S says the craziest things.....

He was watching his cousin play with a hacky sack and mentioned he wanted his own "happy sack".

Trinks came down in a skort. S complained that she was wearing HIS skirt. It's the one he borrowed when they decided to belly dance. I love his open mind.

Poison Ivy update

I've been doing really well with the poison ivy this time. Yes - it's annoying, it itches every once in a while, but I get relief for 95% of the time. This exposure was more than the last time and would normally put me in the hospital on steroids, prescription benadryl and generic zantac (histamine 2 blocker). That gave me relief for 40% of the time. The Hylands Poison Ivy/Poison Oak is amazingly effective. This time I added some Burdock, Quercetin and a ton of vitamin C. Next week I am going to experiment with Bentonite Clay. I now feel in control of my life and will no longer live in fear of getting poisoned. I managed to rip out the remaining poison ivy from the flower beds. All that remains is the stuff behind the shed. I plan to just poison the stuff and leave it alone. Just need to mix up a big batch of "earth begone" and the soil will be sterile forever.

S graduated

And then made a wish...


That his teeth would be yellow.

Mythbusters - Posey's poison ivy edition

So I have poison ivy again. It's on my hands, it's all over my arms, it's all over my legs, it's on my back and neck. Normally I would freak, but I know I can get relief from the homeopathic stuff. In order to have a little fun, I decided to try Burdock Root as my cure. If I don't get relief by Saturday, I will go to the rhus tox. Can't hurt to know another cure and I might as well make the best of it. I plan to hit the ground running this weekend to get more of it out. I might as well be completely miserable and never have to worry about the poison ivy in the yard again.

Pictures from the food allergy walk

There were educational signs all over the place.


I asked S to get a hat. He decided this was just as good.


Notice the shoes S chose, AND NO ONE NOTICED UNTIL WE WERE ALMOST READY TO WALK. And his sister tied them for him. Not only are they the same foot, but the one on the left is TRINKS' shoe.

When in Brazil, don't eat the nuts

Yesterday Hubs and I took the kids to the allergist in Philly. It was a pretty good visit. S got further nut testing, resulting in discovering a Brazil nut allergy. We opted not to get tested for peanut allergies. Since he eats peanut butter with no reaction, he should be fine. There is a 40% chance of a false positive with the test, so I'd rather just watch for symptoms. We have an epi pen, so I'm not too worried. He has grown 3 inches and gained enough weight to be too big for the epi-pen junior. For school's sake, he's allergic to all nuts. Cross contamination is a huge risk, so if he goes for an almond that brushed up against a cashew, pistachio, or a Brazil nut, he'll have a reaction. School is allegedly a nut free zone, but I don't believe it. Parents don't understand that one simple food can simply kill another child.

Trinks needed no further allergy testing and can come off her daily asthma meds. I don't like daily meds for her type of asthma and I've been itching to discontinue it. If it was me, I would have simply stopped, but I tend to require doctor's supervision before I act medically for my kids. We have a new asthma plan, and it's similar to mine. Phew!

So today we walked for food allergy awareness. I was happy to see lots of educational materials and samples. I picked up the new epi pen tester and some epi-pen paraphernalia. I picked up 2 dvds about epi-pens (one's for you, NJ teacher)and a pamphlet about knowing the risks. I signed up for a meeting at the local library for food allergy support. I skipped the samples of soy butter because I currently believe that soy in the processed form is evil (that is another blog post and watch Food Inc. to see why the soy seed company is very very evil). I did snag some free samples of the sunflower butter. I used to buy this and forgot all about it. I didn't tell S what it was and he really liked it. Trinks loved it as well, so I can keep some on hand.

SO I've learned it's all about knowing what goes into the food you eat. And I'm learning to act on what I really do know - processed food is really bad, whether you have allergies or not. If I can't pronounce the ingredients, or if they go on over an inch, I don't want to eat it. Chemicals aren't food.

So not a cake wreck

This was the coolest baby shower cake I have ever seen. Not sure what to call everyone, so post to take credit. It was also delicious.

THAT'S why the bed is too small

S complains ALL THE TIME about how he has the smallest bed in the house. Imagine what he could build in a bigger bed.

New glasses

The day finally came. I expected this last year, but Trinks has really taken care of her glasses, at least in the sense that they are in one piece. Dirty and scratched? absolutely. They broke this weekend and were held together with duct tape until today when the tape gave way. I was out so hubs took both kids to the mall to get a new pair of glasses. Turns out insurance sucks and they won't pay for glasses this year. Ugh. So on that note, we cancelled her eye appointment in June. I'll take that appointment and take S for his first appointment.

Thursdays with Grandma

After college, I found myself at loose ends.I moved back home and started working at my high school job and started taking graduate classes. I worked weekends, but I had Thursdays off. Thursdays turned into Grandma days. Some days we would go to Turkey Swamp Park with a picnic. Other times we would drive to the beach and walk on the boardwalk. Still other times were plain and boring - I would drive Grandma's car, fill it up with gas and go to the farmer's market. We would go out for a nice lunch and talk and talk and talk. I love hanging out with her and hearing her stories. She was always interested in what I was doing, and never, ever asked when I was getting a real job Thursdays were a lot of fun.

My grandmother died today. She was 93 and had suffered with Alzheimers for years. The first time she didn't know who I was devastated me. I don't think I stopped crying for a week. Just about a week ago, I went to visit her the day before her birthday. She slept through the last several visits I had with her, so I didn't hope for much. I arrived as she was out for some sun on the beautiful spring afternoon. She knew who I was! She proved that when I tried to convince her I was her favorite grandchild. She looked me in the eye and glared the Grandma glare at me. She told me twice that she loved me, and we watched the birds and spring flowers together. She held my hand and kept telling me she couldn't talk much. For an hour, I had my Grandma back. It was such a wonderful gift.

I will miss my grandmother. She was a steady influence in my childhood. I can't remember a time when I didn't see her at least every week. She could bake bread better than anyone I ever met. Her muffins were legendary. She would walk to the market almost daily to get dinner. On special occasions, she would walk us to Jamesway to eat in their restaurant. She was stubborn. She was smart. She was an army nurse who took crap from no one. I loved her dearly and can't really believe she's gone.