Back from the ER with Peyton

Poor Peyton had an allergic reaction to something - what we have no idea - but she puffed up and got hives and splotches and looked like a mess!! We called the pediatrician and the on call person wanted us to take her to the ER thinking that there could be a problem if her airways got swollen. She has had an odd little like rash on her tummy over the weekend but I just thought it was a reaction to heat or an irritation from her clothes or something. Then this afternoon Peyton kinds started getting red splotches - they started on the inside of her thighs I thought it was her diaper that was wet and had somehow irritated her. I changed her and put a little Cortizone on her. Then she got a little red spot around her month. But I was headed to work out and Jock was taking Remi to soccer and Peyton was going with him. So off they went. When they got back she was much worse and her feet and hands were swollen. She kept thinking something was on her foot because it felt so funny and she kept wanting me to look at her hands and she would open and close her finger - I think it felt really funny. Then I noticed that her face was getting redder and had more spots on it and she also had a mosquito like bump right by her eye that seemed to be growing. So we called dthe doc and were told to take her in. When we got there she was already looking better. The examined her and determined that there was probably no immediate threat so they sent us to the waiting room. Where we sat for more than an hour! By that time she looked even better and I was about to tell them never mind and head home, But they got us in and the doctor looked at her and said yup, she is allergic to something - what who knows?? And now that it is basically cleared up you can go home(thanks so much for the $$$) LOL! But I feel good that we went and checked it out just in case.

The Big Fantasy Football Draft

A few years ago my brother's fantasy football league needed a few new players so he asked us to join. We thought it would be fun and decided to join up. Little did we know how out of out league we were. These are guys that buy the NFL package and have multiple TV's in the room so they can see all the games going and if someone has a hint of an injury they are on the computer picking up the back up. It is crazy!! My brother has seriously been studying for months. And I mean studying - reading hundreds of on line sites, buying magazine, watching the football show, making list after list of players at each position and the pluses and minuses to having them on your team. As for our team - Jock and I sat down about an hour before the draft and talked for a few minutes. Because we finished last, yes last, at the end of last year we got the first draft choice this year. We decided to choose LaDanian Thomlinson. And that was a bout all we knew we talked about a few other people and read a few other things and then we were ready to go. At the end of the day I think our team could be ok, we drafted more rookies then we probably should have but maybe one of them will take off and we will have the key to the first place win. But I am not going to hold my breath. The good thing about playing this is that I do enjoy watching a lot more football then I used to and it is fun to follow our team - I get back to you on how our team does this year.

Busy, busy, busy

I am feeling like the queen of overscheduling a kid!! I am trying very hard to figure out the balance for Remi - how much choice do I give him and how much do I dictate to him. He is doing and continues to love karate. I ,on the other hand, am finding more and more things that annoy me about the man instructor - I love his wife and many of the other brown and black belt asst instructors though. But he needs to be at karate at least twice a week but the days and times are somewhat flexibile. Next, Remi was so upset when we accidently missed the sign up deadline for soccer last year so when I got the sign up this year I asked and he wanted to do soccer. So nowhere is doing soccer - twice a week practices for now and then in a few weeks two games per weeks and maybe an extra practice. Plus there is, of course, school which is not easy for him and his homework takes him so much longer then I suspect it take many other kids. Oh, and in Sept there is a karate sparring tournament that he really wants to do but to be successful with that he really needs to go to karate on Fri evenings as well as the other two days. SOOOOOOO, that means, Mon - karate, Tues - soccer, Wed - karate, Thurs - soccer, Fri - karate, Sat - soccer!!! That is something everyday except Sunday!! That is crazy - isn't it? But he like is all and wants to do it all and he does not seem to be overwhelmed. I feel like I am constantly looking at my watch. Take yesterday for example - he wanted a friend to some over after school - fine I am thinking backwards - we read and then bed at 8:00, brush teeth and silent read at 7:45, home from karate around 7:20, karate class 6:00 to 7:15, homework and dinner from 5:00 to 6:00 and then I finally tell his friend's mom I'll bring her home around 5:00. On the up side he had a great time playing with his friend and then we rushed enough to get dinner eaten and homework done before karate so all was well, but man do I feel like I have every second of his life scheduled. But it is stuff he wants to do. When do I step in and tell him it is too much?? For now I am watching two things closely - one is he able to get his school work done and done well in the time we have and two is he still enjoying all of his activities. And I guess as long as those things are still good he is good. But I am run ragged!!! LOL!

Newborn

Here is the next page done for my comparison album. These are the hospital photos of each of the kids. Remi's was done the day after he was born as we were heading home from the hospital. I love how it turned out! What a little cutie he is!! I love his little hand and his sweet little mouth! Darling child! ;) And Peyton's was done at just short of two weeks after she was born. She was in NICU for 9 days so we could not have done it then obviously and then the day we left was a Saturday and the picture people were not there and so I had to bring her back I am thinking like the Mon or Tues after that so she was 11 or 12 days old. Her picture did not turn out quite as sweet but I do love her little lips! And the dress she is wearing is one that Remi picked out for her when Papa took him shopping the day she was born. And she too is a darling child!!

School so far....

Well, Remi made it through the first day of school fine. When I picked him up he said it was a great day - of course then he tripped getting into the the car which he said was my fault since I parked on a hill (inset eye roll here!!) and then had a bug bite on his neck and cried the whole way home!! LOL!! But I do think he had a great day and after about 20 minutes he called Jock to tell him about the day and he got a minute by minute report of all the happenings. I was glad I listened in because I still had not gotten a word out of him.

I really think we lucked out and got another great teacher! She is young and really seems into teaching. Her class had 100% Proficient on CSAP last year and 80% of those were Advanced!! WOW! When the state average is something in like the 60% area for Proficient and like maybe 10% for Advanced that is HUGE!! I have heard that she is an outstanding math teacher. And since that is Rem's strong suit hopefully that will bode well for their relationship. She does a lot of team teaching with another one of the third grade teachers. I think Mrs. Ottmer handles the math and this other teacher handles there reading. Because of Remi's struggles with reading we have requested a meeting next week to follow up on our plan from last year and meet the other teacher and hopefully get Rem off to a great start! I sooooo want this to be a good year for him! I really believe that he is on the verge of a reading breakthrough - he may never love reading but at least so it is not soooo hard for him would be great!

But he is back at school and it is almost strange to be back in the mode of just Peyton and I being around together. Just me and my little girl. But we are getting into the swing. She starts Kindermusik with a new teacher next week which she will be sooo excited to get back into even if it is with someone other then Julie. And then she starts Mom's Morning Out after Labor day. So here we come fall!! LOL!

3rd Grade

We went up last night to see who Remington's 3rd grade teacher is. I don't know why I was so anxious and nervous to find out - I know her name now but still don't know much else. Her name is Mrs. Ottmer. I do not think it is the teacher that Remi said yells at the kids in the halls. So that is good. A lady that I know that was there said her daughter had Mrs. Ottmer for math and didn't really like her. Of course I am not sure about this lady or her daughter's judgment and if it would be the same as mine. So I am not worrying yet. The good news is that Griffin is in his class. All of the other kids in the neighborhood that Remi was friends with have moved away except Griffin so I was really hoping that they would be in the same class again this year and be able to get to be better friends.

Today we head up to school in the evening to deliver school supplies and meet his teacher so I am looking forward to meeting her and checking out his classroom and all. Third grade is a big thing here in Colorado - a lot of the state testing begins and it is a lot more serious so I am just hoping that he has a great teacher that can help him out and be a great support for him this year. I have my fingers crossed!!!

Autograph City!!!

This week will go down in Kramer history as the week of autographs! It started last Mon with a trip to the Sky Sox baseball game. After the last game when Remi got a bat, ball and autographs from the opposing team, he wanted to go early and see if he could get autographs from the Sky Sox. So as soon as they were on the field, Remi went to the fence and I swear he got like 80% of the players. There are some great minor league players on the Sky Sox that will probably play for the Rockies or other pro teams so it was fun for Remi to get those autographs. And when Pap got to the game he was pretty into all the autographs that Remi got as well. Jock liked hanging down by the field because he got to talk with Tommy Runnells. He is the manager for the Sky Sox and was a good friend of Jock's older brother Tom. I think Jock has always kind of had that younger brother stars in his eyes about Tommy - a friend that he looked up to. So it was fun for them to have a chance to catch up too.

The the week of autographs continued with a trip to the International golf tournament on Wed. We went Wed because we had been told that the players are pretty laid back on Wed and will talk to you and sign autographs. So out we went. First off, Castle Pines is a beautiful course with AMAZING houses on the course!!! I love going there just for the sights! But as we arrived we were at the 17th hole and got Rich Beem's autograph - he has won a few different tournaments and seems like a good down to earth guy. Then we were off!! We got Justin Leonard (spelling???) - he was the nicest guy!! Talked to Remi and was really great! Then we got a few others while making our way to where Fred Couples was playing. He is Jock's all time fav player so I made sure we saw him. And even tough Jock is not into the whole autograph thing I could tell that he loved getting that one! We continued to walk up and down the HUGE hills and getting more autographs. At the end of the day we got to where Phil Mickelson was playing. Remi was settled in and had a great spot for getting an autograph when we were told that he did not do autographs during the round. But he said that he would stay after the round and sign autographs for everyone. Unfortunately, we had to get home since Peyton was with a baby sitter but we will be back next year for sure!! The photos are Phil Mickelson and Greg Norman (who we were told NEVER stops for autographs - yet my kid got him to stop sign and chat for a minute! LOL!). I of course have tons more photos but I just thought I would share a few.

My Reunion

Well, last night was the big night - the reunion. We went to a pre-party hosted by one of my close friends from high school and that was really fun to go and catch up with some of the people that I was close to. And I gotta say, Cathy, one of my two best friends from high school, is just the sweetest person! I just love her! We do talk on and off but spending that time with her really made me realize how much I miss seeing her on a more regular basis. She is truly one of those really nice and truly selfless people. What a great person! I loved spending time with her!

As for the rest of the reunion. It was ok. LOL! I did catch up with a number of people that I had not seen since the 10 year reunion or before. It is amazing how many of my classmate still live in the Boulder area. I was really shocked to see how many lived in Superior. A trip to the grocery store there would about guarantee that you would see 10 people that we graduated with. LOL! A number of people had moved to CA and then I saw a couple of folks in TX and that was about it. Amazing what homebodies we are. But really, why would you leave beautiful Boulder if you didn't have to?

Jock was a great sport and went and smiled and laughed and tried to converse with people. The downside of the whole thing was the place they choose. It was a bar that has a dueling piano show. That may be great and very entertaining on another night but boy it made it hard to talk! People were yelling at the top of their lungs and still it was almost impossible to hear. I think that I would have stayed longer but I just couldn't take it any more so we left at about 10:30. I half wish we were going tonight just to be able to talk to people in a better atmosphere tonight but really it is ok.

But from that I did learn that I really want to try to get together with Cathy and Beth more often.

My kiddos at One

Ok I have a million and one things to do before we leave for Boulder to go to my reunion and so what as I doing?? Blogging! LOL! Oh, well.

I just wanted to share really quick this layout that I did for my new album comparing the kids at the same age. I did age two before and now here is age one. As strange as it may be I don't have a great "professional" photo of either kid at one. Don't know why but I don't. I am enjoying how these pages are turning out! And this is an album I can keep up with!

Baseball Goodies

We do a trade with the Colorado Sky Sox minor league team here in the Springs for storage bins and they give us lots and lots of tickets to games. We get lots of regular tickets, lots of box seat tickets, some tickets to the suites and this year we got one day at the hot tub in outfield. It is fun to go to the games and we always enjoy going. Last night we had tickets to the suite and it was a beautiful Colorado summer evening. So much fun to go and watch the game. As we were wandering around we saw two of Remi's good friends there. After some minor "issues" with one of the boys he decided to go home so Remi went down and sat with the other boy who was sitting in the front row by the visiting team. Somehow one of the players told Remi during the game that he might be able to give Remi his broken bat after the game. So although we were ready to leave before the end of the game Remi talked us into staying and sure enough at the end of the game he got a bat!! It was a player named J.R. House that game him the bat. Remi was sooooooo excited! He ran after the player the whole way up the stairs yelling, "Thanks, sir!!! Thanks a lot!!!" LOL! I think Mr. J.R. House knows that he made my kid's night! And while Remi was waiting for one of the players to pass and give him a bat a few other players and coaches came by and gave him their autographs. One of the autographs he got was Spike Owen - the team's coach. Apparently, his played for the Red Sox and was in the 1986 World Series against the Mets (at least I think that is what Jock said). So Remi left the park one happy kid! He loved my dad's collection of baseball memorabilia and was sooo excited to get a bat to add to his own collection!

Class Reunion

My 20 year high school reunion is this weekend. Because of tons of other things going on this weekend we are only going to the Friday night "event". The other thing is that the Saturday night thing was a hundred dollars per person and while we could have gone I just thought that was a bit expensive for something that I am half dreading and half thinking it will be ok. You know in high school I was totally different - I mean thank goodness I am still not that kid. And I am sure that many others are different but what it boils down to is do I really care who they are?? LOL! I still talk to my two best friends from high school. We don't see each other a lot but I talk to the on and off. And when it gets right down to it maybe they are the only ones that I really care to see. But then I ready over the list of who is coming and there are others that it will be fun to catch up with. I am dragging Jock with me as my security blanket. LOL! What a nice guy - he has not once said he didn't want to go. At my 10 year reunion my friend Beth and I went together and it was good because Jock and her hubby, Rich, know each other so they were able to hang out and talk. But Beth is not going this time so I am just dragging Jock along by himself with no buddy.

I did get an invitation for a pre party at an old friend's house and so we are going to try to go to that first just to break the ice. I think that will be good.

Now, the important part - I have no idea what to wear! And is it too late to schedule some sort of lipo procedure! LOL! I don't' know why I decided to go!!!! My only hope is that it turns out to be a fun night.

Where does summer go???

I can not believe that school starts in two and a half weeks! Last year we had a blast going to the pool almost everyday in the summer. We swam and hung out and it was soooo much fun! I was planning on doing the same thing this year and we have only really gotten there a handful of times. And I don't know what we are doing instead but we just don't get up there to the pool.

And I had these great hopes of doing lots of school work with Remi - reading practice and helping him get his math facts really down. And while we have done quite a bit of school work we have not done as much as I hoped. I am really nervous for him for third grade - all the CSAP tests start along with all the other testing that they already do for the district. It is actually crazy and I wish I could just say that I don't care but I do and I want him to do well. Even though all the testing is just out of control I still want him to do well.

So we are down to the last days of summer and have tons of things all ready to be jammed in to the last days. We are not going to go sliding into school easily!! We are going to fight it and have as much fun in the last days of summer that we can have.