure they needed more food. Seriously, look at how low the hay is in the feeding trough! ;) She was dedicated and took her job seriously. Even at one point trying to hide the grain with hay so they'd have a surprise at the end of their meal. Uhm, cows aren't that smart.

Thankfully, Tery guided Ali. Otherwise, I'm not sure where the grain mixture would have gone. My mind just won't commit to thinking like a 2 year old this morning. She was however quite tickled to be wearing her patriotic doggy shirt and new skort.

Again, my little farmer, intent on his job. He didn't much care for all the flies that hung around the cows.

Homework Procrastination

I have homework. It's for a class I'm taking in the evenings this week. I know I should be working on it. I'm kind of blocked. I need to do a question tree & a lesson/session plan. The question tree example was for a teenager and Friday night. Total conversation in Leave it to Beaver world. I hate to admit, I laughed. Definately not a typical conversation I'd expect between a teen and their parent.

So, here I sit, blogging.

Tre brought his GeoTrax airport over a few feet from my desk and is practicing landing. I'd really appreciate a volume switch on it about now. Weekend before last, we did a major re-org of the kids' rooms. They've found toys they forget they had. Nice.

"Lookit Mommy! The plane's flying backwards."

On that note, I have my last Idaho post to do (editing the pics down first). Then, homework, then work. My day is about to be nonstop until about 9 this evening.

7/3, again, Splash pad with Jennifer & Tami

Angelo went hiking at Tablerock. He was really sweaty when I picked him up after 5+ hours in the heat. Gave me plenty of time to catch up with my friends and their kids- hence 2 playdates in one afternoon. Poor Devin came along with the thought that Angelo would be there too. It was nice to have an extra parent there, especially when it came to the time for a picture with all the mommies.

When we moved, Settlers wasn't quite done. The play structure was, but the splash pad and sound garden weren't. Way cool!

Tami had the great idea to meet here. Jenn had the awesome umbrella- seriously huge & rainbow colored. Perfect for a park young enough not to have much shade yet.

These buckets took what seemed like forever to fill. So they'd stand and wait, and wait some more. Then, they'd give up, go to the other side & come back to get splashed on. :)







But when they did come down, lots 'o water.


In this next one is Jennifer's daughter, Alex. She and G are pretty close to the same age (Jenn & I met on a pregnancy & parenting board).

Here's the herd. Jenn's girls, the two beautiful blondes on the left. Tami brought an extra, hence the little guy in the middle. He is her nephew. Mason and Jackson have grown a ton! But, I didn't see them last year, so this is 2 years of growth. Her newest addition is Olivia. Adorable! Not quite 2 yet in this picture. Devin and I were both taking pictures at the same time (hence some of them are looking to my right).

Another 7/3, Piglets & Puplets Reunion

Ok, so maybe I'm a little beside myself to have yet another out of order post. Uhm, yeah....I'm just not gonna go there with any lame excuses.

To answer what might be your first question- Piglets & Puplets stems from nicknames that came about when the daddies (long before children) met while playing an online strategy game.

Leave it to them to have the coolest backyard entertainment. What the kids are sliding on is a huge inflatable slide/wading pool. It was later in the evening (after dinner), the water was cold & the giggles were much. Also, not surprising, nobody really wanted to be done- blue lips be darned.

We all know how good Tre is at immediately honing into something potentially obnoxious to torment his sister. Remember how I said the water was cold? Yeah. The water pressure was enough that when it sprays say, into an ear, it's painful. So, we banished the playing with the sprayers idea.

Van & G again. They picked up like we'd never moved. It seems not that far off from when I held Van while pregnant with G (with her kicking up a storm any time I'd hold him).
Here's the crew, minus one sleeping Meg. Meg & Ben had quite the time when they were supposed to be napping earlier in the day. Meg finally went to sleep shortly before we got there and slept the whole time- regardless of how much noise the kids made. For the record, Ali, "was NOT tired." I know, real believable by those eyes. She was just sure the beach towel was a blanket and nobody was going to take it away from her. With how much they are all growing, I don't know that we'll be able to take our annual picture on the coach again next year. ;)

7/3, Fireworks!

I don't think I've mentioned, we stayed with some of our favorite people in Idaho. :) Carissa was Giuliana's first babysitter. Tery has been an awesome mentor and friend to me. Jerry, well, he's wise beyond words. Then, there's J.T., the very patient teenager that put up with Giuliana calling him T.T. for years and asking him questions like "T.T., do you wear panties?" (Seriously, when she was 2 and potty training, she was fascinated with anyone who wore underwear.)

On our last night there, they treated us to fireworks.

I'm pretty sure J.T. could have a career in pyro if he wanted. Again, ever patient, he showed the kids the fireworks. Tery, stop laughing, he was extremely patient with the kids. ;) I know, he's a teenager. ;)

Giuliana, like Ali is also fond of Carissa. She ofcourse got spoiled. She got to sit in Carissa's room with her while she played the piano- and I'm pretty sure she got to test the keys herself.
Jerry ofcourse showing them everything too. Thankfully, they were content with him showing them how the chair works and haven't (knock on wood) just grabbed the joystick.
I do believe we have an adrenaline junkie in the making. Ali loves fireworks, complete with the loud noises. The bigs tend to cover their ears, while she claps "YEAH FIREWORKS!"
Tery loves it when I go nuts with the camera, really, I'm just sure of it. ;)

7/2 REAL Pizza, aka I love Guido's!

Ok, yeah, I know this is out of order.

I can deal. Meet a Guido's pizza. New York style, totally yummy & yes, huge. This one was a white pizza- olive oil, sundried tomatoes, basil & cheese. It didn't last long. A visit to Guido's is a must any time we make the trek back.

Ali really would have liked to bring her "Kissa" (Carissa to the rest of us) home with her. Today is August 18 and two year old Ali is still talking about Kissa.

Van & G, forever buddies. Totally digging on Van's hat. ;)

After Meggie Moo slept through the dinner we had the following night, I had to include this pic of the twins. IMHO, she's a total mini of her Mama. Tre did his best "not fake" smile.