Rain, Rain....

I cannot finish the rhyme because I do not really want the rain to go away. I'm hoping it rains long enough to wash away all the allergens in the air so that my children can stop suffering needlessly. March is a tough allergy month for E. The Mountain Cedar just wears his little head out. His nose runs 24/7, he coughs himself into a frenzy during the night and his eyes look like he hasn't slept in weeks (which match my eyes since I'm up all night listening to him cough).

A, on the other hand, doesn't seem especially bothered by MC but her allergies are bothering her right now too. Last Thursday, Mom and I took her to the ENT's office and he put a tube back in her right ear. Not a fun process to watch as a parent but much better than the 6am trip to the surgical center, knocking her out and then hoping she's okay as she comes out of hours later. This involved no drugs except a shot behind the ear to numb the canal and then a shot inside the ear once the dr. thought things were pretty numb. A is not big on showing pain so she was a trooper and laid still thru the whole thing. I forced Advil on her when we got home but she refused a 2nd dose at bedtime. She even went to school the next day. She has had two sets of tubes (at ages 3 and 5) and her tonsils removed at 7. We thought we were in the clear after the tonsils and we went about a year without getting any type of ear infection or strep. Then this past year, she started getting ear infections in that right ear so I knew before summer that we would end up going the tube route again. The only downside is swimming in the summer because she shouldn't get water in that ear and she hates wearing the ear plugs (they were the source of much ridicule during swim lessons when she was younger). I was hoping the tube would eliminate the instances of her not being able to hear me but realized that was actually her ignoring me, not a hearing issue. Darn tweens! I was also hoping this was the end of ear troubles so imagine my surprise when she looks at me last night during "Dancing w/ the Stars" and announces that her left ear hurts!!!! UGHHHHHHHHHH

The combination of the rain and the lack of sleep I have suffered due to my coughing son have just about done me in today. I just want to put my head down and take a nap. Zyrtec is doing a good job of keeping my own allergy issues at bay but when I'm sleep deprived - I feel sick all over and today is just one of those days.

So here's to Mr. Rain washing away all the allergens and giving me back my nights for sleep!!

Snow Day

Just when you thought Spring would be arriving any day and that we'd skated past winter w/o a single ice or snow day - BAM!!!!! Welcome to March in Texas. After a wonderful warm weekend, we were hit with our first snow of the winter. It was a strong and steady snow that left everything lightly covered in white. Nothing on the roads though so it was business as usual on Tuesday. Then Wednesday afternoon - it is beautiful and 70 degrees. Ahhh, that is my kind of weather. BAM!!! Thursday by noon, it is pouring rain in Irving and I am getting a constant barage of phone calls from friends and family members giving me minute by minute weather updates closer to home. Apparently, the sleet and snow started in the Southlake/Colleyville area by lunch and didn't let up until dinner time. They even released school early (without notifying the working parents, of course - but that is a big gripe session for later). Even though my office is on the 9th floor with 2 sides of nothing but windows looking out on beautiful Hwy. 114 - my boss did not seemed all that concerned about the sleet hitting the windows, the snow covering the ground or the massive amount of traffic backup down below. He was focused on a big project and it had to be done before his business trip today. I knew my drive would take forever no matter when I left at this point so I wasn't even that mad about him not sending us home. My parents, however, were furious and called constantly telling me I should just hit the road and forget my job. I finally took everyone's advice and left the office a little after 3p and sat on 114 for almost 2 hours before reaching my driveway (it is usually a 40 minute drive - tops).

Then the fun began. A was already in the yard w/ some friends building a giant base for their snow man. I ran inside to grab my camera since this was supreme photo ops moment. When E saw me head out, he wanted to play in the snow too. So DH and I bundled up our youngest and ourselves and we all headed out to play in the snow. I had a blast taking tons of pictures of all the activity and was hit with my fair share of snowballs. E made his first snow angel and then discovered the art of snowballs. He would run right up on the person and basically push the snow on them but he thought it was pretty fun. A and her friends (with some help from Daddy) made an over 5 ft tall Snow Pooh. They were pretty darn proud of themselves when it was done. All in all, we played outside for almost an hour and were pretty frozen by the time we came inside. I'm so glad we had such a nice snow because my kids do not get to enjoy this very often and I get a chance to be a kid again.

Growing up in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana - snow was an every day part of each winter. Snow so high, you could build a snow fort or a snow man and it would last for weeks. Snow so high, it covered the downstairs windows of our house in KY. I remember my parents shoveling a path from our house to the neighbors so they could get to a party on a Saturday night. I don't think I'd ever want to live in those places again or experience snow over and over each winter, but it was nice for an evening!

Snow Pooh was dismantled by morning. RIP Snow Pooh!