Lore's Chocolate Party

There are some experiences that you will remember for years. If you want a memorable experience, the Lore's Chocolate Birthday party is one you won't soon forget! Lore's is a short walk from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall and worth the effort to go visit!

I was able to bring both of my boys to experience a Lore's Birthday Party yesterday. There were snacks and drinks available as we got ready to learn. The kids each got an apron, as chocolate was sure to fly! Tony taught us where chocolate comes from. The kids got to hold the cacao pod and see the different ingredients you can make from the cacao. We even got to hear a brief history of Lore's in Philadelphia. There are many reasons I love living in Philly, and the rich history is one of them!

Then the kids split into 2 groups to make their own chocolaty treats. My boys started at the molding station, where we learned how they make hollow chocolate shapes like bunnies and in our case, a turtle and Liberty Bell. Roo fell in love with that turtle! Then the boys got to fill their own molds. And dip pretzels in a chocolate vat and cover them with sprinkles. Oh, and how could I forget that they got to try their hand at making nonpareils. They weren't pretty, but I bet they tasted amazing! I get the feeling that those are harder to make than it looks.

After that, they moved to the enrobing line. Each child got their own box filled with marshmallows, pretzels, animal crackers, etc. They got to put them on the belt and watch their own treats disappear beneath the chocolate falls. After getting coated, they were supposed to use their fingers to decorate the top. They loved that part. Then the treats went to cool down before getting to the end of the line where they put them in their own box.

Tony and Maureen were so amazing and patient with that many little people running around. Roo was busy posing for a picture with his beloved chocolate turtle and ended up getting an arm doused in chocolate. Maureen didn't even bat an eye, she was calm, cool and collected. Of course, leave it to my boy to end up chocolate coated. *sigh* And at the end, as if things couldn't get better, we got a bag to fill with all of the treats we had made! And it even had a pre-made personalized egg! The kids were thrilled to see their own names in chocolate!

What an amazing experience it was for us! Now that is how to celebrate your birthday! Lore's is taking reservations for Saturday birthday parties, and will include weekday hours in the summer. I wish MY birthday were coming up soon!

By a hair

In good news, the parking ticket was dismissed. Wise of them. I would have fought it tooth and nail had they not.

Brad went on a fellowship interview on Sunday. He had forgotten to hand off the pager, so I went to another resident's house to drop it off. Unfortunately, the road to their house was ripped up by construction and I had to do a scenic detour.

As I was leaving their street, I turned to go down another tiny street to the main street. I turned down it before I saw what I was up against. It was so narrow. And there were cars parked on both sides. I knew there was no way I could get past the 2 cars without some damage to Odie. So, I thought about reversing. But there was a line of 4 or 5 cars behind me also on narrow, one way streets. Going back wasn't an option, so I'd have to go through. Odie has already had his share of bumps and bruises in Phreaking Philly, so I wanted to keep the damage as minimal as possible.

I started to go past the two cars and saw that the one on the right was scratched like crazy. I was obviously not the first wide car to try this treacherous path. Why would the idiot park there, I'd like to know?! I went ever so slowly through the two cars. I'm not even exaggerating when I say there was MAYBE 6 inches between Odie and the car on the left. And I was so close on the right, I couldn't even see how close it was. But, somehow, Odie made it through unscathed. Wow, I may almost get the hang of this Philly driving thing.

Getting lucky!

The rest of my St. Patrick's Day was an improvement.

The medication pen that had previously very painful, was actually the most pain-free shot I've had in months! I even did it myself! That is a big deal for me. In 18 months of twice monthly shots, this is only the 3rd I've given myself. I guess it helps to be married to a doctor and always have someone around to give me the shots.

We had our traditional green dinner. This time it was green eggs and ham. And green pancakes, green toast and green milk. Yum.

Brad won the most green contest.

I ditched the green shirt, which hadn't done me any favors keeping me lucky, and instead put on my BYU blue and headed over for the basketball game. Tons of fun

Luck of the Un-Irish

Apparently only the Irish get to be lucky today, because I'm sure not feeling it!

On Tuesday, Sugar had been sick since Friday and finally seemed over it, but I decided to keep her home one more day just in case. And that afternoon I got a call from Jamo's school that he had a fever over 100 and had to come home.

I kept Jamo and Sugar home on Wednesday. Today, I was ready to send all 3 kids back to the school for the first time in a week and hit the gym. Yoga to be exact.

Upon arriving at the boys school, there were 4 of those trucks with buckets and tree grinders right in front of the drop off. You have got to be kidding me. Could there possibly be a worse time to trim trees? During school drop off? Really? Kids walking while branches are getting chopped, closing lanes during peak traffic, blocking the entrance to the school... someone really didn't think this one through.

After dropping Sugar off, I got to the gym parking lot. I parked a little funny, so I got back in and reparked. Then I put my quarter in the meter. It didn't drop. Odd. So, I put in a second to push the first one through. And that one got stuck. I grabbed a popscicle stick on the ground and tried to push them through. Nothing. So, I wrote a note and stuck on saying, "Look in the machine, the quarters are stuck."

This all made me late to yoga, but it was fun being there. I went out to Odie and there was a parking ticket.

Argh. So, I called the number on the ticket and explained it. She said to call back later after they looked at it. I took pictures just in case.

How hard would it have been to look in and see a quarter sitting there? Argh. On the principle of it, I'm going to go to court if they dare try to make me pay. Hopefully when I call, they will have it resolved because I'm not paying it.

I will, however, pay for my overdue library fees, which was my next stop in Funville. I couldn't complain about that though. It was my fault. I took the other videos back not realizing the boys left one upstairs. I should have checked. I won't argue that one, it just sucks to pay huge library fees.

Oh and then while I was digging through my emails today, I heard a drip, drip, drip in the dining room. Sugar has a Barbie pool that she was playing with in the bathroom. We aren't talking a lot of water here. But any water that gets on the floor in the bathroom goes straight to the dining room. At least it wasn't toilet water, right?

Then I got a package from Fed Ex. That's always fun, right! Um, medications for RA aren't so fun. But then I got excited because it was 3 months of meds! Yay! I wouldn't have to keep calling for more! But then, wouldn't you know, they sent me the pens, which are a lot more painful than the syringes. *sigh* Stinkin' luck of the un-Irish.

Communication with a doctor

I say: "Wow, my fingers look wonky."

He says: "You have ulnar deviation."

Uh, yeah, what he said. His way sounds better at least. :o)

Handipoints!

I know, you are in shock I'm posting again so soon. I know I've said it before, but if you have kids old enough to use a computer, you should really look at Handipoints! I added some goals for the boys to earn a Wii game, and they have been fighting over who gets to wash, sort, and put away laundry. I'll enjoy it while it lasts until they earn their game. I remember being at a parenting class and the teacher said that our job as a mother is to work ourselves out of our job. Basically meaning, we need to be teaching our kids how to do laundry, clean, work, and cook for themselves before they leave our homes.

Wednesday was a bit rough for me. My host for my Signing with a Smile stopped hosting me, so I spent the day in a near panic that I didn't have a website. It's not good for business when the website doesn't work!

I did get to go Dragon Boating that night. You are thinking that it is super cold to be on a river right now, and you would be right. There is a place that has an INDOOR Dragon Boat facility. Who knew?! The trainer worked us pretty hard and we were all pretty beat by the end. Just in case you were wondering, it is a lot harder than it looks. ;o) My RA flare isn't calming down with the steroids yet, so between sets, I was sticking my hands in the cold water. Oooo, felt soooo good to get them chilled.

I came home and had to make crepes for Jamo's French Festival. Oh la la! I love crepes, but I like Brad's recipe better. By the time I was stirring the batter, my hands were beat down. I kept a bowl of ice water by the stove to chill my hands between flipping the crepes. It took me almost 2 hours just to make 24 crepes. Not cool. I wonder how Brad does it so fast?

And today has just been one nutty day too. The boys didn't have school for teacher meetings. I slept in until 9:30, but I'm pretty sure Sugar was up at 7 am. When she fell asleep on the couch at 11 am, I just thought she was tired from waking up early. My childcare arrangements didn't work out, so I bribed the kids and took them to my class with me. They were so well behaved. I know I have amazing kids and they are usually extremely well-behaved. I feel blessed. The class went great and there were no problems. I had bribed them with McDonald's and Sugar was asleep before we got home. I thought that maybe that first nap wasn't long enough, but I still wasn't suspicious.

After eating half of her lunch, she went back to sleep, and then I knew she was sick. The next time she woke up I took her temperature and sure enough, there was a fever. She spent the rest of the afternoon asleep. Poor sweet baby girl.

Then I got to spend the remainder of my afternoon working out some misunderstandings and miscommunications with one of my class locations. I think we have it worked out now.

It has just been a long an exhausting day and I see myself in bed in the very near future.

Vindication

You know that feeling, when your kid says he is on his death bed, and so sick he can't stand it. You take him to the doctor and he is miraculously healed before the doctor walks into the exam room and you end up feeling like an idiot with a chunk of change wasted on a co-pay? You do?! Glad I'm not the only one! Well, it feels even worse when the one that is so sick is YOU!

I finally made it in to see my Rheumatologist today. Unfortunately, it takes me far too long to go to the doctor, namely because of the reason above. You don't want to waste your money and the doctor's time if you aren't really sick, ya know? So then I end up waiting too long to go and spend weeks in pain.

Like I said, I finally made it in, and my symptoms were still there (phew!). She was sufficiently impressed by the level of swelling in my hands (my knuckles look like dimples they are so swollen on my left hand). And she was even impressed by the way my fingers bend sideways now on my right. So gratifying to have someone impressed by my symptoms. No one wants to feel like a hypochondriac, ya know?

I still need to upload some way cool pictures of Brad shaving off his beard. He won the contest between the other residents. Yay, Brad! And yes, the yearly exam is over. Happy happy joy joy! Hopefully I'll get those pictures up soon.

Jamo's birthday!

Somehow I blinked and Jamo turned 9. Wow. Next year it is double digits. How did it go so fast?

I stayed up way too late making Hopkins cupcakes.

It was worth it though. Every month I go to both of my boys' classes and teach them a Signing Time lesson. So, the kids all knew it was Hopkins and loved it. :o)

Between my 2 scheduled classes, I also managed to make it to help at Roo's lunchroom at school. I'm having some kind of RA issue or something right now. And I spent the lunch time running around opening milk bottles, thermoses, etc. Owie! And tomorrow I have 9 classes. Oh please let my hands work tomorrow!!! I can barely open the jelly jar for my kids in the morning. And before you ask, mommy, yes, I have my appointment scheduled with my Rheumy. :o)

I've never shown a picture of my RA hands, have I? This is my good hand, only some of the knuckles are swollen. On my right hand, my fingers are starting to go wonky and won't straighten out.

We had a wonderful evening. Jamo shocked us all and picked Pizza Hut for dinner over his beloved IHOP. Then the kids decorated the cake and we opened presents. If you didn't know, we have a recently started tradition of letting the kids decorate the cake. They are much better than I am at it anyway! Here it is:

Leftover frosting from the cupcakes and sprinkles. Lots of sprinkles. haha! It is a penguin with a 9 on his tummy. Can't you tell?? And do you know what I *just now* realized? We forgot to actually EAT the cake. Oops. The kids were really excited about the presents, so I don't think they noticed.

After this action packed day of making cakes, wrapping presents, making a mess etc, I got a call to show the house tomorrow. Oy. I guess it is better than today, but since I'm working all day tomorrow, I'll have to clean it all tonight. It's going to be a rough night!