Comer Eggstravaganza 2010

Saturday afternoon was the annual Comer Eggstravaganza - a family egg hunt/pot luck dinner that we've participated in for the last few years. It's always a lot of fun - tons and tons of eggs and goodies for the kids - yummy food from the kitchens of great Southern cooks - and laughter and fellowship for the adults.

The kids were ecstatic to go - although Anna was less than thrilled to wear her new outfit (she wanted to wear her new Matilda Jane 'twirly dress' ... see post below.) However - ahem - I'd spent hours working on their matching outfits - so I put my foot down and made her wear it. I know, I know - I need to pick my battles - and clothing shouldn't be one of them - but in this case - after all the hours of pinning and sewing (and hand hemming her dress) she was going.to.wear.it.

Once we were there - she couldn't have cared less.

And was ready to hunt eggs!

Jack had a lot of fun crawling around the baby-designated area - picking up eggs and banging them together.
So did Jasper - they're so cute at this age!

James ran and ran and ran - and squealed with delight. He is so exuberant in all that he does.

And then we settled into dinner. I brought ham - with a pecan/bourbon/apple/brown sugar glaze - if you want the recipe let me know - it's soooooooooo good! And sugar cookie pops - that turned out so cute - even I was proud!

Of course, it's not a good party until somebody gets banged up and bleeds. This time it was Jack - who in crawling around and rolling around with some slightly older baby boys - banged his head - came down chin-up - meaning his razor sharp little bottom teeth smashed up right behind the top two teeth - slicing his gum and part of his tongue.

Boy, do mouth wounds sure bleed. A lot.

Once I had established he was under good care (the dad of the boy he was playing with just so happened to be a dentist - thank God) - I had to walk away. Seeing Deonne holding my baby with blood streaming out his mouth and pooling in his hand was enough to send me over the edge.

Thankfully mouth wounds heal up just as fast as they start - and about 20 minutes later he was changed into a new outfit and jabbering away and eating his three packages of baby food.

And mommy proceeded to enjoy a big.glass.of.wine.

Egg Dyeing - Party of Five Style

Our Party of Five turned into a Party of Six (kids) for egg dyeing this year. We had the Comer kids over (six kids - age five and under) to color, decorate, and pretty up a pile of Easter eggs. I'm thrilled to say we didn't suffer one broken egg casualty in all of the crafting, nor were there any major dye spillage incidents.

The kids had a wonderful time - the only real complaints coming from the two older divas - Anna who spent so much time carefully and painstakingly creating works of art felt wronged and cheated that she only got to work on a few eggs (the rest of which were snapped up by the other kids - and mommies - who didn't want to wait) and Ella Grace - who was miffed with her mommy when she learned that her lovely creations would meet the fate of the deviled egg.

Addie Mac created some beautiful eggs - that ended up weighing considerably more once she had piled on crazy amounts of glitter glue and ribbons.

James - well he was just happy to dunk eggs in the colors, roll them around, and pull them out. With his fingers. While banging his spoon and egg-dipper-thing.

Jack and Jasper (as the two babes too young yet to really participate) had the fun of playing together with some of Jack's musical toys. Until Jasper got tired and fussy - and demanded his poor mommy haul him around in her arms.

We followed egg coloring with pizza from our fav pizza establishment - and sent the kids upstairs to dress up and play in Anna and James' rooms. (By this time, Jasper's daddy had stopped by to retrieve him and take him home to bed - and Deonne had arrived to child wrangle - thanks sweetie - I appreciate the time to craft!)

And Nici and I proceeded to make Bakerella's cake pops. For the first time.

They turned out okay. We learned a few things - and had a lot of laughs at ourselves. We made the size of the cake balls too big - which was understandable - because at the time Nici was rolling them - there were 6 kids underfoot.

We learned not to have the candy melts too hot and the cake pops too cold - or they crack as they set.

And I learned when making bunny cake pops - to make sure to put the candy corn "ears" closer together - or else the bunny looks more like an alien. Especially if you are using green candy corn. Then the bunny looks more like Shrek.

Oh well.

They turned out okay - pretty cute - until the next morning - when I came downstairs and discovered the cracking. And because we'd used red velvet cake, and the bunnies were covered in white candy melts - they did sort of look like they were hemorrhaging - but nothing, we decided that would cause a lasting childhood scar to the kids attending the egg hunt later that day - so we went ahead and used them.

The lollipop tree turned out great - and I discovered it was a Martha Stewart craft that was actually easy to make. You can see the directions here. I promise it only took about 15 minutes. Tops. (Except I didn't spray paint the cone - just went with the standard green Styrofoam - and it was just fine.)

All in all a fun night - one the kids enjoyed - down to the last drop - including the final moments of the movie they shared after bath. Gotta love the sight of four kiddies snuggled up together!

I Heart Matilda Jane

So a few weeks ago (St. Patrick's Day weekend) to be exact, my friend Nici had a Matilda Jane trunk show at her house. A chic clothing line for girls and mommas alike.

I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical before I went. I'm more of a "Plain Jane" kind of girl when it comes to clothing. Simple lines, straight seams, plain fabrics, and absolutely no ruffles. I've never been one to 'mis-match' fabrics in one outfit. Call me crazy, but when I looked through the website before I attended the show - I kind of thought a lot of the outfits looked like country quilts with the different floral patterns pieced together.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The website doesn't do these clothes justice.

Not only were the dresses and outfits so pretty, but the material was so soft and cozy - I couldn't wait to try on the mama line and see what fit.

I ended up purchasing two dresses for Anna, and a pair of pants and jacket for myself.

As the "trunk-keeper" was writing up my order, I commented how much I liked the line - and hadn't heard of it before Nic's show. She said yes, and you'll be surprised how many people stop you to ask where you got these pieces.

I disregarded it - yeah - you sell this stuff - you're supposed to say that.

Oh, but she was right. I've worn my jacket twice now (with the sudden heat wave in Columbia I had to stick it back in the closet.) Both times perfect strangers on the street have stopped me to ask where I purchased it.

Same for Anna. Kind of funny - but at her ENT check up yesterday - I actually caught the ENT checking out the label on the back of her dress - saying 'what a pretty dress!' (Yeah, he's a guy. A cute guy - but a guy. With four small children - but still....)

Oh, and Anna LOVES her dresses - especially her 'twirly' dress as she calls it. In fact, she loves it so much that it has already become a point of contingency between us - the battle lines have been drawn - because she wants to wear it every.single.day. And I do insist on washing it between wears - especially when she spills chocolate syrup all over the front of it.

And I'm lovin' me some MJ as well - the ruffled pants and ruffle-trimmed jacket are LOVELY.

I can't wait for another trunk show - when I can get more of the goods!

Ears - Here We Go Again

Yeah - so right about the time I hit "publish" on my post last night - I heard the screeching and squalering from James trickling down the stairs.

The all too familiar squeal "My Ear Hurts!"

So I checked it out (that investment in an otoscope a few years ago was the best $200 I've spent) and discover a bright red bulging ear drum.

Perfect.

We threw on his jammies, scooped up "Georgie", and headed out to the pediatric after hours care - which is my new favorite place. The timing ended up being perfect - there was no one there except us - and we were lucky enough to have one of the peds from our own practice on call. And of course, the diagnosis - raging red ear infection.

I mentioned something to the MD that the last one had been so bad it had perforated - and how we'd had no clue there was even a problem until the middle of the night before it tore - when James kept us up all night screaming and crying and pulling his ear. He gave me a sympathetic smile and said - well, this ear is on the verge - and even if you start the antibiotics tonight - there's a good chance it will tear as well.

Lovely.

On our way out, there must have been about four sick kids (really sick kids) piling up in the waiting room - so I'm very thankful we timed it right and didn't have to wait.

A quick trip to the local pharmacy for a round of Augmentin (flavored with raspberries - James' choice) and we were home.

And - I'm happy to report - that a big dose of Motrin followed with ear numbing meds in the ear canal last night, coupled with the start of the antibiotics - has resulted in no ear perforating. Yet.

I fear we're on the track for tubes/adenoid removal for this little Long - and I'm dreading that.

We'll see.

A "James-ism"

I doubt I'll ever forget this stage with James - but should my memory start to crumble - I want to be able to recall James in all his silly and funny glory.

Whenever James does something - oh - anything - whether it be good or bad, naughty or nice - his standard answer is:

"because I did."

It's so funny to see him say it - with his quirky smile and his twinkling eyes - especially when it's something really naughty that he's done. At least he doesn't lie - yet - he willing fesses up to his crimes.

For example:

"James, why did you hit your sister over the head with a book?"

(hear Anna wailing nearby)

James looks up - smiles his silly smile - tilts his head - then puts on a pouty face - and says

"Because I did."

Okay then. Glad we got that straight.

A Little Update

So once again, I have a few posts piling up in my head - and have yet to put them to text - or to pull pictures of the Party's fun-filled Easter weekend off the camera for your viewing pleasure.

That is partly due to being so busy from Thursday - Sunday of last week - and partly to my attack of the stomach bug that happened Sunday night - and kept me bed-ridden until Tuesday morning.

I'm trying to dig out now - as in - sort through the piles of Easter goodies - find my kitchen sink and counters (that were seriously buried under piles of egg dyeing, cookie making/decorating, lemon meringue pie making, cake pop making paraphernalia....)

And get caught up on work.

Oh, and tackle the sixteen loads of laundry that have accumulated. Seriously.

The abbreviated story is the kids had a wonderful time - enjoyed the fun of the holiday with friends and family - experienced the true meaning of Easter - and I managed to survive the holiday despite the horrendous memories attached to it.

The more involved story with details and pictures will follow.

I promise.

April Fools...

...came early for the Party of Five. Perhaps there is a full moon - or something going on with our water supply. There is the possibility that the planets are out of alignment.

Whatever the cause, the Party was bewitched last night. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

And when you're outnumbered three-to-two, and Daddy (who normally has the patience of Job but is fighting the nasty cold that has circulated through the house) has officially lost his mind and has reached his 'parent threshold' - it makes for an unpleasant evening.

Resulting in two little kids going to bed immediately after dinner. No bath. No stories. Just a good face and hand scrubbing and teeth brushing, fresh undies and jammies, and straight to their beds.

And one baby boy - who interestingly enough perked up and stopped his incessant whining and screeching every time his feet touched the ground (as in - mommy or daddy stopped holding and carrying him around) once his elder siblings were put to bed.

I'm happy to report the Party was in much better spirits this morning - and James professed he would have a 'smiley face day' at school today. Anna promised to be good at school - and to continue her good behavior at home.

Of course, threatening to take away the Easter Egg dyeing activity we're planning for Friday night with the Comer girls might have something to do with the sudden change in attitude... we'll see.