A sad day...

The last ant has died. 

We will be observing a moment of silence during the water burial scheduled for later today.  

Santa brought Andrew an ant farm for Christmas... the actual live ants arrived on Christmas eve just in time. They arrived in the mail in a small plastic vial marked CAUTION. They were slow moving from the cold, but they soon perked up. Squirmy little legs and beady little eyes...they really creeped me out but I was fascinated at the same time. Note to self... next time put in a special request to Santa to bring ant farm completely assembled with ants already in there. So we fed them and gave them water and they built some pretty amazing tunnels, a graveyard, a food storage area, planted a little garden an erected a  hill (no doubt an attempt to escape). We learned a lot about ants from their anatomy to the roles of ants in the colony.  In my opinion, they are still creepy bugs but the instruction booklet made a good effort to describe how social, friendly and clean they are in an attempt to make me some how sleep better at night knowing that they are "Good Citizens".  We also learned from our Ant Habitat Manual, that the ants in our habitat are all females worker ants. Of course the worker ants are female!...duh. The packaging promised that the habitat was "escape proof" and although I had reservations about their claims, the habitat has indeed proved to be an escape proof death trap. The vial should have been labled "Dead Ants Walking". I have my doubts about whether ant farms in general are humane and whether or not my actions, ultimately resulting in their demise, will have a negative impact on my presently good karma. ??? I felt really sad for the last one to go and considered a mercy flushing but I knew it was only a matter of time.  And besides, the packaging expressly stated NO NOT HANDLE LIVE ANTS...THEY BITE, so heeding these words of caution and of course having my own self preservation in mind, I just watched and waited. 

Patrick thinks it would be a good idea to repopulate the habitat with "wild" ants from the yard. What is he thinking??? Any ants that survived last years "home improvement" fumigation are bound to be either really pissed or psychotic....and he wants to bring those ants into our home...on purpose!!! Didn't he read the directions in the instruction manual... THEY BITE!!!  And they know what I did last summer!

another one bites the dust

the boys

Sean is absolutely the best baby ever!!!  It is a good thing I had my tubes tied when I did because I could have been persuaded to try for boy #4... ha ha ha... not!  He is just a happy and content little man.  He seems to delight in everything and he smiles all the way down to his toes. Although a bit wobbly, Sean is sitting for short periods of time, he is rolling over and he is thrilled to have found his toes.  He giggles and babbles and squeals and thinks blowing raspberries is the most hilarious thing.  And just like his brothers he LOVES bath time.

Sean, 5 months

Andrew is my big helper and disaster alert dispatcher.  He has devised a system, not unlike the DEFCON readiness system used by the military, to alert me of any potential melt downs or other immediate crisis situation.  Having 3 boys all with very important needs, it is obvious that I cannot be in all places at all times and it is usually the place where I am not that requires the most attention.  Andrew makes sure that I don't miss a thing.  I frequently hear him screaming at the top of his lungs "MOM... Sean is at a LEVEL 20 and he is giving me the hungry stare".  This no doubt is heard anytime I am busy with something else or when Andrew is done holding him.  "MOOOOOOOM....RIGHT NOW"  usually follows.   "TURTLE" is code for Sam flipping over his feeding chair (the feeder seat sits on the floor and Sam is belted in at the waist so when he flips he looks like a turtle with a shell on his back) .  And my all time favorite "23-19" is code for visual confirmation of diaper contents outside of the diaper... immediate attention required!   

Sean is fascinated with all things Andrew.  Andrew has been really sweet about "sharing" or at least showing Sean his toys but he abides by 2 strict rules... most of the time. 

1. nothing goes into the baby's mouth 

2. no small parts shall be left out unattended.  

Sam loves Sean and he says Sean's name all the time...  Sha, Sha, Sha...  as he plants wet slobbery kisses on his head.  Sean tolerates a significant amount of "affection" from Sam and rarely gets upset with him even when he is a bit rough... it is as if he knows that Sam means well and just smiles at him even as the red welts appear on his forehead.  

80 years of cherished memories & family traditions

Lorraine Powell

This is my Grandma Powell on her 80th birthday (isn't she beautiful!!!)... January 10th 2008.... surrounded by flowers that family and friends sent to honor her on this special day.  The framed picture that she is holding is that of her Far Mor (Mother of her Father) in Sweden who is also surrounded in a room full of beautiful flowers that were sent to her on her 80th birthday.  What a beautiful family tradition.  What makes this even more special is that in the top right corner of the photo my Grandma is holding you can also see her parents wedding photo (my Great-Grandma and Grandpa Nystrom) and a picture of my Grandma when she was 6 months old.   

The below pictures are of treasures that can all be linked back to family members that can all be found in the photo that my Grandma Powell is holding... Far Mor (my great-great-grandmother), Grandma/pa Nystrom (my great-grandparents) and my Grandmother as well.

These spoons once belonged to my Grandma's Far Mor.  They were given to her by my Grandma's Father (my Great-Grandpa Nystrom) and they have since trickled their way down to me.  I had them framed several years ago and they now hand on my wall.

My Grandmother got this spoon on a trip to Umea, Sweden with her Grandparents when she was 5 years old.  The spoon is engraved with a Laplander (a native of Northern Sweden) and a reindeer.  

I can remember this table being at my Grandparent's house when I was a kid.  I don't remember the table so much as I remember those claw feet.  This table was the first piece of furniture my Grandma's parents (my Great -Grandma/pa Nystrom)  bought after they were married.  Over the years this table transformed from a dinner table to a coffee table.  A few years ago, when we moved into our current house, I became the lucky guardian of the claw foot table.

 I love those claw feet.

 

update...

what a ham!

So after my last post I thought it necessary to post a pic of Sam, alive and well, the morning after.  As expected he woke up happy and ready to start his day with a full laundry list of naughty deeds to accomplish.  

So many naughty things to do... so little time.

The other night's occurrence is pretty common around here... just another day in the life.  Sam's health is excellent but he still keeps us on our toes.   

Dr. Mom on duty

Sam had a great day.  He has been on antibiotics for nearly 3 weeks now (yes again) for a sinus infection.  I don't like having him on antibiotics so often but I don't like spending countless days in the pediatric ICU more.  Sam has shown us time and time again that he will be fine one minute and in life threatening respiratory distress the next with little to no warning.  So even the slightest symptom is cause for alarm until we rule out any major problems.  When Sam has a sinus infection he doesn't even act sick during the day but at night when he goes to sleep he stops breathing.  He does not gasp or wheeze or fight for air in any way (no that would be a clear indicator of a problem and Sam is not so easy to give us the answers) rather he just does not breath.  No it is not apnea...  as the doctor put it "he drowning in his own secretions" ... the goo slides down and stacks up in his throat and as a safe guard his airway closes off.  It is easily fixed... just wake him up! Like I said... Sam had a great DAY.  It is now 1:33 in the morning and I have just satisfied myself that I can now go to sleep and rest assured that Sam will continue to breath throughout the night.  I ran through my usual check list... does he need to be suctioned? Is he breath holding or just breathing really shallow? Does he need oxygen? Any signs of respiratory distress? After I dust off my honorary medical degree, (ha) I give him all his asthma meds and an extra neb. and then I watch.  I watch his chest rise and fall and sometimes give him a little nudge if he appears to be breath holding.  Is he just exhausted or too congested to breath? I suctioned him and watched some more.  His breathing finally slowed and became very calm and even. False alarm.  I determined that it is no where near worrisome enough to call the doctor or to pull out the pulse-ox  but I still needed to watch a bit longer to be sure.  Otherwise I will lie awake in bed for the rest of the night listening through the baby monitor for each breath.  I determined that he is just slightly congested, overly tired and dropping into a very deep sleep and breathing very shallow but his O2 sats are good... crisis averted.  As it is, I will probably get no sleep tonight anyway because I can hear Patrick snoring in the bedroom from where I am sitting at the computer and Sean is stirring looking for a midnight snack.  I am going to get a glass of milk, wind down a bit, check on Sam one last time and head off to bed.  I will be the only one who is tired tomorrow... the boys will wake at the crack of dawn ready for the day.  

And Sam, no doubt, will have another great day tomorrow.

Tip of the day

Having 2 children in diapers (a 5 month old and a 5 year old with special needs) can be enough to tax anyone's olfactory limits to the brink.  There are often times I feel it should be my duty as a good citizen to remove the cute welcome sign  I have on the front door and replace it with a bio-hazard warning. CAUTION... ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!  So what is a mom to do??? Poop happens... and around our house it happens a lot. 

 

That brings me to the tip of the day!

In my sometimes futile attempts to keep my house smelling fresh (or at least not like poop) I have devised an inexpensive, easy and effective way to freshen my house.  I stick bounce fabric softener sheets in my vents.  Brilliant... I know!  I stick the corner of one bounce sheet under the vent cover so that the sheet hangs freely down into the vent but is secure and does not fall down into the vent pipe (bounce sheet cannot be seen when vent cover is in place).  When the furnace kicks on the heat activates the bounce sheet and wafts a fresh scent throughout the house.  You can adjust the desired level of freshness by the number of vents you utilize.  I find that this works better when the heat is on verses the A/C but even then this is a great way to freshen your house year round.  Fabric softener sheets come in a variety of scents, they are cheaper than plug in air fresheners and last longer than sprays.  

While they were sleeping

On occasions when my boys are moving slower than the speed of light, preferably when they are sleeping, I will attempt to do some quick sketches of them.  Their slow rhythmic breathing...the sound of the pencil as it scratches the paper...a moment of quiet...these are a few of my favorite things.

 

        Andrew, 6 years

                      Sam, 5 years

                      Sean, 5 months

pencil drawings done on 4x6 Medievalis paper