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Recovering From a Winter Storm-in vivid detail

What a long weekend. We made it through with a few fatalities. Our beloved little betta fish, Bob, passed away - I think he froze in his water - and we lost some milk and eggs and cottage cheese. But (other than Bob) we're mourning the loss of our ice cream treats that for some stupid reason I was possessed to purchase on Friday morning at Fareway.

Friday: The Storm's acomin'
It all started Friday Morning. People kept telling me about this "blizzard" and "winter storm" we were supposed to have that I was completely ignorant of . Until we watched the news on Thursday night. So early Friday morning along with every elderly person within a 40 mile radius of Cedar Rapids, decided to get up and get going early to beat the crowds - going so far as to ask Brighton to skip his morning nap. I decided to go to Fareway so I could get a roast and some ground beef (that's the only place we'll buy meat). I should have known from the minute I walked in at 9:30 AM and I had to wait for a shopping cart. But me being completely frivolous about the whole thing decided to power on. I saw a cart with the kids car thing in front. "OK" I thought. That will work. So I asked the kid at the check out if he could remove the coats that were in the basket so I could use it. "Sure!" On we went. I stocked up on (stupid stupid stupid) fresh fruit and vegetables, then headed on to the dry goods and meat. The shopping although a bit tough to maneuver around all the crazy people took about 1/2 hour or so. I saw the line and decided to go walk around for a little longer (stupid stupid stupid.) So another 20 minutes had passed and I'd successfully spent another $20 and decided I'd better get in line. So we're going on almost an hour at this madhouse already. I got in line and waited another 45 minutes!! OMG! We get home, all is well, and later that night find out that the Winter Garden Fair has been cancelled at Kirkwood (no surprise).

Saturday Morning: It's Go Time:
Saturday Morning we're enjoying this bit of time to ourselves and to catch up on some things. Somewhat oblivious to what we had in store. We had a nice HOT breakfast as a family before we set about our tasks. I finish my IaGS newsletter and get that sent out. Which took me the better part of the day. Andrew is getting laundry ready and picking up around the house. Finally noon hits and we start lunch (Bright and I) and Dad gets the roast going in the crock pot. He's also started to bake a loaf of bread in the bread machine. Looks like we're going to be all set for dinner. After lunch, I return to the newsletter and just finish sending it out. About 10 minutes later, we lose power. About 3:30. The rain had started already in the morning and it was starting to glaze up everything. According to my husband, the lights had been dimming all morning but I hadn't noticed it. So he was more prepared than I. At this point, it was about 68 degrees in our house. We watched helplessly as the temperature fell approximately two degrees every hour and hoped against hope that our power would return. But alas it didn't. We lit candles when it got dark, though they didn't provide much light. I dressed Brighton in Jammie's and a double layer of sweatshirts. (66 degrees) Eventually he wanted his snow boots on so I relented and put them on after Andrew pointed out that they would keep his feet warm up to -5 degrees. Andrew finished cooking the roast in a stock pot (62ish degrees) on the stove (we have gas thank God) and we ate in the dark, (58 degrees) our sirloin tip roast and cooked carrots. Mom had a glass of the wine dad used to cook the meat in. At about 7:00 PM (55 degrees)we gave up hope that our power was going to come back on and so we went to bed. Gathered the dogs and the cat and the kid and 4 afghan blankets and went to bed. Brighton was out like a light but mom and dad stayed up a little longer with the video camera (DON'T BE SICK!) recording our thoughts on this very cold night. We both woke up around 11:30 (46 degrees) totally disoriented. Thinking we had been sleeping for hours and it was 3 AM.

Sunday Morning: Preparing for Another Cold Day
It topped out at about 46 degrees in our house and we were all chilled to the bone. Andrew and I giving in to the fact that we might be out power for a few days, decided to move the "fireplace" into the kitchen to try to warm things up. (We have a fireplace in the sun room that takes little canisters that you light for a fire - it warms up pretty quick.) So we moved it in, lit it, Andrew hung a blanket in the doorway to keep the heat in the kitchen and living room and I started water for coffee and oatmeal on the stove for breakfast. It was starting to warm up in the kitchen. Bright was decked out in his sweats, sweatshirt, hooded sweatshirt, mittens, and what else, snow boots. Though he was getting a bit frustrated having his mittens on. He couldn't grab things quite as easily. Anyway, it warmed up (there was at least a 5 or more degree difference between the kitchen and the hallway) and we made the decision that if the roads were decent I would work at Starbucks as scheduled and they would just hang out in the mall for my shift since it was warmer there than here and there was food there that wasn't going to spoil... And Brighton could go play at the new play area and at Von Maur at the Thomas the Train setup. So Aunt (Nana) Sally and Uncle (Papa) Tom took us in, let me shower at their place, and filled our tummies before we left for the mall. After work, we came home, we gathered up our clothes, some perishable goods from the freezer and fridge and headed to Grammy and Grampy Oberbreckling's where they had a nice big generator and electricity and best of all HEAT! This is one of Brighton's favorite places to go (twice in one day, he was thrilled! Nana Sally and Papa Tom's and Grammy and Grampies!) so he was tickled. Grammy made us supper, we watched tele for a while and then Brighton, Andrew and I headed off for bed. About 9:30 Brighton wailed for about 5 minutes until I let him up the FULL SIZE bed with us (he was supposed to sleep in the pack and play) and just then, Grammy told us that the lights were on. YIPPEE!!!!! So we packed up what we could and went home. I was worried about Boomer and Brighton wanted to sleep at home and wasn't apparently going to sleep anywhere but here. By the time we got home, it was 55 whole degrees in here and it felt like a heatwave! We all went to bed, slept wonderfully (albeit a little hot since Dad left the heat on 69 - just in case) until 5:30 or so this morning. WE thought we only had 8 hours of power or it would go off at 8 so they could fix something but weren't sure of the details. But thankfully, after my lovely husband called Alliant (I tried twice and got disconnected thanks to my stupid phone) and found out that if we have power, it's staying on. They're not turning it off anyway...And that's where my story ends. After cleaning up a little - putting dishes away that were finally washed last night, doing another load and hand washing the others, I had 2 rounds of doppio espresso this morning and I'm sitting here next to my electric space heater staying plenty warm while Brighton is napping in his warm bed.

Monday: Reflecting and Staying Warm
I don't know how our ancestors did it. We are so privileged in the 21st century. And even the 20th century. It's amazing how our bodies and our minds react instinctively to something like this. Obviously, it was my first priority to protect Brighton and keep him warm. My mind was constantly churning how we were going to cook, what we were going to eat, how we were going to stay warm. Andrew was constantly thinking of ways to keep his family protected and warm, where and what was safe, and how to remedy this situation should it happen again. I still think we're some of the lucky ones. There are still lots of people without power in Iowa. I just hope they can hold out in a shelter or if their at home, they can stay warm until the hard working (and well paid) men and women of the energy company can get them going again.

There are more photos in my 2007 Feb Album. Click HERE.

Now I've Seen it All

So this is the first night in about 4 weeks that Brighton hasn't woken up at 2:30 AM and of course, I wake up promptly at 3 thinking something is wrong. So I go in and check on him and he's just fine - sleeping soundly. I recover him with his blanket and head back to bed. Where I lay for about an hour and a half stirring unable to fall back asleep...of course.

So I do the only thing I know to do at three AM, I hop online. I check my email, balance our checkbook (maybe not the greatest thing to get me back to sleep...), check out the IaGS stuff. I finally check out my mamasource page that I haven't checked in weeks and someone was asking for a recipe for lip balm. Being a self proclaimed lip balm addict, (there's even a 12-step for it on this website!) of course this enticed me. That and the fact that I've been out of my blistex lip medex for a while now, unable to find it, and my lips have never forgiven me - and I believe my CHI is out of balance because of it too... Anyway, I google "lip balm recipes" and I found this. I don't know if I'll be brave enough to try it or not, especially with the whole "bird flu" epidemic creeping this way.

Chicken Poop
You can purchase t-shirts, hats, chicken poop suspended in glycerin soap, a kitchy little display box shaped like a chicken for your chicken poop. They also carry an anti-funkifier spray and a good gravey lotion puck. nifty. If for nothing other than pure entertainment value, check out their boutique. Oh yeah, and you can buy chicken poop at walgreens! HA! Though I doubt you'll find it in Iowa...People might take it too literal and freak out.

So, Now I've seen everything. Make sure you read the Legend of The Poop...
You can purchase it in single tubes or in a multi pack. Who knew?!

Embrace The Peanut Butter...

Anyone with kids knows that smell. Nutty, a little bit sweet, most pets love it, birds devour it and birders certainly appreciate it as it makes a very handy glue for birdseed and pine cones. It's sometimes sickening depending on whether or not you're pregnant, you've been drinking or you have a toddler which for some reason makes the smell of peanut butter repulsive after a while.

We were sitting on the couch enjoying a cup of Zen Green Tea listening to IPR's Java Blend on the radio. Brighton wanted a snack, and so did mom. So mom decided to get out that easy, quick and hits-the-spot-snack reminscent of her childhood. Soda crackers with peanut butter. I see nothing wrong with taking the tube of crackers, the container of peanut butter, a plate and a small cake spreader with me to the living room and eating it while flipping through People magazine and listening to the radio. Until Brighton decides he HAS to hold the peanut buttered cracker. Ok...I can handle that. I put barely enough to be detectable by bloodhounds on the cracker, but he's no dummy. He looks at me as if to say "Do I look stupid to you?" So I take the cracker, smear another thin layer of peanut butter on it and put a clean soda cracker on top so as to make a peanut butter soda cracker sandwich. Ha. Score one for mom. Until he twists them apart like an oreo cookie and licks the barely there layer of peanut butter off. HE takes a bite, and gives me the cracker to put more on. So I add a dollop of peanut butter to his now mushy soda cracker. He licks that off. Again, holds the cracker out to me, I dollop it, he licks it. This goes on until he's no longer able to "lick" the peanut butter off the soda cracker without the soggy cracker coming with it. The he helps himself to a clean soda cracker to start all over again. At this point I notice he has peanut butter all over his face and hands. My first instinct is to call Feebee over to lick the peanut butter off of his hands (I know, you were thinking that I would wipe it off with the wet wipes that are in every room in our house weren't you?) but she is no where to be found. So because I am trying to not be so "phycho" and frantic I decide to embrace the peanut butter knowing that our couch will eventually see much worse things than peanut butter some day.

And it probably helped that he pointed to a picture of Jennifer Aniston and said "Mom?"

Hi. My name is Brighton, and I'm a chocoholic.

My son is definitely a chocoholic and I blame myself. I too, often, fall victim of the Dove Milk Chocolate spell. I can't recall when Brighton's first piece of chocolate was, but it has snowballed and now, now that he is well and able to eat REAL food like chicken, vegetables, fruits etc again, he seems to have also figured out that he can eat Chocolate again.

When we come in from playing outside or we are out on an especially cold day, I stop at Starbucks and get him a kids hot chocolate - which he adores. On Valentine's Day, chocolate rules this house. There is chocolate everywhere. Ok, well not EVERYWHERE but it feels like it. He received chocolate from his valentines, Mom bought (of course) Dove chocolate to give out to his valentines. Personally, I believe there is no better chocolate (except Cadbury from the UK) than Dove.

And of course, there's the mocha. Mom keeps a stash of semi sweet chocolate sauce in the fridge for her morning macchiato. I only put it on the top, in a cross-hatch pattern. I make a macchiato with about 1/4 - 1/2" foam on top of which I drizzle the semi-sweet chocolate goodness. I try to drink my macchiato before my son finds it, but it never works. He sees the chocolate cross-hatch and as soon as he can have access to it- usually on my lap - immediately dips his fingers. Then instead of enjoying my drink, I have to chug it or this will go on for as long as I have it. Even when I'm done, he has to make a wide sweep around the inside of the mug, looking for any remnant of the chocolate sauce. He seems to especially enjoy the chocolate/coffee combination. Terrifying...

So here's a drawing of what I mean by Macchiato as I've learned from working at Starbucks. I guess techinically what I drink in the morning would be a mocha macchiato instead of a caramel macchiato(left) or an espresso macchiato (right). Turns out, there's a lot of ways to interpret what and how a macchiato is made. I couldn't find a defintion of it on Starbucks online, but this is what I've learned. Coffee 101. (If it's not quite right, I'm sure A.J. or Kevin will let me know.)

Learn a little bit of Starbucks speak. Cool.

You can even get a Starbucks Podcast - and you don't have to have an iPod - just download iTunes and you can listen to it on your computer.

Photos

I forgot to add the photos...You can also view them and more by clicking on the title of my post or by clicking on the link to the right that says "link to our photos".

Me and my new iPod nano

Brighton getting ready to pitch a fit and then pitching a fit
A little background about this set of photos, I was trying to make supper...and he was hungry and tired. And I told him to throw a fit so daddy could take a picture of it. So whether or not this is a real fit is up for debate.

Brighton playing his gourd saxaphone -

no it's not a saxaphone, but whatever

Valentines Day Present

For Valentines Day, my dear darling husband bought me an iPod Nano. I was thinking about wanting one, but if I didn't get one, I wasn't going to be terribly upset. Well...now that I have it...I've spent most of the morning checking out all the TOTALLY COOL AND FREE iPod podcasts from NPR and Story time for kids. See, Brighton has a stroller with an "acoustic" canopy. Which just means that it has little pockets with mesh on the inside of the canopy that hide a little head set with separate speakers inside of another pocket on the back of the stroller canopy. Ok, so not so impressive. But, when I hook up my iPod..he can hear stories and music while we're strolling around the mall! Is that COOL or WHAT?!

I've been into listening to books on tape since I worked at Yellowbook. It's a great way to pass the time and I find I work better when I can concentrate on something other than the task at hand. I know, sounds silly, but I've always been that way. Especially when I'm grooming. I can groom with my eyes closed just about so if I have a story to focus my thoughts on, I can focus my eyes and hands on grooming. Anyway, I can upload podcasts from NPR or books and listen to them on my special new radio that I can attach my iPod to and listen to it (and it has a remote control!)

I'm not one to get all excited really over these kinds of gadgets, unless of course, it is useful for something I'm interested in. And this I am. So I'm super excited about my new iPod Nano. Which, by the way, we got for a GREAT deal at the apple store online. It was refurbished, so it was less than $100...right honey? AND I can add photos to my Nano! It's not the most recent updated fancy schmancy iPod, but I love it anyway! Thanks Honey :)

Most Terrifying 30 Seconds of Our Lives

You've all seen it at the malls, you've heard about that "two seconds" that mom or dad turns their head and their child is gone. Well, that's what happened to us yesterday. We were in the crowded mall, I'd just gotten off work at Starbucks, I was exhausted. Dad and Brighton had arrived about 45 minute prior and hung out while I was helping the guys get caught up (we were swamped all day and had a LOT of catching up to do!) Finally I got off work, was finishing up my piece of pizza and sitting for a little while before we were off again to run errands etc etc. Anyway, my attention was focused on some obnoxious teenagers sitting in the cafe when all of a sudden, Andrew asks me "where's your son?" I looked around and he was gone. It was like a scene from a movie where everything and everyone is a blur. You are looking around and around and with each passing second, your heart is racing, head pounding. My mind was flooded with fear and horrible scenes of someone taking him by the hand and leading him out the door. Andrew and I keep looking back at each other hoping that one of us will have found him, but we both had that fearful look on each other's faces. Finally, a woman comes up to me and says "are you looking for a little boy?" "YES!" "he's over by the gumball machines." I should have known. BALLS! "I was keeping an eye on him" the woman said "I knew someone belonged to him. He sure is fast!" I raced over and scooped him up in my arms. I felt like bawling but I didn't. I held my composure and squeezed him as hard as I could. Maybe if I closed my eyes tight enough or squeezed him closer to me, the whole terrifying experience wouldn't have happened. We are so blessed and thankful that he was safe. He was right by the entrance to the mall. It would have been so easy for someone to scoop him up just as I did and walk straight out the door and we may not have ever seen him again. I'm buying him a backpack tether. Today. Never NEVER will that happen again.

Anyway, enough of THAT story. Last night we had dinner with Amy and baby Pete (aka Muskie Junior - Big Pete is Muskie) and visited for a while. It was a nice evening. Baby Pete is getting so big!! He's almost three months old already and almost as tall as Brighton!! He'll be out on the boat with daddy fishing in no time! Brighton was pretty interested in his little cousin. Think maybe it's time to start thinking about a little brother...

Oh, and a little tip for mashing bananas. I made Brighton an Elvis sandwich the other day. And since he can't bite into the banana so well these days, I decided to "mash" the banana. So instead of taking the whole banana out of the skin, mashing it with a fork then spreading it on the sandwich, I just mashed it inside the skin! I just squeezed it with my hands until I could feel that it was somewhat mushy. VOILA! SO EASY!

BALL! BALL! BALL! BALL! BALL!

You get the idea. Brighton got this football from the "One Spot" at Target the other day and he hasn't let it out of his sight. He usually sleeps with a teddy bear or a puppy, but nowadays, he is choosing his "BALL!" And that's his catch phrase nowadays too. Everywhere we go, he sees "BALL!" Billboards, books, the ground. Anything round in shape is a "BALL!" I need to get him a bathtub basketball hoop. That would REALLY make him happy.

Suppose we have an all-star on our hands?

I'm starting to think that maybe Brighton has Mom all figured out. Daddy can spend all day with the little man and have little or no issues. When it's time for bed, Dad can jsut take him into his bedroom, lay him down, walk out and that's that. Mom has to rock, and nurse, rock and nurse until he's finally half asleep and will lay down in his bed. Is this my fault? Am I making him co-dependant on me? Or am I just a big pushover doormat mommy? Again, I swore I would never ever do that, and here I am, losing my battle of wits with a 21 month old.

Aside from being crabby because he doesn't feel well, Dad can feed him, put him to bed, work from home. Etc etc. Mom on the other hand didn't get breakfast until about 9:00 (we woke up about 7:45) because Mr. had to have "milkies" and while mom was putting dishes into the dishwasher, had a meltdown for some odd reason (I think because he dropped his fork that he was putting into the dishwasher basket) then mom fed him breakfast, which he proceeded to spill all over his tray. Mom finally got a break, he went off to play. I downed my now cold muffin and attempted to drink my espresso and back he came wanting up on my lap again. I suppose part of it is because he's just not feeling well and Mom is always the one to comfort and though Daddy comforts too, he's more fun. I can take that I guess. I'd just like to eat a warm meal once in a while, ya know?

I Almost Forgot!

Oh yeah, Andrew found my wedding band!! It took him all of about three seconds. Naturally. I was just getting used to the idea of getting a 1 carat band instead of the 1/2 or 3/4 carat I have...I don't recall....

I Don't Like That Noise...

Today we stopped at Target after my eye doctor appointment and by this time, Brighton was tired, hungry and hurting. So we stopped in at Starbucks where I could give him some ibuprofen and get him something to fill his tummy that wouldn't hurt his gums. AKA ice cream. On our way in there, I hit a bump and of course, it was also just as Brighton was putting his finger in his mouth. He bumped his already tender gums on his fingernail I suppose and started bawling. I tell him "It's OK, Mom's got medicine to make him feel better," and shuffle the cart to a table. As I am trying to coax him into waiting while I'm getting his medicine ready, this little girl comes up to me, who is about three, and says "Can you make your baby stop crying? I don't like that sound..." I'm a reasonable mother. I can appreciate someone speaking their own mind and I also understand that when it's a three year old, you're basically at the mercy of whatever thought, feeling or image pops into their brain...But I was a bit taken aback. Her mother just laughed. I thought it was a little rude, but laughed it off, and expected her mother to say something like "His mommy is giving him medicine so he mustn't feel good. You cry when you don't feel good." At least that's what I (a PERFECT mother - HA!) would have said. I did tell the little girl that he didn't feel good and that he was crying because he bumped his teeth (didn't want to get into the whole thing) and his mouth hurt. She seemed empathetic and sweet. Then when Brighton tossed his puffs overboard, she promptly shuffled to pick them up for us. Which was also sweet. So all in all I guess maybe she wasn't a little blond snot bag in a pretty frilly black and pink polkadot dress, instead I think I've just had a tough couple of days and was a bit overstimulated and not in any mood to match wits (and probably lose) with an outspoken 3 year old. Who's the adult here?

Bright went with me to the eye doctor and I have to say, he was a perfect angel (of course). He sat in the chair across from me and just watched. Didn't try to get up, didn't cry, didn't shuffle or fuss. He was so good and I was so proud of him. I thought for sure I'd have to end up putting him in my lap which I know isn't the eye doctor's bag of tea (he told me so last year). So I'm glad that my good boy showed him that he was a good boy. Anyway, here are a couple pictures of Brighton doing his "chores." I'm off to bed...

UPDATE All is (Kindof) Well

So far anyway. Brighton woke up this morning about 3:00 crying. I rocked him for a little bit then laid him back down in his bed. Then he woke up again about 4:30. I went to his room, gave him some tylenol and brought him to bed with us. He didn't fall right to sleep, but finally about 5:30 or just shortly after daddy went to work, we "nugglebugged" and he fell asleep. We slept until almost 9:00. We were tired.

Quick update, Bright is doing OK, though his gums are still swollen and he has several new blisters. Two more outside his mouth (total of 4) and at least one inside his lip, but none on the roof of his mouth or his hands or feet. He doesn't have a fever, but we're keeping him home from daycare again tomorrow incase the fever blisters or whatever they are are contagious. He will drink, which is a good sign, but he isn't keen on eating a whole lot. So when I called the doctor's office today, the other doctor told me to give him cool smoothe things and not worry about veggies and fruits for the time being. Just give him milk or water to drink and pudding, yogurt, popcicles, ICE CREAM etc. Great. Then he won't eat anything else!!! Well, I better go, I have an eye appointmet at 1:15 and Bright is still sleeping.

Night Terrors

Terrorizing for mommy & daddy for sure. Bright woke up Saturday night (Sunday morning actually - about 3:00 AM) with a high fever (almost 102) and shaking and jerking (like an exaggerated startle reflex) and crying uncontrollably. WELCOME HOME DADDY! We administered Tylenol and laid him in our bed. Mom went out to lay on the couch (because there was no room for her at the inn) and about 1.5 hours later, he woke again. When I got in there, Dad was trying to console him while Bright was having the same reaction. So we got on the horn and called the doctor, terrified that he was having a seizure. We ruled out a seizure but couldn't figure out just what it was. It was almost like he was having a nightmare and woke up thinking he was still in the nightmare. Night Terrors I guess are caused by being over tired, and I suppose the combination of being overtired (which he definitely was), having Daddy gone for a week, and having a high fever certainly would explain it. I took Brighton to the doctor today (during his nap time of course so again, he's OVERTIRED-ironic huh?) and other than a little bit of a red throat and a hyperactive tummy (he's not been eating either) he seemed OK. But if he spikes a fever tonight, she's going to want to do blood tests.

Needless to say, Mom is really very scared and hopes he gets a tell-tale lacy red rash about his face and trunk which will signify Roseola and set all of our minds at ease. He is sleeping right now, and I've been checking on him about every 15 - 20 minutes. This mother business isn't all it's cracked up to be. You do everything you can think of to try to keep your kids healthy and WHAMMO! I have purelled till the cows came home, washed hands until they've bled, tried to keep my son from touching grocery carts and other public entities, but I take my kid to the play yard at Lindale mall once, and BAM! Sicko. Can't I just keep him in a bubble? My heart can't take all this anxiety...

Frigid...

The newscasters are using the word "frigid" to describe today. So I thought I'd look up the word "frigid" to see what it actually means...lets see.

Webster's online dictionary describes it as this:

Frigid
Adjective

1. Sexually unresponsive; "was cold to his advances"; "a frigid woman".

2. Extremely cold; "an arctic climate"; "let's get inside; I'm freezing"; "a frigid day"; "gelid waters of the North Atlantic"; "glacial winds"; "icy hands"; "polar weather".

3. Devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain; "a frigid greeting"; "got a frosty reception"; "a frozen look on their faces"; "a glacial handshake"; "icy stare"; "wintry smile".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
Date "frigid" was first used: sometime in the early 15th century. (references)
Etymology: Frigid \Frig"id\, adjective. [Latin expression frigidus, from frigere to be cold; probably akin to Greek to shudder, or perhaps to cold. Compare to Frill.]. (Websters 1913)

Synonyms: FrigidSynonyms: arctic (adj), cold (adj), freezing (adj), frosty (adj), frozen (adj), gelid (adj), glacial (adj), icy (adj), polar (adj), wintry (adj). (additional references)

Ok, so I agree, but judging by how cold it is outside and how cold it's going to be tomorrow, I would have guessed that the definition would have contained a photo of Iowa and a swear word or two. I hate to even think of putting my dogs outside to go potty. I'm tempted to secure an area in the sun room where they will go, but I know they won't. Ugh. Anyway, I'm making a roast tonight for supper that has taken me two days to prepare so it had better be good!!! If it is, I'll post the recipe. That just sounds good on a cold winter day. Gotta love Iowa.

Red Dye 40...fact or fiction?

Brighton is on a kick lately of wanting his "juice" with supper instead of his regular whole milk. So being the complete pushover I am, I gave in and gave him the "juice." I should clarify, bu "Juice" he means sugar free crystal light drinks that we dilute about 3:1 3 parts water to 1 part prepared crystal light. About 30 minutes after his supper I noticed something rather odd...Brighton looked like and acted like he had swallowed two fist-fulls of coffee beans...running around the ottoman in circles and giggling, knocking everything off the coffee table, climbing up and off my lap about 4 dozen times... "OK, he's just overtired" I tell myself. "Let him wear himself out!"

A few yawns later, from him and I, I figured it was time to start to relax and head off to bed. We started out in his bedroom where he first thought maybe he'd take out a bear or two to sleep with. Then he thought it would be a grand idea to get up in his rocking chair. After two seconds of that, down he went from the chair and that's when he thought he needed his baseball. Then he made a few laps around his hamper, baseball in hand then a few without. "What the heck is going on?!" I'm thinking to myself, "I had a latte tonight, but it was decaf..." I watched in horror, my mind racing as to how I was going to get this little tennis ball with legs off to bed! "TYLENOL!" Brighton gladly took his "medicine" but it didn't slow him down any...at least not yet. (oh don't get your panties in a wad, he is teething and I don't give my son drugs too appease my sleeping habits! - just his). This clearly wasn't working. He was not ready for "nite nite".

I thought maybe it was a good idea to take him into our bedroom for a while to lay with mommy and maybe read a book or two or watch the tele and relax. Yeah well, that's where the fun began. Out of nowhere, he started running (well, a toddler version of running anyway), throwing himself on the floor and laughing hysterically at and to himself. Up on the bed, under the covers to play "peek!" with Feebee, tickling Feebee, then down on the floor again running around the bed. I admit, at this point, it was kind of fun watching him have such a good time and his giggle is infectious. So I participate for a little while and we both hide from and peek!Feebee (who wasn't amused). I watch him hoping against all hope that the Tylenol will kick in soon. Finally, he looks into the mirror and I catch him rubbing his eyes. "AHA! That's my cue." I scoop him up and take him into his room where he immediately exclaims "STARS!" "Yeah stars," I say, "it's time for sleepy...FEEBEE!" (Feebee always sleeps in the rocking chair beside him at night).

After a little "milkie" and a little rocking, he's finally drifting off. Which brings me here...and to the title of this post. While I was watching him bounce like a drunken tigger all around the bedroom it occurred to me...Red 40 was in the cranberry "juice!!" Somehow I recall someone somewhere saying something about red dye 40 making kids hyper...or was it yellow 50? I don't know...I looked it up online like every good parent does, and found nothing except this, which is kind of gross (click on This) but I don't think it has anything to do with the chemical red 40 that is supposed to make kids hyper. At any rate, that is one possible explanation of the tiggeresque activity going on in my house this evening...So if you know, would you please either email me or leave me a comment? I'd be really interested. But he is in bed, so I won't hold Red 40 in contempt just yet...but he's surely not getting anymore red "juice!"