Walk-In and Wait Clinic

Whew! I am proud to say that all 4 of the kids are now vaccinated against the regular flu for the year. It has been an adventure! Our pediatrician holds a walk -in flu shot clinic for established patients and they don't allow you to make an appointment. After this years experience, I have renamed the clinic to "walk-in and wait"! The clinic opened yesterday and having 4 children I decided that it was worth it to be a part of the panic herd and get everyone vaccincated ASAP. I decided to split the shots and take 2 children at a time this year since Smoke Bomb and Bottle Rocket were in school yesterday. Things went great for the morning appointment. Then I picked up the older 2 kids after school and headed back to the pediatrician for round 2. Needless to say, people came out of the wood work to have their children vaccinated! It was standing room only! Patients with regular appointments could not even check-in. I was quite disappointed in the entire organizaiton of the doctors office. The ladies at check-in looked shocked at all the people. After hearing them tell others and myself that they never expected this many people to come in the first day after school, I could no longer hold my tongue. I asked what they expected seeing as how the media has been saturated for months about the flu. I also asked how many nurses were giving shots and they had ONE! So after a 2 hour wait, we left shotless and unhappy (the boys were happy since they did not have to have a shot!). I was so fired up - if it had been more organized and prepared, I would not mind waiting- no big deal when the effort is there, but this was poor. I decided to call the manager and leave a message. Of course she never called back. I guess that was just for my peace of mind! I let it bother me all night for some reason. So back I went again this morning - I proudly walked in at 8:30 to check in for the flu shot clinic that began at 9am. The lady who checked me in called me by name, so I guess they all knew the "crazy lady's" name! Perhaps the mangager replayed my message on the speaker phone for the office last night to give everyone a good laugh! We got the shots quick and were out in a jiffy. When we arrived at Bottle Rockets School to check him in late, 2 little children were throwing up all over the nurses office (which is directly adjacent to the school office! The check-in lady said hurry and sign your name, then get out and wash your hands! What are the odds, that we would walk in at just that time? I began to laugh at the whole thing! I had been trying to take measures to prevent illness in the kids and probably exposed them ALL to more germs than the possibility of getting the flu! Three trips to the doctor and one to the infested school office! Sometimes if you don't laugh you will cry! I think the message here was for me to be quite thankful that we have 4 healthy children!

Question of the day: We had the option of having the flu mist or flu shot for the older kids today. I decided the shot would be best. While deciding in the room, Bottle Rocket piped in and told the nurse he was ready for the shot because he was not sure how they would get a bandaid up in his nose! Wow! Something so small as a bandaid for a reward can create such happiness! Don't forget - it is the small things in life that matter the most!

If the shoe fits........

We are the new owners of a Chevrolet Suburban! I am so fortunate to be married to someone who loves cars- learning about them, working on them, helping others with them and very dilligent when it comes to finding the cars we have owned. He spends time researching and studying our options long before we even set foot at a dealership. He test drives cars and the car salesman comes to ask me if he drives all test drives like that! One poor gentleman was pale when he got out of the car- I am sure he thought my husband was going to spin the SUV around in the rain checking out the anti-lock brake system! That being said, he found a Chevy Suburban that had been well maintained and gives our family of 6 LOTS of room! We are all so excited and it feels great to "spread out" a bit and fit our groceries AND stroller in the trunk, not to mention safety advantage of driving a rather large vehicle. Sure it will take some more money in gas, but we are sure it is well worth it! It is odd to find a Suburban without DVD players. Our family has never owned a vehicle with this option, but we did not really think much of it when shopping- it was not something we looked for. I will never forget the day Bottle Rocket and Smoke Bomb jumped out of one of the candidate Suburbans and ran frantically to me with headphones in hand shouting and smiling "MOM! Can we PLEASEEEEEEEE buy this car? It has a TV in it and we LOVE it!" It was hilarious! They were so excited and even more excited when Dada announced that they could even play video games in the car! We both quickly explained that the DVD player would be staying in the closed position for city driving. They were surprisingly very receptive and agreed that they enjoyed our family conversations (and brotherly spats!) when in the car. I was relieved and had already asked if it could be detached just in case this turned into an everyday question from the boys! I think many times we as parents want a quick fix and quiet surroundings all at the risk of stiffling our kids questions and conversations which they learn so much from. Besides, isn't that what we signed up for as parents? They are still quite happy that most of their relatives live "down the highway" so they might have a shot at the drive in movie! We took the kids out tonight to watch Green Eggs and Ham in the car- we figured that was minimal reward for all thier patience while car shopping lately! They seemed enthralled with the headphones on. Smoke Bomb had his so loud we could hear his sound, Firecracker was mezmorized and never blinked once. Bottle Rocket was excited, but very concerned about how the video games were going to reach them in the third row! He is also the same one who proclaimed we could not buy the one with DVD players behind the driver and passendger headrests because they would not be able to see it from the back of the car. Smart kid! So now we can fit 8 and give others a ride, too! Let us know when you want a ride!

Frogger

The other night we decided to have a game of indoor soccer, a favorite for the boys especially when it's raining and we are stuck inside. It was Mama and Bottle Rocket versus Dada and Smoke Bomb. Firecracker was playing his own game of "soccer" in the middle of the playroom with a completely different ball. Our dog Boo (85 pound lab mix) who loves to play fetch enjoys the excitement of indoor soccer and stands in front of anyone with the ball playing goalie. This particular night Boo was fed up with us ignorning his request to join in and fetched his own tennis ball which he set right in the middle of the playroom for any takers who were interested. Every once in a while someone would toss Boo the ball and he graciously retreived it ready for another round. Somehow, as large as he is, he is very graceful and avoids running into or over people when he runs to get the ball. So as you can imagine we have 3 balls being kicked, thrown, fetched, etc in the room. Our rule is for the softee soccer ball to stay on the ground or you are disqualified for 1 minute, but the boys laugh hysterically when the ball bounces around or off someone's head. It is pure entertainment! Halfway into the soccer game, Sparkler comes crawling into the madness. It was the funniest thing to see her fearlessly make her way across the playroom. Dada remarked that she was like Frogger- the old video game we used to play at Chuckie Cheese where the frog has to make his way across a very busy highway of cars and trucks. It was a perfect description of Sparkler working her way across the room! The kids had no idea what we were referring to (boy that made us feel old!) so we had to look online and let them play frogger. Here is the link for any old schoolers who would like to reminisce and take a spin at free frogger:
www.freefrogger.org

There Is A Chicken In Our House!

This Monday morning started out great. The kids woke up on the right side of the bed (with 4 you take the odds, so 3 out of 4 is considered success!). The boys all had breakfast and Sparkler enjoyed some quiet time on the floor without having to dodge 6 legs. My goal this Fall is to have something “in the works” for dinner by 9am each day. This is pretty realistic for me since early morning is the most productive time for me to get things done. If I wait until 4 in the afternoon to start thinking about cooking, dinner ends up as frozen pizza (again!) or soup. That being said, my Fall goal could not be met without the use of the most wonderful tool in the kitchen-the crock pot! Our neighbor, the English chef, has a not so friendly name for the crock pot but I will defend it to the end! I can pop something in at 8am and wahlah, an edible and warm dinner is ready when everyone is hungry! This morning was no different until I pulled the whole chicken fryer from the fridge and took it out of the wrapper. Smoke Bomb, who at the ripe age of 4 still thinks Bottle Rocket met Franklin the Turtle at school last week, shouts "WHAT IS THAT MAMA"? He quickly made his way over between me and the fryer to ask the question of the day……….…wait for it……….”Mama, is that thing going to come alive? It has legs so it could walk! What happened to his head, is it tucked under him?” Needless to say, cooking is not my forte and I am really quite a bit squeamish about fresh meat. I immediately fast forwarded to dinner that evening – yep- Little Ceasars pizza! The visions in my head would not stop after his question, but I was tickled nonetheless. I tried to explain to Smoke Bomb as simple as possible only to turn around and see him sitting on the floor with Sparkler proudly and loudly announcing that WE HAVE A CHICKEN IN THE HOUSE, SPARKLER! At that point we were all giggling as he began to run in the playroom making chicken noises. Hey, at least he was entertained and happy! It reminded me of last Thanksgiving when he asked his grandfather a similar question as he carved the turkey. Smoke Bomb watched inquisitively and then out of clear blue asked “Hey! Where him head?” This morning was really a fun way to start the day-a great reminder that their little minds are huge sponges soaking up all life has to offer! As a side note, we did not order pizza for dinner and the chicken turned out wonderful. Here is the recipe. Don’t laugh too hard, there are only 5 ingredients!
1 whole chicken fryer
1 can of coke
1 whole onion, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
I bottle of barbeque sauce, of your choice
Place the chicken in the crock pot, breast side up, with lemon and onion on top. Pour barbeque sauce and coke over the chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. It literally falls off the bone in the crock pot. Delicious!

Beginnings- Still Light Years Behind!

Here is the start of something I said I would never do. Not because I am afraid of posting things about our family on the internet, but because I do not have a lot of spare time. I always find myself thinking I should have written that down or journaled on a more frequent basis, so this should keep things in order. Yeah right- there is no order to me anymore, not after 4 kids! I officially lost my marbles 2 kids ago! My family is the light of my life and the reason I wake up each day. They make me love, laugh and live as never before. A simple hug from any of them can melt my heart. My husband balances out the insanity! He is, thankfully, the most sane and loving person I know- I still ponder how he survives with a (slightly) insane wife! This blog will share some of the hilarious things we see and hear in our home. Don't blink or you will miss a beat- with 4 under 7, there is never a dull (or quiet!) moment here. We hope you enjoy!