The girls decided to put on a "show" for us tonight and Timmy had to get involved too!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Misc. pictures!
Gotta love this face :-)
Valentine's Day 2011
We couldn't wait for Spring to come so we decided to have our own picnic in the kitchen!
Daddy and Naomi taking a "rest".
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Our Weekend Away!
One of our Christmas gifts to each other was a night away without children! We spent a wonderful night at the Woodbound Inn in Rindge NH. The place was nice, the breakfast was delicious, the company delightful, and the uninterrupted sleep divine! We went snowshoeing the next day on a trail at the inn that ends up at the Chapel of the Pines, which overlooks Mt. Monadnock. It was a perfect day for snowshoeing and we loved it!
Lent 2011
Lent is already upon us! I have a few plans for the kids for this Lent and will link up to them.
Being Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras today, we had waffles for dinner! Up until about 100 years ago, the faithful abstained from meat and meat products (including milk, eggs and butter) all through Lent. So, the day before Ash Wednesday, they used up all these products and waffles and pancakes were a great way to do so! So it is tradition to have pancakes or waffles for dinner on Shrove Tuesday! Of course, we topped it off with brownie sundaes for good measure :-)
Since we're all still so sick, we didn't do a whole lot today, but we did "get all our Alleluia's out!" Since the Church refrains from using Alleluia or Gloria in it's liturgies during Lent, we shouted out Alleluia's tonight for the last time until Easter. I am making this banner, and we are going to put it away tomorrow until Easter. We would have put it away today, but I didn't get a chance to finish it up today.
I was planning to take everyone to Mass for Ash Wednesday tomorrow, but we'll be playing that by ear with the sicknesses. Otherwise, dinner will consist of Lentil Stew and we'll put our Alleluias away and make up a Lenten calendar looking somewhat like this.
Since Lent focuses on three main things, prayer, fasting and alms giving, I want to observe each of these in some way with the kids. For prayer, we are going to choose something specific to pray for every day of the week. We will make a better effort to include the girls in the Rosary every night and say a children's version of the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. I'll print out these Stations of the Cross coloring pages and we'll be coloring them as we complete the stations. For fasting, we will be giving up desserts except on Sundays and special feast days and abstaining from meat on Fridays as mandated by the Church. We will also observe the mandatory fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday of course. For almsgiving we will do something like this with pennies. We probably will end up just putting a penny in an offering box every day of Lent for the "poor people" or putting a penny in every time we do something especially good. I'm not sure yet. I'm also planning to make one of these crowns and every time the girls do something especially good, they can pull a thorn out of the crown for Jesus. On Easter, I'll put some sort of flowers in it to represent their good works.
Of course, Pete and I will be doing our own things for Lent as well, but I won't be posting them on here for obvious reasons!
For more ideas for celebrating Lent with children, visit Shower of Roses and Catholic Icing, two excellent resources!
I'll try to post pictures as we do these activities. Now, before midnight hits, I'd better get in one last helping of Double Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream :-)
Being Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras today, we had waffles for dinner! Up until about 100 years ago, the faithful abstained from meat and meat products (including milk, eggs and butter) all through Lent. So, the day before Ash Wednesday, they used up all these products and waffles and pancakes were a great way to do so! So it is tradition to have pancakes or waffles for dinner on Shrove Tuesday! Of course, we topped it off with brownie sundaes for good measure :-)
Since we're all still so sick, we didn't do a whole lot today, but we did "get all our Alleluia's out!" Since the Church refrains from using Alleluia or Gloria in it's liturgies during Lent, we shouted out Alleluia's tonight for the last time until Easter. I am making this banner, and we are going to put it away tomorrow until Easter. We would have put it away today, but I didn't get a chance to finish it up today.
I was planning to take everyone to Mass for Ash Wednesday tomorrow, but we'll be playing that by ear with the sicknesses. Otherwise, dinner will consist of Lentil Stew and we'll put our Alleluias away and make up a Lenten calendar looking somewhat like this.
Since Lent focuses on three main things, prayer, fasting and alms giving, I want to observe each of these in some way with the kids. For prayer, we are going to choose something specific to pray for every day of the week. We will make a better effort to include the girls in the Rosary every night and say a children's version of the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. I'll print out these Stations of the Cross coloring pages and we'll be coloring them as we complete the stations. For fasting, we will be giving up desserts except on Sundays and special feast days and abstaining from meat on Fridays as mandated by the Church. We will also observe the mandatory fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday of course. For almsgiving we will do something like this with pennies. We probably will end up just putting a penny in an offering box every day of Lent for the "poor people" or putting a penny in every time we do something especially good. I'm not sure yet. I'm also planning to make one of these crowns and every time the girls do something especially good, they can pull a thorn out of the crown for Jesus. On Easter, I'll put some sort of flowers in it to represent their good works.
Of course, Pete and I will be doing our own things for Lent as well, but I won't be posting them on here for obvious reasons!
For more ideas for celebrating Lent with children, visit Shower of Roses and Catholic Icing, two excellent resources!
I'll try to post pictures as we do these activities. Now, before midnight hits, I'd better get in one last helping of Double Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream :-)
Hitting Peak!
I think Timmy is on the mend now and has passed peak of his illness. Olivia was diagnosed with 2 ear infections the other day and has now passed peak as well. She finally has gone a day without a fever after having a continuous one for about a week (thanks to her ear infections!) She was much more spunky today! Naomi and I are at peak today and have felt pretty miserable the last two days. So, hopefully we'll follow suit and feel better over the next two days. For now, we've been laying low and doing the bare minimum around the house. The kids have watched lots of movies, read lots of books, taken naps, and played low key games! Pete has had the cold as well, but has managed to keep it at bay! Thankfully someone in the house has felt well enough to pull us through!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A Night to Remember!
I half expected to end up in the ER the other night with Timmy, but I never expected that it would be for all 5 of us instead of for him! We had the (brilliant!) idea of having a fire in the fireplace (only the second all winter) last night before bed. Before we went to bed, we put the fire out, made sure there was no smoke and closed the damper. That was around 10:30pm. At 1am I woke up to the carbon monoxide detector going off! I roused Pete and we went out to check to see if it was ligit. After unsuccessfully trying to reset it and then a second detector going off, we decided it was indeed ligit and we should heed the warning. I expected we were being overly cautious, but you can't put a price tag on life, so we bundled the kids up, woke them up and brought them out to the car. Thankfully, it was 40 degrees out! Boy were they confused! Naomi kept saying "I want to go back to my bed!!!"
Pete called 911 and the emergency squad responded. Thankfully, the girls and I have been to the fire station with the library group and had been exposed to the firetrucks and firefighters in full garb in a non-threatening environment. We explained to the kids that there was smoke from the fireplace in the house and that the firefighters would get rid of it and then we'd be able to go back in the house and go back to bed....don't I wish!
Upon entering the house, the firefighters got a high carbon monoxide reading. They then called the ambulance "just as a precaution" to check our blood levels. Well, we all came back high...Pete and Olivia the highest. We were high enough to warrant oxygen and a trip to the ER, but I don't think we were high enough to be incredibly concerned. Thankfully, all three kids had been exposed to the O2 Sat machine and oxygen masks in a non-threatening environment with Timmy's recent doctors appts. All three kids handled everything beautifully! They were cooperative, never cried and just went along for the ride!
So anyway, as the firefighters opened our house up to fresh air and blew a whole house fan through it and retested it to make sure it was safe, we were all escorted into the ambulance. I was told to leave the keys somewhere where someone could pick up our van to bring us home, so I put them in the glove compartment. I helped get the kids transferred over to the ambulance while Pete retrieved necessary items from the house such as shoes and sippy cups for the kids! As he climbed in the ambulance he said, you didn't leave the van keys in the van did you? Um....yes I did...you didn't lock it did you?! Yup! So, now we were locked out of our van too! And we do not have an extra key, nor did we have time to wait for AAA to come unlock us.... We decided to deal with that later.
By this time it was 3:30 am! We ended up in Worcester because UMass Worcester hospital has a pediatric ER. They would be set up better to see us all. We were all hooked up to oxygen and transported to the ER. In the ER we all were transferred over to the Hopsital oxygen and all our blood levels were checked. They were shown to be decreasing, so that was good! Timmy was the only one that was 0 (he was in his own room with the door shut last night...that's the only reason I can think of!). Pete and the girls were in one room and Tim and I were in the next room. We were all left to rest (aka watch cartoons!) and stay on oxygen.
The doctors came in and examined us and by 5 told us we could go home! We made a call out to Joe (thank you SO much Joe!) and he picked us up around 6 or so. He graciously treated us to Dunkin Donuts which made everyone's day :-) And dropped us off at home to our newly aired out house and locked car!
We've been (attempting!) to sleep all day! Of course all 3 kids can't seem to nap at the same time! Pete and I have been taking shifts!
The highlight of the whole thing for the kids was they each got a stuffed animal in the ambulance! Olivia got a teddy bear, Naomi a Care Bears Monkey, and Timmy an elephant! Naomi has been walking around all day with it!
Everyone was wonderful through the whole ordeal! They were all efficient, organized, and calm. No one instilled panic and the EMTs and nurses were great with the kids!
So, that was our night to remember and I hope we don't have to experience that again! The doctors did say that though they weren't certain we would've been dead without the detector going off, it was a possibility! If not that we would have been pretty sick by morning! Carbon monoxide is an odorless, invisible gas and often kills people in their sleep because they go unconscious. Pete and I could have gone unconscious and the kids would not have known what to do. I certainly don't like to dwell on that! I prefer to thank God and Our Guardian angels!
Lessons learned:
-even a few burning embers can cause high levels of carbon monoxide
-carbon monoxide detectors are worth every. single. penny! And EVERYONE should have one!
-check your detectors to make sure the batteries are functioning and replace batteries every 6 months!
-oxygen is the best antidote for carbon monoxide...had we been left on room air, it would have taken 5 hours to "detox"...with oxygen it took about 90 minutes!
-bringing children to meet and greet days a the fire station is a GREAT idea! It keeps children calm if/when they meet up with them in the middle of the night!
-the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are nausea, headache, confusion, chest pain, loss of consciousness... thankfully none of us had any symptoms!
-further treatment for this would have been med flighting to a hyperbarric chamber...of which MA only has a few in the state...so glad that was not the case!
Anyway, thank you to everyone for their concern! Thank you to Our Merciful Heavenly Father and our wonderful Guardian Angels! Thank you to everyone that made our experience smooth! Thank you Joe! And thank you carbon monoxide detectors...of which we will ALWAYS have one and I will ALWAYS replace the batteries of!
Pete called 911 and the emergency squad responded. Thankfully, the girls and I have been to the fire station with the library group and had been exposed to the firetrucks and firefighters in full garb in a non-threatening environment. We explained to the kids that there was smoke from the fireplace in the house and that the firefighters would get rid of it and then we'd be able to go back in the house and go back to bed....don't I wish!
Upon entering the house, the firefighters got a high carbon monoxide reading. They then called the ambulance "just as a precaution" to check our blood levels. Well, we all came back high...Pete and Olivia the highest. We were high enough to warrant oxygen and a trip to the ER, but I don't think we were high enough to be incredibly concerned. Thankfully, all three kids had been exposed to the O2 Sat machine and oxygen masks in a non-threatening environment with Timmy's recent doctors appts. All three kids handled everything beautifully! They were cooperative, never cried and just went along for the ride!
So anyway, as the firefighters opened our house up to fresh air and blew a whole house fan through it and retested it to make sure it was safe, we were all escorted into the ambulance. I was told to leave the keys somewhere where someone could pick up our van to bring us home, so I put them in the glove compartment. I helped get the kids transferred over to the ambulance while Pete retrieved necessary items from the house such as shoes and sippy cups for the kids! As he climbed in the ambulance he said, you didn't leave the van keys in the van did you? Um....yes I did...you didn't lock it did you?! Yup! So, now we were locked out of our van too! And we do not have an extra key, nor did we have time to wait for AAA to come unlock us.... We decided to deal with that later.
By this time it was 3:30 am! We ended up in Worcester because UMass Worcester hospital has a pediatric ER. They would be set up better to see us all. We were all hooked up to oxygen and transported to the ER. In the ER we all were transferred over to the Hopsital oxygen and all our blood levels were checked. They were shown to be decreasing, so that was good! Timmy was the only one that was 0 (he was in his own room with the door shut last night...that's the only reason I can think of!). Pete and the girls were in one room and Tim and I were in the next room. We were all left to rest (aka watch cartoons!) and stay on oxygen.
The doctors came in and examined us and by 5 told us we could go home! We made a call out to Joe (thank you SO much Joe!) and he picked us up around 6 or so. He graciously treated us to Dunkin Donuts which made everyone's day :-) And dropped us off at home to our newly aired out house and locked car!
We've been (attempting!) to sleep all day! Of course all 3 kids can't seem to nap at the same time! Pete and I have been taking shifts!
The highlight of the whole thing for the kids was they each got a stuffed animal in the ambulance! Olivia got a teddy bear, Naomi a Care Bears Monkey, and Timmy an elephant! Naomi has been walking around all day with it!
Everyone was wonderful through the whole ordeal! They were all efficient, organized, and calm. No one instilled panic and the EMTs and nurses were great with the kids!
So, that was our night to remember and I hope we don't have to experience that again! The doctors did say that though they weren't certain we would've been dead without the detector going off, it was a possibility! If not that we would have been pretty sick by morning! Carbon monoxide is an odorless, invisible gas and often kills people in their sleep because they go unconscious. Pete and I could have gone unconscious and the kids would not have known what to do. I certainly don't like to dwell on that! I prefer to thank God and Our Guardian angels!
Lessons learned:
-even a few burning embers can cause high levels of carbon monoxide
-carbon monoxide detectors are worth every. single. penny! And EVERYONE should have one!
-check your detectors to make sure the batteries are functioning and replace batteries every 6 months!
-oxygen is the best antidote for carbon monoxide...had we been left on room air, it would have taken 5 hours to "detox"...with oxygen it took about 90 minutes!
-bringing children to meet and greet days a the fire station is a GREAT idea! It keeps children calm if/when they meet up with them in the middle of the night!
-the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are nausea, headache, confusion, chest pain, loss of consciousness... thankfully none of us had any symptoms!
-further treatment for this would have been med flighting to a hyperbarric chamber...of which MA only has a few in the state...so glad that was not the case!
Anyway, thank you to everyone for their concern! Thank you to Our Merciful Heavenly Father and our wonderful Guardian Angels! Thank you to everyone that made our experience smooth! Thank you Joe! And thank you carbon monoxide detectors...of which we will ALWAYS have one and I will ALWAYS replace the batteries of!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Quarentined....again!
All three kids now have fevers! Timmy started two days ago, then woke up breathing heavy yesterday morning. A trip to the doctor and he has an ear infection and bronchitis. They put him on an antibiotic and a nebulizer treatment. Poor little man...he doesn't seem a whole lot better today. He has a tight cough and still breathing faster than his norm. Still has a fever...the doctor said as long as his breathing isn't worse, to wait it out one more day and see if his body will fight it off. The girls love his nebulizer machine because it came with stickers to put on it and the face mask looks like a fish!
Olivia started with a fever last night and woke up with one again this morning. You know she's sick when: she curls up on the floor in the sunlight with a pillow and blanket and falls asleep without prompting; she turns down watching a movie; she only eats half her ice cream. Poor thing! At one point today, I put Timmy in his playpen and the girls were watching a movie. I was in the kitchen and Olivia called out to me that he was throwing his toys out of the playpen and I responded that it was ok. A few minutes later I hear a very sad, "I just can't pick these all up right now. I just don't feel good!" She's so used to being such a good helper that she thought she needed to pitch in even though she felt lousy! I made sure to let her know I did not expect her to clean up when she felt sick and she could just lay back down on the couch and I'd get the toys!
Naomi just started with a fever tonight, so we'll see what's in store for tomorrow! I think she felt a little left out since she was the only one not sick and not getting all the attention today. She wanted to be held a lot and pretended she was sick some of the time!
I just pray Pete and I can avoid the sickness...if only so we can take care of everyone! And I pray that spring will please come SOON!
Olivia started with a fever last night and woke up with one again this morning. You know she's sick when: she curls up on the floor in the sunlight with a pillow and blanket and falls asleep without prompting; she turns down watching a movie; she only eats half her ice cream. Poor thing! At one point today, I put Timmy in his playpen and the girls were watching a movie. I was in the kitchen and Olivia called out to me that he was throwing his toys out of the playpen and I responded that it was ok. A few minutes later I hear a very sad, "I just can't pick these all up right now. I just don't feel good!" She's so used to being such a good helper that she thought she needed to pitch in even though she felt lousy! I made sure to let her know I did not expect her to clean up when she felt sick and she could just lay back down on the couch and I'd get the toys!
Naomi just started with a fever tonight, so we'll see what's in store for tomorrow! I think she felt a little left out since she was the only one not sick and not getting all the attention today. She wanted to be held a lot and pretended she was sick some of the time!
I just pray Pete and I can avoid the sickness...if only so we can take care of everyone! And I pray that spring will please come SOON!
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