Sick days and snow days

We've had a wild week at the Pauley household.  (How many times have I started a blog post with that sentence?)  Last Wednesday as I was getting ready to head to Laramie for a presentation, I had a call from the school nurse.  Reina had a sore throat and wanted to come home. I zipped over to pick her up, took her home, went to Laramie, gave my presentation and drove home in the snow.  Glenn was keeping an eye on her.  She didn't have a fever so I thought maybe she was just having an off day.  About 10:30 pm, she barfed.  I thought "well maybe it's just the pain medicine I gave her that upset her stomach."  And then she barfed again and again and again until 8:00 a.m.  She's usually very stoic about being sick but this one hit her hard.  I would doze off only to be woken up by "MOM I NEED YOU I BARFED" many times. I should clarify, I'm happy to be there for her and I know these days won't last forever but boy did we both need some sleep when morning came.  Long story short, she had all of the symptoms of influenza or strep but she'd just had the flu shot and the strep test was negative and she slowly started to feel better.  So far, no one else in the house has caught it and we are hoping it stays that way. 

The day after Reina came home sick, Glenn had to endure one of those events that happens when you turn 50.  The big colonoscopy. I think it's safe to say that the days leading up to the test were harder on him than the actual procedure.  As someone who likes multiple fruits and veggies every day, being on a low fiber diet was tough.  The last 24-hours when he could only drink clear broth were even more brutal.  I knew he was hungry when he picked giant burgers for dinner the night after his colonoscopy.  He's happy to report that all of the tests came back normal and his dr (supposedly) told him that Glenn had the cleanest, most magnificent colon he'd ever seen. 

Yesterday, the weather took a turn and we started to get quite a bit of snow.  As I was driving home from work, I had a call from the school - this time with the automated news that classes were canceled for today.  There was much rejoicing from the younger members of the household who know get a 6-day break for Thanksgiving.  Just when I was wondering how I would juggle my work day and their extra day off, I received a text saying that State Offices were also closed.  I didn't necessary 'rejoice' but I was happy to not burn a vacation day.  Glenn was already sleep so he didn't find out the exciting news until 6 a.m. 

We had a fun snow day.  Glenn and I did some extra chores.  Reina played with a girl next door.  Will ventured outside for some fun in the snow and we all watched a movie.  It was a nice relaxing way to kick off this fun week. 

We built a Lego gingerbread house for Christmas decorations this year.  I mostly put it together but Will helped with the tricky parts.  At one point, I couldn't figure out where a piece was supposed to go and Will took a look at it and told me in a serious voice, "wow Mom, these really are big boy Legos." 

The snow out our front door this morning.  

The dogs' idea of a perfect snow day

Soxy's too 

Out big kid laying face down in a snow drift.  He wanted to jump off of that shed but Glenn put the kibosh on that before I even heard of the plans.  Phew.  

Tidbits

Reina has an imaginary friend named Lucy.  Lucy is married to a guy named Lightning Glenn and they have two kids, Sheba and Sloppy.  I can only assume that Lucy is fabulously glamorous, showers her children with presents and has a house full of cats.

Reina's birthday is a few weeks away and we are in the midst of party planning.  This year's theme is not Frozen or Elsa's Castle or any of those predictable topics.  Nope, Reina wants to have a Cleopatra party.  I'm not really sure where that idea came from, she's definitely not been watching old Elizabeth Taylor movies.  She has checked out a few books from the library about Egypt and mummies and she knows Cleopatra was bitten by a snake (I blame Glenn).  So Cleopatra party it will be.  Stay tuned.  Or at least send me your party game ideas that feature ancient Egypt and ruthless rulers.

The kids brought their report cards home last week and it was good news all around.  They are both working hard and while they don't really get grades at this point, we were happy with their scores.  They are learning so much this year - it's fun to see the progress.  Will is adding and subtracting columns of numbers and starting to learn some multiplication.  He's reading like a champ.  This week he brought home "I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake" and "I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg."  I think my dreams of reading Little House on the Prairie might have to wait until Reina's ready.  Reina is reading!  It feels like it happened overnight - she went from being too nervous to sound stuff out to reading "Hop on Pop" and "The Foot Book" with confidence.  Watch out world, she can read.

A quote from Reina's teacher, "Reina is mature for her age and has excellent communication skills. I can always depend on Reina to be an active participant in whole group discussion." 

From Will's, "Will, you are such a good friend to everyone in our class.  No matter what, you always seem to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.  This is such a nice attribute for a young man to have." 

I think so too, kiddo.

Basketball - Reina Edition

How Reina feels about basketball can be summed up in one facial expression:   

For the record, I gave her the option to play this year and when it was time to sign up, she said "yes please!"  So I signed her up.  The kid is fast and she has good hand/eye coordination.  However, she doesn't like touching the ball, having the ball touch her, be jostled by other players and most of all, getting hit in the face by either the ball or the players.  With that said, she willingly goes to practice and listens to the coach and runs up and down the court.  

Standing in line during warm-ups.  Soooo boring. 

Hey look, she's touching the ball!  Of her own free will! 

Hey look, she's holding the ball! 

Her first game was Friday night.  She's one of two girls on her team and while the players are dressed like basketball players, there's a basketball involved and even a referee, there are baskets at each end of the court, and there's a whistle every now and then, any resemblance to actual basketball ends there.  It is chaos.  Adorable chaos, but chaos nonetheless.  At any moment, there's at least one kid crying, someone else is dribbling towards the wrong basket, several kids are piled on each other trying to get the basketball and parents and coaches are shouting out suggestions.  I'd planned on taking a bunch of in-game photos but frankly I was giggling too much and I also volunteered to sit on the bench with the players who were taking a break in the hopes of keeping them actually involved in the game.   We usually ended up talking about movies and speculating about the snacks after the game but at least I kept them on the bench.  The next game is Friday night and I can't wait! 

Basketball

The football season might have come to a screeching halt tonight but hey, we still have basketball!  Yesterday we piled into the car for a quick trip to Laramie and a Cowboy's basketball game.  A great time was had by all, mostly because the Cowboys won but also because the kiddos are finally old enough to enjoy the game.  Will watched the whole thing, sitting next to me, clutching his giant foam finger.  Reina cheered and clapped at the appropriate times and also entertained herself by dancing, writing in her diary ("Mom, how do you spell 'snowflake'?") and walking up and down the empty rows of seats behind us.  So really, more of us were interested in basketball than last year, but not quite ALL of us, at least all of the time. 

Wyo Girl shaking her pom-pom and the rest of the gang saying cheese.  That's not a stuffed chicken in Glenn's lap, as someone asked on Facebook.  It's Reina's puppy, Belle, who also enjoyed the basketball game.

There's the giant foam finger! 

 Before the game, the kids and I spent way too long at the UW store picking out new Cowboys shirts.  Will outgrew his from last year and Reina was not interested in wearing a brown, boy's shirt out in public.  After looking at every shirt made for kids sizes 6 to 10 (on the big side, but it works), we finally found a few that fit the bill.  Will has just as strong opinions about clothing as his sister. In fact, he's as concerned about color, logo color, logo size and the material used in the construction of the shirt as he is with whether or not it looks like a "girl's" shirt. 

And... it's time for a haircut already. 

The Cowboys are off to a pretty good start and at the risk of jinxing everything I'll just stop raving about them now.  We can't wait for our next game! 

Unleashed

I took my new camera out for a spin yesterday with two wild dogs and kids.  We headed to our favorite dog (and kid) exercise spot nearby.  We had amazing December weather for Wyoming although both kids admitted to being cold by the end of the walk, even though I had provided ample warning.  Mom's always right, blah blah blah.

 

We hadn't been there more than 30 seconds before Will found a stick that made a suitable weapon. 

Will, Reina and Trigger's fanny. 

Someone needs a haircut but we didn't get that far this weekend.  Add it to next weekend's to-do list!

My new camera has a neat feature where I can hold the 'shoot' button down and it will take several pictures in a row in rapid style.  This frame is like 1 of 15 because it took that many times for both dogs to look at me.  This one's going on the Christmas card. 

Action shot.  Trigger and Tootsie hot on the trail of something.  Will and Reina hot on the trail of running away from Mom. 

Look closely and see if you can find T, T & R. 

I'm being followed by a Jedi. 

Brother and sister starting to get a little chilly but no one will admit it.

Reina made it to the top first and I told her, "Your the king of the mountain!"  "Queen, mom. I'm the queen of the mountain."    Naturally.

This picture made my weekend.  Christmas card?  Check! 

I don't think he was trying to wink at me...

I was trying to get all artsy but my framing still needs some work.  Let's call this one, Reina Inside a Snowfence. 

On the way home from church today, violence nearly erupted in the backseat while the kids were talking about potential plot points for the next Frozen movie.  As you can imagine, Reina has strong feelings about it.  Will suggested that Elsa (Reina's favorite character, Halloween costume, and mentor if only Reina had ice powers) probably dies in the movie and that's why it's called "Frozen Forever."  Spitting venom and more anger than I've seen her muster for just about anything else she feels passionately about, Reina suggested that NO SHE DOES NOT BOBO.  I hope Disney is paying attention. 

Monday Report

Picking up the kids from school today and Will asks me what I weigh. I tell him that moms usually don't like to tell people the number and that it's sort of a private thing.  He asks, "Do you weigh a thousand pounds?"  Less than a thousand buddy.  Less than a thousand.

When we arrive home, Reina reports that someone in her class said "boobs" on the playground and kicked someone else twice.  She was more detailed about which part of the body was kicked but since I've already typed "boobs" in this blog today, we'll just leave that little tidbit out of her report. 

Glenn and I drove down to the Broncos game yesterday.  Since all of the grandparents are already south for the winter, the kids spent the day with The Amazing Aunt Vicky and Baby Cousin.  Vicky was quite the trooper to take on both monsters for a pretty long Sunday but they had a great time.  I enjoyed the last 25% of the Broncos game and it ended in a "W" for the home team, so ..... phew.

Big Cousin and Baby Cousin working on a puzzle. 

Butler

A couple of weekends ago, the kids were running around the living room giggling and calling each other "butler."  This continued for a while.  "Hey butler...."  "You're a butler!"  Listening to this, I finally realized that they were calling each other butler because it had the word Butt in it.  During a break from all the giggling, we had the following conversation.

Me:  Do you guys even know what a butler is?

Will and Reina:  (blank stare)  Ummm no.

Me:  Well, in olden times a butler was someone who helped people get dressed, helped them serve their dinner, things like that.

Glenn tried to interject that butlers usually worked for wealthy people in big houses but the wheels were already turning and some people were losing interest in the conversation.

Reina:  (thinking for a minute). So are you a butler?

Just call me Carson.

Random tidbits from September

Here's a collection of mostly goofy and one sweet conversation that I've been wanting to write down. 

First the sweet.  On September 10, I was driving the kids home from school and Will was telling Reina that the next day was a special day.  I asked him if something special was happening at school (thinking ice cream party, etc.,) and he said no.  He said "Well, 11 years ago something really sad happened and some bad guys crashed some planes into a building and a lot of people died."  I was surprised that he knew about 9-11 and came so close to even getting the year right.  Sometimes I dread having to talk about things like that with the kids, but we had a nice conversation about such a sad occasion.  

Okay, so here's the goofy stuff. 

Will brought home a Scholastic book order form and I told both kids they could each pick out three books to order.  Will's were predictably Legos, football and Pete the Cat.   Reina's were a bit more, how shall we say it, eclectic?  We had the regulars:  Barbie Princess Mariposa pink something something, Doc McStuffins saves the day, something involving Jake and Never Land Pirates, Hello Kitty, and then we started to veer off into other places like Bats! (actual title), some cartoon fly who goes into space (huh?), baby animals (naturally), baby animals at night, life size baby animals, another space book, back to Disney with Brave and the gang and then a giant alphabet puzzle to wrap it all up.  I giggled while I was looking through the book order but I realized that is really how her brain works right now.  She loves all of the 'typical girl stuff' and she's usually carrying a purse or a backpack full of pink fluffy things, but she also picks out books about mummies and Egypt when we are at the library and she wants to know about bones and stuff we find outside.  She's a complicated little ball of fire. 

Last week, Reina's class did a taste test with apples and everyone tried a piece and voted on which one they liked best.  While telling me this later that night, she says that she didn't like the green apple but she liked the Rice Krispie one.  Well, I would certainly like a ball of rice krispies shaped as an apple too. I thought maybe she was thinking of red delicious until I asked her teacher about it later in the week - Honey Crisp.  Bingo! 

Her favorite game right now is to sit at our computer and pretend that I'm the boss and she's the worker. I'm supposed to bark out commands like "Get back to work!"  "No more breaks!"  "Don't ask me any questions."  She calls me 'boss' and diligently types away.  It would be a great game except for her constantly bossing me around to be her boss.  "Mom, now you say ....."

Finally, last Sunday I was watching the Broncos game and Will walks in and announces that his new favorite team is the Raiders.  (The Broncos weren't even playing the Raiders that day or I would have kicked him out of the house.  Just kidding.  Sort of.)   The Hansen sense of humor is alive and well in that kid. 

Darth Reina

This picture just about sums up life with Reina right now.  No, she's not the leader of the Dark Side (most of the time).  She's just a little goofball.  She has a wicked sense of humor.  Glenn was traveling for work last week and when he called home on the first night, Reina informed him that we had two new dogs (named Princess and something else that I can't remember) and that Trigger had died.  She's also not a shrinking violet.  She makes her presence known and she's not shy about voicing her thoughts.  While watching baseball on tv with her Pop-pop, he yelled something at one of the players and she let him know that "Pop-pop, he can't hear you."  When I came back from my jog this morning, I took my shoes off and one of my socks was bloody at the top.  My foot didn't hurt and as I was taking my sock off, I told Glenn "I can't figure out where the blood is coming from."  Reina was standing next to me because there's nothing a 4-yr old loves more than looking (or talking) about someone else's booboo and she matter-of-factly told me, "Mom, the blood is coming from your foot."  Like, duh lady.   Besides, the bossy, smartypants thing that she has going on at times, she's also a sweetie.  After diagnosing my foot, she told me that she wanted to come sit with me while I showered in case I needed any help.  Darth Vader certainly wouldn't have done that for anyone. 

Mi Familia, by Reina

Reina loves to draw right now but frankly what 4-yr old doesn't?  She fills sheet after sheet with random squiggles, complicated scenes and unintentional comedy.  Tonight while I cleaned up the kitchen, she produced a complete collection of our family.  Starting with:

 

Her brother Will, or in her words "llWi."  Close enough kiddo. I think she captured his hair perfectly. 

Reina and her mom.  I look so thin.  I've been thinking about cutting my hair shorter, perhaps I should follow Reina's lead? 

This is my favorite and I'm so frustrated that I can't rotate it for full effect.  This is (from top to bottom) Trigger, Tootsie and Daddy.  I love that the dogs look like a squid and octopus respectively.  But Tootsie does have a long tail which accounts for her fifth leg and Trigger, well... his long ears appear squid-like maybe?  And Glenn.  He's the only one who has a nose so that counts for something. 

Well we don't have a pet ladybug but I had to throw this in as a bonus.  I love all the detail and the writing at the top.  Perhaps Mr. Ladybug's name is Hoontitiie?

One year ago today

One year ago today at this time, Glenn was in the ICU, a very sick guy.  I was sitting in his room with my dad and sister and brother-in-law and trying to come to terms with what was happening.  I came home late and tried to get some sleep but I still remember that night so clearly.  I slept with my cell phone in my hand and kept jolting awake thinking it was ringing and it would be the ICU nurses calling and telling me to hurry back to the hospital.  Thankfully, that call never came and when I finally called them in the wee hours of the morning, it was to hear the good news that Glenn was no worse, maybe even stable.   These past few days and weekend, I've thought a lot about what happened and how very thankful I am to have a healthy Glenn by my side today. 

***************
It's Valentine's week around here so we've been busy decorating boxes for preschool and painstakingly writing classmates names on little cards for Kindergarten.  Will chose a box of Star Wars valentines for his class which featured four different illustrations (in case you are interested: Storm Troopers, Yoda, Anakin & Obi Wan and Darth Vader). As I was helping him spell each student's name, I noticed that he was carefully choosing the Darth Vader (the supreme bad guy) cards for each girl in his class.  I giggled at that and then asked why he was giving them all Darth Vader?  He nonchalantly replied because it had a pretty purple background and girls like purple.  Yes, they do but I'm also slightly convinced that he's sending a message.....  Speaking of messages, Will only talks about one girl in his class.  We'll call her A.  He's at that stage where girls are becoming cootie-filled or whatever kindergarten boys think these days.  He doesn't talk about playing with any girls at recess or anything like that, but occasionally A's name will come up in conversation. She's has long hair, I do know that.  So as we are writing his valentines, I asked him if he was going to write a note on A's card.  Something like "Dear A, I want to hold your hand.  Love, Will"  He giggled so I threw a few more suggestions out there, each one appropriately mushy and embarrassing.  He fired back, "Dear A:  Please come over to my house and throw eggs at my Mom."  The kid has a sense of humor and it appears to have a 'Hansen' written all over it.  The legacy continues. 

Christmas 2012

The official Christmas festivities started with Christmas Eve service at the Fry's church with a lovely service and a 5-yr old holding a lit candle. It all ended well.  We had dinner with Aunt Vicky, Uncle Matt, Pop-pop and Grandma Pop-pop and watched some football.  We came home at a decent hour with two very wound-up children.  Just like last year, there was no objection to going to bed in fact Will kept insisting that he was very tired and wanted to go to sleep.  Before I let him do that, he wrote a note to Santa "Santa:  You can choose.  Love, Will" and a picture of a pirate ship battle, obviously.  

 

 Some of us were very excited to be in pajamas.  Some of us... not so much. 

Christmas morning dawned bright and EARLY.  Like 4:45 a.m. early.  Will raced into our room, "Santa came! And it's time to get up!"  It wasn't actually.  He and I snuck downstairs to watch cartoons so that the other two family members would stay asleep.  I dozed off and on only to be awaken by "Hey Mom - what do you think Santa brought?" or "How does Santa keep track of his list?"  etc. etc. etc. 

Reina woke up at a more respectable 6:30 and by the time we fed dogs, warmed up the house, and a bunch of other stuff that irritated the two family members who were READY to open presents, it was 7:00 ish.  Will opened up a big castle (not Lego this year) and Reina received a Barbie with a horse that walks. 

Glenn looked festive in his jammies.  I just asked for his (and received) permission to put a picture of him wearing pajamas on the internet. 

 Reina surveying her loot.

 After the first wave of presents, we took a break, started breakfast, shoveled the walk (we had a white Christmas!) and geared up for Round 2.  Everyone came over and we opened up presents for a few more hours and ate a delicious brunch mostly due to my brother-in-law's awesome cooking skills.  I didn't grease the pan enough for the small batch of muffins I was responsible for but the tops were yummy.  Besides the giant castle, Will got a bunch of Lego's, a remote control batmobile that is already tormenting the dogs and a tie from his goofy aunt and uncle who tried to capture his response on video - it was a rather subdued "but I didn't want this..." even after I coached him earlier in the morning about what to say if you open something that you didn't necessarily want .... "thank you."  Reina got a remote controlled cat that meow's every 3 seconds until you finally locate the off/on switch, a pair of cats from her relative cats in Minnesota, Lego's, food, and coloring supplies.  She has opened up a cabbage patch doll from Grandma and Pop-pop, took one look at it and said "But I didn't ask for this" and then she offered it to me and insisted that it should live in my room.  No amount of cajoling could get her to take another look at poor Brynn Lea so for now she remains perched on top of our piano until the picky 3-yr old decides to give her a second glance. 

So by lunchtime, all of the guests had slid back to their own houses (snowy roads out there!) and things started slowing down at the Pauley house.  By 1ish, just about everyone was asleep despite the frequent protestations of "But I'm Not Tired!"

Reina napped with all three new kitties, tentatively named at this point:  Miss Kitty, Miss Kitty and Miss Kitty.

Tomorrow, it's back to the real world of work, cleaning up this house that looks like it's been hit with a wrapping paper bomb and after Christmas sales, but tonight we'll enjoy the last little bit of Christmas 2012.  We hope yours was as happy as Reina surrounded by a bunch of stuffed cats.

How I tormented Glenn today

By emailing him after lunch that I took Reina to the mall and pierced her ears without telling him about it. Glenn's pretty against piercing her ears this early and he's asked me a couple times to not do it yet. My little cohort even helped out by looking sad, pitiful and recently pierced in this picture. April Fool's!!

P.S. They are stick-on earrings.