Family Portraits

Here are two family portraits from Christmas. We take a candid shot every year, and it's fun to look back and see how we are changing.


This year's photo of Brad's side of the family includes our newest family member, Leah.



Here's another impossibly cute photo of Leah:

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2008.

Thanks for stopping by,

Michele

The Long Winter Night

This morning was Dylan's annual EEG brainwave scan. For this test, his brain must be extremely tired, so we have to keep him up all night. I took the first shift, during which we did a jigsaw puzzle, played several rounds of his US geography card game, and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I took this picture of Dylan just before I woke Brad at 4:00 am for his shift to start.

He and Brad spent the rest of the night putting together two new Lego sets that Dylan had gotten for Christmas and saved for his long, sleepless night. They worked for five hours and finished both before his 9 am appointment.

Here is a picture of Dylan hooked up with the pilot cap for the test.



They were home at 10 am, and both went right to bed. Here's a picture of Dylan with his two completed Lego sets after he slept a few hours.


We'll get results when we meet with his neurologist next Friday. I'll report back after that.

Peace from me to you.

Dylan's Christmas Brain Teaser

Dylan conceived and executed this video himself, with a little help from Brad.



Translation of his introduction: "Do you know what song this is? Well, try and figure it out."

Hint: notice what letter is missing from his alphabet.

My favorite part is his expression at the very end. My second favorite part is that this video documents that stage when his new permanent teeth are coming in.

RS Page 86

As I was making my way through the last issue of Rolling Stone, I turned to the "Downloads" page to find a review of "Lord Don't Slow Me Down," the recently released single by Oasis. I was surprised to see it there because, while they still warrant many column-inches a week in England and grace the covers of numerous magazines abroad, Oasis is virtually ignored, I daresay unknown, in the U.S.

The text reads:

"By both musical and biological standards, the hard-living, hard-brawling Brothers Gallagher should've expired years ago, but they're still cranking out records at a decent three-year rate, causing Brits to cheer and Americans to say, "O-ay-who?"Here's reason to care again: This single from their forthcoming disc is a hot blues-rock kick, with Noel howling about that really irritating itch that only smack can scratch." Kevin O'Donnell

This is a terrific song, and I blogged about it in October. Go on, have another listen.

Rock And Roll Heaven's Gate

This is one of my two favorite songs from Despite Our Differences by Indigo Girls. The look of the video is a bit disturbing, but I love Amy's plaid pants and the synchronized dance by the paper dolls.

The best part of the song itself is the guest vocal by Pink, who adds a powerhouse countermelody toward the end.

Let's Hear It For Lefse

Dawn blogged last month about making lefse, and I got inspired to follow suit. It's something I try to do once or twice each winter. Making lefse used to be an all-day affair until I started cooking on two irons simultaneously. I inherited one iron from my mother-in-law, and then I found one at a rummage sale a few years ago. Now it goes much faster. This batch only lasted about three days because even Connor eats it. I like mine with butter and sugar. Yum!

I Got Elfed

I got elfed!

This takes awhile to load, but I hope you'll find it's worth it.

Short Skirt Long Jacket

We're still watching and enjoying Chuck. It's funny, and I especially like the references to pop culture. Here's a clip of the opening credits, which feature "Short Skirt Long Jacket" by Cake.

Dylan, The Masked Marvel

Here's a quick smile for you.

Link

Better

Connor's doctor said having one's tonsils removed is a strange surgery because the patient looks fine on the outside, but feels like a truck hit him. He said that during the recovery period, Connor would feel rotten for days without improvement, and then suddenly feel better.

Today was the day Connor felt better.

Say "Aahhhhh"

Connor had surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids last Thursday. Everything went as planned, and his recovery has gone exactly as his doctor predicted. The first few days have been hard, and it was tough for me to go to work this morning and be away from him. We just have to remember to stay on top of his pain medicine and encourage/force him to keep drinking fluids.

Hopefully this will all be worth it when he heals.

Oh, Nuts!

Yesterday, Connor tried cashews for the first time. He ate two, and promptly complained of a terrible taste in his mouth and a sore throat. He tried washing it down with water and crackers, but his discomfort wouldn't go away. Then he started gagging, which turned into vomiting. I assumed that they just didn't agree with him, but after the vomiting didn't stop for over an hour, I took a closer look and discovered that he was covered in hives.

I immediately gave him a dose of Benedryl and called the doctor. We found out that no one keeps office hours on the day after Thanksgiving, so we loaded everyone up for a trip to the ER.

There, they gave him a dose of Zyrtec and an anti-nausea medicine, and sent us home with instructions to have him tested for food allergies.

Then he was fine until 2:30 am, when he woke with the hives returned and gasping for air. We dosed him with Benedryl again and fired up the nebulizer for an Albuterol breathing treatment. That solved the problem, and off he went back to sleep.

Yikes, that was scary! This kid has been to the ER more times than the rest of the family combined. The good news is today he's fine - until Thursday, when he's scheduled to have his tonsils out!

Color Me Thankful

Myspace Comments at WishAFriend.com

Cowboy Week

Last week was cowboy week in Mrs. Towne's kindergarten classroom. The kids could dress as cowboys and cowgirls on Wednesday. Brad made him a custom belt buckle, and he insisted on tucking his jeans into his boots. They had a pretend camp out and learned how to square dance. Connor loved it. This is the stuff that makes memories.

Movie Marquee SNAFU

Demotivators

Susan pointed out this website that sells products with a dark twist on a familiar product: motivational posters. Click here for the Demotivators website.


Here a a couple more of my favorites:

Free Rice

Here's a fun little time waster that's not really a waste of time. Free Rice is a vocabulary quiz that donates 10 grains of rice for every vocab word you get right.

It also scores your vocabulary level. I hovered around the 40-41 mark most of the time, but did make it up to 45 at one point. Warning: can be addictive. By the time I forced myself to quit, I'd racked up 2000 grains. I'm such a sucker for word games.

Department of Misused Quotation Marks

I discovered a funny website that posts photos of misused quotation marks, along with dry commentary. Coincidentally, the same day I came across this website, I noticed a sign with misused quotation marks in the lobby of St. Alexius Medical Center. I should go back and take a photo to submit to the site.

Click here to visit the site.