American Idol

I am the first to admit that I am a diehard "American Idol" watcher. Just love it. I have even been known to get a bit teary during some of the results shows and do have some Idol songs on my iPod.

The kids have picked up on a few of these songs along the way. One of the is good old Taylor Hicks version of "Takin' It To The Streets." Now say what you will about Mr. Hicks, it's a good version.

The boys have an alarm clock in their room that turns on an iPod when it goes off in the morning. Brian plays DJ and selects what upbeat song will kick off their day after they go to bed, so it's a surprise.

By the way, I highly recommend music to wake up kids. The difference between days when the iPod wakes them up and the days when we forget to set it and have to wake them up ourselves are night and day.

So this morning, the aforementioned "Takin' It To The Streets" started at 6:30. The boys rolled out of bed and into our room. I said to Caleb:

Molly: Caleb you are not going to believe who won American Idol last night?

Caleb: Who?

Molly: Kris!

[Of course, I failed to think about the fact that they have not seen more than 10 minutes of the show this whole season as I DVR it and watch it after they go to bed.]

Caleb: Oh.

Molly: And do you hear this song? Do you remember who this is?

Caleb: hmmmmm....

Noah (yelling from the other room): Taylor Hicks!

Molly: Right, and do you remember why Taylor Hicks is, well, kind of famous.

Caleb: Ummm, ooooh yeah, ummmm...

Molly: Remember...he...won...

Caleb: Oh yeahhhh! He won the Nobel Peace Prize!

So here you go, Taylor Hicks. I know you have been lambasted in the press for what they perceive as your lack of success. But just know that there is one smart little seven-year-old boy out there that things you won the Nobel Peace Prize!

"Just watch it"

I think I have had enough goofy medical things for awhile. I spoke to Eli's pediatrician this morning. She said she's actually seen a lot of this isolated rash in clinic over the past week and thinks it's most likely a virus. She told us to just watch it and wait and if it really spreads all over his body to bring him in. So we'll call that one "taken care of," at least for now. Caleb did go to the ENT last week. I can't recall if I wrote about it before, but Caleb was one of those kids who had lots of ear problems as a baby and toddler. After a couple sets of tubes and an adenoidectomy, he did much better. Until this past year. His glands are visible on the outside of his throat, he snores loud enough to wake me up at night and he has had a couple nasty bouts with strep this year. A few months ago, on a whim, Brian asked to look in his mouth. Not sure what he was expecting to see, but Brian's response was "Oh my gaaawd!" And yes, that did freak Caleb out a wee bit. But his tonsils were (and are) huge. His left one touches the uvula (or "the little floppy down thing" as I like to call it) and his right one is pretty much right there too. So we headed back to the ENT who agreed, these puppies need to come out. So that has now been scheduled for Wednesday, June 10. Eli also goes in to the ENT next week as he has now hit that magical "four ear infections in six months or less" marker and will likely need tubes as well. Stay tuned. And Noah is just fine, knock on wood.

"Uh Oooohhh"

As our young Mr. Eli would say, "Uh ohhhh."  

A few days ago, a strange rash showed up on his back.  It has spread a bit to his legs, feet and head.  We're not sure yet, but have that sinking feeling that it could be chicken pox.  When he went in for his one year check up , he had an ear infection, so they didn't give him his immunizations then, so he hasn't yet had the chicken pox shot.

He also has some eczema, but this looks completely different.  His eczema is more like large flat, dry red areas.  So we have given it today with us covering him in his eczema meds and we may call his doctor tomorrow if things don't look better.

We'll let you judge for yourselves.

(a bit blurry, sorry, but that is what they look like close up)

In happier news, well depending on who you ask, it was discovered this weekend that we have baby bunnies living out in our garden in front.  We discovered their hole a week ago and the babies made their first appearance this weekend.  

And all that said, we had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend including brunch today at Cafe Lurcat.  So here's an updated shot of all of us.  Happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Classic Eli

Elijah is starting to really be able to express himself and communicate with us.  Amazing to see these little people (or this little person, in this case) mimic things they see and hear around them.  Here's Eli:

Tennis and Life with a One Year Old

It's been a delightful weekend here in Minnesota.  Warm, slightly breezy and just...well, good. You know spring is really here to stay.

Caleb had a playdate today so Brian took Noah up to play tennis at his request.  He loves it, and is actually getting the hang of it.  We only lost one ball over the fence (and that was Brian's doing).

Eli and I followed them up there and walked laps around the court, kicking the missed balls back into play.  It's a way to be "there" and also feel like we're getting a teeny bit of exercise.

(okay, so some of his moves are a bit more unorthodox than others...)

Afterward, Eli and I walked home while Brian and Noah headed off to get Caleb.  They hit Dairy Queen afterwards for a treat while I went home.  Eli and I came inside the house and the next thing, I look down and find this:

Alright, on that note.  Gotta sign off.  Have some tupperware to put away.