My Friday Off

It came around again.  My every-other-Friday off was today.  I took the kids to daycare and then went to my dentist appt.  No cavities!!  I stopped in to buy tickets to the Thumb's Up Ball (next Sat. night) that will benefit CJSTUF.  Then I bought all of the necessities at Target and went to the library to get new books and DVDs.  Ian had requested a Jack & The Beanstalk DVD but that was not available.  But I checked out a few Olivia books and 3 books written by Mem Fox.   I also picked up a Berenstein Bears DVD for Ian.  Libraries are the best!  Then I went home and relaxed.  I did some laundry and vacuumed but I did some lounging on the couch too.  Since the weather was unpredictable with snow falling since 7:30am or so, I didn't know when I needed to pick up the kids and Chris was sleeping.  I later learned that I needed to pick them up by 4pm. 

I went to pick up Ian and Ruby around 3:30pm and the road conditions and visibility were not good.  I was thankful that I didn't have to drive far.  Ian and Ruby enjoyed walking around in the slushy snow when they were supposed to be loading and unloading into/out of the car.  When we got home we dealt with one incident after another.  First, Ian was trying to do some kind of gymnastic trick in the kitchen and bounced off the counter and hit his head in the middle of the kitchen floor.  He was crying really loud which is rare for my tough little boy.  I consoled him and realized that Ruby had come up and had put her head on Ian's back.  She clearly was hurting for her brother.  The next thing you know, the 3 of us are having a group hug on the kitchen floor.  Ian eventually calmed down and we went on to have a "nack (snack in Ruby talk)".  So they had applesauce and then chocolate covered almonds.  I had this gut feeling (mother's intuition) that the almond may be too tough for Ruby to chew up and swallow safely.   I only gave her 3.  The first one she chewed well and swallowed.  So, I relaxed some and walked away.  Then I hear her coughing/choking from across the kitchen, while I was helping Ian w/ his 3rd snack.  I ran to the table and she was choking.  I picked her up, swept her mouth w/ my finger, and held her head low and whacked her on the back and she threw up on the floor and coughed and was fine.  Both of us were scared but I just cleaned up the throw up, she shed some tears and I thanked God that she was okay.  I said, "NO MORE ALMONDS FOR RUBY!"  Ian agreed.  Later, Ian was drinking something and got choked on the liquid and Ruby was so cute, and said, "Ok Is (her way of saying Ian)?  Is, okay?  Okay Is?"  I couldn't believe that my little Ruby was checking on her brother again.  I'm really enjoying watching their relationship develop.  Ruby has to have a hug from "Broder" before bed every night.  It's become a routine.  Very sweet!    After Ian's minor choking on liquid episode, he was sitting in the family room and his nose just started bleeding.  Geesh, all of these incidents happened within the first hour of them being home.  Exhausting.

Luckily, Chris got up and helped me with bath and bedtime.  It sounds like Chris may not have to work overtime tomorrow afterall.  I'm glad because he needs/deserves a night off. 

Now it is raining very hard here.  It sounds like it's going to go back to snow tomorrow.  It's a strange storm.  It seems like D.C. may have a record snowfall from this storm.  20 plus inches.  I'm thinking of CC, Nander, and Drewbug as they are snowed in. 

Ian just woke up, standing at the top of the stairs telling me, "tomorrow, when I'm five (a year plus from now) I'm going to get a skateboard and Landen will get a skateboard too.  Mine will have a superhero on it and Landen will have a superhero too."  I've got to go tend to getting him back to sleep.

Be careful out there!  I'm looking forward to Spring.