I don’t think I like it. Colors aren’t quite right, just dashed it off. We’ll see how long it lasts. Cute boy with a cute cute “look” though 🙂

First off, go see this blog of robot drawings. They make me so happy! You can suggest a robot for her to draw! I requested a kitty-bot! in a litter-box! Go see!

In other news, Ethan woke up with pink eye this morning. Will the FUN NEVER STOP??! We suspect some snot nosed kid from school gave it to him.

Blah.

UPDATE:
My friend Ann pointed me to this petition, let’s hope it helps:

“Congress must force Vice President Cheney to respond to its subpoenas. If he continues to obstruct justice and disregard the rule of law, Congress has no choice but to begin impeachment proceedings against him.”

Sign the petition.
________

On this, the day after the 4th of July, I urge you to watch or read this commentary by Keith Olbermann. I would suggest the video.

I don’t usually get political here. a) i usually isolate myself from the political news (more and more and more with this administration, it only brings heartache) in ways which include big cardboard boxes and tin foil hats to block the mind control rays (i do occasionally let the daily show in though) and b) let’s face it, am *I* really going to change your mind if you don’t agree with me? Probably not, so I don’t go there.

So I’m breaking with that convention because a) this is so past the level of acceptability that how, HOW can one not speak? It’s like… I tore my hair out years ago when he snooped on us without a judges’ consent and then they all used yahoo instead of their official emails and the list just goes on and one and you just get so tired of not beleiving this could HAPPEN that you just have to splutter and gape and it still feels so useless because hello! I’ve spluttered and gaped SO MANY TIMES IN THE LAST SEVEN YEARS and b) this piece was just perfectly done.

Olbermann: Bush, Cheney should resign
“I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.” -John Wayne, after Nixon was defeated by Kennedy

But just as essential to the seventeen words of John Wayne, is an implicit trust – a sacred trust: That the president for whom so many did not vote, can in turn suspend his political self long enough, and for matters imperative enough, to conduct himself solely for the benefit of the entire Republic.

…

Did so even before the appeals process was complete; did so without as much as a courtesy consultation with the Department of Justice; did so despite what James Madison—at the Constitutional Convention—said about impeaching any president who pardoned or sheltered those who had committed crimes “advised by” that president; did so without the slightest concern that even the most detached of citizens must look at the chain of events and wonder: To what degree was Mr. Libby told: break the law however you wish—the President will keep you out of prison?

In that moment, Mr. Bush, you broke that fundamental com-pact between yourself and the majority of this nation’s citizens—the ones who did not cast votes for you. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you ceased to be the President of the United States. In that moment, Mr. Bush, you became merely the President of a rabid and irresponsible corner of the Republican Party. And this is too important a time, Sir, to have a commander-in-chief who puts party over nation.

I will get back to the zucchini i picked andthe quilted bookmark I made and cute funny kid stories tomorrow.. But right now I’m too busy spluttering and gaping.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday.

so if you have a wii and want our little mii’s to talk and visit, poke me on the comments and we can exchange wii numbers!

The kids’ made their very own little bobble-dudes and they’re very cute.

Bobble-dude looks very strange typed out. It’s better when you say it out loud. It just rolls off the tongue.

Bobble-dude.

Bobble-dude.

Bobble-dude.

Bobble-dude is what the little lego men are called in my family. We don’t actually call the Wii people bobble dudes. That just popped into my head just now. The lego guys are actually called mini-figs, but not in our house. Bobble-dude is what I grew up with, and bobble-dude it shall be, forever and ever, amen.

I sometimes take pictures with my phone, see. Like on vacations when you wish I’d just leave dead blog space for a few weeks, but nooooo I insist on taking blurry pictures with my camera phone.

I also often send myself email. Like account numbers or notes to myself.. just to have it in the abyss that is gmail’s email storage, ready for me to pull up with just a few clicks of the gmail search.

I have a super secret email address that my blog knows about and goes and checks every hour. If anything is in that inbox, then my blog goes and POSTS it! So see I can be out in the middle of Moab, taking pictures of dirty kid’s knees with a big hovering red rock over them, and them just send it to my super secret email address and BOOM! Blog post! Look ma, no hands!

So can you guess what I did? I sent myself a little note about the website where we order the very special cat food which prevents crystals from forming in our cats’ bladders, because that would mean = peeing all over the house and that would mean = bad bad bad and so yes, i sent myself a note on what the username and password is for that account, and did i ACTUALLY send it to myself?

No! I didn’t! I sent it to the super secret blog email address and sent it to all of you! DAMN YOU AUTO-COMPLETE! Lucky for me, I never actually put down the actual password, I just put down a phrase that will remind me of what my password is, because storing your passwords in a non secure place like gmail is a dummy dumb dumb thing to do.

bobble-dude.

bobbledude.

bauble dood

Dumb.

So yeah, that’s what that weird item about the garbled veterinarian thingee was.

-amy, bobble-dudes 4-ever!
-amy’s password is not bobbledude. Just FYI.

I am in the Prince William Chorale, and our final concert is on July 28, in Manassas, VA. We are doing a few medleys of Beauty & the Beast and Andrew Lloyd Webber which are a hoot to sing as well as some american folk songs, pieces by John Rutter, and other beautiful pieces. Our director has opened the Broadway selections (Beast and Webber) for anyone who wishes to join in during the concert and sing with us. It’s a great idea really, everyone knows these songs anyway, you attend our rehearsals for a month, not a big time commitment there, and then get to sing with us in front of an audience in the concert. It’s a good way for those who are thinking about joining a choir to “try it out” and see if they like it, and a great way for us to recruit some members for our 2007-2008 season.

So if you’re in the prince william/manassas area and think seeing “Be our Guest”, “Kill the Beast!”, “Memories”, and “Jesus Christ Superstar” would be a hoot, then check out our Director’s open invitation and I hope I’ll see you on Tuesday at our rehearsal! If not, then perhaps you’d like to attend our concert! It will be fun, and there’ll be a reception with refreshments afterward. Click on the link above for directions on how to get there.

See you there!

-amy is especially good at expectorating

It occurs to me that this whole pink eye situation has taught James and I one thing: How to give our children eye drops with very little fuss and bother. And so, I will attempt to share the one good thing to come out of this mess – our professional knowledge on giving kids eye drops.

1. First things first. You must acquire some patience. It does no one any good to become frustrated and controlling. Think about it. Much like sleeping, eating and pooping, there is nothing, NOTHING you can do to make your child open his or her eye. If they decide to screw their eyes closed, you are screwed. Totally and completely screwed. And attempting to wrench someone’s eyes open long enough to drop in some eye drops will NOT be the most pleasant experience in the world. You must acknowledge that the instinct for ANYONE when something comes near the eye, is to blink, or otherwise protect the eyeball. When the kid throws up his or her hands in defense, they cannot help it. That is what the brain is telling them to do. And the VERY WORST thing you can do is to get all loud and yelly, and order them to put them hands down, or to stop blinking, or to open your eyes already, dammit! Yes. Not good things to say. Just keep in mind that you have to do this (of course your dosage may vary, but probably about) THREE times a day for the NEXT 7-10 DAYS. If you lose your cool and get your kid all apprehensive about this on the very first day, you are going to be in hell for the next week. Seriously. If you feel like you’re losing your temper, it’s better to take a break, and try again in 10 minutes.
2. Television. Television is your friend. Lay the child down on their back, so that their head is closest to the TV, and their feet are farthest away. Load up the tivo (what? you don’t have tivo? well, I can’t help you then. DVDS! There we go!) with their favorite show, preferably a new one that they haven’t seen before. Something with talking. Cartoons filled with primarily physical comedy doesn’t have enough to draw their attention (at least, this is how it was for our kids. They love tom and jerry, but it wasn’t enough for eyedrops time.) Their position on the floor is such that they have to crane their neck upwards to see the TV. Not only their necks, but their little eyeballs have to look upward too. If they tilt their head too much so that their eyes aren’t as open as they could be, just gently slide their head down a little so that they have to keep their eyes as open as possible.
3. Hands can be a problem. They just can’t help themselves from reaching up and blocking their eye from the eyedrops. James will actually lay the kid down with arms at their side, and straddle them gently so that his knees on the floor is holding their arms in place against their body. (Please don’t put your knees on their arms!) I sit to the side of the kid with 1 leg holding one arm, and then i put my other leg across their body with my knee up in the air so that my foot on the floor holds their other arm in place. Just remember to be gentle and explain that you’re helping them to keep their hands at their side. Ethan got pretty good at this by himself so that we don’t have to hold his arms at all, but if he accidently lets his hands fly up to his face, we’ll just have him put his hands under his bottom, and the pressure of sitting/laying on his own hands is enough for him to keep them there.
4. Now in the beginning, I’ve found that turning the sound on the TV up a bit so it really captures their attention is helpful. (I actually discovered this when I would give Ethan haircuts as an 18-month-old and he was scared of the loud clippers. I’d turn the tv up, and he would forget all about the clippers. I had to turn it WAY up though.) They are very concered about that bottle of eye drops, and they want to keep track of it, and they’re thinking, “I’ll just squint and it will never go in,” but then, “OH! Look at that! It’s Charlie and Lola! Lola is small, and very funny! They have to complete the tasks their mom gave them in time to watch their favorite programme, Space Family Hudson, the Faaa-mi-ly in space!” The louder volume than usual will really distract them and they’ll crane their heads to see what’s going on. Just be patient (PATIENT PATIENT PATIENT!) and watch for that opportunity to drop the eyedrops in. You may have to hover there for 5 minutes with the bottle above their eye, readjusting the tilt of their head, or gently pulling the lower lid down, just waiting for PERFECT moment to drop them in – it’s gonna take a while, and it may take a few tries, just beeeee patient. No freaking out or yelling at the kid allowed. I sometimes have to say, “Look! what is charlie DOING?!” to Jocelyn, as she is harder to do than Ethan.
5. REWARD SYSTEM! After every successful eye drop (and there will be plenty that just hit the eyelid when the kid blinks RIGHT at the wrong time, or flinches or throws up their hand in protest. Just say, “Oopsies!” wipe it off, and take up the waiting position again.) Where was I? After each successful eye drop, have something on hand for immediate gratification. We use M&Ms or marshmellows (the little ones). And don’t depend on just the treat to be the reward, you’ve got to be a freaking cheerleader and make them feel FANTASTIC. “YOU GOT ONE! GOOD JOB! You are SO GOOD at this! What a big girl/boy! You are! YOU get an M&M! Gimme five!” I can’t stress this enough. If you make this an unpleasant experience, they are going to resist EVERY time it’s eyedrops time. If you make it a big payoff after the yucky part, they will remember and not fight you tooth and claw when eyedrops time rolls around. We always have a little pile of M&Ms waiting for them after the whole ordeal is over. It’s gotten so that Jocelyn will get excited about eyedrops and say, “I’ll get the M&Ms ready!” when it’s time. (Of course, she sometimes fusses DURING, but at least when we say it’s time for eye drops, she doesn’t run howling away from us into the night.)
6. A little more on the dropping of the drops themselves: I have found that it’s easier to tilt the body at a slight angle from the TV so that they are looking both UP, but also to the side a bit. This exposes more of the white of the eye for the drop. I always try to drop into the inner part of the eye, by the nose rather than into the outer side of the eye. It just seems like the lashes are longer and getting it INTO the eye is just a lot trickier if you’re trying to drop from the outside. Then I change the angle of their body so it’s easier to get to the inner eye of the other eye. This is getting pretty picky though, just get that sucker in anyway you can, I’m just letting you know my preference.

I think that’s it. That’s all my expertise on administering eye drops. I’ll be interested in seeing if a lot of search hits come my way from this post. I know that when we first had to give eye drops, we were totally bewildered on how exactly we could possibly accomplish this. Now, I’m happy to say that we don’t actually have to go through this whole routine each and every time. One of us has to drive to their school to give Ethan a dose of eyedrops at lunchtime and he manages that with very little bother. Today after I picked up Jocelyn’s Vigamox eye drops, I gave her her first dose in the car, with her sitting in her car seat. There was a time when I never thought THAT would EVER be possible. So if you are despairing at the thought of giving your kid eye drops, I hope this helped a little 🙂

-amy

it is with mixed feelings i am blogging today.

Saturday morning dawned with Jocelyn’s right eye all pink and puffy. PINK AND PUFFY PEOPLE!!!

This makes a grand total of 3 episodes of pink eye for her. Ethan is finishing up his eye drops for his 3rd episode as well.

WHEN WILL THIS STOP!! I can’t help but feel like a failure as a parent. It goes like this. Child A has 5 more days of eye drops. Child B finishes their eye drops and both eyes look great. Child B goes 2-3 days off the eye drops and suddenly wakes up with their eye all red and irritated. We have changed pillow cases every day. We’ve changed towels every day. We’ve neer used a washcloth more than once before it goes in the laundry hamper. We’ve washed hands as often as is humanly possible while not just standing all day in the bathroom with the water running. I’m starting to go a little crazy.

To our credit, Jocelyn has a cold, and has had it for the past week. Nothing too bad, but she’s got some serious snot issues going on. Luckily, she hasn’t been coughing, and hasn’t had a fever or anything. There are usually 2 ways to get conjunctivitis. You catch it someone who’s got it, or you have a cold and it kind of works it’s way into your eye. So it could be that we’re doing nothing wrong, she could have just gotten it because of this cold she’s fighting.

I still feel like shit about this though. And Ethan is supposed to be done with his very-much-a-pain-in-the-ass drops (tobramycin) (must be given every 4 hours, so one of us makes a trip to school during our lunch break to administer them). And I’m totally freaked out that he’s just going to turn up with them again 2-3 days after he’s off of them.

Our pediatrician was closed this past Saturday, so I took her to an urgent care place, who prescribed some drops (sulfacetamide sodium opthamalic solution). Something different than she had been taking before (which was vigamox). We got them and dutifully have been putting them in her eyes, but when monday morning arrived, she did not look ANY BETTER. There was no way she could go to school with her eye still pink and swollen, in fact, if anything, I think her eye was MORE swollen than it was Saturday.

So today, I blog from home, as I stayed home with her. We went to the doctor, who gave us a new prescription (and she commented that the drops we were using wasn’t likely to do any good, ergh), went to target to fill prescription, then drove to the school to give Ethan HIS dosage of drops.

I toyed with the idea of going from there up to have lunch with James, as he did last week when he was home with Ethan, but the Jocelyn was acting pretty grumpy and tired, so off we went home, and I got her into bed for naptime (with no fewer than FOUR crying jags, the poor dear was so tired).

So this sucks, because damn. Pink eye. GO AWAY ALREADY!

However, it doesn’t suck too bad, because instead of trying to work from home as I usually do when I’m home with a sick kid, I am taking the day off. It is so nice. I’m not putting movie after movie in so as to entertain the child while I try to accomplish something. I’m not saying, “Not now, mommy’s working,” whenever the child wants to inform me of inane, but nevertheless very important details,

“I”M THREE!”

“I’m the MOMMY! You’re the BABY! NAPTIME, GO TO SLEEP NOW!”

“I can do a SOMERSAULT!”

“LOOK MOMMY! I took off ALL my clothes! I’m NAKED GIRL!”

“LOOK! I picked out this booger! FROM MY NOSE!”

Now I can actually acknowledge or reprimand these announcements on a case by case basis instead of hoping to distract by pointing out what Cinderella/ Lightning Mcqueen/ Totoro is doing on screen.

When the day started I had grand plans of cleaning the house from top to bottom in this beautiful gift of a day spent home with my offspring, and I did manage to go through a lot of the crap sitting on our coffee table (and under our coffee table) but then the morning gotten eaten up with errands, and the afternoon has been eaten up with blog reading (and now writing).

But one thing I shall be doing. I’ll be donning the latex gloves (because i have very girly sensitive skin) and wiping off every fucking toy and surface with those bleachy sanitizing wipes to make sure no pink eye cooties can stick around to infect my children again.

-amy won’t rub eyeballs with bleachy sanitizing wipes though

“Mommy, I love you as tall as a CAR! Even taller! I love you as tall as a huge building! I love you bigger than a CRANE! I love you higher than an AIRPLANE! I love you THIS FAST!”

“Pyioung!” He takes off very fast and then runs back LEAPING into my arms. Just think of every cartoon sound effect noise of when someone runs away very fast. That is the noise he makes right before he takes off.

“I love you THIRTEEN! NO! ONE HUUUUUUUUNDREEEEEEED!”

“One hundred and thirteen?” I ask.

“NO!! EVEN HIGHER! ”

He pauses for dramatic effect.

“THIRTY THREE!”

Which is my age. nice that he thinks 33 is higher than one hundred.

Be sure to check for a California Tortilla location near you.

Mmmmm. I love California Tortilla.

James and I have been kind of toying with the idea of moving sometime next year. I think we both had it lurking in our subconscious and then as soon as one of us brought it out into the open, it’s taken off. Now whenever something about the house irks us, we turn to the other and say, “Let’s make sure we have a decent sized kitchen in our next house!” these occurences are becoming more and more regular.

So with the toying, has been the browsing around at real estate. And almost immediately, I’ve been discouraged by the lack of variety in the architecture in the area. EVERYTHING IS TRADITIONAL/COLONIAL.

OK. Not everything. But 95% of the houses in our area is colonial. Doesn’t ANYONE ELSE in the DC metro area just get sick of seeing the same style house everywhere you look? Whenever I’m browsing through listings, if anything modern pops up (and I think it’s only happened once..) I’m instantly in love. Never mind the fact that it either is a) further away from work than we are currently or b) costs over a million dollars…. I’m in love.

So I spent the last hour and a half coaxing Google with the most romantic moderny real estatey search terms possible and thought I’d share my findings with others who may also be eye-gougingly sick of Colonial real estate.

First off… This is fascinating. Current listings of Frank Lloyd Wright homes on the market. There’s one in Bountiful, UT that I would totally move there for (if someone wouldn’t mind giving me a cool 3.8+ million bucks) and another in Washington state that actually made my heart hurt, it was so beautiful.

Modern Capital is a blog based in the Washington DC metro area for mid-century modern real estate, design and events – he’s listed a few houses that have come on the market recently, and in his side bar he lists communities of modern architecture. OH HALLELUJAH! We’re not totally alone in the sea of Colonials! He started up last October, and I’m looking forward to poking through his archives.

Not necessarily modern, but a real estate blog based in Seattle. I’m a Seattle girl at heart, so I’ve been following along wistfully for half a year, what can I say.

GO MOD is a great jumping off place for several modern real estate sites, as well as bunches of other cool stuff.

I wish I had the time to road trip it down to the Virginia Center for Architecture in Richmond, VA for the exhibit on Contemporary Prefabricated Houses – ooohhhh how delicious it would be to go check that out.

Also, did you know about CB2?? When did this happen? And why only in Chicago, you lucky dogs! (Well, NY will be getting one soon too, I see.) I ran across it a while ago and promptly ordered a catalog. Not that I have any spare money for furniture, but how dare Crate and Barrel go and open a whole new modern thingee and not tell me! FOR SHAME. Go check it out and drool along with me. And if you knew about it.. then shame on you for not telling me.

Are you a real estate junkie? Do you keep your eye on the listings just to peek inside houses for sale even though you’re not necessarily moving in the near future? If so…. I’d love to hear any of your favorite sites or real estate blogs. It’s like heroin. I’m hooked, baby. Design blogs too. Other favorites of mine include design*sponge and Apartment Therapy.

So what are you hooked on? Come on, gimme a hit! Just one hit!