Happy Birthday to Granddad!

Tonight, we celebrated my dad's birthday at one of his favorite restaurants La Parilla in Acworth.  

SJ was a little challenging (ahem - that's mommy editorializing.  He was horrendous.), so my hands were kind of full with him and I didn't really get to talk to anyone.  

(And that's why I look kind of psycho in some of my pictures.)  

But, Katie Anne was excellent at the table (which we really appreciate) and really enjoyed chatting with Gigi and Mamaw.  

I think everyone else (other than the goofy Dude and me, the goofy Dude entertainer) had a great time, too!  

Happy Birthday to Granddad!

Halloween

 This year, the kids' Halloween costumes were Dorothy and The Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz.  Katie Anne chose these costumes this summer, and they looked so precious in them!  I made SJ's costume this year, and I had a lot of fun making the lion suit for him.  Of course, Ginger was a part of the costume trio as Toto!  We had the kids' pictures made before Halloween at Darrah Photography this year, and they looked just precious.

This afternoon, Gigi picked up SJ for me, and we met downtown so the kids could trick-or-treat the businesses there.  Here are some pictures of the trick-or-treating downtown.

 

 

 SJ didn't want to wear his mane, and he wasn't sure about accepting candy from strangers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, neither kid was fully able to participate in Halloween festivities this year.  SJ was exhausted from the excitement of his school party, and he wasn't too excited about the whole trick-or-treating idea.  Katie Anne had gotten a very bad report from PreK today about her behavior, and we'd really been working on that lately ... she knew that trick-or-treating was a privilege that she could lose if she wasn't on her best behavior today.  Sadly, since she had been out of control at school, she couldn't really participate.  I wanted SJ to have the experience of trick-or-treating, so she got to come along with us for a short ride and help with SJ.  Since he wasn't excited about it anyway, we didn't stay long - and we didn't trick-or-treat any more that evening, either.  Both kids had an early bedtime, and it was a disappointment for everyone - Katie Anne had been looking forward to Halloween for such a long time, Daddy and the other grandparents were disappointed that they didn't get to see the kids in costume this year, and I had worked very hard on the costumes and getting everything ready for Halloween.  I really hated to enforce the consequences for Katie Anne (and really the whole family), but it was something that Saunders, KA, and I had really talked about and that she knew going in.  I think she learned a tough, tough lesson today - one that will result in better behavior at school.  Hopefully, next year her behavior won't be an issue - and since SJ will be a year older - we'll make next Halloween a much better one!

A Reason to Call Poison Control

Here's a memo to all girls out there who are planning to have tea parties with their stuffed animals.

If you are looking for something to serve as a straw, a black marker is probably not your best choice.

That's right... Katie Anne decided to have a tea party with her stuffed animals in the foyer while we were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner on May 3.  She set up all the animals with little cups, saucers, and plates for tea snacks.  Then, she decided everyone needed a straw for their tea cup.  What do you do with a straw?  You sip on it, of course.  Unfortunately, when you sip on the cap of a marker for a long time, the cap fills with spit... and ink.  When the cap pops off in your mouth, your mouth fills with black inky spit.  Not a good thing.

So, Katie Anne came running up to me, crying and screaming behind her hands (which were pressed tightly to her mouth), with blackish-blue something streaming out from between her fingers and running down her arms.  I freaked out - I had no idea what was pouring out of her mouth, and she wouldn't tell me because she thought she would get in trouble.  Finally, under threat of a spanking, she told us that she'd sucked on a black marker.  We rushed her to the bathroom, and Saunders started rinsing her mouth out as fast as he could while I called Poison Control.

Luckily, the very nice and understanding Amanda at the Poison Control Hotline said this was a very common thing with kids, and that - since the marker was washable - Katie Anne would be fine.  All we should do is rinse her mouth, wash her face (and hands and forearms since it poured out of her mouth), and brush her teeth.  Then, she needed to drink lots of water to dilute any ink that was in her stomach.  But, Amanda warned us that it might take some time for the ink to wash off... and it did!  Katie Anne was sporting the ink mouth with black lips and gums for almost three full days!

FYI ... all these pictures were made AFTER about 20 minutes of rinsing, scrubbing, and teeth brushing.  In the heat of the moment - when I thought my kid was dying of some kind of freak esophagus eruption or coughing up black blood or something - I didn't take the time to snap a picture of how terrible it actually was, but trust me ... these pictures don't do the first sight of her screaming and crying with blue-black liquid pouring out of her mouth any kind of justice.  :)