Fort Bend County Fair

We finally made it to the local county fair this year along with two of my friends who have two boys each. I loved seeing the animals when I frequented fairs in my youth, but these boys clearly preferred the carnival rides. It was an unbelievably hot day and the boys seemed to take turns melting down, which took some of the fun out of the day for a little while, but overall it was a great fun-filled day and I would love to go again ... although cooler weather would make a world of difference. We stayed from 10:30 to 5pm and I would have bet money that all four boys in our car would have slept all the way home, but instead they were totally wound up and ridiculously goofy, making noise just for the sake of noise. Boys. LOL. We ran into 3 or 4 people we knew at the fair, one of whom is Johnny's teacher (her son is in one of the photos above). Sammy's favorite rides were the huge slide and riding in the little cars. Johnny's favorites were the fast roller coaster (not photographed since I was on it), the big climbing structure with slides, the carousel and the flying kite ride. The clowns scared all the little kids except Christopher and frankly the carnies were giving me the willies big time. It was a great day and we'll do it again for sure.

What a Week!

This week has been a challenge, that's for sure. We're all still sick in varying degrees, although Johnny's well enough to be in school. Keith finally got sick and stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday, which turned out to be lucky for me. Monday, I was exhausted and just as I was about to put Sammy down for his nap, and take a nap myself, the school nurse called me. Johnny was stung right along the lower lash line by a wasp on the playground. So I hop in my car and my car won't start ... good thing Keith was home sick! I borrowed Keith's car to bring Johnny home from school. By the time I got to the school (less than 10 minutes after I had been called) Johnny's eye had swollen up and it looked like someone had popped him in the eye. Poor kiddo had to miss another day of school. Sigh. So, no nap for me.

Tuesday, Keith was home sick again ... I felt like the walking dead and was dying to get a nap but I had to run Sammy over to his morning appointment after walking Johnny to school. It's a tight schedule in the morning and I was dismayed to discover that my car battery was now completely dead, even though it started just fine last night when I wanted to show Keith what was wrong with it. Figures. So I scrambled to get the car seat in Keith's car (who thankfully is home so I can take his car). My morning was spent buying and installing a car battery myself and returning the old one. I was completely looking forward to a nap and just as I was about to put Sammy down at noon I had to run a dirty diaper outside to the trash. I pulled the trashcan and uncovered a rather large snake who had been hiding in the shade. He quickly slithered into a crack in our siding and disappeared into the wall of our house by our chimney. Lovely. I don't know Texas snakes well so by my description Keith and I thought it was a Copperhead, which is very poisonous. Needless to say, I didn't get a nap but instead was out there in the blazing sun trying to deal with the snake. In talking with several exterminators, because of its large size, I think it is a rat snake which means it's not poisonous. I still don't want it lurking about our yard with two little kids (especially since I've showed Sammy snakes I've found in our front yard and taken him to the pet store to pet snakes). On the off chance the snake is somehow still in the wall (since I tried to plug up his exit holes) I'm going to go out and try to wrangle him or something today.

Tomorrow is picture day for Johnny, so as long as the swelling and redness are gone, he'll be getting his photo taken. This means he needs a haircut tonight. Since Sammy's hair is so ridiculously long, I cut it this afternoon. Two year olds don't sit still as well as 5 year olds, but we got the job done. LOL!

Piano by Beethoven at the Houston Symphony

Taken from the vantage point of a 5 year old ... LOL

After tonight’s performance I was literally speechless and totally blown away. I went to the Houston Symphony for the second week in a row while feeling rather under the weather, still suffering from one sickness after another. My friend Anna and I split a package this season and each picked half of the concerts we’ll see together. Tonight’s performance was one of Anna’s picks, and although I was fully aware that I am a huge fan of piano music and of Beethoven, I was not expecting to hear two of my very favorite pieces in the same night. The second movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5 (Emperor) has been one of my favorite pieces for as long as I can remember, and although I know every note backwards and forwards, I couldn’t put a name to the piece.

The first piece we heard was great … although it wasn’t a piece I have listened to very often it was very enjoyable. The second piece (which was a modern composition by a local composer) was something of a train wreck. The composer explained that his intention was to convey the resilience of humanity … however Anna and I wondered if he was trying to make his point by testing our resilience to suffer through 25 minutes of dissonance and cacophony. In all honesty, a few fleeting moments in his work were nice but then the music would suddenly go sideways and fall completely apart.

The surprise was after not really recognizing the first movement of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, that I was dropped to my knees by the wonderfully familiar, perfectly memorized, intensely beautiful second movement. Big fat tears cascaded down my cheeks while every note was so soothing, so tender, aching and lovely. It seems hard to imagine that I could love a piece so completely and know it so exactly, yet not remember its title. The pieces of music I am drawn to are the ones that draw out my emotions, and this is one that tenderly, patiently draws out pure love and elation. It’s so odd how one piece can be mere notes in your ears and another can be so much more than just the music that you hear.

To completely push me over the edge, the pianist delighted us to an encore of another of my very favorite and completely memorized pieces by Beethoven … “Pathetique.” My dad actually gave me a recording of this piece what feels like a lifetime ago. It is one that I have depended on through the years as “comfort music,” as people refer to comfort food. It is so plodding and calming and reassuring. The slow tempo forces me to slow down and calm down and then it’s like the music says out loud to me “everything is going to be okay” and reassures me that everything is right with the world.

Thank goodness I had the foresight to pack lots of Kleenex!

Who Knew Homework Could Be So Fun?

Johnny's first week of kindergarten started out great ... for three days that is. Then on Wednesday, he went to the school nurse after he started crying during story time complaining of neck pain. He was sent back to class and all was assumed to be okay until I picked him up after school and discovered he had a temperature of 102.6 and was complaining of neck pain, headache, light sensitivity, aches, pains, chills and fatigue. Johnny passed out on the couch before I could get off the phone with the school nurse and then I hurried him to his pediatrician to make sure he didn't have meningitis ... he didn't. No strep either, but a fever that lasted for 8 straight days (making him miss an entire week of kindergarten) and chest congestion and coughing that was the worst we've had yet. Johnny and I eventually both got on antibiotics to prevent walking pneumonia, and funny enough, the doctor said our symptoms sounded like whooping cough. I've never coughed harder and more often in my life. I seriously expected to find one of my lungs on my pillow each morning. There's no break in our near future though, we've all three come down with a head cold before fully recovering from the last ailment. Sigh. Such is the history of my immune system.

Anyway, the three of us had a fun family time catching up on all of Johnny's missed school work tonight. Including Sammy in the activities is really the only way to get anything done. He'll be a scissor wielding pro by the time he's in school. Ha ha!

I'll try to do better and keeping my posts up to date. And yes, I do realize Sammy's hair looks ridiculous, but after Sammy being sick, then Johnny and me, then all three of us again, it's been forever since we both felt good enough to attempt a hair cut. It will be cut soon!

Sammy Loves George

Sammy has become quite ... well ... obsessed with our kitty cat George. George waits for his medicine and wet cat food on the little rug in front of our kitchen sink, and as you can see here, sometimes Sammy likes to keep him company. Poor kitty sometimes ends up smooshed under the cabinet. Ahh well, it's good to have someone to love you ... even if they do crowd you a little.

We're still taking Sammy to speech therapy (seeing as he didn't have normal hearing until he was 20 months old) and some of his pronunciations are pretty funny. In the second photo George can be seen eating his "tat poot" while Sammy watches with great interest. LOL