Sunday, June 21, 2009

Poison Ivy, Giant Needle, Raccoon

POISON IVY
This was a busy week. As previously posted, B had an allergic reaction to what we thought was hay. After comments about it looking like poison ivy and the doctor even commenting about the similarity - though he did say it could be an allergic reaction and don't let her go near that hay again - we read about how long it can take for a poison ivy reaction and looked at pictures of poison ivy blisters. The conversation went like this:
Me: Have you ever seen anything like that before?
B: Yes.
Me: Really? Where?
B: On my hands.
Me: Really? Do you know what that is?
B: No.
Me: The rash from poison ivy.
B: Oh.
Me: Are you sure you didn't touch any plants at the picnic Sunday evening?
B: Oh OK, OK, I DID.

It's nice to get to the bottom of the story, isn't it? Sometimes it takes a LOT of digging (nearly to China) to get to the bottom of B's stories!

GIANT NEEDLE
When we went to the doctor to have the rash checked out, B was very concerned about having to get a shot. She hasn't had many in her life, but the last one - 2 years ago - was memorable and she had a reaction. So no more shots for her. But she doesn't believe me. I assured her that she wouldn't need nor get a shot this time. I was almost positive she wouldn't (because I didn't know if she should have a steroid shot or not and I wanted to leave a little bit of wiggle room.) As we pulled into the parking lot, she says, "Mom, if your almost positive I won't get a shot, that means there is still a small chance I might!" Poor thing.

We parked the van, she looked out her window, and exclaimed: "GIANT NEEDLE!" Here is what she saw:

It's on the TOP of the building where the doctor has his office!

RACCOON
We had a big storm Friday evening. BIG. Not tornado-big, but close. Standing in my across-the-street-neighbor's doorway, I watched one neighbor's tree lose big branches, then I watched half a tree come down right in front of me. Well, I watched the whole thing blow over and only half of it came back up. That was really weird. Weirder was that there was no sound with it. That sheds a whole new light on the question about a tree in the forest. But that's another story.

When the power flickered several times and then didn't come back on after that last flicker, we decided it was time to get the generator going. Last time it was 8 days before it came back on. So Hubby was in and out of the garage a few times in the dark to get the gas tank, extension cords, etc. After the generator was running, he thought he heard some thuds from the garage, but didn't really think anything of it. Saturday morning, heading out for gymnastics with C, I noticed the curtain inside the little window of the garage was pushed aside. Noting it was strange, but not strange enough to remember to mention it, apparently.

Today, we pulled in to the driveway after church. We park in the driveway because there is too much "other stuff" in the garage. (My parents always parked in the garage, but they were pack rats. Hubby's family never parked in the garage and are also pack rats. That should explain the "other stuff" in the garage.) So, pulling in to the driveway, here is what we found:

That little window is broken. We thought someone broke in. Why? Who knows. But that's what we thought. We have so much stuff in there that it would be hard to tell if anything was missing. But it looked ransacked. Stuff was thrown around - knocked off shelves, boxes flung, Hubby's heavy Craftsman stackable tool case toppled over. Huh? Why wouldn't this stuff have been stolen instead of just thrown around? Maybe they were looking for a door into the house? (It's an older home with an originally detached garage that was attached through an addition about 35 years ago, but no door connecting the two, so it's attached but detached still.)

We called the police. We checked the shed. Nothing messed with; nothing missing. The officer arrived and we started showing him around and talking through it. As we looked further and more closely we found footprints. And poop. I don't have pics of those yet, but I may add them just to add to the adventure. It had to have gotten in Friday evening. Looking at what that critter did, can I just tell you, "Man those critters are strong!" I guess we weren't broken in to, but out of. (I'm glad it got out - even if it did have to break the window - rather than us being broken in to or us finding a dead raccoon in the garage!)

I'm sorry Hubby had to board up the window on Father's Day. But he did get a massage from Massage Envy. And 3yo C woke him up this morning saying, "Daddy, Happy Mother's Day!" (Isn't that cute?) LOL. :)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Answer: Allergic Rash, Much like Poison Ivy

Sigh.

(Oh, before I {sigh} too much, let me thank my commenters to my last post! It DOES look like poison ivy, doesn't it? And the link posted is just enough to make one cringe! We have had so many lessons on identifying poison ivy, too! Let's just say, if there are any things I'm paranoid about, they are poison ivy, lice, and people who do bad things to children!)

B was feeding the Snoopy, our new bunny, Monday night. After I got poked enough by the hay, I asked if anyone else wanted to fill the box with hay. (I'm allergic to hay. It makes me sneeze, my eyes get itchy and runny, and I break out in a rash. Just a MILD rash, though. Not the one in the pictures.) So B took over.

I noticed before she went to bed that she had red splotches all over her hand and a few scratches that penetrated her skin. She had no idea how it happened. Could have been when her hand slipped between the mats at gymnastics earlier in the evening, brushing against the velcro. It didn't seem to bother her at all and it isn't surprising she didn't know where it happened.

Tuesday morning she had what you see in the pictures in my last post. The only places we were on Monday were swimming lessons at a brand-spankin' new water park that opened up in a local community park district (where we normally take swimming lessons, but this year they have a brand new facility!), home for lunch, then to Vacation Bible School, home for dinner, and out to gymnastics (indoors).

So, Wednesday the doctor said it is an allergic reaction very much like poison ivy. Because we cannot think where she may have touched poison ivy, it must be the hay. (There were other reasons we were at the doctor for B, but this was the reason to go TODAY instead of Saturday.) We've been keeping it covered just so we don't freak people out at swimming lessons or anywhere else. I just feel so bad that it's B who has it. She has the toughest breaks and already doesn't "feel" things quite the way we do. Plus, she is so self-conscious and sensitive. Not that I'd wish it on any child, but B certainly has it rough!

Now that I'm thinking back, I'm wondering if there may have been poison ivy at the park where we picnicked Sunday evening. Or if there may have been any in the flower beds at church when they did some of the activities at VBS...

I guess I'll go look up the time from exposure to rash for poison ivy... just for my peace of mind.

Stay tuned for the GIANT NEEDLE at the doctor's office.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

3 guesses

Whose finger is this & what happened? (This is not the only one; there are a bunch on the other hand and arm.)

More to come after we've been to the doctor...

Here are more pictures... every one of the red spots and scratches is full of blisters.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Welcome: Snoopy


I doubt this one will ever be seen riding on top of a dog house re-enacting war zones, but she is the newest member of our family.

She is a beautiful, grey, 3-year old lop. We didn't tell the kids where we were going or what we were doing. We just drove. And drove. And drove. Ok, it really wasn't THAT far, but it was an hour away. We could have gotten one closer, especially with the fair coming up next month. But this one has been raised by people, handled well, is used to being a house-bunny, and is used to cats. All of these are good things for a house with 2 cats and 3 kids.

When we came out to the van with a cage with a bunny in it, the kids were not sure why. When it hit them what we were doing, they were so excited. Calm, but excited. We had to cram a lot of bunny supplies in around the kids and B had no leg room all the way home. She curled her legs up and propped them up on top of the hutch and curled them again. She was a real trooper, not asking how much longer until we were about 15 minutes away from home. Of course, once we got home, she disappeared to decompress (B, not Snoopy). Being out of the house is very taxing for B.

Snoopy is very strong and super curious. She is very sweet and really doesn't care about the cats. The cats aren't sure about her. The kids love her. We are happy to have her join our family and hopefully she will be happy to be here, too.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Empathy Update

Today A had a friend over. We ventured out to see the Hannah Montana movie. All 3 + friend. Cute movie and the kids were well behaved going, during, and returning. Thank you, Lord, for I don't know that I'd ever do it again if it didn't go well. It's rated G. And true to it. Yeah! Very few movies now-a-days are really a "G" movie.

So, on the way home, B was telling friend about her new shoes. You know, the ones from here. She was explaining how she can sometimes fit into A's shoes, but A can't wear her shoes because A's feet are narrower and longer. Then she went on to say that if A tried and they didn't fit, well, "I wouldn't be heart-broken for her. It might bleed a little. But definitely not broken."

Baby steps, right? At least it's a step in the right direction.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

We don't have any monkeys. Do we???

So, we were sitting down for dinner and I put a plate in front of each kid. One had a regular kid plate, another had a plate with little sections to keep the different foods from touching, and the third was heart-shaped and had Disney princesses on it.

C protests that she DOESN'T WANT the princess plate; she wants some other plate.
I whisper in C's ear, "You have the princess plate because your name means 'princess'. Isn't that special?"
B says, so matter-of-factly, to C, "No it doesn't. It means 'horrid monkey'."

And dinner is just getting started...

("Horrid monkey"? Where does she come up with this?)

Hubby and I had to giggle about it.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

No more nail polish

Who spilled nail polish on the carpet???

Purple nail polish. A spot about an inch and a half long and half inch wide.

About 6 inches from the corner of the couch. On light, rose-colored carpet.

How in the *(@! do you get out DRIED nail polish???

Thank you, my dear friend Robin, for looking it up.

Windex and shaving cream. Did you read that right? Yes, Windex the window cleaner and foaming shaving cream. And a tooth brush. And water to keep it wet enough to work with. And scrubbing power elbow grease.

It disolved.

If you ever have reason to do this yourself, don't try to pick it out while scrubbing. I think it also affected the carpet glue. A few strings of shag pulled out when I did this, so I stopped picking and just scrubbed. I haven't checked to see if the glue re-dried well, but I'm assuming it did.

Next step: throw out all the nail polish in the house. (Actually already done before I started scrubbing.)

Knock-knock. Who's there? Not the tooth fairy.

I woke up yesterday morning.

Well, I wasn't quite awake when I rolled over on my tummy and slid my hands under my pillow. What is THAT? There is something under my pillow...

I pulled out a handful of fruit chews. You know, those sickening sweet and so-chewy-they'll-pull-out-a-filling things that companies want you to believe are nutritious and healthy for your kids? You'll find out how healthy they are after numerous visits to the dentist to repair those pearly whites that have rotted-away-enamel. They are as bad as a tooth soaking in soda-pop. Arg. They are banned in my house. For exactly that reason.

So how did a handful of them end up under my pillow? I don't think it was the tooth fairy...

I won't even start the rant about being glad they hadn't yet attracted ants... under my pillow!