Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to wish all of the wonderful women I know a belated but very Happy Mother's Day.

I had such a wonderful day yesterday. Chris woke up at the same time I did and made me breakfast (he's not much of an early riser, and despite his many wonderful domestic skills, he doesn't usually prepare meals at our house). After I nursed the baby, I handed him to Chris and got to enjoy ample time to shower and get myself ready for church. By that time, Chris and the girls prepared me a scrumptious plate of gluten free/dairy free blueberry pancakes, with a beautiful strawberry flower garnish. They even bought a spray can of non-dairy whipped topping to make the plate look especially marvelous. How thoughtful!

After church, Chris prepared clam linguine, fruit salad, and brownie sundaes for dessert (here we did eat dairy). We then went over to Grandma Kramer's house to celebrate with her. During our visit Syd, Gustavo, and baby Ella also came over. It's always so fun to celebrate and relax with each other.

Trip to Boise

Last weekend we accompanied Chris on a trip to Boise for an audition with Opera Idaho. We discovered that we're not the best travelers (what should have been a 6 hour trip took us 9+ hours). Despite the length of the trip, we really enjoyed our time with each other. We ate lots of fruit snacks and rice quakes (gluten free and dairy free of course), drank lots of capri sun, stopped at many rest stops for potty breaks and mommy milk for Christopher, listened to music, and tried to watch Mary Poppins and High School Musical on a portable DVD player. Our kids got along well, and for most of the trip, Christopher was able to relax well in his carseat.

We stayed with Chris's Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Brad. Their home is beautiful, and they were excellent hosts. Rosalie made scrumptious waffles for breakfast. She even made her own maple syrup. Serena (their daughter) lives in the area, so when she came over to go running with her dad, we got to meet her adorable little boy Lincoln.

One of the other highlights of the trip was a visit to the Discovery Center of Idaho. That Saturday happened to be free to the public, so the kids and I went there while Chris auditioned for Opera Idaho. Among other things we went grocery shopping in the center's market, pretended to be veterinarians, made a tornado, road an air-brake chair, blew gigantic bubbles, and watched Irish dancers perform. We had oodles of fun.

We learned from the first leg of our trip that we DID NOT want to make so many stops. The return trip took about 7 hours.

Beads Glorious Beads

No, this post is not about jewelry. It's about my children's recent fascination with beads.

About two weeks ago, Elena came into the office where Chris and I were chatting. In a frustrated, verge of tears tone she announced, "I have a bead in my nose and it won't come out." This was an unexpected turn of events. Since Elena is practically 6, we thought we had avoided the bead-up-the-nose scenario. Chris and I turned to each other, unsure if we should laugh (it is kind of funny, right?) or cry (how the heck do you get a bead out of your kid's nose?!). It was 4:30 p.m., so I hurriedly called the pediatrician's office before we would be re-routed to the "after hours" clinic. The nurse said that if we rushed to the office, she would be willing to help us. Chris took both Elena and Eva, thinking that this would be a natural deterrant for Eva. With the help of some large tweezers to dilate Elena's nostril, and some very tiny tweezers for grasping, the nurse retrieved the bead. Elena proudly stores the bead in a specimen cup from the doctor's office.

The very next day Eva approached me while I was doing laundry. She too announced, "I have a bead in my nose." I practically screamed, "What?!" That obviously wasn't the right response because Eva looked up at me and said, "Nevermind." She does like to imagine things, so I finished up with the laundry and then went to investigate further. While we played, I noticed that her right nostril did seem a little bigger than her left, so I asked for more details. In a matter-of-fact voice she said, "I found a little bead on the floor, so I put it in my nose." This time I restrained myself, and simply asked "Can I take a peak?" Sure enough, a little pearl was stuck just beyond my grasp in her right nostril. I called the doctor's office again and scheduled an appointment. Fortunately, we spared ourselves another co-pay because during lunch Eva had a big sneeze and the bead came out.

If anybody else has some great bead (or other object) experiences, post a comment. I'd love to hear about it!