My life is over for sure Ladies...

I'm not sure I can recover from this. I may need someone to call in the professionals and setup some therapy appointments for me because WOW I really, REALLY screwed up this time. No seriously....REALLY. Oooh, We can't forget about Guiness, this is surely never to happen again!

I had to admit to Geeksauce (DH) he was RIGHT about something and I was wrong. Needless to say he was very calm and complacent about this victory *snort*...so much so that he ASKED (he's my shy guy) for PROOF of said mistake so he could bring it home to me. I'm pretty sure the dance he gifted us with would be GREAT on "So You Think You Can Dance" but he would get critiqued on his technique. Quite honestly, I didn't realize he could dance like that!! LOL

It's with a heavy heart that I relinquish my diamond encrusted crown of "Mom is always right" and put on my "Mom is ALMOST always right" bedazzled crown shaped wire hanger.

*sigh* Sorry to let everyone down.

I guess to get back at him - I'll post the ONLY picture we have of him wearing a PINK PLAID *snicker* shirt. This was us in 1989 - with our puppy Roxie and of course the PINK PLAID POWER RANGER. There is justice in this world. :> I still think he's cute though.

Dodging a Bullet

In the world of a child that has severe allergies, every situation and scenario has the potential to be deadly. Itchy, my (ALMOST) 6 year old, has blessed me with the NEED to learn more, find more, be more aggressive and assertive in our endeavor of....well life.

A little backgrounder info on Itchy. Ever since he was born, he has had AWFUL skin. I mean look at this - who wants their baby looking like THIS?! The dermatologists were baffled at why his skin was THIS bad.
At about 6-7 months old, he had finished eating some of those yummy gerber green beans and I gave him a biter biscuit while I was washing the spoon. He gnawed on it and seemed to be enjoying it....until....I looked over and he had a FLAMING RED (yes even more red than that)circle around his mouth that almost went all the way over to his ears and up to his eyes.

We of course had him tested and based on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the absolute worst, possible anaphylactic reaction, he had more 4's than he did 1's. 4's mean that the skin has inflammed, gotten red and gotten larger than a normal body reaction (H or histamine) to something 'undesired' by your system. One thing I am VERY proud of is the fact that I have taken pictures at EVERY allergist appt. I don't have them all on this puter, but here are a few to show you the 'damage'. This has helped PROVE to well intentioned family/friends that say 'just a little can't hurt him'....yyyyyeeeeah, and that big 'ole whallop on his back was less than a little and only on his skin, imagine what it'd do to him if he swallowed it!
2004-1.5 years old (2nd year year tested)

2005- 2.5 years old (third year tested)

2007-4.5 years old, we did the full shebang to check some that we'd waited a few years on. (5th year tested)


"Mrs. Nik, I hate to tell you this but he is fatally allergic to wheat, oat, barley, rye, peanuts, treenuts, and eggs....I repeat FATALLY" How do you respond to that? Thanks? Ok, have a good day? F-off?Nice to meet you? An allergists job is to tell you WHAT your allergens are with a general "avoid this, that or the other". Most environmental allergens get allergy medicine to help block, inhalers to help during rough patches and in some of the most severe cases, an epi-pen. They may even start a schedule of allergy shots or immunotherapy. Food allergies are a bit different, you either eat them or you don't. Have Benedryl and Epi-pens at the ready for when they consume something they shouldn't. HOWEVER, when they are THAT severe, coming in contact with them through touch brings a whole new awareness to the table (allergen free table of course). The only other thing you can do is pray and hope that your child outgrows SOMETHING. I'm asked a lot about the possibility of Itchy outgrowing these allergies. However the problem we have is a lot of his numbers (I'm talking skin AND blood test) are getting higher as he's aging, not dropping off the list. Regular stats show a child has an 80% chance to outgrow their food allergies (peanut excluded) by the time they are 5.

Itchy is REALLY good about letting others know he can't eat just anything...he'll say "that's not good for me" or "I don't KNOW if that's good for me". He always asks before he eats or drinks something and won't open anything (say for instance at the school) until I can check it for him. He's very understanding that he can go trick or treating - but when he gets home, he gets to open a candy gift (usually a box filled with candy he CAN have) and we just hand off his ToT winnings to his brother.

Yesterday was one of those days that something snuck up on us and I was glad to see he was a little 'scared' but also it broke my heart. He is SO good that contamination of his food or his area are so RARE. Yesterday we picked up some friends and did some fun things with them while their Jeep was getting fixed. We all went to Wendy's to eat because they DO have baked potatoes and that's the ONLY thing we are comfortable with Itchy getting outside of our house (fast food wise). He came over and said "Mommy, I'm still thirsty" and handed me an empty cup. The counter had given us an extra drink (sprite is the only thing he can have/like) so I just took his straw and stuck it in the big sprite. When he came back over with another empty cup - I noticed it was the same size as his FIRST cup. Turns out - he obliviously had picked up his friends drink and finished it off as the first cup. When I noticed there was brown juice on the lid of his first cup, my throat fell. Caramel coloring can be considered a wheat derivitive depending on origin, so we avoid 'brown' stuff as much as possible. "How much had he drank? Did he drink it at all? What was 'on' the straw when he drank it?" I pulled out the 'blue med bag" and HIS throat fell. He got a worried look on his face and realized the mistake he made. There was no need for me to give him the lecture, I knew he knew it...we'd probably have a small discussion at bedtime during story and prayer. With having so many unknowns, I immediately gave him some benedryl and hoped for the best. It was slightly a stressful afternoon because you just had this 'doom' lingering wondering if his body was going to take it to another level. THANKFULLY, everything went well and he just got a little glazed over and crabby while we were bowling.

Needless to say...WHEW! We dodged a bullet on THAT one!

You would think I would learn my lesson....

TN is by far the state that I have had the worst allergies in my life. Obviously, that would apply to my boy Itchy as well. He hasn't lived in any other state but I think at least his skin would be a little better. However yesterday, I DID IT AGAIN! I forgot to take my allergy medicine. The funny part about that? Dial-a-nerd (DH) cleaned out my truck the other day and for some unknown reason thought it'd be a GREAT idea to take my stash of "things you MIGHT just need while you're out and about" out of my TRUCK! So that nice little bug spray I keep in there for the times we're out at the football or polo fields was NO WHERE to be found. OK, SO WHAT if every bug in the state of TN came at me like a heat seeking missle, I can survive that, even if I look like I have some weird lumpy skin disease. But the sunscreen was ALSO in that little stash. So imagine this BEAUTIFUL picture, a lumpy, RED skinned, short woman with the nose that won't stop running and the swollen eyes? I'd run too.

Yeah I'm a dork on many levels that usually only aflicts others with my dorkness. Hot Tub Lizzy may be 'her highness', I'm pretty sure I corner the market on dorkness. No offense to the blondes out there, because I know me some VERY smart blondes, but I missed a VERY good chance at fullfilling the destiny to be the stereotypical blonde. I call them my non-blonde moments. I might as well go get a bottle of peroxide and play the part because...>DANG! I'm good.

SO how did Dial-a-nerd do in the fishing tournament? Well, for it being his first tournament I guess he did pretty good. They didn't win, but he did get $115 for THE BIGGEST FISH IN THE WHOLE TOURNAMENT! He caught a 5.45 pound bass and the person that got second place in that category was 4.37. Of course, he thinks since he won $$$ he's now of professional fisherman...ROFL. Either way, I'm proud of him!

As for the Mommy Tournament, ya'll had some AWESOME ideas (Tam I SOOO get the epipen comment). So the ones that Dial-a-nerd and I came up with were these...

• Puke n' Polish - who can stomach a puking child AND clean up after them without losing their own cookies.
• Last minute to go - who can get the entire family dressed and out of the house the fastest to church or a function and STILL make it on time. (yeah the making it on time thing throws it off for MANY) I might just win this one. My BIL and I were left at home with 6 kids that weren't dressed by my husband and his sister when their dad passed away. BIL and I realized we only had 30 mins to get us ALL dressed, brushed and looking pretty for the funeral...and BIL was one of the pallbearers. Needless to say we started making a lot of people nervous but we made it.
• Veggie Secret Agent Mom- who can make the best meal the kids (and hubby) will ask for seconds that fulfills an entire days worth of veggies. Although, my friend just got a cookbook that does an excellent job of hiding veggies in food. I think it's by Seinfelds wife. She said she got a thumbs up from the entire fam on their first meal.
• Fight-B-Gone - Okie this is an ongoing joke in our family that our friends have adopted as well. When our friends were getting married, she asked me for "how do you always make it work" advice and I told her "when going on a trip or doing house remodeling or repair, be prepared for one verbal argument - it is BOUND to happen - once it's over all is good". I told her that usually mid-argument, Dial-a-nerd or myself bring up "I sure hope this is THE fight because I'm ready to be productive". So, the tourney would HAVE to be some HUGE Disney World family trip that also included remodeling a home.
• Grocery Zen - take all of your kids with you to the store and have at LEAST one of them not whinin for something by the time you leave.
• Allergy Terminator - that's what Dial-a-nerd calls me because he says I walk into a room and scan it like Arnold in Terminator when he's naked (oooh la la) and scans everyone to find out which clothes would fit him. So, who can walk into a room with a list of allergies and pinpoint the 'danger zones'. Although, I think this would be a clothed event. LOL
• Boredom Buster - the mom that can bust the boredom for their children the best in an empty waiting room/examination room for an hour.

That's all I can remember right now. Anyway, thanks a ton for the suggestions!

I'm going to let the world behold my lumpy, red skin and swollen eyes.

Monday's Mangled Mumblings

Quick disclaimer, THIS POST IS PICTURE INTENSIVE!!

I'm not quite sure WHAT emotion and state of mind Monday's bring...but it's just something that needs it's own term. It can't be a hangover because that is usually induced by drinking...but what if it's just induced by life? or allergies? or being an idiot? or all three?? Regardless, we need a new term for it...maybe a Mangover. My current lovely mangover is caused by the fact that I was an idiot and forgot to take my allergy medicine before heading out to the polo fields yesterday.

Cowboy's riding instructor, T-Dawg, runs the local polo club so we join them when we can to help out. T-Dawg lets Cowboy be the flagboy, tack, rinse and walk the horses after each chukker so they can cool off and keep score. Each polo player brings two horses so the workload is pretty constant except when they are actually playing. T-Dawg confesses his adoration and amazement at Cowboys' riding abilities...it's a treat to hear him tell his polo Posse (the other polo players) "He's my best rider...and he's only 9!" The Posse have followed suit and trust Cowboy to help as well, they GREATLY appreciate the help and it gives them a chance to cool off themselves without having to work the horses. What's in it for us? Well, I can't tell you how much it means to ME - that T-Dawg and the Posse have that much trust and confidence in Cowboy's horsing mojo that they let him take care of their prized possessions... their horses. Cowboy is confident, comfortable and downright cute while he's out there. While horse 'tudes sometimes enter the puzzle, I love the fact that Cowboy never gets nervous or scared and calms them down. Of course usually 15 mins later I hear myself saying "Can you BELIEVE he just DID that?!?!" For him to have so many struggles in life, I love the fact that horses are his escape...I mean after all, they don't care if he can talk right, can hold a pencil right, can do a sit up and they don't ever tease him or call him names. I'm sure when Cowboy is older, he'll figure out my true motive, but for now I'm fine with him just thinking it's fun. T-Dawg has also mentioned he has no problem with Cowboy riding a beautiful mare called Mosquita (That's Cowboy feeding Mosquita...and yes that does end in A) whenever we can get out there on non-polo associated days. Free riding??? WHERE DO WE SIGN UP!?!? T-Dawg considers it 'helping work the horses'....I see it as "14k gold on a platter that saves us a bundle". Regardless, I'll be happy to drive out there several times a week...even if it does take us 40 mins to get out there!! Only problem is coinciding the times. Currently, we've been helping out there for two months, we just can't make it when T-Dawg is working the horses, soon to change though!

The polo club is currently located close to a cute little town. Nerdtacular (DH)and I are considering buying a house with property so we can get a horse for Cowboy. Said little town is almost the perfect location to fit all our 'location' criteria. Cowboy and I were a little early so we went and had breakfast in town. Here's a pic of the grocery/gas/restaurant place in town. Too cute. Friday nights they do 'family movies on the lawn' next door and it's just got a great feel to it. Cowboy and I felt the country love, I was just upset none of the other little stores and places were open. That's the first time we've ever stopped so that was a treat. It definitely spoke volumes while we were there.

I get asked every once in a while what form of horseback riding Cowboy does. Well he has ridden, and shown, english since he was 5. When we started riding with T-Dawg, he introduced him to western and he loves it. He still rides english once a week but I imagine if he pursues it much more, he'll go for the western pleasure and reigning activities. So that's the combo of Wranglers, cowboy boots and english riding jackets. LOL Obviously not at the same time, but you can just imagine our riding attire closet.

Cowboy walking Gypsy and Missy walking Loretta and Bates from the pasture to the prep area.


T-Dawg and Cowboy after they've washed Cooper off.


Cowboy walking 'his girl' Mosquita back to the pasture after a busy day.


I just liked this picture too. I'm in the truck driving up to the pasture while Cowboy walks 'Squita on our way out.



So while he works the horses AFTER each chukker, there's a small time when the Posse is playing that he gets a little bored. I usually give him camera control so I can see what fun he produces. I must say I was impressed with his interesting perspective yesterday! Take a look! I believe the only one I cropped was the one of the 3 polo players.

Obligatory self portrait (s) - it appears the first one didn't come out how he hoped.

Cooper - T-Dawgs horse

Gypsy - Missy's horse (She's actually a superstar - she was in the movie Witless Protection with Larry the Cable Guy and Jenny McCarthy - I know I haven't seen it either - guess I need to)

T-Dawg is on the far right on Bates, Missy is in the middle on Loretta and Jimbo is on Mosquita on the left.

I love Cowboy's reflection in this one!

Sam - I liked how he included part of a horse in this one too

This one is down the side of a horse trailer looking at the announcers stand that's midfield.

Anyway - that was our Sunday. I'll give all the details about the fishin AND mommy tournament tomorrow!

Hopefully YOUR Mangover is dissipating and you have a good day!

Tidbits

Okie - so Geektastic (DH's name of the day) and I bought a boat last year and during good weather, Cowboy and Geektastic have been fishing maniacs. I have to give them their kudos though, they've caught some big fish. Geektastic and his boss signed up for a tournament that starts Saturday morning at 4am so he's been getting all of his stuff together early.

I thought I'd throw in pics of their big fish.

Geektastic and his 5.something pound bass and Cowboy with his 4.9 pounder

So today (Friday when I typed this so my ditzoid brain wouldn't forget it) at 5:00pm we are talking about dinner plans and he's all geeked out about his first tourney. It's cute actually, I know he won't get any sleep tonight - as he didn't last night. Anyway, he said "Oh I'm going to need my Lucky Shirt (capitalized because after all...in this house I'm surprised it doesn't have it's own bedroom)". I said "sure, no problem, when you get home (he was going to make it there first) just turn the dryer on to fluff the jeans and fold them up after about 5 mins". He said "and if I don't I just get to wear a dirty shirt?" I told him "no, you'd just be getting the dryer cleared out so that when I get home I can throw the load in the dryer that has Lucky Shirt in it". He said in a jokingly sarcastic voice "Oh yeah, I see where you're coming from, just wait until you have a Mommy Tournament of some sort, I'll make you wear dirty clothes." -cackle-gasp-cackle- I said to him"where do I sign up for THAT? and how is it judged? What are the competitions?" and we just got off on this funny tangent about what I'd have to do to prove I was a good Mommy in the tournament.

So what DO YOU think would be excellent competitions for the Mommy Tournament? Better yet, what would the prize be? After ya'll let me know, I'll be sure to tell you what gems Geektastic and I came up with.

Oh my gosh! SITS has another contest going on that I would love to win! Take a look at Bling bling! at the cool Apple 4G iPod Nano up for grabs!

Misc. Mumbo Jumbo

Okie first of all I curse MB this morning, only lightly though. I love you like a sister (or is that SITSta? ;>) but she was the first person that ran through my mind as I was wiping the sleep from my eyes. You said you didn't really want to know about my BEWBS - but I just thought I'd give you a pretty (hah!)picture from this morning.

Since I had the boys, the girls have a mind of their own, I call it bewb independence. I guess that's a good thing since I'm living in a testosterone household, but I wish I had some control over the situation. They fight constantly, try to go to their own corners (armpits?) and generally just run all over the place. Since Cowboy was born, I have worn a leisure bra when not in the wrangling bra. Simply because the skin touching skin thing has really gotten to me.

Obviously, said leisure bras get the wear, much more than the wrangler and they start looking their age after while. Matter of fact, Nerdlicious (DH's name of the day) commented the other day how he likes my lace bra. Ladies, it's NOT a lace bra, it's just starting to get that many holes in it and the other three were in the washer. Anyway - I have 4 leisures in rotation - the lace bra, the stretchtastic one that is so stretched out that it gapes under the arms and then two that are newer. Last night I pulled stretchtastic out of the drawer. I think stretchtastic will be getting a funeral before lace bra for the following reason...

I woke up and immediately thought, "Oh dear, what are the girls doing???" I look down my shirt and stretchtastic has turned AROUND my body and one of the girls has FLED through the armpit part of the bra!! The other one was about to escape over the front hooks. The first thing that inner voice screamed at me was HOOK AND SPIN!! I guess that's NOT supposed to work if it's a front hooking bra right?? The two little blue eyed guys at the end of the bed (that woke me up) asked me why I was laughing so hard. Heaven help me if they ever remember that scene when they are older. Love you MB, thanks for the memories this morning. ((()))
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I'm also going to try to do some of the other misc tasks I've seen on other blogs. So here goes....
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Embarrasing moment story...
I was a Freshman in Jr. High. I didn't need to lose weight in HS but the girls (yes it appears this is a bewb story too) were still big and no matter how many exercises my mom and doctor tried to get me to do - the girls wouldn't stand at attention. Some girls just don't change do they? I was at a pool party and the guy that I had a crush on happened to be there. I wasn't changed yet so I went into the bathroom to change and when I came back out said guy (we'll call him Jerk-in-a-box) was laughing at me and so were some other guys. Then that GLORIOUS nickname that thankfully didn't stick....GRANDMA! Jerk-in-a-box had obviously been outside looking through the window while I was changing clothes and brought the story of "The Rise and Fall of Nik's Girls" to the party as a housegift. MORTIFICATION multiplied. Looking back, I was proud of how I handled it. I brushed it off and told him it would be a lot funnier if he didn't look like a perv in front of his friends for WANTING to see my bewbs. Oddly enough, there was a guy that had a crush on me that earned a lot of respect from me. He was the one that told me what jerk-in-a-box had done and told me I shouldn't worry about it at all, everyone will forget on Monday. My friend Peggy told me I rocked his world when I told him thank you and kissed him before I left. We never hooked up but we were good friends and "Hey Grandma!" was only yelled 1 or 2 times in the hallway the next week before it dissipated.
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Let's see - the "Hubby rocks" thingie and what I love about Nerdlicious. Since I've already gotten MORE than talkative, I'll try to keep it short and sweet. I love the way he brushes my hair out of my eyes/face. I love how he kisses me goodbye every morning even if I'm dead to the world. I love how he fixes my underwear on my bum if he notices it's ridden up a little while I'm getting dressed. I love the geekfest webpages he creates from time to time with pics of us and various songs that remind him of me/us. I love the fact he knows I'm a dork and puts up with it - even with a roll of the eyes here and there. I love the fact that he'll sit for ever and just play with my hair. Plus, I still look at him and think "dang he's CUTE!" It can't hurt that he likes the girls just the way they are.

Down on the farm...

This should actually be the codeword between my husband and I for Girl's Night Out. He teases me all the time about my hen call cackles and teases me even more at the prospect of a gaggle of girls cackling. Well, we did it. I've become good friends with quite a few of the moms from Itchy's kindergarten class and we had a Girl's Night Out on Tuesday night. Dinner and a movie. YAY!

First of all, let me say...I'm not quite sure what awful world we live in - but it should be a PROSECUTABLE offense to anyone who tries to sabotage an evening on the farm. I love my children and all, but this includes them. It might be football time here in TN, but I really expect the local football team to put things on hold so I can enjoy my night of cackles and wine. SHAME ON THEM! So Cowboy had football practice AND a birthday party to go to...both of which could quite possibly slay Itchy with boredom but we (huh? did I say WE?) could handle juggling the events and make them all. Not to mention Itchy has some friends at the football fields. That lil math equation does NOT add Geekfish (DH) into the mix. Not just that, but it does not include Geekfish doing it alone. I could easily drag him along with me, but put the pressure on him to juggle it all, not a chance. Because my professional juggling skills were going to be better used down on the farm, a decision had to be made. Cowboy decided to forgo the birthday party and honor the football freaks of TN by committing to the football practice.

We started out with dinner at Genghis Grill which is WONDERFUL if you haven't tried it. One of the moms admitted to secretly laughing from the bathroom since she could hear us laughing all the way in there. Geekfish kept sending me cute little messages "I hope you're having a blast", "I can't wait to tell you a funny when I see you" "he came at me like a heat seeking missile" (talking about a person I had commented might want to talk to him). Geekfish and I get teased how we're always on the same page, earlier that night I had used the phrase "heat seeking missile" and the ladies laughed about it...imagine the laughter when I showed them the message he had sent. They made me go back and prove that I hadn't accidently called him and had him listening to our convesation. It quickly became the catch phrase of the evening.

I have to say - I'm not a big drinker, I think the last time I had a drink was at Christmas time when I had a few glasses of wine. So for me, that little inner voice whispered "go for the wine" and I listened. I got just one glass, but then I quickly noticed I was the ONLY one...out of 7 ladies, I'm the lush - GREAT! Maybe I should have waited until that little whispery inner voice was yelling at me. LOL It *WAS* a great glass of wine though! I can't help it if I would rather my farm be a winery.

I don't want to be THAT spoiler girl so I'll just say that we saw Mamma Mia! and it was cute, pretty funny in places, but not what I had imagined. I'll lay some haunting words out there though for those that go to see it - perhaps you can giggle when you realize what they mean....Bond will never look the same and that's not necessarily a good thing.

I followed one of the mom's home because I had informed her that her brake lights were out. We couldn't figure out what was best for the lead or following position....brake lights being out or expired tags. She stopped at a stop sign, jumped out and came back to talk to me. She said "you had a glass of wine at dinner didn't you?" and then she gave me a high five and told me that we'd have to go drinking margaritas some night. She said none of those ladies drink so she was happy to see that I did. I of course told her it's a good thing I got it AS I got my food and not before or I would have given EVERYONE in the restaurant reason to NOT drink.....EVER! I told her she should have listened to her inner whispery voice and been a lush with me.

When I got home, I was surprised Geekfish asked me why I was home so early....at 12:30. LOL Needless to say, I had a great time and can't wait for another outing. To me there is nothing more refreshing, liberating or more fun than a night down on the farm.