Halloween Bah-Humbugging

Another crummy Halloween hits our family.

Fortunately, it is only me that is sick this year . . . and no one in our family is puking on a doorstep. (Like what happened during the "Puke or Treat" stomach flu Halloween of 2007.)

But, the flu got the better of me so out Brad went with the kids to hunt for candy and I remained with my ginger tea and "Say Yes to the Dress" to pass out candy.

Brad dressed up a bit and the boys were transformers. Avery was supposed to be a fluffy white kitten. However, five minutes before everyone was leaving her costume went AWOL. Seriously, how can a costume just up and disappear?? I checked under couches, in every closet, in the garage, the basement, even the garbages.

Granted our house was a little untidy since I've been sick all week, but it wasn't THAT bad.

Fortunately, two years ago I found a witch's costume on sale for $7 and still had it hanging in Avery's closet . . . with the tags on. Voila, new costume just in the nick of time.

Guillermo, who wasn't crazy about costumes ever (especially this year's) was more than willing to be humiliated if it meant he could escape our house for a while.

So off they all went to find mountains of candy. (Brad never lets anyone do Halloween half-heartedly.)

And I made myself comfy on the couch with my tea and show . . . for a few seconds.

Seriously, the moment I would sit down, the door bell would ring. It was a workout!

Naturally, it is freezing cold here for Halloween (it IS Canada, afterall), many a tot would come up to the door, bundled in a snow suit.

Wondering if the immigrant parents misunderstood the concept of Halloween, I would ask what they were.

"Optimus Prime." I looked them up and down and at the very tip of their ankles I saw a glimpse of the multicoloured leotard that I knew so well from Jayden's costume.

"Oh, Happy Halloween!"

My favourite though were the teenagers who came up without a mask, without a costume, just a ski hat, warm coat and a garbage bag for loot.

"Trick or Treat!"

Hmmm. You've got to be kidding me! You really think I'm giving you candy?

But while I was contemplating their candy fate, Avery had let the crazy, barking lobster out of the bathroom and he made a dash out the door.

"Uhm, is he supposed to be out here?"

"No." And I watched the red lightening bolt leave our property and b-line striaght for our neighbour's open door across the street. (I guess he was hoping that he could make a break for a new home that wouldn't make him wear such stupid things during any given holiday.)

"Okay, I'll give you guys double the treats if you go bring him back."

"Cool dude!" And off they ran.

Eventually they came back huffing and puffing with a lobster. Grateful that I didn't have to chase him myself out in the cold, I was more than happy to give them handfuls of our "gross" candy stash.

The best were the teenagers that Brad got.

Teen Group One:

"Hi! What are you?"

"I'm myself."

"And you?"

"I'm myself too. But I have a mask." And she turned her head to the side . . . no mask in sight.

Teen Group Two:

"Hi! What are you?"

"I don't know."

"Oh. Happy Halloween?"

I think next year we skip the whole charade and just hold a Halloween party. Maybe the day or so before and then turn the lights off and hide come Halloween night.

Avery after the first candy rush.

Brad soon realized he bought WAY too much candy and sat on the door step "begging" kids to come and take his "gross" candy away.

The gang. Notice Guillermo's lack of enthusiasm.

Just For Moms

On the top of my Christmas list.

Or for a little "pick-me-up" sooner.

I am in the market for a new planner. Previously, I have been using "GoMom," but they spoiled me last year with a deluxe version that had a vinyl tri-fold and no longer carry it.

For the past few years I have used a planner called, "Go Mom!" and last year they spoiled me with a tri-fold version in a vinyl portfolio cover. Now they have discontinued it and I have been on the hunt for something similar.

Being full grain leather, this one is quite a bit pricier than my old one. So, I would also consider this less expensive desk top version of the planner.

Find them here.

H1N1

With all the new outbreaks of H1N1, and the lack of any decent information, I thought I would post this for anyone who is interested.

Below is a "table" of benefits, facts, risks, and myths about vaccines, antivirals for H1N1 . . . mostly for pregnant women (obviously) but you can use the information for anyone.


Benefits/Facts


Getting the H1N1 Flu Vaccine

Vaccines have proven benefits. Getting the H1N1 flu vaccine is the single best way to protect yourself and those around you from the H1N1 flu virus.

Antivirals may decrease the severity of sickness.

You cannot get the flu from the flu vaccine.

Antivirals MUST be taken within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.

Vaccines are safe. The dangers from vaccine-preventable diseases (like the flu) are many times greater than the risk of a serious reaction to the vaccine.

Antivirals:


Very little of the medication is passed through the placenta or through breast milk.
The H1N1flu vaccine is safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Most people have no side effects from flu vaccines.

Recently Health Canada approved the use of antivirals (oseltamivir) for children less than one year of age.

After receiving the H1N1 flu vaccine you will have some immunity to the current strain of the H1N1 flu virus within 10 days.

If you have the flu, talk to your health care provider about treatment options. Antivirals may be one of many treatment options that they might recommend.




Risks



Vaccine

Vaccines can have side effects but they are usually mild. You need to weigh the risks of side effects with the risks of serious health problems if you catch the flu.

There is a risk of side effects with any medication including antivirals.The most common side effects of the antiviral oseltamivir include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and headaches.

The most common side effects of flu vaccines are soreness in the arm where the vaccine was given, sore or red eyes, itchiness and for some a mild fever.Most people experience no serious side effects from flu vaccines.

The flu virus can adapt and develop resistance to antiviral drugs – this means that the drugs would no longer be effective in treating the H1N1 flu.

About one out of every million people will have a severe reaction to a flu vaccine, including anaphylaxis or Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).



Antivirals

Rare cases of anaphylaxis and serious skin reactions, including toxic epidermal necrolysis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome and erythema multiform, have been reported with the antiviral oseltamivir.




Myth Busting



Vaccines

Thimerosal is a form of mercury used in the H1N1 flu vaccine to stabilize it and maintain its quality during storage. Thimerosal is a different form of mercury than the mercury known to cause health problems. The amount in flu vaccines is much less than the daily limit recommended – for example a can of tuna fish has four times the amount of mercury as the thimerosal in the H1N1 flu vaccine.

Antivirals are not appropriate for everyone. Talk to your health care provider about whether taking antivirals to treat the flu is appropriate for you.

If you receive the H1N1 flu vaccine you are at no greater risk of acquiring Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a neurological condition that occurs in approximately two in 100,000 people per year and is most often associated with foodborne infections. The possible risk of acquiring GBS from the flu or the flu vaccine is very small.

Antivirals are taken in pill form (oseltamivir) or as an inhaled medication (zanamivir). They are not given by injections.

An adjuvanted vaccine is a vaccine that includes a substance that boosts an individual's immune system and increases their response to a vaccine. An unadjuvanted vaccine has no “booster” element.Adjuvanted vaccines are included in common vaccines such as tetanus and hepatitis B. The adjuvant in Canada’s H1N1 flu vaccine is made up of natural ingredients such as water, squalene oil and vitamin E.Unadjuvanted vaccines are preferred for pregnant women when the flu virus is not yet in the community. This is because there are less safety data available on adjuvanted vaccine use during pregnancy.


After several months of debating about whether this is really all that serious, whether the vaccination is really worthwhile, I have come to this conclusion:

Everyone who can should get vaccinated.

1. Even if it is mild for you, you really don't want to be bed ridden for two weeks. (My brother and sister in law have the flu and it is pretty tough to be that sick when you have young kids at home or a job to do.)

2. By getting vaccinated, you reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others who may not be able to get vaccinated, or can't get the full vaccination and would be at high risk of complications otherwise. (Think pregnant women, immunocompromised patients, babies.)

That being said, if you are pregnant or have a child under the age of 5, they should try to wait for the unadjuvanted vaccine . . . unless there is currently an outbreak in your region. In which case, get the regular vaccine but in two doses. Everyone else in your family should get the whole vaccine.

These are just some thoughts from a microbiologist/immunologist. Take them as you will.

The Best (and Scariest) Dinner

With some inspiration from a friend, Jasmin, and a little bit of help from another dear friend, Williams (Sonoma), we had what was quoted as "the best dinner ever" the other night.

But, with WS gourmet pumpkin spice pecan pancake mix and awesome pancake molds, it was really hard not to.

If you can get your hands on any of this mix (and not feel bad about paying even the SALE price), I highly recommend it. I think next time I'll be trying Jasmin's homemade batter . . . and maybe invest the money into a WS batter pen.

A Photographer's Worst Dream

The start of her son's baby teeth falling out.

At least it's the bottom ones for now! Pretty soon the tops ones will fall out and then portraits will change drastically.

After weeks of wiggling, jiggling, and lots of speculation about tooth fairies . . . Brad finally yanked it out for Jay.

The conversations we had about exactly what happens when your tooth falls out, and what exactly the tooth fairy does, were very entertaining. Especially the facts by "Expert Jackson."

Apparently, the Tooth Fairy collects teeth from people's mouths and needs all the help she can get. (Hence, for the the last few days, Jackson has been twisting and turning his teeth to try and get them out.)

But the most interesting story came from Jayden about exactly what the Tooth Fairy leaves behind. Upon speaking with his friends, he learned that she leaves money. And not the metal kind.

(With inflation, it seems as though the Tooth Fairy of this generation hardly resembles that of the Tooth Fairy I knew . . . who left a loonie. Maybe a twonie.)

I asked him what kind of paper money she leaves and he said, "The green kind." (For those Americans reading this blog, green is a twenty.) YIKES! Although, I guess it's better than a red or brown ($50 or $100).

I tried to assure him that it was only a blue ($5) for the first tooth, but he was quite positive about the green.

So, after he had finally cleaned his room (because Tooth Fairies are afraid of messy rooms) and fallen asleep, the Tooth Fairy visited. Turns out, the Tooth Fairy is actually a he . . . which explains why a new tooth brush and a green bill were found in an airmail envelope.

Just Tired

Tired of the:

- Laundry.

How does it continue to pile up inversely to the amount that I do? Honestly, the more I do, the larger the dirty piles are waiting for me.

- Cleaning.

Why do I bother cleaning when there is a constant mess/dirt storm swirling around my house 24/7? It is demoralizing, unmotivating. And when you add to it the constant need to clean for company, landlords, and realtors . . . all while trying to live life and maybe pack somewhere . . . it makes for a very exhausting time.

- Chasing after runaway dogs.

I am really ready to just let him run away forever . . . but people keep bringing him back, so long as his tags are on him. Usually he will come when I call, but today he darted off in the opposite direction and had to be chauffered back to me.

- Snacks and meals.

And the frequency in which they need to be made, remade, and then cleaned up from.

- Toys.

How do they multiple so quickly?? Besides dirt, they are the only things in this house that can reproduce quickly enough to give laundry a run for its money.

- Play doh.

In the carpet. Blue play doh. Right before the landlord comes by.

- Poo.

On toilet seats, smeared in underwear, on carpets, and, most especially, diarrhea in a potty training todler.

- School drop-offs and pick-ups.

It seems that these days I am always getting ready to go somewhere, just coming back, getting ready to go again . . . and again, and again. These six trips on 2.5 hr cycles are really getting to me.

- All of this. In one day.

I am tired.

Precious Cargo

Of all of Avery's wonderful birthday presents, two seemed to stand out more than others:

Her new baby and baby care set (high chair, stroller, bassinet) and her Diego ball, as evidenced by the following photo.

Can She Really Be Two?

Apparently our vacation this past summer to Sesame Place held a special place in Avery's heart.

Instead of the "baby" theme we were planning, she demanded an Elmo party.

That seemed easy enough to me, how popular is Elmo? It should be a cinch to slap a party together. (Ha! Little did I know.)

Invitations were taken with our favourite furry red monster.

Activities included making Elmo faces,

a musical parade,

(sorry no photos . . . the adults--including myself--were too busy stuffing our faces)

eating pizza and lots of yummy fruits and vegies,

an awesome (by my previous cake standards) Elmo cake,

and lots (like WAY TOO MANY) presents for the birthday girl.

I think this says it all about what her favourite gifts were.

A Simple Party

It was supposed to be a simple party.

Just a few guests.

Just a few food items.

A simple theme.

A simple cake.

Two hours of low-key celebration.

After all the stress during the past few months, I really was trying to keep things easy for Avery's 2nd birthday party.

A two hour ordeal that involved pizza and a veggie platter for dinner; a simple Elmo craft, a musical parade, a few simple gifts and then a simple Elmo face cake. Maybe some ice cream to spice things up a bit.

Decorations were simple too: a few streamers, a yellow table cloth, a few Elmo plates to get the theme idea across and then some red plates thrown in.

Favours were to be very simple too . . . which was pretty easy because finding anything Elmo was pretty tough. (Note for next year: look at what kind of stuff is available first before choosing a theme!) I was able to find some Sesame Street colouring books and a pack of crayons for each kid and left it at that.

Simple.

Easy.

No stress.

However, the party turned out to be a lot more work and stress than planned.

First of all, it was near impossible to find anything Elmo. Seriously?? He is still popular for little two year olds . . . and he does have his own show. Can't we find ANYTHING?? I hunted around to 10 different stores before I settled on some Sesame Street plates and colouring book.

While on the search for party supplies, I also happened to realize that the weather here was getting quite frigid and that my kids needed some coats and winter accessories. Apparently, so did everyone else in the province and they all gathered together at my local malls. I practically had to fist fight for the last coat and boots on the shelves. (May I remind you that it wasn't even OCTOBER.)

On top of all this, traffic was insane. Not just on highways, but on the side streets . . . coming to a stand still when I was 15 minutes away from school . . . and it was already time to pick up Jackson. (The poor kid was a little traumatized being left at school by himself when all the other kids were long gone.)

Then there was the cake.

Of course it is the show stopper for any party. And even though the kids only care about how many candies and sugar-laden icing is on there, we all know that mothers judge cakes by other mothers. So, it had to be good. (Especially after the disappointment of Jayden's airplane cake.)

I had planned on trying to reconstruct the Elmo face cake . . . without the fancy Wilton pan, but at the last minute decided on a different design. I needed food colouring, cake mix, premade icing, and icing bags and tips. (It's sad to say that my mom is a fantastic cake decorator and I spent the better part of my childhood watching her make extravagent cakes for my brother and me, along with a host of other people . . . and yet I am 30 and have not even touched an icing bag or tips. And I have a 6 year old son.)

Wouldn't you know that NO ONE had any food colouring? Nothing on their shelves. I went to 3 grocery stores.

Not only that, but only one had icing tips. So I bought those.

I baked the cake the night before, getting a head start. Or so I thought. I don't know what happened, but memories of my poor cooking skills from high school and college came back to haunt me.

For one reason or another, the cake didn't rise. At all.

I had to run out again (while lugging three kids with me . . . and hitting the parent/teacher night on the way) that night to get more cake mix, more decorating supplies, and searched for red food colouring.

Fortunately, the next cake came out fine . . . and wouldn't you know, decorating a cake is SO much easier with icing tubes and tips . . . unlike how I've been struggling the past ten years with just the store bought icing tubes.

Feeling extremely proud of my cake, I set it lovingly on the decorated party table to go help Brad with groceries for the party.

One thing about Brad, you ask him to pick up three things from the store and he comes back hours later with just about everything the store has to offer BUT THOSE THREE THINGS.

This time, he did bring back my list, but still brought the rest of the store back too. Including several more party favours and decorations (like Sesame Street napkins, both the English and Spanish versions). Of course this is all MINUTES before guests are supposed to arrive.

As I rush to get things rearranged and accomodated for, I notice that someone has taken a chunk out of the cake. And the Elmo candle is broken.

I fixed it up as best as I could, remelting the was to reattach pieces and placing it over the missing part of the cake.

In the end, it worked out. But simple and easy, it certainly was not.

The Big (Sour) Apple

At the end of the summer of '09, we decided to take a family trip to the Big Apple.

Yes, most of you are thinking that we are absolutely crazy for even considering taking three young children to a swanky hotel in Manhattan . . . and then parousing around the city with them. While one of us is only a few months pregnant, none-the-less.

And yes, you are right. We are totally crazy. But if you have been following our blog up to this point, you already know that. And, well, the US Open was in town so naturally, we had to be there. :)

The ride to NY, NY was actually quite pleasant. The kids behaved and the drive was nice . . . up until trying to get into the city. (But that is to be expected.)

The hotel was swanky. As swanky as can be. In fact, I couldn't even find it . . . even though I was walking through the foyer. It looked more like a high end cocktail lounge than a hotel. Finding the elevator with a honking stroller and two kids in tow, dressed anything but NY fashion forward, was a little uncomfortable.

The room was large at 150 sq ft, by Manhattan standards anyway. It had all the latest conveniences all hidden in modern luxury. Even though I had trouble finding any of the three hidden phones, the kids had absolutely no problems. I must admit, though space was a little tight, it was really fun to stay in the city with the kids. And it did make our evening walk to Times Square so much better when we knew we could walk a few blocks and then crash into bed.

The kids loved Times Square, by the way. (What kid wouldn't with a massive Toys'r'us and a ride on the ferris wheel?) We even found the school kid coveted shoe--Light Up Sketchers--for an amazing deal. We got three pairs of kids' shoes for $75!

After a good night's rest, and walking several blocks around, we ended up in a cafe just outside our hotel for a fantastic big breakfast.

Since I was rather reluctant (read: refusing) to take all three kids around the city on my own while Brad went to enjoy the US Open, we had Jackson accomany Brad to Flushing Meadows.

Jackson had a great time on the subway, and eating all the Haagan Daz ice creams he could want (so Dad could be ensured some quiet during the match). Brad was thrilled that he scored the last ticket for the afternoon game, and even got seats right behind the media. Shortly after, the ice cream novelty wore thin and Jackson found himself intrigued with the contents of one of the players girlfriend's purse.

Incredibly embarrassed, Brad took it as the time to exit and met up with the rest of us only a few hours later.

Meanwhile, Jayden was a big help to me taking care of Avery and helping me find some maternity clothes.

When we did all meet up again, we all went to FAO Swartz where the kids had another blast. They loved the piano. And they were glad they had saved their money to buy toys there. I must admit that although Toy'r'us surpasses FAO Swartz in selection and pricing, FAO certainly has more unique toys. I loved the little doll nursery (where they have dolls for sale laid down in little newborn hospital bassinets).

Jackson bought a remote control dinosaur, Jayden a remote control motorcycle, and Avery a Petunia Peapod baby and bassinet. (Hers was the smallest and seemly most innocent toy . . . but by far the most expensive! At $40, I think it will have to be an heirloom!)

We spent the rest of the day in Central Park, riding the carriages. We missed the zoo and had had enough walking around so we decided to get on with part two of our trip: the Kids' Part.

Our next hotel was in Princeton, NJ. Let me just say how much I love Princeton. The town was beautiful, I was so ready to move in. And the campus, well, there is a lot to be said about Ivy League schools. Our kids are working hard in tennis and sports to try to get a scholarship there.

The next day we set off for Sesame Place. We had heard a lot of wonderful things about it and had researched it a bit. I thought we were prepared. It was really great. I thought it would be more of an amusement park, like Disney World, but I think there were actually more water rides. Obviously a pregnant lady and one year old couldn't go on a ton of water rides, but the rest of us had a great time.

Highlights included: an amazing ropes course for kids, the biggest and best water playground ever (and the massive water bucket that the Count counted down from five for every few minutes was, well, massive), Jayden loved the lazy river, Avery loved the Elmo show, Jackson loved the water slides. Mom and dad really liked the healthy food choices at the concessions.

The only bad thing I can think of was that we went on the Saturday of Labour Day weekend. Definitely not the time of year to do anything that families would want to do and require lines.

Every vacation we seem to plan, we usually have end at the very last moment before school or work set it. This year, we decided to come back Sunday night so we had Monday to recover before school.

However, we were having so much fun and wanted to go back to Sesame Place once more and take a drive through the city (we never did get around to Ground Zero, or the Zoo), we extended our stay one day more.

We hit Sesame Place the moment it opened to get on the bigger slides then set off for lower Manhattan. We got up to the upper East Side late in the afternoon, hoping to make it to the zoo on time . . . but had trouble finding parking. And then we turned around in the car to see this:

Jayden later said that Jackson was drawing a map. Since he didn't have paper, he thought he'd do it on himself.

By the time we scrubbed off all the marker off his face, we were too late for the zoo. We went to walk around anyway but didn't stay very late since there was a huge Brazillian fest.

That's where the fun ended. The car, wouldn't start.

We were stranded. In Manhattan. With three kids. And we needed to be back home tomorrow.

The thought of towing it to lower Manhattan for a million dollars didn't sit well with us, and the cops really didn't care a bit to help out some tourists (I guess they had bigger fish to fry), but at least one cab driver was helpful. He helped us "weld" a piece of a tin foil wrapper from a burrito to our battery and got it to run well enough that we made it home.

It was a bit of a sour ending to a great trip, but I guess we learned our lesson about extending trips on a whim.

(Appologies: I did have a ton of photos from this trip, but I have no idea where they all disappeared to.)