Tonight was Olivia's dance recital...what fun we had! The weather was gorgeous and the smoke situation was much clearer than it has been in days! This all matters because the recital is held outside in a beautiful amphitheater.
I am way tired and will try to post some video of it tomorrow, but for now, here are some pictures...

like an ashtray

I am not a smoker, but I sure feel like it. The air here is getting worse everyday, just when we thought it would get better. We are supposed to get a good wind system coming in this weekend, so hopefully some of this horrible air will be pushed out of here.

Until then, pass the respirator please.

close call

So as moms and dads, we always hear about not letting the kids out of our sight. And although it is hard to constantly have an eye on their every move, our family got a good dose of reality today! Looking back, I am glad my kids witnessed this, and it was clear that the boundaries Kelly and I have set for them have truly sunk in!

We were in the garage, getting ready to take Kelly back to work after he came home for lunch. Olivia was in the driveway and starts yelling that there is a kid in the street. We walk out of the garage, and sure enough a little boy, only about 2, was standing in the crosswalk of a very busy nearby street by himself! Cars are going by and he is just looking around! Kelly ran down there, about 50 yards, and took him by the hand. Turns out it was the little boy from across the street! Kelly took him home and mom was shocked to find he was even out of the house! My heart was in my throat as I thought about what might have happened if he would not have been found when he was! (And strangely enough, of all the cars passing by, one car stopped and that was as Kelly was taking him by the hand! What is wrong with people!?)

Anyhoo, it was a comfort to see Olivia and Mason react with such caution, as they knew that was not okay and very dangerous.

After Kelly saved the day for this young one, Olivia declared, in her 6 year old wisdom, "Yep, that is what daddy is going to do now, go around the world and help people." How sweet!

Make sure you hug your kids today! I know the mother of this little boy is!

wordless wednesday

fever free...

Some of you may know that a little over a year ago, Mason started a series of regular fevers that plagued him and us for several months. They would occur about every 21 days and their origin was always a mystery. Each episode was more stressful than the previous, and the fevers, which would hover at 105 degrees, lasted for about 5-7 days. In the fall of this past year, we finally realized there was a pattern to the fevers and accompanying mouth sores. After hitting a dead end with our pediatrician, we were referred to a regional children's hospital. After much bloodwork, we were relieved to find it was nothing serious, but we came away with a possible diagnosis, PFAPA, an acronym for a type of periodic fever syndrome, something we were told he would eventually outgrow.

So we came home with a revisit scheduled for 3 months out. This would give us a chancve to let him cycle a few more times and take more notes. Luckily for us, he skipped a cycle and the only one to follow that was much milder. We went to our next apppointment and we were told that they may be tapering off, let's not treat at this time and if they start up again, call us. Okay. We were relieved to not have to choose a treatment, as we didn't like any of them, (the most common being a steroid).

Since April, Mason has had one additional cycle, once again very mild. We still believe his body goes through the cycle, as we see him get slightly lethargic still, sometimes gets the mouth sores, and like clockwork, gets crabby on the same fevering cycle he had been experiencing.

For now, we are just hoping it does not rear it's ugly head again.

I was prompted to post this today as the Washington Post ran an article about a family dealing with PFAPA.

Click to read the Washington Post article! (I have been tweaking this post, as the link has been acting funny, should work: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/20/AR2008062002501.html

Please pray that Mason stays fever free!

home improvement

The single best test of any relationship! I have not so fond memories of my mom and dad wall papering the dining room and nearly divorcing about halfway through! (They are still happily married for nearly 40 years now! I truly believe wall paper would bring any partnership to it's knees!)

Today, Kelly and I got really motivated and decided to rectify the paint situation in our bedroom, which is another post altogether...the short version is that two years ago I got a wild hair and painted one wall chocolate brown, although Kelly gave it a different name. That is all that was ever painted, as it was a stand off! Today, we buried the chocolate brown for good. In it's place, bright white head ache inducing primer. And the best part is, we laughed and ribbed at each other the whole way through. (might that have been the high we were on from the fumes?)

Thank God we are not wall papering!

When we actually have some color, I'll post a pic then!

let them bloom!

every summer since we moved into this house, some palm like plant keeps growing in a rather strange area of our front landscape...smack in the middle of a bush. So every summer, I have yanked it out of the ground after a few weeks of it only being a leafy palm plant. This summer, it has decided to bloom the most beautiful flowers! (Still, smack in the middle of the bush, but oh well!)

water gun warriors...

...or not! So, the sheer joy of a water gun is assaulting other people with it! My kids missed that memo.

Firing upon one another brought angry shrieks and sometimes tears from the victim. They couldn't quite grasp that if they squirted, they could expect to be squirted back! As you can see, a poor unsuspecting snail became the victim of their water gun spree.

So, let's try this again!

Yes, a new start, or maybe just a continuation of what I started, um, back in Feruary!? Where has the time gone?

Well, now it is June, school is out and we are soooo enjoying the summer! Since moving to CA, this is my first summer not working, and can I just say, I have missed this! For the first two weeks of summer, I took the kids to the park everyday after Mason's nap. But for the last two weeks Olivia has had bible school and it has just been getting hotter and hotter in the late afternoon!


We are looking forward to a few things this summer...

• Olivia's dance recital...coming up on the 28th. Look for pictures soon! She is doing two numbers this year, one ballet and one tap.



• A much anticpated visit from grandma and grandpa from July 12-19! We can't wait! Olivia has already sorted out the sleeping arrangements and she is saving a Cold Stone gift card so she can buy them ice cream!



• A day trip or two...we want to take the kids to San Fran to visit the Exploratorium and Golden Gate Park.
  


• Mason's 4th birthday!! Can that be possible?



• And well, just enjoying the time off from work, 'cause Lord knows school will be back in session before we know it!

So I promise to update this way more often!

Olivia got caught experimenting with my makeup!

Mason has his pirate persona down pat!