Mommio: Five Baby Birds

One week later we have five little baby birds...

Mommio: Sea World Adventure

On Monday I dared to go to Sea World for the day by myself with six kids...and it turned out to be an amazingly awesome day!  We hung out in the water park for three, non-stop hours of fun. And while there the four oldest decided to go on the big body slide, then went over and over.  Mason says he "conquered" his fear of heights and he is ready to try more slides next time.  We can't wait to go back!

Connor: Blog Of The Day

Main Items-  sandwich, pizza rolls, bread pizza, hot dogs, left overs, chicken nuggets, baked potato, breakfast taco, salmon, pasta

Healthy Items- swiss cheese, red grapes, green grapes, salad, jalapeno peppers, string cheese, pickles

Extra Items-  cookies, salt and vinegar flavored chips,  potato chips, jelly toast,  fruit snacks, bbq chips  

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Main Items- hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza rolls, bread pizza, macaroni and cheese, ramen, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, bagel pizza,


Healthy Items- carrots, oranges, apples, bananas, broccoli, sliced cheese, gogurt,


Extras- chips, gold fish, pretzels, crackers, cheese its, cookie, pudding,

Avery: Blog Of The Day

Main Items: roll-up pizzas, hot dogs, homemade macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, baked potato, spicy popcorn chicken, eggs, quesadillas
Healthy Items: baby carrots (with ranch), bananas, popcorn, corn, swiss cheese, Cheddar cheese, fruit snacks, green grapes, apples with peanut butter, steamed broccoli

Extras: cinnamon ritz, vanilla pudding, big pretzels, oreos, cookies, french fries, bbq chips, cheetos, salty ritz, bacon, jelly toast

Gabe:Blog Of The Day

main-sandwiches, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, leftovers, ravioli, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls  

healthy- bananas, apples, pineapple, cherries, oranges, broccoli, carrots, string cheese

extras- cookies, crackers, popcorn, pudding, chips, cheesy chex mix

Avery: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

I want to be a vampire because I will never die, I will always win a running race and I will like the taste of blood (I don't think it has a taste). I also want to be a vampire because I can stay up late without getting tired! Also if I was a vampire in bat form I would look like this:

YEAH!

Max and Jack: Blog Of The Day (Yesterday)

Max- Vampire because I want to suck blood.
Jack- Vampire because I will be scary.

Mason: Blog Of The Day

Main Items- hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, ravioli, beefaroni, roll,up pizza, bread pizza, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, spaghettios
Healthy Items- broccoli, cheese slices, bananas, apples, grapes, string cheese, gogurt
Extras- pudding, crackers, cookies, chips, pretzels, cheese its, animal crackers

Mason: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

I really would be a vampire rather than a werewolf. Because vampires can live forever If I could live forever I would do more school because I really like learning. The reason I don't want to be a werewolf is that at night at the full moon people could mistake me for a real wolf and hunt me.

Connor: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

I find it to be a hard choice.  On one hand you get immortality on the other hand you get to live a normal life.  I think I would like to be a vampire.  The reason for my choice being that while vampires have many, many weaknesses they are still better than werewolves.  Werewolves are easily mistaken for wolves and shot by hunters with bullets that just happen to be silver.  Werewolves also only transform on the night of the full moon where as a vampire is never human and transforms at will.  Vampires, when chased with wooden stakes, can just turn into a bat and fly over them.  A vampire gets to hang out throughout history and learn from it at the same time.  A vampire can start world peace and benefit from it because war = loss of blood and peace = vampire feast.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

Werewolf because they rip things up.   They could rip a 300 foot tree in to pieces.  They are awesome.  I love werewolves.

Marney: Blog Of The Day (yesterday)

A vampire because they live a long time and they suck blood. I think the way that they run is super funny.  I think that I can be a vampire if a real vampire bites me.   But they are not real so they will not bite me. I like vampires, they are awesome.

Mommio: 6/30/10 Blog Of The Day

All of you have been asking to be able to choose what you want for lunch each day and make it yourself, like we already do for breakfast.  I need some help coming up with a menu that you can choose from.  Today I would like you to each come up with a list of lunch choices that you think would work.  You need three lists: main items (like hot dog, sandwich, chicken nuggets,etc.), healthy items (fruits, vegies, cheeses, etc.), and extras (crackers, pretzels, chips, cookies, pudding etc.).  Please make sure that all of the items on your lists are things that you can make by yourself and that you would want to eat.  You can include as many things as you can think of on each list...the more you think of the more we will have on the final menu.

Mommio: 6/28/10 Blog Of The Day

Vampire Vs. Werewolf

In the Twilight series of books and movies that we have been watching, the major theme (other than all the lovey dovey stuff) is the eternal conflict between vampires and werewolves.  It is a theme that has been repeated over and over in horror stories, novels and movies.  So, today I want you to pick a side and explain why it is better to be a vampire or a werewolf.  Which would you rather be?

Mommio: Our Week

Last week was really great- we were all feeling pretty good and got some school and some fun in during the week. This week we will be aiming for lots more fun!
M- Sea World waterpark
T- Nana Day, Connor Dr. Hauger, yoga, 10 and Up Game Night
W- school, World Geography Unit, lake swim with friends, Max&Jack yoga, Marney&Gabe sleepovers
T- school, World Geography Unit, art & music with Weavers, Connor&Mason Teen Library League, yoga
F- Mason&Avery archery final, school, World Geography Unit, night lake swim, family sleepover
S- yard chores, science, chemistry, family movie
S- family lake day

Avery: Blog Of The Day

The Evil Rabbit
By Avery

Why... hello there! I am the Easter Bunny and I want to tell you about this little girl that I ate one day! She was super yummy! One day (flashback!) I went to this strange dark cave. It had lights hung up on the walls, spell books on shelves, pots with green stuff in it and a cool gold vest. I went to the vest and put it on. Suddenly this Santa came in and saw me. He was so mad when he saw me. I ran to the back of the cage.
" HO HO HO! You are a naughty bunny.", yelled Santa.
" I'm the Easter Bunny! I just was walking around. I don't live here!", I yelled back.

Santa walked out of the cave and looked at his list. I think he put my name on it. But I was too far away so I couldn't see what he was doing. After Santa left I started reading some of the spell books. There was one book called How To Do Spells For Dummies Book. I still don't know if the book is about doing spells for dumb people or if it teaches you how to do spells.  I started to look at spell ingredients. I saw frog legs, ballerina heads, pixie dust, nickelodeon slim and cupids heart. I was freaked out by the heart thing (yuck!). The next day I got a letter from a little girl... 

Dear Easter Bunny,

My name is Lucy and I am seven years old. My mom said that I could write you a letter

I am super excited the spring fest. I heard that you are going to be there. Are you going to hide eggs?

Can I come to your house some day? Can I eat dinner ther there? I am really excitd excited!

Bye

I started writing a letter to her about how I would like to see her too. I also said that she could come over for dinner. I got in my car and drove over to the Spring fest. I saw Lucy and then took her to my house. I also brought her mom. When we got to the cave she was shocked to see all of the spell things!

     " Easter Bunny?", said Lucy

     " Yes?"

     " Why do you have a lot of spell books in your house?"

     " Be... because I like pl..pla... playing wizards. That's right."

     "Cool!"

     Lucy's mom left the room. I took Lucy over to my pot.

     " Do you want to play wizard?", I asked

     " Oh... Yes! Yes! Yes!"

     " All you have to do is come to the pot and get in it."

     " But there is green stuff in there."

     " That is good stuff."

     " Okay."

     I made the water hotter and hotter. I put in some pixie dust and then she was gone! She was a human stew! I ate her up and it was the best dinner ever.

The End

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

Vampire Bunny
By Gabe

One day  a little girl was coming home and when she got home she took a nap. Then she woke up and went and got the mail and there was a letter it was from the Easter Bunny. She sniffed up something. The letter said "Tomorrow Again". The next day she checked the mail and there was a letter from the Easter Bunny, the letter  said "Again and again". Then the next day she went to the mail and there was a letter from the Easter Bunny.  It said "My house, 3:00." She came and she sat down on the Easter Bunny and she got bit by the vampire bunny. Then she was a vampire. 

The End

Connor: Blog Of The Day

When Good Bunnies Go Bad

By Connor

One day a young girl was taken to see the Easter Bunny. Little did she know her parents were really mutated rabbits in disguise.  Her "parents" took her into a strange place that seemed to be a mall.  When the young girl sat on the Easter Bunny's lap he got up and carried her off to a machine of some sort.  The Easter Bunny placed the young girl in the machine, pulled a lever and suddenly the young girl found herself in a weird enchanted land.  Looking up she saw a giant mountain and as she looked a humanoid figure walked off the mountain.  This human was over a trillion feet tall and wearing what seemed to be a white table cloth instead of regular clothing.  He wore a crown on his head and carried a lightning bolt.  The young girl saw more of these giants, each clad in a different color of cloth.  The young girl looked at her own clothes and noticed she was now wearing a table cloth.  The multiple figures, she now counted nine, stood in front of her and used some kind of super powers.  They each said their names in the following order: Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Demeter, Dionysus, Hades and Ares.    Suddenly Hades said that if the young girl stayed there she would die.  With one small zap Athena sent the girl back to the modern world.  Soon the now angry Easter Bunny put the young girl on a ship with a bunch of other kids and pressed a button.  The young girl told the other kids that she would hold the doors of the ship open for as long as she could.  Eventually every kid except the young girl whom kept the door open had fled.  The Easter Bunny, now extremely upset, pressed a button that caused the ship to launch past Earth's atmosphere into space.  Suddenly the Easter Bunny turned around and realized the young girl had gotten off the ship in the nick of time and pressed the self destruct button on the lair's main computer.  "NO, YOU STUPID GIRL YOU HAVE DOOMED US BOTH!"  The young girl ran for the door and escaped and the Bunny Villain was never heard from again.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Bunny Money

 Marney

One day a girl named Marney was at a salon and she was having her hair done with her mom.   When she was done she saw an big bunny on the book she was reading.  She saw that you can sit in his lap.
   "I love the bunny" said Marney. "I  want to see it now"said Marney. "You can not sit in his lap" said the mom.  "I want to see the bunny" said Marney.  Then she saw the bunny's house over the street.  She saw the bunny and then she got bit by the the bunny.  They lived happy ever after and she was a bunny.

The End

Daddio: 6/25/10 Blog of the Day

Write a story about the following picture.  There's only one rule, the story can't just be about a girl going to get her picture with the Easter Bunny-- she has to be there for some weird reason.

Mommio: Vote!

Pick the best underwater handstand.

Connor:

Gabe:

Marney:

Mommio: Friends At Last!

We haven't been able to see our friends over the last few weeks since we have been sick..but finally we did this week and we are all very happy about it.  Tuesday we had Wii Night-

Wednesday we got to lake swim with friends-

And today we finally got to see the Weaver's again!

Mason: Blog Of The Day

Mason

I am nice and smart
I wonder why are clouds white
I hear a bird tweeting
I see our car
I want to be an artist when I grow up
I am nice and smart
I pretend to be an astronaut
I feel happy about playing Wii with my friends
I touch grass
I worry about Max and Jack when they are sick
I cry when I get hurt
I am nice and smart
I understand that the Earth is round
I say that I'm going to be a painter
I dream weird dreams
I try yoga
I hope to do great at yoga
I am nice and smart

Mommio: They're Back!

All the baby birds left us a few weeks ago but we have been seeing a momma bird up protecting the barn swallow nest so yesterday I checked it out to see what she was watching over...and we have new babies!  There are three brand new, featherless babies and two eggs yet to hatch.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

Connor

I am intelligent and quick witted

I wonder what other world mythologies there are

I hear a raven cawing

I see a Jabberwocky

I want to be able to go back in time

I am intelligent and quick witted

I pretend to speak with animals

I feel scared of dragons

I touch the Cerberus's fur

I worry that T will die soon 

I cry when I think of my past pets

I am intelligent and quick witted

I understand that turtles live to be 100

I say I can recite the Raven without reading it

I dream of becoming a history professor

I try to avoid breaking my legs

I hope scientists find Atlantis
I am intelligent and quick witted

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

Gabe

I am smart and cool

I wonder how big a komodo dragon is

I hear a tweet

I see a cardinal

I want a chocolate cream cake 

I am smart and cool 

I pretend to be a rat

I feel  good about swimming 

I touch a dragon

I worry about mom leaving 

I cry because a rat died

I am smart and cool 

I understand Shamu is a  killer whale

I say I could do the crow

I dream about driving Nana's car

I try to float on my back 

I hope to do plow 3 times in a row 

I am smart and cool

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Marney

I am nice and awesome 

I wonder if I can fly

I hear the water

I see a baby duck

I want to eat a big cake

I am nice and awesome

I pretend to be a baby 

I feel awesome eating

I touch an egg

I worry that I will get hurt

I cry when I get hurt

I am nice and awesome

I understand that people can walk

I say I love my mom

I dream that I was made of cookie

I try to make a big, big, big cookie

I hope I will get a Ipod on my birthday 

I am nice and awesome

Avery: Blog Of The Day

Avery

I am strange and fun

I wonder if I can be a vet

I hear dogs barking

I see a vet college

I want to be a vet

I am strange and fun

I pretend I am a chef

I feel excited about brownies

I touch animals

I worry I won't be a vet

I cry when I get bitten by a rat

I am strange and fun

I understand I am flexible

I say I can win a race

I dream about dead fish

I try to do good in school

I hope I get a sleepover

I am strange and fun 

Daddio: 6/23/10 Blog of the Day

In today's blog of the day, you're going to write an "I Am" poem.  It's a poem all about you!  An I-Am poem can be titled by your name, "I Am" or a characteristic you think is important about you.  An I-Am poem is 18 lines, and here's the rules for writing each one:

I am (two special characteristics)
I wonder (something you are actually curious about)
I hear (an imaginary sound)
I see (an imaginary sight)
I want (an actual desire)
I am (the first line of the poem restated)
I pretend (something you actually pretend to do)
I feel (a feeling about something imaginary)
I touch (an imaginary touch)
I worry (something that really bothers you)
I cry (something that makes you very sad)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)
I understand (something you know is true)
I say (something you believe in)
I dream (something you actually dream about)
I try (something you really make an effort about)
I hope (something you actually hope for)
I am (the first line of the poem repeated)

Mommio: Ava is 10!

Happy 10th Birthday Avery!

Mommio: We Should've Done This A Long Time Ago

It's 4:30 in the afternoon, the kids finished all their school work and house chores remarkably fast today and have been happily swimming in the new pool since 12:30 today.  Max, Kiki and I got in for an hour but for the most part the older bunch has been having pure, unsupervised (meaning I watch unseen by them through the window as I do other stuff), pool-wrestling fun.  It's perfect for all of us!

I always thought it would be a little ridiculous to have a pool here since we have the lake, and it is so easy to use thanks to Nana and Popo.  But I was dead wrong.  This is totally different than the lake, like going to the beach is different.  And now, after only one day, I am trying to figure out in my head how we can fit an in-ground pool in our backyard (think of all the use it would get over the next 10 years!) and who will pay for it.  Any takers?

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Saudi Arabia

It is in the middle east near Yemen and Iraq.  And the people were called Arabs.  There language they speak is Arabic.  Their religion is Islam.  And a royal family took over in 1992.  One third of the worlds oil they have that there.  Women are not equal that is bad. I want to go there because I want to see mecca and Medina  where Muhammad was because we learned about it when we studied religions.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

Norway

Norway extends 1,100 miles from the North Sea to more than 300 miles above the Arctic Circle.  Nearly 70% of Norway is too cold for humans to live there.  Now the interesting thing is that during WW1 Norway stayed neutral along with Denmark and Sweden which since 1905 had been controlling Norway.  In WW2 Norway was invaded by the Nazis and Norway's prime minister at the time Vidkun Quisling was a supporter of the Nazis.  Norway was run by vikings whose mythology is referred to as Norse Mythology.  Norway once was made an offer to join the EU and declined.  Norway is very cool because of its past.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

Namibia

Namibia is big country right next to South Africa and the Atlantic ocean! It has an elevation of 3,000 feet to 4,000 feet. Namibia's total area would be 318,694. The capital there is called Swakopmund. Namibia was discoverd by the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in the late 15th century. Later in the 1880s Germans took over the place. In 1946 people from South Africa have tried to take over the place. Ever sense 2005 their president has been Hifikeounye Ponamba. Also ever sense 2005 their prime minister has been Nahas Angula. Most of the people in Namibia speak Afrikaans, 7 % English and 32% German. Almost all of the people there are Christian. Their industries are meat packing, fish processing, dairy products and mining! The stuff they grow there is millet, sorghum, peanuts and grapes. In Namibia they have only 2 radio stations 137 airports and 232,000 tvs . Some day I would like to go there, but I won't... because it would be way too much money to spend to get there.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

Swaziland

My place is called Swaziland. It is cool.  It is 85% the size of New Jersey.  They have is called King Mswati Third.  They appealed to the British and they became independent in 1868.  I want to go there because I want to learn their languages.

Kiki's Blog of the Day

My Alone Nana Day

1.  Bookstore
2. Pottery Place
3. Mall in Austin (maybe movie)
4. Dinner at Chili's
5. Sleepover at Nana's

Mason: Blog Of The Day

Cyprus

Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean Sea near Turkey. Their flag looks like the shape of the island. There are 16 small airports to fly to the country. The people that live there are from Turkey and Greece. Cyprus is a great place to visit because there are lots of places to see. It is the sea so there are lots of animals that you can find in the water. If I ever get to go to Cyprus I want to see Mt. Olympus.

Daddio: 6/21/10 Blog of the Day

In honor of your world geography unit study, for today's blog of the day, I want you to go to this page on Factmonster and explore the different flags of the world. Choose a flag you like, but don't recognize, and find out what country it belongs to.  Read up the page on that country and then, for your blog, write a paragraph or two explaining to me and Mommio what that country is like.  Would we like to visit there?  What are the people like?  What is the culture?

Daddio: Best. Father's Day. Ever.

We now live amongst the rich and elite.  Why you ask? Because while Jen was at Walmart buying a memory card for our Wii (so we can download a bunch of new songs), she saw that they were liquidating their stock of above-ground pools. So for two hundred bucks we have our new, 16-foot diameter/3-foot deep pool with filter, skimmer, vacuum and ladder.

I'm well aware that one shot with a BB gun and this thing will flood the dog run, but we like living on the edge. The best part is that we fill it with free well water. When we first set it up, it didn't look like much- just an inflated ring sitting on a tarp:



But after a couple of hours... HEY! This is starting to look like a pool!



After a couple of more hours, we thought, "This might actually work out!"



Five and a half hours later and, holy cow! That's a pool! It being father's day, I got the honors of being the first one in the pool and helped the littler ones in:



Then the whole family got into it, including Nana and Popo (well not really Popo- but he came over to appreciate it):



Now obviously this pool isn't for doing laps. If we want to do that, or any hardcore swimming, we'll go to the lake. But this is perfect for soaking and wrestling in for an hour or so on an afternoon when we don't want to get everything together for a lake venture.



The concerned look on my face here has to do with the freezing temperature of the water drawn up from the well. Even though it was in the upper nineties today, the pool didn't have time to heat up because it was constantly filling for almost six hours.



Nana was also hesitant, and like every good grandmother, refused to get her hair wet. Also please notice the beautiful crepe myrtle in the background, we planted that last summer.



We had a great time and swam for about an hour (the older kids for about two hours). Best father's day ever.

Mommio: Our Week

Daddio is home, we are done being sick and ready for a fun week!  Here's the plan:
M- Mason & Ava archery, school, World Geography Unit Study, house chores, pool swimming
T- Nana Day, Connor Dr. Shapiro appt., Ava goes to work with Daddio, yoga, Connor-Mason-Ava Wii night
W- Jack Alone Nana Day, school, lake swimming with friends, RPG night, AVA TURNS 10!
T- school, World Geography Unit Study, art & music with Weaver's, pool swimming, yoga
F- morning at Nana's, make cupcakes, Connor bloodwork, night lake swimming
S- family lake swimming day, Ava's birthday party and sleepover, family movie
S- yard chores, science & chemistry with Daddio, guitar, pool swimming

Connor: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
You're awesome! I love you because you are always goofy and it makes us all laugh.  You're the best dad ever.  Heroscape was fun yesterday. Happy Father's Day!
Love,
Connor

Gabe: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
I love how we can finish the Mario game today with you and get all the stars on it.  We can also play the Mario Bros game and get to World 4.  It's going to be a really fun day!  I also like how you play with us a lot on the weekend and when you're at home.
Love,
Gabe

Mason: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
I love you very much! I like it when you play Heroscape with me.  I think you are the best dad ever.  I like playing the Wii with you.  I like talking with you and I like spending time with you.  Happy Father's Day!
Love,
Mason

Max&Jack: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
We love you! You give us stuff and stuff to eat and milk.  We like to kiss our Daddio.
Love,
Max & Jack

Kiki: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
I love you so much.  And you're so nice to me.  The best thing about you is you are funny.
Love,
Kiki

Marney: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
You're cool, you're awesome and I love you!  I like when you play with me, like board games and Wii.  I like when we go swimming and have splash fights.  I like that you are my father because you are the nicest father ever.
Love,
Marney

Ava: Happy Father's Day

Dear Daddio,
Happy Father's Day! You are the best dad I could ever have.  I think that you are really, really good at that Mario Galaxy game.  I like when we get to hang out with you in the evenings.  I hope you will be able to get 100 stars on your Mario game.
Love,
Avery

Mommio: Feeling Better

The little boys are starting to feel better..

And Connor is off the PICC line and on to oral meds so he is feeling much better too!

Mason: Blog Of The Day

I think they should clean the birds and send them somewhere else. If they kill them there won't be that many surviving. They might have a little bit more of a chance to survive if we clean them. I think it is really important to save them because if all the birds die then the ecosystem dies.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

I think we should capture them and then clean. Then we need to put them in to a safe place. The reason I want to clean them is because more will live if we clean them.  The reason I want  to move them to another beach is because they won't die.  We could move them to the Atlantic coast where other brown pelicans are.

Marney: Blog Of The Day

I think you should get as much of the oil off so they can live then.  And then you can find a new home, like you can go and put them in the other half of the Gulf Of Mexico.  And then they can play with all the other ones that are there, they will have fun.Tthey can still live there because it is the Gulf Of Mexico too. That means that they will like it and they will get to eat good fish. I will like it if you get all the oil off.

Avery: Blog Of The Day

I think that we should clean some of the birds and kill some of them. The birds that swallowed oil should be put to sleep because if we just clean them and then let them go they will die very soon. There is no way we could take the oil out of their bodies. The ones that have not swallowed oil should be cleaned. I heard that they are going to rinse them and then let them rest for a while. Then... after they rest they will use some sort of dish soap. I think that they should send the birds somewhere near Texas because I heard that the oil is going more near Florida and not here.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

I think we should clean the oil off of the birds.  My reason for thinking so is because of all the past oil spills.  Many people had helped the birds in the past and we have learned a lot about how to get rid of the oil.   For another thing we need to see how long these birds will live in their native environment after being cleaned.  We can't let the gulf birds go extinct or become endangered.

Mommio: 6/18/10 Blog Of The Day

The effects of the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico are starting to be seen in several states.  The most noticeable immediate effect are the hundreds of oil covered birds being found along the coast.

Read this article from CNN about the debate over what to do with these birds and then tell us what you think we should do- should we try to rescue these birds or would it be better to euthanize them? Remember to explain why you feel the way you do.

Mommio: We love the hospital!

Not really...but we sure have been spending a lot of time at the hospital lately.  We are back again tonight with Max and Jack.  There's been a yucky virus running through our house over the last week, mostly a fever and some coughing.  It finally caught up with the little guys and they sounded so horrible today that I took them to see the doctor.  She said it was most likely viral croup BUT it could also be this bad, emergency thing called epiglottitis (which is a swelling of the epiglottis that closes the airway).  So she sent us for xrays of their necks and they came back as a maybe for the bad one and off we went to the Dell Children's Hospital ER in Austin.  Me and the two boys that is, Daddio was still on his way back from winning a big trial in Dallas.  It was a rough start here at the hospital- but after some steroids, more xrays, and a nebulizer treatment they are fine.  It is just croup.  And Daddio showed up from Dallas around 10:00, we were so happy to see him!  We have to wait until midnight so they can check the boys again before releasing them...and then home we go.  In the meantime, the boys are feeling better and having a great time!

Mason: Blog Of The Day

Art

creative, fun

painting, drawing, writing

paintbrushes, paints, pencils, notebooks

learning, reading, working

great, interesting

School

Kiki: Blog Of The Day

Ice Cream

cold, yummy

eating, scooping, melting

mint, chocolate, barbecue, brown

cooking, drying, baking

hard, yucky

Beef Jerky

Marney: Blog Of The Day

Trial

bad or good

talking, arresting, fighting

clients, judge, lawyer, father

working, packing, joking

awesome, cool

Daddio

Max: Blog Of The Day

Scooby-doo

witches, ghosts

watching, playing, screaming

monsters, scooby snacks, mint, chocolate

eating, licking, scooping

fridge, cold

ice cream

Avery: Blog Of The Day

Pedro

cute, nice

crawling, eating, sleeping

green, shell, animals, friend

buying, moving, holding

little, or big

pets

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

grass 

smooth, green

watering, weeding, mowing
weeds,  dirt, plants, vegetables
planting, growing, picking
healthy, yummy
garden

Nana' Blog of the Day

Grandchildren
Funny,Wonderful
 Running, Jumping, Loving
Babies, Toddlers, Teens, Tweens
Smiling, Eating, Laughing
Sweet, Smart
Mine.

Mommio: 6/16/10 Blog Of The Day

Today you are going to learn how to write a new form of poetry- Diamante Poems. A diamante poem is a poem written in the shape of a diamond.  Instead of rhyming, each line of he poem uses specific types of words- like adjectives or words ending in -ing. A diamante poem starts with one topic and ends with another, often the opposite of the first topic but it can also be a synonym for the first topic.  Here are examples of both from the Read, Write, Think website.

Day

Bright, sunny

Laughing, playing, doing

Up in the east, down in the west

Talking, resting, sleeping

Quiet, dark

Night

Monsters

Creepy, sinister

Hiding, lurking, stalking

Vampires, mummies, werewolves and more-

Chasing, pouncing, eating

Hungry, scary

Creatures

Now it's time to write your own diamante poem.  Here is the format you need to follow:

Line 1- one noun (subject #1)

Line 2- two adjectives about subject #1

 Line 3- three -ing words about subject #1

Line 4- four nouns, first two about subject #1 and last two about subject #2

Line 5- three -ing words about subject#2

Line 6- two adjectives about subject #2

Line7- one noun (subject #2)

Gabe: Puzzle Globe

We built a puzzle globe, it is for our unit geography.  I like our unit,  it is cool. Me, mom and Marney made the globe.  We enjoyed it.

Connor: Blog Of The Day

During a trial Daddio has to talk to the judge about facts while standing up.  Then the opposing side tells their side of the story.  When the two sides have finished the jury decides who is right and who's wrong.  Finally when the trial is all wrapped up Daddio will come back home.  The courtroom is a very big room with benches, chairs and pedestals.  While stating facts each side calls up witnesses whom answer questions about what happened.  When the opposite side is speaking Daddio sits in a chair next to his client.

Gabe: Blog Of The Day

His job is to tell his story about what is happening.  He's going to tell it to the judge.  Then the jury will give their perspective of the story to the judge.  He has to write a bunch of stuff down.  And he also gives his perspective of the other person's story.  The jury decides who wins the trial, so if Dad wins the trial he gets a bunch of money and if the other side wins they get a bunch of money.  I am hoping Dad wins but sometimes he doesn't win in trials.  It is kind of confusing for me because I can't really think of what he does at trial.  And I know what he does at his office because on Saturday I went with him to work and what he does at work is he sits down an

Marney: Blog Of The Day

I think that he will have to do paper work. I think that he will have to do work like talk to people and do a bunch of things. He might have to sue someone. That means that they will have to go to jail and they will not get to do it again.

Mommio: A Rash...to the Hospital

Connor had the dressing changed at home on his PICC line today and his skin looked awful underneath, and the itchiness is driving him crazy.

So- after consulting with the the home health nurse, the infectious disease doctor and her nurse we are off to the Children's Hospital again tomorrow to have the PICC team there evaluate his site and decide if it needs to be removed or not.  It will be a long day with any number of possibilities: they might just remove the line, they might remove it and put one in the other arm, they might decide to leave it in, they could even decide to put him in the hospital until the round of antibiotics are finished.  No idea what to expect! Fingers crossed, we want to be home by tomorrow night.

Avery: Blog Of The Day (1000th post!)

This is the 1000th post on the 100 Toes Blog!

A lawyer is a person who helps some people with their problems. Most of the problems are when somebody gets really hurt and wants dad (and some other people) to pay them a lot of money. When I say a lot of money I mean like thousands of dollars!  I don't know why he is going to trial this time. But if he wants to get ready for it he has to do a couple of things. Like... he has to dress really nice, take care of himself ( of course), talk to his clients, go through tons of files and do some paper work, blog (he always does it!) and call lots of people. Oh... he also might call us once a day. I think that a trial is a... uhhhhhhhhhh... thing where there is a judge, clients, lawyers and there is a jury! In a trial the lawyers tell their side of the story. They ask people lots of questions so that they can win. When it is close to the end of the trial the jury decides who wins it. I really hope dad wins! Love ya dad!!!!!!!                                 :)


                                                  

Kiki's Blog of the Day

What Daddy does....He does work.  He does lots of paper work. He talks a lot about work at the trial.  He goes to Dallas to do his work because that is where the people with the problems are.  He has to dress up for trial and look good.  I miss him when he goes to trial.  The End. 

Mommio: 6/14/10 Blog Of The Day

Daddio Toe has left us to go to a trial in Dallas this week.  You all know Daddio is a lawyer, but what does that mean?  What is a trial and what exactly does Daddio do there?  Today I want you to try to explain what it is that you think Daddio is doing this week in Dallas.  Some hints: a trial takes place in a courtroom and involves lawyers on two opposing sides with clients, a judge oversees the trial and a jury decides which side wins the trial.

Daddio: My New Offices

I just got to Dallas to prepare for my trial and decided to take a short break to post up the pictures of my new offices.  This won't mean much to those who didn't see what the offices looked like before the big remodel, but I thought Mommio and the Toes would enjoy it.

The first big change is the addition of a free-standing wall with the firm's name on it.  When they were building it, we thought it was going to look extremely stupid, but it looked really sharp when it was done.  Aside from now having an office with a window in it, this is my next favorite part of the remodel:

Behind the wall used to be a big file room and then a giant unfinished open space that we didn't use for anything other than storing boxes and old files that needed to be moved to storage.  That space has now been finished out into five offices, a store room and a kitchen.  Here's Gabe standing at the entrance to the new hallway that leads to the new offices (including mine):

But before we get to that, you may be asking yourself what happened to my old office.  Well, because it was the largest office at the time (albeit without a window), it was turned into our new file room/library:

Above, you can see the copier and the fax are in there too.  Here's another row of shelves, and (of course) Gabe is doing some very important legal work:

So now back to the new offices, here's a picture of the newly constructed hall which has the offices, store room and kitchen on both sides of it:

And here's a shot of my new office from the door!  Gabe would have smiled, but he had some very seriously legal-related calls to make.  As you can see, I've already got all my pictures up.

This is a shot of my wall with the door on it (it's to the left out of the picture).  In this shot you can see Gabe evaluating which of my thirty active cases should have some priority action taken on them:

And here's my "family wall" (which is an accent wall in olive green).  I'm extremely happy with my new office.

Okay, Toes-- that's all for now.  I miss you already, and I've only been in Dallas for a couple of hours.  I'll call you every night.  I love you guys.

Mommio: Good Luck!

Good luck at your trial Daddio- we miss you already!