rain on tulips

7 children
plus
2 nights of trick-or-treating
minus
9 kids trick-or-treating to my house (therefore not removing the candy)
equals???

Oh. And did I mention that it was cold-cold-cold while we were out tonight!? Say, at or under 40 degrees. Brrr! Cold, red hands, and shiny red noses! I guess it beats the rain!

I swore after all the previous dress-up things and the big to-do over the weekend at church that I was done doing Halloween! I was perfectly content with the idea of sitting home, passing out candy to the two or three kids who might stop by, and head to bed early! Really: that’s the plan.

Only DA got calls from friends almost the minute he walked in the door: C.B. wanted him to go trick-or-treating at her dads offices with her, and D.M. wants him to go to a party/dinner then trick-or-treating right after. I already packed him off on his way! JS has plans with several boys in his class to head out Trick-or-Treating at 6:30. Fuul said he will try to get home from work earlier-ish, and either take the younger kids over to the offices close to our house to trick-or-treat, or he’ll take them around the neighborhood.

And me? Well, realistically, I should go with Fuul to help with the kids… or — even better! — I’ll stay home with EK and CC, pass out the little bits of candy, and maybe cook up a nice pot of soup of some kind, to stave off the cold.

Or something. I ought to figure out shortly what I’m doing though, since Fuul will probably be calling before long to have me pick him up at the dropoff place, and the kids all still need to get costumed.

(Best laid plans and all that?)

EK survive (and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word!) her ultrasound, chest xray, urine screen and blood draw today. Three hours at the hospital (ever try waiting for a two-year-old to pee??? Never happens when you want it to!) and no news. I’m not sure how long we have to wait to get results.

I will certainly update here as soon as we do, though!

And, as always, any prayers and good thoughts that can be spared are appreciated!!!

Well, the faucett isn’t fixed as of yet, but I don’t have perpetual running water in my backyard: the landlord was able to get the leak at the faucett fixed, we put a different hose onto it, and a handheld sprinkler that can be ‘turned off’, and for the time being, the water is contained.

Except, it was below freezing last night, and I’m not sure how long that hose is going to hold, full of water like it is! Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

Trying to play catchup after the weekend around here… the house was let go, essentially, while we did all the pumpkin and cake and chili stuff… and now with the water problem, I’ve got to get it back up to snuff before the landlord comes over this afternoon to replace the faucett and fix the sliding glass door (a screw snapped off a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve just not made it out to the appropriate store to replace the thing!)

So… CC just fell asleep, so its back to the grind! Wish me luck! I’ve only got until 2:30 to have the house ‘done’! ACK!!

My backyard is flooding. Its not a fast process, but it is inexhorably happening!

I went in to check on EK, who cracked her head a good one at church today (HUGE lump, and a red-purple gash that didn’t break the skin but bled anyway, eventually!) and I heard something like an empty tape deck stuck on rewind. I Looked all around EK’s bed and didn’t find anything. I leaned close to the wall, and realized that the sound was actually coming from beyond her room.

So: off to the boy’s room, and I start digging through the piles of junk they have lying against that same wall. Nothing. I lean back against the wall, and realize that the sound is more correctly coming from inside the wall.

The backyard. Obviously.

I head out into the dying daylight (curse that Daylight Savings Time anyway!) and find the sprinkler on the end of the hose burbling quietly away in its own little puddle in the middle of the rain-drenched back yard. Not a problem: I’ll just turn the handle on the faucett a little, and be done with it.

Only it can’t ever be that simple! I turned the knob, as far as I could, but nothing really changed. I turned it the other way, and the sprinkler burst to life, showering the grass with water. Turn it back the other way: water goes back to burbling, but nothing less. Obviously I’m not turning the handle hard enough.

I run back into the house, grab a screwdriver, and run back out, to use the screwdriver as a lever in the handle to push it that last tiny turn. It turns, but it doesn’t change the water flow.

Oh no! Back inside for another, smaller screwdriver and a wrench. I try tightening the loose handle by tightening the screw in the middle of the handle, then try to turn it off again. No luck. Try levering the handle again, now that all the pieces are fitting tight. Only this time, it turns and then turns REALLY far, and the water is fountaining out of the sprinkler again, and when I try to turn it the other way, the whole thing spins! And then: the whole handle/screw/contraption comes off! And the water is running!

Reassemble: the whole thing turns one way, turns the other, spins freely on occasion, but now the water is running full speed out of the sprinkler and is not affected at all by the turning handle.

Fuul looked at it, tried all the same things I did, tried kinking the hose (resulted in water spraying out of the faucett into the flowerbed), and finally called the landlord. Who suggested we try all the things we’d already tried.

He also suggested turning off the water main. (Except, we don’t know where that is, and — so it turns out — neither does he.)

sigh

Fuul and DA had to leave for home teaching about that time, and so right now, the sprinkler is running away in my dark back yard, the landlord will try to find someone to come take a look at it all tomorrow sometime, and — if my home doesn’t float away in the next great flood that is building in my backyard — I’m sitting inside trying to drown out the sound of running water and convince myself that it can’t be all bad!!

The party last night was great: good food, a costume parade, more candy than my kids could possibly eat before next halloween, and lots of time to visit with friends!

And two — count them, TWO! — first place wins.

(Cue the red face and the hiding behind the baby as an excuse here!)

Really: when I decided to put the chili into a pumpkin to serve it, I did it only as a fun variation on a theme… figuring that others would run with the same idea. Silly me: everyone else stuck with the tried and true ‘pot’ idea. Winner was picked blind on the basis of the first pot emptied, and we won by a long shot! What is that old saying about presentation being everything!? JS made me the cute little sign (it says: “CTR: Chili That Rocks!”).

And the cake? JS and DA and I had a great time playing with that one, and figuring it all out, and designing it, and getting the little lightbulbs so the eyes would glow… and yes, they glowed!! The treasure was piled in nice little huddles around the entire thing, and the string of beads was a great addition right at the end! And we were all really excited to show it off to our friends at church! But — to win?? Over other people who had worked really hard on their cakes? Over the group of young women who made a really cool haunted house with jackolanterns that had christmas lights in them up the walkway so they glowed!?

With two wards in attendance!? And we won both!?

Yeah, lets just say that I’m quite thoroughly embarrassed! I did these things to have fun, not to ‘win’.

And Fuul pointed out that now people will think that we can just do anything, anytime, because, well, I did it this time! Oh dear!!

Edited to add: The skull is four layers of cherry chip cake, held together with chopsticks, and carved into the proper shape, then covered in white fondant and ‘detailed’ with brown food coloring. The eyes are cinnamon disk candies with lights behind them. The ‘rock’ that the skull is resting on is rice crispies treats covered in fondant, detailed with food coloring. The beads are plastic beads, the ‘gold’ are Rolos candies, held in place with buttercream frosting, and the hat is one that AE got at a birthday party last summer! The pumpkin was scored through the skin before baking to get the CTR markings, then rubbed with vegetable oil; the insides were scooped out, coated in butter and salt and pepper, and baked until the meat was soft.

Posting will be short today, as I’m in the frenzied middle* of trying to get 7 kids, one husband, one pirate skull cake, and one chili-filled pumpkin ready for a ward Chili Cookoff/Trunk-or-Treat/Cake Decorating Contest by 5.

Its two now.

The cake parts are baked but undecorated.

The chili is uncooked, but starting in a few minutes.

The pumpkin is baking as we speak.

Fuul just left with several of the less helpful kids to the library for an hour or two.

EK is watching Signing Time. CC just fell asleep.

If I can swing it, I (finally) have hair dye to get my hair done!

Bwahaha! (Yes… I’ve officially gone mad!! Thank you for asking!!)

*And how, you might ask, do I have time to post at all? Nursing, my dear friend; nursing! Wonderful excuse to sit and play on the computer for 20 minutes!!

Done:

-preschool
-grocery trip
-JS ophthalmology photos
-MRI scheduling

To do:

-laundry (Update 10pm: half done!)
-bake and decorate cake for contest tomorrow; this includes learning how to make fondant before tomorrow as well! (cool ideas kicking around; will post pictures if it turns out!) (Update 10pm: cakes cooked and cooling; fondant mixed and ready to roll)
-cook Grandpa Forrest Chili for chili contest tomorrow (Update 10pm: found a pumpkin to put the chili in for presentation)
-decide what to do with two boxes of apples that I bought (can you freeze apples? apple slices? can you freeze ‘apple pie’-type filling?? Ideas welcome!)
-get over sore throat/cold/mastitis.
-think about writing, and how I’m going to fit 50,000 words into my schedule for November!

(more…)

All the kids went with EK and I to her preschool class today, because our school district had a teacher-prep day, while the school district that runs EK’s class was still in session. Its always a risk (at least to me!) taking all the kids to this class with half a dozen special needs kids, but my kids generally do well, and behave themselves.

But today was a great change: I was there with all seven of my kids, one of the other moms was there with her two, and another mom was there with four! So, the little ones actually enrolled in the class were greatly outnumbered, and I didn’t feel as though it was me totally overwhelming the class! Because we had all the extra help, we were able to go to the park that’s next door to the preschool building.

EK’s teacher took lots and lots of pictures… hopefully she’ll send some to me via email, and I’ll try to post them here!

Not quite 8 months old!! Oh, dear!!

Spasmus Nutans.

spasmus nutans

Spasmus nutans is a special type of acquired (new onset, as opposed to congenital) nystagmus in childhood. Classically it is characterized by the combination of pendular nystagmus (to and fro like a swinging pendulum), head nodding, and torticollis.

Signs usually develop within the first year or two of life. Not all features may be present when the condition begins. In many cases, the condition is benign and self-limited, usually lasting a few months, but some cases may last for several years. The cause of this classic type of spasmus nutans, is unknown. This type disappears spontaneously without treatment.

Because many children with signs resembling those of spasmus nutans have underlying brain tumors, immediate neurologic evaluation and careful monitoring of infants and children with nystagmus is imperative.

That’s the current thought (for this week) on EK’s eyes. (Not to mention probable amblyopia in her right eye, and the low lids that will need correcting later… but for today, we focus on the new diagnosis).

Yes: she bobs her head when looking at things. Yes: she tilts or turns her head to the side after several subsequent bobs. And, Yes: the Ophthalmologist is pretty certain that she saw ’shimmers’ or ‘wiggles’ in EK’s eyes, and I’ve thought I’ve seen them before, but never been able to ‘watch’ for them.

Next step: MRI. (Again).

(And trying not to worry about all the references to neuroblastoma that I’m seeing show up in the information pages… sigh. I’ll be calling Dr. N tomorrow to push for ’sooner rather than later’ on the MRI, because of the neuroblastoma.)

(And… try to downplay the cold/sore throat that started this morning, and what I’m afraid is mastitis that started this afternoon. Because — in all this spare time I have — its just one more thing!!)

Rarely Home Mom posted a yummy Pumpkin Dinner Recipe yesterday… I’ve had similar things before, and was just thinking this week that it would be fun to do again!

(And, I was thinking that it might be fun to put our chili cookoff chili in a pumpkin for presentation on Saturday?? We’ll see if I’m that motivated come Saturday!)

Anyway… I’m grabbing the recipe, so I can have it for posterity!

Stuffed Pumpkin

1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 jar (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1-1/2 cups cooked rice
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 large pie pumpkin (8 to 9 pounds)
Vegetable oil

In a skillet over medium heat, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add soup, mushrooms, soy sauce and brown sugar. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rice and water chestnuts. Wash pumpkin; cut a 6-in. circle around stem. Remove top and set aside. Discard seeds and loose fibers from the inside. Spoon beef mixture into pumpkin; replace top. Place on a greased 15-in. x 10-in.g 1-in. baking pan. Rub oil over outside of pumpkin. Bake uncovered, at 350° for 1-1/2 hours or until pumpkin is tender. Scoop out some pumpkin with each serving of beef mixture. Yield: 6 servings.

Join NaBloPoMo! Write a post every day for the month of November, for the chance to win prizes and fame! (Err… something like that!)

Found via Gwendomama.

(Warning!! The site with the information for the contest contains — erm… — colorful language, and may not be suitable for all viewers… possibly not even the adults. Consider yourselves warned!)

Its been a while since I’ve updated EK’s wordcount (April, then June), so I thought it might be about time again!

(Key: bold words are new since the last list; italicized words she doesn’t use as often any more; and “words in quotations” are not real signs, but she’s evolved her own signs that everyone in the house understands!)

That’s like 105 words*!! Woohoo!! Totally on track for a 2-year-old’s vocabulary! Of course, we are still working regularly at speech to help her develop spoken language skills, but she’s very clearly communicating with us!

*I am updating this list based only on what Fuul and I can remember tonight; I will ask the other kids — who always seem to remember more than me! — tomorrow, and may wind up supplementing the list further! But… this is a good start!