Sir Lancelot Du Jack

Behold my pint-sized Knight in Shining Armor. Is he not the cutest thing ever...?!?

Sir Lancelot was prepared to fight dragons and other scary things on All Hallows Eve. He was so prepared that he even remembered to take his "paci" along for courage (see his left hand.)

Since the kids were little we have had a tradition of having the ENTIRE Rivera family get together at our house on Halloween. The host family TREATS to pizza, I make Witches Brew (lime sherbert & 7up) for the kids, and the adults bring their own "spirits" and TRICK the older trick-or-treaters with water, etc... We usually invite friends to join us in our driveway celebration. Even Nana and Grandpa from Oklahoma have made it down for the celebration in the past. This year, Paco requested that the celebration be moved to his house since Jayce is so particular about his bedtime curfew. It was neat to see all the cousins together with other little friends. We had superheroes, cowboys, pirates, specters, princesses, rock stars and knights in shining armour. For Jack & Jayce this was the first time they were old enough to participate going door to door and actually get to eat some of the candy. The latter they embraced with reckless abandon.
"Jack & (his friend) Jude went up the street to fetch a bunch of candy.... Jack discovered Skittles (and is now addicted). Jude prefers lollipops. And they both got belly-aches thereafter!" j/k ;)

Cousins Sir Lancelot du Jack and SpiderZeke considered dueling, but were easily distracted by the sweet bounty which abounded.

Fall Fun

So, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch on a beautiful, cool day and we had our cameras ready so we could take the annual pictures among the mountains of pumpkins and bales of hay. It was all going according to plan. The camera batteries were fully charged, the memory cards empty, and the boys (still) clean! The only thing missing? A couple of smiles.... Was that so much to ask for?!?

The boys were NOT impressed!

However, we did not give in so easily. You see, we had a secret weapon the boys cannot resist....(drum roll, please).... ROBBIE- to the RESCUE!!! :) :) :) Did he pull the wagon at speeds innappropriate for toddlers? Of course, it's Robbie! Did the boys eventually tumble off wagon on to the ground? Of course they did!!! BUT nobody got seriously injured, we got lots of smiles and pictures to prove it...and that makes it all worth it!In order to get the boys to smile for this picture, we got Robbie to push the wagon backwards until it crashed (repeatedly) against the bale of hay as Robbie yelled "boink" aloud. The boys thought the ensuing whiplash was hilarious, resulting in many smiles! ;)

NO smiles were to be had around the pumpkins as we could not come up with any stunts the boys would enjoy which would not result in broken necks.

Oh, look, yet another picture where absolutely everyone BUT Jack is smiling. Sighhhhhhhh......... (Can you guess the flavor of the sno-cones Katja & Robbie had just finished eating?)

What is the fascination of boys with cars???

I just don't understand the male fascination with motorized vehicles, but then, they don't understand our fetish for shoes.... Anyway, the latest testament to Robbie's love affair with cars was a few weeks ago when he opted to miss a friend's birthday party in order to go to Texas World Speedway with Jeff to watch some random car race. Somehow, they sweet-talked themselves into the getting up-close and personal with some of the drivers and teams. A couple of the drivers went so far as to give Robbie rides in their cars all around the road-course. I don't even want to know how fast they drove, or I might have nightmares.... Below are some pictures that will mostly appeal to the male-half of this blog's readers.

Robbie wearing a helmet and (I'm assured) a fireproof suit while securely buckled with a 5 point harness prior to being driven through the road-course. Check out that smile of anticipation!!

Robbie in another car, with another driver. Hello?!? Where is the helmet and other safety items??? Hmm... for my sanity, I will chose to believe that this driver drove Robbie around veeeery slooooooooooooowly so he could just check things out....
Robbie meeting even more drivers and getting autographs. I have absolutely no clue who this man is and wonder if Robbie does?
Robbie in the garage checking the cars out from up close. For some reason the male of our species find this interesting...

OK, I have to admit, even I would find the OO7 car somewhat cool to look at.

Do I think Jack will have the same fascination with cars as Jeff and Robbie do, you ask? Hmm, as he's only 17 months old, it's probably too early to tell ;)

Super Saturday!

Once in a while life surprises us with a day when everything seems to go right.  Today was such a day.  It began at 7:00 a.m. I went to the kids' rooms and woke them up and told them to get ready for the day.  The both did it in record time & without much fuss.  

• Jeff and Robbie left for football while Katja and I left for her All Region orchestra audition. We were all even running on time!  
• I called to check on Jack, who had spent the night with grandma & papa, only to find that he was happily enjoying a large breakfast. I could hear him laughing and babbling (he's quite the chatter box these days) in the background.  I can't remember the last time I had a stress free morning routine.
• 9:00 a.m.- Robbie's football game began while Katja was ushered (with about 50 other violists) to her audition room.  
• By 9:33 a.m.- I was a nervous wreck on Katja's behalf, and received a text message from Jeff.  Robbie's team led 21-0 at half time.  Already, one of my children seemed destined to be happy for the rest of the day.  
• 9:40 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - I walked around, and tried to read while trying not to wonder how Katja was holding up competing against 7th & 8th graders from Conroe, Willis, Magnolia, and Klein ISD's.  I tried to remind myself that I had done a good job reassuring her that just being invited to audition as only a 6th grader was an honor and quite the accomplishment already.  Unfortunately, I could not shake the knowledge of how hard she had worked and how disappointed she would be if she didn't make it.  
• Robbie played true to the number #1 on his jersey as he earned MVP of the game!
• 
  11:17 a.m.-  Call comes in letting me know that Robbie was MVP of the game (wohoooo!), and I missed it!!  :(  Sniff, sniff. He made numerous tackles which included diving, ramming, and even sacking the quarterback WAY behind the line of scrimmage. Coaches said that Robbie was most valuable player and played his best game yet.
  Katja practices before audition
• 
  11:30 a.m. - Katja emerges from audition room feeling good about her performance.  I remain skeptical, however, as Katja is the proverbial optimist.  I assure her that the reward is in feeling that she did her best and gaining valuable experience in the audition process, blah, blah, blah.....
  
  Katja and Mrs. Brosvik (Katja's teacher) in the midst of (chaos) hundreds of aspiring musicians all tuning their instruments at the same time!
• 
  12:15 p.m. - results are posted.  As I approach results I am passed & dazed by a mob of rushing students who push and shove their way to the front.  The teacher in me reprimands a student before I remember that I am being a "mom" at the moment and should not do anything to embarrass Katja.  Katja somehow manages to reach the results list, turns around and yells "I MADE IT!!!".  She runs off to find her teacher.  I endure more shoving and pushing before being able to scrutinize list and confirm the results. Sure enough, not only did she make it, she had an impressive ranking.  I am stunned and amazed.   We leave school with Katja floating on a cloud and calling all relatives to share her news.  She is the first 6th grader in CISD's history to make All-Region Orchestra! Go Kat!!!
  
• 1:30 p.m. - As the day is beautiful the kids and I decide to walk to the park with their neighborhood friends.  At the park, we run into old acquaintances and enjoy their company. Robbie plays football with friends.  The kids get invited to a Halloween party.
• Grandma celebrates her birthday at Japanese Steakhouse
• 
  6:30 p.m. - Paco & Kerrie, Michelle & Chris, Jeff, the kids, and I meet mom and dad at Kobe's Japanese Steakhouse to celebrate grandma's birthday, the kids' accomplishments, and Jack's turning 17 months.  A good time was had by all even if we all have the cook's routine memorized already.  Really, they need some new material!  Regardless, if you have to take young children to dinner and want them to behave, take them Kobe's.  The cook's antics will keep them riveted.  
  
• 8:45 p.m. - Kids go with Jeff to neighbor's Halloween party wearing their new costumes while I stay home with a sleepy Jack.  
• 10:25 p.m. - As I type this entry I wonder if I should buy a lottery ticket...but I'm just too darn tired.

Broken Leg Trauma

Well, the Jack-man gave us quite the scare this week. It all started innocently enough. He wasn't feeling well early in the week and was extremely clingy and cranky (atypical for him). Of course, I was just informed by my pediatrician that babies go through a "cranky-clingy" stage betwee 16-18 months. Great. Just when I was really enjoying my "low-maintenance" baby. Anyway, what seemed like typical baby complaints escalated into some really scary possibilities. Here's the low-down, summarized.

-Monday: Jack feels bad. Has low-grade fever, stuffy nose, prodigious drooling. We attribute this to the fact that his molars are coming in.

-Tuesday: Jack is sent home from daycare with a fever. "He's just not his usual perky self", they said. Jeff takes him home. I notice, in the evening, that Jack is limping.

-Wednesday: Jack refuses to put any weight now on his right leg. We take him to the pediatrician. Pediatrician cannot determine what is wrong, but suspects either a) a break, b) a viral infection in the joints, or c) a bacterial infection in the joints (BAD!!!).

-a) is fixed with a cast, b) nothing can be done by wait for it to go away, c) only the pediatric orthopedists at TX Children's downtown can properly treat this....

-Thursday: Visited Woodlands orthopedist. X-rays taken (NO fun with a cranky 16 month old). He kicked and squirmed so much (while crying) that I was convinced nothing could possible be broken...

-No breaks were evident in Xrays.

-Doctor Shaw manipulates leg (after waiting 10 minutes for Jack to stop screaming) and isolates injury to the tibia. He suspects a hairline fracture.

-Cast from hip to toes is put on (while two of us held him down while he cried, and cried, and squirmed)

-Doctors orders: wait until after 9 p.m. for ibuprofen to wear off. If temperature stays low, then it is either the molars or a viral infection causing it. If temperature spikes to 102F or above, it is a bacterial infection. Get in car, drive FAST to Texas Children's Hospital Emergency Room downtown (don't call us or the pediatrician....just drive fast) and tell them to check/treat for a bacterial infection. Only they can treat it. (Sure, I won't panic!?)

-Took Jack to mom's so I could get off the emotional roller-coaster for a bit. Had a margarita with friends while I waited for Jack's ibuprofen to wear off.

-Held breath from 9 p.m. - midnight each time his temperature was taken.

-Midnight: NO FEVER at ALL!!! Hurray!!!!

-As predicted by orthopedist, it was a fracture and he is MUCH happier now that the leg has been immobilized. He even loves the sound the cast makes when he bangs it on the tile floor. ;)

-The cast will stay on for only 7-10 days. I wish I could bounce back from my injuries/illnesses as fast!!!!

On another topic. While drinking that margarita with friends waiting for Jack's fever to either make, or not make, its appearance, the topic of the product "Little Noses" came up. Since all nasal decongestants for infants and toddlers have been taken off the market (thanks to a few dense mothers who overdosed their kids because they couldn't follow the directions on the label), now millions of infants and toddlers (and their unfortunate mothers) are having to suffer scores of sleepless nights dealing with saline drops and bulb syringes (which are used so often that the mere sight of one triggers children to cry)and only work marginally (in my opinion). Anyway, after one particularly tedious night I was desperate enough to ask the pharmacist for advice on what to do since all products which had previously worked for me where taken off the market. She recommended "Little Noses", but then realized that it too had been taken off the shelves. To my good fortune; however, I found five boxes at HEB which had not been yet been confiscated from the shelves. I bought ALL of them. I even made sure I paid for them in the "self-checkout" line to avert any chance of an astute cashier taking them from me. They worked like a charm. I now swear by them. They are back in the market now, but without the words "infant" and "toddler" off the label. Anyway, last night after I thought I had imparted what I thought was an exciting and useful discovery with said friends at the table over margaritas, I was told that the product only contained saline. I felt like an idiot at the time, so when I got home I googled the product. As it turns out, we were all right. It seems there are two products made by "Little Remedies" called "Little Noses". One only contains saline drops, while the other are nasal decongestant drops with "Phenylephrine Hydrochloride" as its active ingredient. I've put a link on the sidebar with a review of the decongestant drops with information about ingredients and effects. I highly recommend them. At least, they work great for Jack and since he is about 24 pounds now (the minimum recommended weight), I don't feel guilty using them.

Chicken Pox or Mosquito Bites???

Right after the hurricane we thought Jack had the chicken pox. My poor baby had little bumps all over his head, his arms, his legs, his face, and his shoulders and torso even had a few! He even ran a low fever and was miserable at night. So, I ran to the store and bought Caladryl & Calaclear, coated him, and called the daycare and the doctor.

As predicted, the daycare freaked out and told me not to bring him back for three weeks. Yeah, right! For those of you with little kids, know that the state health guidelines say that kids can go back to school "seven days after the onset of the rash if the blisters have crusted over..." Then, the doctor said that it was not chicken pox, it was MOSQUITO bites. You know, those annoying little creatures that seem to reproduce more prolifically after hurricanes than rabbits in Spring. I mean, are they annoying anyone else as much as they are us, or what??? I now have a new appreciation for the words "pest" and "infestation." I heard that one man in Galveston was bit over one thousand times (I spelled that so you wouldn't think I got carried away with the zeroes), yes, 1000+ times, and had to be life flighted to a hospital. Thankfully, the Texas Department of Health has recognized the problem and has ordered planes to spray against the little monsters between 10pm and 6am. I think they were supposed to have done this already. Has anyone noticed an improvement?  I think they have, but that may be wishful thinking on my part????

Meanwhile, the stores are making a killing selling mosquito repellent. Some stores have been completely wiped out. Robbie's coach brought a can with "40% Deet" to football practice the other day. Even the most finicky moms allowed their children to be sprayed. Then the moms sprayed each other. I have never closed my eyes, held my breath and allowed anyone to spray my face and neck with mosquito repellent. Ugh, I was THAT desperate! Of course, I am a former West Nile Virus victim, so I'm probably more paranoid than most! See my link to Insect Repellent Reviews on the side.

Hooked on Fishing

Fishing was the kids' favorite pastime while visiting Nana & Grandpa in Oklahoma during our evacuation from hurricane Ike. The pond was just a skip and a hop from their front door and the weather was fabulous. Robbie caught the biggest fish by far, the bass below. Jack caught the smallest and came home with fishing fever! He truly was hooked (yes, pun intended :) on fishing.

Grandpa Bill showed Jack how to reel his fish in using his Star Wars Light Saber kiddie fishing rod. Notice Jack's concentration. I mean, this was serious stuff as far as he was concerned!
Not only did Jack catch a fish, he lit up when he saw it up-close and even dared to touch it. Ugh, what can I say? He's a boy. Katja may be eleven years old, and she does enjoy fishing, but someone else has to take the hooks off of her fish and throw them back in, thank you very much! Last spring she caught so many using pizza crust as bait in the pond near uncle Paco's house, that after the a while "uncle" Jesse told her that there is a rule stating that "after the 20th fish you have to remove the hooks yourself." ;)

Eventually, Jack insisted on fishing by himself so we removed the hook and let him go at it. He didn't seem to care that he caught no more fish. I think casting was his favorite part....

Hurricane Ike

Well, for only being a category 1 (at landfall) hurricane, Ike, left quite a mess behind making millions lose power and water. We were lucky to only have lost power. Our house was spared from any falling trees. Apparently, the size of this storm and the amount of rainfall contributed to trees toppling, not because of high winds, but because the ground was so saturated. Having grown up in Puerto Rico, I've experienced many hurricanes before and I can tell you that in comparison, this one was wimpy. Not once did I hear the wind howling or see flying debris...imagine the devastation had the hurricane been stronger! Now I can appreciate why in Puerto Rico, by law, all houses have to be constructed of cement and rebar. I guess the three little pigs can really teach us a thing or two! Below are a few shots from our little corner of the world....

Robbie & Jack check out the scene from our front door. They had MAJOR cabin fever!

While Jack & Jeff slept in, Katja, Robbie, and I got on our bikes in the light rain and checked out the damage to the neighborhood. We soon discovered streets blocked by trees and pedaled through water that reached the top of our tires. At one point, when the water got too high and the current too strong, we had to get off our bikes and walk them until we reached shallower areas.

Some of our neighbors were not as lucky as we were....

Jack and Jeff checked out the scene outside on foot.

Uprooted trees were common due to over-saturation of the ground.

No power = No school for a week
As you can see the kids were devastated by these news.

Yet another uprooted tree...

The Evacuees!

After too many nights without power, and thus, air conditioning, we were rescued by Nana and Grandpa in Oklahoma. They booked the kids and I on the first flight out of Houston Hobby after the hurricane and spoiled us for a week. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! We totally enjoyed this unexpected vacation, which included Jack's first plane trip. I will post pictures of our visit there soon. (Notice Katja did not evacuate without her viola.)

Labor Day

Relaxing was the order for Labor Day weekend. We had a family day in the country behind Michelle & Chris' Outback Western Wear store. Their air conditioned event hall provided a nice respite from the heat and humidity of the day. Paco smoked his BEST EVER brisket while all the cousins ran wild outside playing with their big wheels, balls, bats, golf clubs, etc.... Robbie played photographer for a while. Any close ups that follow were taken by him and edited a bit by me.

Close-up of Katja by Robbie

Close-up of Papa by Robbie

Close-up of me by Robbie. I was so disgusted by my crow's feet, dark circles and wrinkles that I "photoshoped" most of them off!!! LOL! I wish I could do that for real....

Close-up of cousin Baz by Robbie

In addition to taking pictures, Robbie had a blast racing his little motorcycle in the open wearing his hockey helmet, and Jeff's work gloves. That's crazy, eh?

Even Jack got to ride the motorcycle with daddy. As you can tell by the smile on his face, it was quite the thrill for him. He points with his little index finger and says "go-go-go."

Naked, Again! Jack simply can't attend a family gathering without gleefully streaking naked at least once. This time he was chased by auntie Michelle's dog Cosmo who followed him everywhere and even kissed his....(harrrumph.) You just gotta LOVE those "Michelin" baby legs.... Yummy!! I could just kiss them, and pinch 'em, and take little bites..... which begs the question, how is this child only in the 30% (23.6 lbs) for weight while in the 75% (32.5 in) for height? I guess some recessive genes sneak in there somehow. Robbie, meanwhile, is in the 96% for weight and 61% for height. No surprises there!

Victory!

Robbie's football team won their first game of the season by over 30 points. Robbie never sat out.  He played tight end on offense and defensive end on defense.  His most notable accomplishment, a fumble recovery while playing defense.  He was soooooo- pumped!

Is that the cutest little football player ever, or what??