My Little Cub Scout (excuse me ~I mean BOY Scout)

I can't believe Grant is old enough to join Cub Scouts (although he prefers you just go ahead and give him the rank of BOY Scout, thank you very much). He and Kerry had their first meeting this Monday at our church. Grant was so excited to be joining such a fun-looking organization (especially since Ethan and his Steppy D were in the same group - should I be calling it a pack or a den???), and Kerry was excited to get to spend this special time with Grant since they so rarely get to see one another.

Do I see a future Boy Scout model in the making? (yip, he posed himself - again)

No, I did not buy the uniform shorts... I just couldn't. Am I horrible to think they looked too dorky? I mean, the bright scarf was hard enough for me to buy as it was. 'Scarf' doesn't scream 'manly' in my book. That goes for you too, cowboys. Bandannas should probably be left to wear on the heads of gang members only. I didn't buy the hat either, but that was because the den leader requested that we not. Apparently five and six-year-olds can get distracted by them. SHOCKING!

And who do you think also wanted to join in on the picture taking???
Correct you are!

(Rhett posed himself too. No complaints though... At least he's 'smiling' this time, right Andrea?)

Scarlett Fever in the 21st Century

arm

tummy

My, how times have changed. Not that I was alive when the diagnosis of Scarlett Fever could mean a death sentence, but one has to be thankful for the passage of time when it comes to the advancement of medicine.

Rhett woke up Saturday morning just covered in a rash. He wasn't scratching it, and for some reason, perhaps it was Mother's Instinct, it seemed to be screaming at me, "I'm a red flag!" So I called the doc. He had us come in immediately. (Pretty impressive for a Sat. morning!) He took one look at Rhett and said in a concerned voice, "This looks like Scarlett Fever," and began to examine him. As you can imagine, that was the last thing I thought I was going to hear that day! I gotta tell ya, the words 'Scarlett Fever' shocked me a bit. Sure enough, a blood test confirmed the doc's suspicions, and Rhett was stamped with a Scarlett Fever diagnosis. We were sent home with an antibiotic and were told to keep Rhett away from the public for two days which is when he would no longer be considered contagious.

For all you moms out there = Yes, Scarlett Fever usually develops after a bout with Strep Throat that was not treated properly/entirely. However, as I learned today, it can pop up on its own. Rhett did NOT have Strep prior to Scarlett Fever. As a matter of fact, to quote the doc, his throat was "squeaky clean". He did not have a cough. He did not have a fever. He did not have drainage. His ears looked good. The doc was sure to listen to his heart since Scarlett Fever can move to that organ, but Rhett's heart was murmur-free. That's right, folks, the only tangible symptom Rhett had was the rash. He did act like he felt yucky at times, but nothing too severe as you can see here, the day of his diagnosis.

Five days later he is still covered with the scarlet colored rash. Most of him is looking a tad bit better except for his face. It's still quite bumpy and as red as - well.................. scarlet. (please ignore his usual messy mouth)

He does seem to be more sleepy than usual. Surely that has something to do with the illness. I found him like this (above) in the rocking chair at 5 p.m!!! Other than that, we have no complaints. And better yet, everyone else in the house has remained well. Whew!

And the winner for the Crazy Person of the Day is...

... the father I met during a lunch date today at Sweet Tomatoes.

Go ahead and ask yourself what these nesting cups...
and the crazy dad in Sweet Tomatoes had in common. Go ahead. I'll wait...................... You'll NEVER get it........... (unless you're crazy like him...............)

Okay, I'll skip straight to the story b/c I'm telling you - it's a good one!!!!
While I was at the pasta bar, I noticed a boy about the age of eight walking around with nesting cups stacked on his head. I mean, he had them all stacked on top of one another (nested), and was balancing them on his head. I thought it odd, but I went on with my pasta picking, plucked a warm brownie from the dessert counter and sat down at our table. Several minutes later the girl I was with asked me if I had seen the kid with the cups on his head... "WHO could miss it?" was my response. You better believe throughout our lunch we kept an eye on balancing-nesting-cup-kid as we just pondered and pondered over the story behind it.

During my third trip to the pasta bar (keep comments to yourself), I once again ran into the kid and his dad, and I just HAD to take the opportunity to ask what the deal was. Of course I disguised this interrogation with questions like, "Are you working on a new skill? Just bored? Going for a record???"

The dad's eyes widened, he leaned closer to me in a very odd way, tilted his head down which caused me notice that he was wearing a hat like the kind Dr. Hannible Lector wore at the end of "Silence of the Lambs" and said that ever since the little boy was two and they were out in public, they had him balance the cups on his head b/c it kept him calm and helped with his posture. (I mean, you can't act like a fool and balance cups on your head - but you certainly can LOOK like one.) And that was it - they walked back to their crazy table, and I walked back to mine with eager anticipation of sharing the strange information that was just given to me with my friend.

Before the family left, the dad made his way over to our table and proclaimed that he had worksheets on the idea that he could email me and promptly asked me for a pen and paper. I could not find a pen in my purse (not that I really wanted to, either), so he interrupted the people eating behind us and asked if they had a pen he could borrow. (REALLY??? It's that big of a deal that you need to go on a hunt for a pen?) Iguess it was life and death. Anyway, I'd like to point out that at this point their weirdness is truly topping the charts as I notice the boy balancing the cups is starting to unzip his pants. I just wanted the whole thing to e.n.d., so I quickly jotted down his email address to make him happy. He wished me a good day, and that was that, and the family walked out of Sweet Tomatoes while the son trailed behind with the cups still on his head.

As you can imagine, the child's been doing this for many years, so no, the cups NEVER fell. He walked all around the restaurant and even made big body movements, yet those cups never moved.

I've spent the rest of the day perplexed. Can't decide if I should've left the restaurant thinking, "What a sight!" or, "What a freak!"

**Just for the record = I don't usually judge others so harshly, but this one seems to be in a class all by itself. While I appreciate the creative idea of the cups keeping a child calm, one truly can not go through life balancing cups on their head. Is it just me? Can I get an 'Amen'?

No, I am not going to email the dad for his worksheets. What are they going to be, anyway??? Multiple choice? Matching? Match the freak to the crazy idea???? Okay - so now I am starting to feel bad.

Easter 2010

I, the queen of holiday fun, have fallen down on my motherly Easter duties... I did not take the boys to get a picture taken with the Easter Bunny this year. (insert gasp here) I didn't even make them an Easter shirt! (insert sigh here) So instead of being able to offer you professionally done Easter pictures, I give you the quick pics I took today. (Daddy had to get the boys up and dressed by himself this morning, so please excuse their crazy hair.)

Rhett refused to cooperate (as usual), so getting an Easter brother portrait just didn't happen this year. Try #1 was unsuccessful. Rhett wouldn't stop moving.

Try #2 failed. Rhett did not want to stand by the tree.

Try #3 was a charm, half-way anyway. Grant posed himself for this one and announced that he was pretty sure he looked really handsome. (minus the crazy hair)
The Easter Bunny really came through this year. Although the boys' baskets were stuffed to the brim, they got the biggest kick out of the all-terrain race way. I tell ya, that Easter Bunny knows what he's doin'!

We made our bunny cake after church. Before we could decorate it, however, it had to cool. This was very disappointing to Grant, so he decided to decorate a piece of bread to help pass the time. As long as he had an icing tube or sprinkles in his hand, he was calm and in the zone.

Hmmmm. I wonder who else decorated bread... (good guess)

The cake finally cooled and we were able to cut it into the bunny shape and decorate it. Grant was thrilled, and Rhett was thrilled because Grant was thrilled.

Everyone had a thrilling job to do.


Tah duh!

Our finished product. Ain't he a beaut?

(Yes, Rhett got a little excited over the sprinkles.)

Even Madalyn was looking her best today thanks to Rhett.

The little sneak found this marker...

And did this to her feet...

And as amazing as it sounds, Madalyn is still not a fan of Rhett. Ha!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Biker Boy and His Shadow

Grant ran into the house last Tuesday exclaiming he had taught himself how to ride his bike w/o training wheels. I really didn't think he quite knew what he was saying and what it means to really ride your bike w/o training wheels, but his confidence sparked my interest, so I followed him outside for the demonstration he was so excited about.

And what do you know, he really did teach himself - in one day - less than one day! I think it took him just a few tries, and he had it. Whew! I was starting to think I was going to have to be the one to teach him, and frankly I didn't think that running alongside a six-year-old on a bike over and over and over again would be very fun. You can watch a video of him showing off and almost running me over here.

He was just sure that I would let him ride his bike to school like the other kids in the neighborhood. (Notice the backpack.) But, sadly, he was wrong. I just don't feel like he's old enough or has had enough experience on a bike to be able to go it alone. No, this did not go over well, but I'm Mom, and Mom makes the rules.

Of course Grant's shadow had to partake in the events of the moment, so he grabbed his "bike" (yes, it's a scooter), and showed off his moves which you can watch here.

Even Breena, our sweet neighbor, joined in on the fun. Boy howdy, I tell ya, these two do everything together! Between her sweet curly hair and his spiked do, they really turn heads.