Ellie Stories.

This morning began the same way most mornings began.  Early, and with Curious George.  As I was carrying Isaac out of his bedroom this morning we were singing "5 Little Monkeys" (Jumping on the Bed, vs. the Swing in the Tree version . . . both of which he loves).  When we came in and Ellie had turned on my television to Curious George, and Isaac exclaimed, "George a monkey!"  So we sang about a monkey jumping on the bed again.  "One fell off and broke his head," I sang and Isaac giggled as I grabbed my head dramatically, "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said . . . " I continued, when Ellie loudly interrupted, "DADDY.  Daddy called the doctor."  At first I just assumed that this was just one more example of Ellie's preference for her Dad over Mom, but she clarified, "George doesn't really have a Mom," she explained sadly, "He only has a Dad.  The man with the yellow hat.  So Daddy called the doctor."  Um, that's a good point, Ellie.  I hadn't thought of that.

Another Ellie story -- yesterday I was getting the kids ready and I asked her to get dressed.  She responded, "I can't right now, Mom.  I gotta practice whistling."

And for good measure,  a Bad Mommy moment.  So, I tend to keep my kids off youtube . . . a few of their favorite Sesame Street clips are on there, but I only let them watch the ones we've found on hulu.  It seems like whatever clip you're watching on youtube, you're only one click from a swearing Elmo or foul-mouthed-rapping Dora.  And it makes me angry that the site is littered with children's things made crude, dirty or inappropriate.  Anyway, so typically I don't let them watch much on youtube.  With one exception.  Humphrey the bear singing, "Put it in the Bag" (bump, bump).  Ellie had asked ALL morning yesterday to watch it, so after Annie got home from school I pulled it up and they watched it, twice.  Then a Goofy cartoon started (Ellie kept calling him Doofy or Goofus or Doofus, which was amusing me, she just could not seem to remember the name 'Goofy'.)  Half way into it, the baby started crying.  I'd planned on coming right back down, but there was a diaper to change and an outfit to change, and by the time I came back down, the kids were just finished watching a foul-mouthed Cookie Monster video, and there were a bunch of 'Family Guy' clips set to start next.  Dang it.  Annie looked instantly guilty, and Ellie was laughing hysterically and repeating some line about the doctor telling him to take his pants off.  Stupid internet.  So, we sat down and had a talk about what isn't 'appropriate' for little kids to be watching online, and how 'bad' stuff can come up on the computer, and if Mom's not there, how to shut off the computer or close the current screen and to come tell Mom and we can talk about how it made them feel.  The conversation was mainly for Annie, who seemed a bit concerned about what she'd seen.  Ellie was still giggling about the 'pants off' line and saying, "It was funny!  So funny!"  We extended the conversation to include what we do if we're at a friend's house or somewhere else, and Mom's not around, and we hear of see something that we're not comfortable with.  At this point, Ellie finally gets serious, and responds, "When I was at Kate's house, she said she was the boss of me.  But, she's not the boss of me.  And it made me sad.  And berry un-come-bur-ta-bull."  The last line was so emphatic that I burst out laughing.

And lastly, an Isaac story.  Isaac loves the book "Go Dog Go" and asks for it by name, often. So I laughed when he'd finished reading it with his Dad, and Greg asked, "Do you want to read it again?" Isaac responded, "No. All done now with dogs that go."

Heard in the Last 20 Minutes at our House . . .

Annie:
Annie and Ellie were excitedly talking about the future.  "You'll be four, and I'll be six!" Annie said, "Then you will ask me, 'Annie, what is the world made of?' and I will say, 'I don't know.'" 

Ellie:
"I'm just like a Daddy!" Ellie exclaimed, telling me about how she was going to take the little trash can in their room and dump it into the bigger trash can.  Then I heard her as she came out of her room, "Annie, I've done this like 12 times -- I'm done, I think it's your turn."  I had no idea she'd taken on (then grown to resent) the trash duties in their room.

Isaac:
My 19 month old and I had a bit of a miscommunication issue earlier.  He came up to me with a box of crayons.  He pulled one out and exclaimed, "Owens crayon!"  "It's Owen's crayon?" I asked.  "Isaac's crayon," he firmly shot back.  "Oh, Isaac's crayon."  He held up the crayon again and said, "Owens crayon!"  "So, it's Owen's crayon?" If the boy knew how to roll his eyes he would've, "ISAAC'S crayon," he reaffirmed.  "Isaac's crayon," I agreed.  He pulled out a new crayon, held it up, and this time I heard the ever so subtle difference, "Owans crayon."  I looked at the orange and orange-red crayons he was holding in his hands, "OH! ORANGE crayon! Gotcha!" Smart boy.  Not so smart Mom.  :-)

Owen:

He doesn't actually contribute much to the conversation yet.  But he's recently discovered he is very amused by the cow-print bar above his bouncy chair . . .

Completely unrelated:

This is what my walls look like several times a week . . . thanks, Isaac.

Grandpa Robert babysat the other day while Talina and I ditched him with four of our five children.

Early Planning . . .

A few months ago, we couldn't get the girls to provide us with a Christmas list to save our lives.  For well over a month, all we could get out of them was, "Gum."  That eventually got more specific, as they both clearly wanted Bubble Tape, in Santa packaging.  We got as far as Annie asking for roller skates, and Ellie falling in line with her big sister. 
So I was a bit surprised when Ellie burst into my room and enthusiastically cried out, "Mom, I want a doll for Christmas!"  "Um, okay."  "And a race car!  With buttons!  Girl ones!  That you can push!"  "Um, a race car?"  "Yeah. With a driver with red hair!  Like Strawberry Shortcake.  And another girl in the car!  But with two steering wheels, so they both have one.  But I have the buttons, so I'm really driving."  "Um, I don't know if . . ."  "And I want a thing that turns around [as she swirls her hand in a tight rapid circle], but not that turns around [much wider hand circles].  I wanna one that doesn't go by itself.  I have to help it."  "Um, are we still talking about a remote control car?"  "Yeah.  I wanna help it.  Pushing buttons.  I don't want it to go by itself, I want to help it."  "Um . . . "  "I think that's all for now."  She turns abruptly and starts to walk out of the room, then gets to the door, turns around and fist pumps in the air, "I can't WAIT for Christmas!"


Um . . .

Ellie's First Day of Preschool

Ellie has been anxiously awaiting starting preschool ALL summer -- she could NOT have been more excited this morning!

The first picture is Annie & Sarajayne on their first day of the same preschool two years ago -- the other three are of their younger sisters, Ellie and Kate, this morning.  Is it just me, or do Annie & Sarajayne seem younger?  Ellie's always seemed younger to me than Annie, at the same ages, but in this picture I think both older sisters look way younger than their baby sisters at the same age!

All three siblings -- this was as good as it got :-) I never got one of all three kids actually looking at the camera at the same time.

These crack me up -- Ellie is the world's biggest cheeseball, and when a camera is in sight, she just lets loose :-)

Sisterly Love

Ellie to Isaac, "Baby, I love you.  I love you into small pieces."

Cleanliness

Just finishing dinner, Ellie headed for the toys.  "Wait," I cautioned, "you need to go wash your hands first!"
Ellie stomped her little foot, then whined a retort, "But, I already licked 'em!"

Ellie

This morning there were about 20 stupid magnets on the floor in front of the refrigerator.  I'd stepped on a couple, and frustrated I called out to Ellie, "Can you come in and pick these up while Mom cleans up breakfast?" 
"No . . ." Ellie calls out from the other room.
Greg, who was on his way out the door for a meeting, told Ellie, "Ellie, go pick up the magnets or go sit in time out for three minutes."
Ellie groaned, sighed, and rolled her eyes, then angrily shuffled over to the base of the fridge, plopped herself down and started picking them up.  I left the room to put something away, when about 20 seconds later I hear a voice call out, "MOM?  Can I just go sit in time out . . . "

Family Home Evening & Buffalo Poop

Tonight was Family Home Evening -- the kids were so excited.  (Well, Annie & Ellie -- I don't think Isaac cared much.)  Annie helped Daddy fill out the 'chart' . . . it was decided Ellie would pick the song (or as Ellie put it, "I will sing the song for you"), Annie got to say opening prayer, Daddy was doing the lesson, Mom made the dessert (and oh my goodness, can I just tell you how much we highly recommend these?!), which left Isaac in charge of the activity.  We all figured he'd want to do Patty Cake.  So, it was all decided.  We gathered our little family in a circle in the front room and asked Ellie to pick the song.  "Buffalo Poop!" she excited offered.  (In Yellowstone last year, Ellie and Uncle Cody would point out all the bison droppings and excitedly sing a song of their own making, that goes, "Buffalo poop!  Buffalo poop!  Buffalo poop, poop, poop!")  Annie helpfully offered, "Um, maybe we could sing 'Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam'?"  "Nope!  Buffalo Poop!" an enthusiastic Ellie reiterated.  "Give said the Little Stream?" I asked.  "No, Buffalo Poop!" Ellie confirmed again.  I think I hear the words, "Buffalo Poop!" no less than 20 times a day.  She even told me her diaper was so stinky the other day 'cause she ate too much Buffalo Poop.  She's a child obsessed. 

Uncle Cody would be so proud.  :-)

Sleep Talker

Ellie's been waking up a lot at night lately.  There's nightmares of cows pouring water on her, and tigers and the occasional monster.  Tonight, it was only 9:30 or so the first time she woke up upset. 
"Mom!" she cried from her bed, still mostly asleep, "Mommy!"
"What is it?" I quietly ask as I crawl into her bed with her.
"Mom?"
"I'm here baby . . . what's wrong?"
"Something . . . " long pause as she falls mostly asleep again, then a sudden, "smells."
"Something smells?"
"Yeah."
"Um . . . what smells, Ellie?"
"Snow White . . . " long pause again as she drifts off.
"Snow White smells?"
"Yeah.  Smells like . . . " asleep again.
I sit there, wondering how long I have to wait 'til I crawl out of bed again.
The her eyes fly open, "Snow White smells like dinner."  She's out like a light again.
"Snow White smells like dinner?" I whisper.
She sleepily answers, "Yeah, like dinner."
Then she's asleep again.  For good.  (Or, until midnight or so, is my best guess.)

Weird.  :-)

(Add to the frequent night wakings due to Snow White's odor issues and water tossing cows, Isaac's also dealing with serious teething issues (and a possible ear infection, I'm thinking of taking him in again, 'cause his level of 'angry baby' is off the charts, and overly-tired-and-nauseous-first-trimester-Hilary is possibly not dealing with screaming-all-freaking-day-long-Isaac as well as she'd like to.)  He went from FINALLY sleeping through the night (well, until 5:30AM, at least, but I'll take it) to waking up every 2-3 hours all night long.  It's like they're conspiring against me.  I'm not sure to what end, 'cause they may not realize this, but it's not like their life will get suddenly super awesome or fun if Mom ends up institutionalized.  But for some reason, they're co-conspirators in the great 'sleep-deprivation-torture-campaign-against-Mom&Dad-of-2011.)

Another Cupcake Breakfast (and Therefore Another Birthday)

Ellie's tribute from last year, since the laziness continues.
I took all kinds of pictures of the kids eating another cupcake breakfast, and opening presents, and Ellie riding her new tricycle and them making cupcakes -- but, Greg has the camera, and he's gone all day with the girls (went somewhere with his parents, but I'm not feeling so hot, so I'm home with Isaac), so I can't add pictures yet.  I will though, soon.  I just didn't want Ellie's birthday to go unmentioned.  So, Happy Birthday Ellie!  I can't believe you're three already!  (Way weirder to me than Annie being five years old, for some reason.)
Ellie's been saying for awhile, she'd potty train when she turned three, so when I asked her on her birthday if we should get on her panties, she said, "No, Mom, I'll just wear a diaper. Thanks."  "But Ellie, I thought you were going to wear big girl panties when you turned three . . ."  "Well Mom," she reasoned, "I am not really that tall . . ." as she held her hand just above her head to indicate her shortness, and therefore, 'too-little-to-wear-panties-ness'.  Sigh.  :-)

Dramatic Much, Part 2

So, my last post was about Ellie's dramatic use of the word forever or ever (or 'ev-ah' in Ellie speak).

I got another example!  Today, her best little friend was over in the morning, riding bikes and playing in the sandbox and all that, but apparently, they had a falling out.  I didn't even catch what it was about.  But, on the drive to Target that afternoon, Ellie informed me, "Kate was not nice to me, we are NOT friends any more.  Not eva!  Not eva, eva, eva, EVA!  You not be mean to friends, so we not friends eva more!  Not eva, eva, EVA, EVA, EVA!  She say mean things to me, so not eva, eva, eva friends again!"  (Seriously, this starts at TWO?!) I tried to calm her down a bit, talking about how sometimes friends just get upset at each other and once we apologize (and Annie added, "and forgive each other!") we go right back to being good friends again.  (It should be stated here, that Ellie is no angel -- her and her cute little best friend Kate butt heads regularly, and from what I've seen, it's at least 50/50 of who's behind the drama, if not a bit 'Ellie leaning' if you're looking for fault.) 

Ellie thinks about this for a second, then sighs and says more calmly, "OK Mom, if Kate says sorry, then we be friends again," then adding emphatically, "But if NOT, then we NEVA, EVA, EVA, EVA friends again FOREVA!"  Dramatic much, my little munchkin?  Dang, girls are crazy.  (They then played the entire afternoon, totally best friends again and it was all forgotten . . . until they got into a fight again before it was time for Kate and her sister to go home . . . sigh . . . I can't let Ellie be around friends unsupervised if she's hungry or tired, she gets all sensitive and moody!)

Have I mentioned how excited I am for them to be teenagers one day?  Where these 'we'll never, ever, ever, ever, EVER be friends again' fights will happen on whatever-the-facebook-equivilent-will-be-in-12-years-or-so.  Relatedly, I was thinking of my own Junior High drama, and was thanking my lucky stars there was no real social media at the time.  That would've been brutal!  Poor kids these days!

Dramatic Much

"It's been my whole life Mom, my whole life!" Ellie exclaimed as she dramatically threw herself into my room.  
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"It gone for EVA!  Foreva, eva, EVA!  Gone, my whole life!  EVA, EVA, EVA.  ForEVA."
"Um . . . "
"My pupple ilkie!" She exclaimed.  (Translation: purple silky -- Ellie has random pieces of silky type material that she must sleep with.  She has them in a plethora of colors.  And, of course, at bed time we can NEVER find the right color, and last night it was purple we couldn't find.  There was much crying and screaming.)
She triumphantly pulls out a small purple silk lovie from behind her back, beaming.  "I found it Mom!  It gone my WHOLE life, eva, eva, eva.  Eva.  And I found it!  I not sad anymore, I happy again, it been my whole life and now I found it!"
"Congratulations Ellie, I'm glad you found it."
"Yeah, that was pretty good of me -- so, can I have a candy then?"

My Ellie Belly

I was looking back at my blog from two years ago.  The benefit of having two kids that are exactly two years (and one day) apart, is it's always easy to go, "What was Annie doing at this age . . . " and compare.  I was laughing so hard as I read all of two year old Annie's stories, of all the things she said.  That girl was always so verbal, and she had such an instinctive knack for the language, which almost never steered her wrong.  (But when it did, it was hilarious.) Her precocious insight into every day life were captured in adorable one liners and elaborate stories.

I realized I have markedly fewer such Ellie stories, which makes me sad.  'Cause it's not like that girl ain't funny, 'cause she's possibly the funniest, wackiest, most enthusiastic little girl in the whole world.  I have people constantly telling me how wild and crazy and hilarious and amusing and spunky and amazing and funny she is.  She's not quite as verbal (and we still don't understand a good third of what she says as she quickly rattles off paragraphs of nearly one-sided conversation) but she's smart, just like her sister (I found her today not only writing HER name on something she wasn't supposed to, but Annie's name too -- she's not even three yet and she can already graffiti multiple names in the family.) 

The thing is though, Ellie's a very 'physical' experience.  She tells stories with her whole body, every gesture and expression being what really makes it so funny.  She keeps Greg and I laughing all the time, but when I sit down and try and write out any of Ellie's stories, they just kinda 'fall flat'.  Ya gotta be there.  I should still jot down more of them, 'cause we can look back and remember the exact expression on her face, as she threw her body around excitedly, and be able to laugh about it for years to come; but if you weren't there, it just doesn't mean the same.  Like, the time Ellie sang her entire bedtime prayer (very dramatic, opera-like singing of "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the food, please bless Cody on a mission, in the name, Jesus Christ, AMENNNNN!")  That was funny.  Greg and I could barely show the restraint required of two parents with a brood of young children who are being taught to pray.  But then, when Annie started to pray ('cause Ellie prays EVERY night -- that exact same prayer -- half the time in song, then someone else says the 'family' prayer), Ellie kept peeking up and encouraging, "Annie, pray cra-zy . . . pray CRA-zy!" while making the craziest eyes you've ever seen and doing spastic 'jazz hands'.  I have never started laughing so hard after the word 'Amen' in my entire life.  It is, to this day, the funniest thing I've ever seen one of my kids do during family prayer -- and we have our fair share of amusing family prayer stories.  Ellie is endlessly amusing to everyone in her life.  I just gotta figure out how to capture that better.  (Maybe I just need to run a video camera 24-7!)  :-)

Oh, one quick Ellie story, while I'm thinking about it.  Ellie got a book in her Easter basket that was called, "Ellie's Tea Party."  Annie's coming along amazingly with her reading, so she was reading the title page, but stumbled for a second on the word 'Tea'.  I reminded, "Since there's two vowels, the first one says it's name . . ."  Annie nodded and said, "Oh, it's a silent 'a'!" and read the rest of the page just fine.  I didn't think Ellie was paying any attention to this (since she was repeatedly crashing her new wiggle car into things.)  Later that day, my Mom came by so the girls could show them her loot.  Ellie excitedly came running up with her new book and said, "Look Grandma!  I got a new book -- and it has a Silent A!"  She's beamed proudly ever since, showing everyone her amazing book with it's special 'Silent A', ever since.  :-)

Wild Woman

What's that you ask?  Do I have one child who is far more expressive, outgoing, loud, energetic, destructive, demonstrative, cheesy, attention seeking and gregarious than the others?

Why yes.  Yes, I do.  :-)

 

 

The good news is . . . even a wild child has to sleep every now and again.

 (This is actually the FIRST time she's ever fallen asleep sitting up on the couch (heck, the child's never even fallen asleep lying down on the couch!)  It was miraculous.)

Get Back to Work!

Greg and my parents started working on assembling our awesome new swing set at 7AM this morning.  My parents finally left at 5PM and Greg's still out there working hard.  And we're about half way done.  I now understand why people pay several hundred dollars to get these things assembled!  It's intense.

Photo courtesy of Costco -- the same nice folks who sold it to us in the first place.

Anyway, Greg came in for a few minutes just a while ago, to bring a cold and crying Ellie back inside to me.  (I've been in and out all day, but with it being colder than we'd hoped, I couldn't keep Isaac outside all day.)  After getting Ellie calmed down, Greg stood back up and said, "I need to get back to work . . . "
Ellie asks, incredulous, "Still?!"
Greg laughs and adds, "Yeah, there's still a lot to do Ellie!"
To which Ellie responds, "Well, then get back out there already!" as she points to the back door.

Cuddle Bug

Annie is my snuggly kid -- she'll curl up in my arms and just let me hold her as she wiggles deeper into my lap and lets out a little sigh of contentment.  I love it.  After hurting her ankle yesterday, she cuddled up to me after we got her bandaged up, and I rocked her back and forth while she calmed down.  Then I rubbed her back -- until she told me that as much as she likes me to rub her back, she thinks she prefers the rocking. (Ellie thinks that being held and cuddled is a fate worse than death -- she's trying to move, how dare we try and hold her still!) :-)  The other day, I'd just gotten Isaac down for a nap after an afternoon of 104 degree fevers (and a 101 degree fever for me), and I decided to lay down for a bit.  Ellie had gone four days without a nap now (someone's trying to drop the nap for good -- I'm not too happy about it), and she was grumpy.  So I tried to coax her into lying down for a bit with me.  "Come on, Ellie . . . come cuddle with Mommy and watch Elmo," I said from the bed.  "No, that okay," she said, then walked to the top of the stairs and yelled at the top of her little lungs, "ANNIE! Get up here right now!"  She goes stomping down the stairs, as I call after her, "It's okay Ellie, Annie doesn't have to come up . . ."  I hear Ellie angrily yell at Annie again, "Go upstairs now . . . Mom wants to cuddle with someone!"  

I told Annie she didn't need to come up, she could keep coloring.  But she did come up after a bit, and she did cuddle with me.

Ellie never did come up to cuddle.  Nor did she nap that day.  That girl just has too much to do!  :-)

Where I'm Convinced That My Other Child Will Become a Tagger or a Tattoo Artist

I already wrote about Annie's budding artistic career.  

I touched on Ellie's own special form of self expression.  

I thought I'd provide some examples of Ellie's masterpieces:

The vast majority of Ellie's toys look fairly similar.  Most bearing her "E L L I E" mark.

(That's Greg and the girls in the background doing their nightly story time routine -- how freaking cute are my girls and my husband?!)

Look Who is Nine Months Old . . .

Wow, time flies!

  

It's like I just had this kid . . . and here is he crawling all over the place, standing up to pretty much everything, and trying to eat trash (or anything else he gets his slobber-covered little hands on).

  

I imagine he'll grow up to be an electrical engineer or something -- he is obsessed with cords and outlets.  We have to keep the vacuum pretty much hidden or he'll be there chewing on the cord any chance he gets.

He LOVES Pat-a-cake and other clapping songs.  Well, he loves for me to sing them.  The other day, in my trying to encourage him to clap himself, I sang the song without actually clapping myself.  He seemed a bit perturbed, and then grabbed each of my hands with his and pushed my hands together.  He may not clap, but he will make Mom clap if she forgets.

He still thinks Mom is the most amazingly funny and cool person in the world -- and everyone else is an obstacle that lies between him and his mother.  He will actually grin and crane his head around to follow his Daddy around the room -- and he'll reach for Dad.  Then once Dad has held him for approximately two and a half seconds, he's throwing himself recklessly back in Mom's general direction.

Annie loves to carry him (awkwardly) around the house.  He doesn't seem to really mind -- although it gives me a mini-heart-attack every time I see it.  He's a little wary of Ellie soon.  And rightfully so -- she's pretty sure he's to blame for anything wrong in her world, and she always seems to want whatever it is he's holding.

Ellie making Isaac cry.  Again.

"Look Mom, I can fly!"

Just some random Ellie pictures from today.

 

 You can tell it's spring once the 'fleet' is out in the front yard . . .

Does it fit?

Daddy came home from his business trip with a new backpack.  

Ellie wanted to wear it around the house, but it was a tad big . . .

So big in fact . . .

(Side note: check out her curls!  This kid is getting curlier hair by the day!)

Well, Last Night Sucked

So, Isaac woke up every two hours.

That I could deal with.

Ellie, on the other hand, woke up crying every single time she coughed.  With RSV and possible pneumonia.  That's a lot of coughing.  For the first part of the night, she'd wake up freaked out, Greg would go rushing in and comfort her back to sleep, sitting on the floor next to her bed until she was sound asleep again.  Then he'd do it all again 15 minutes later.  I finally suggested just bringing her to bed with us.  Greg claimed he'd never be able to sleep with her in bed.  I stared at him incredulously, "And we're sleeping now?"  So, he brought her in.  She heated our whole bed with her 102 degree body. She managed to wake up about every 5 minutes or so, suddenly opening her eyes and whimpering, "I don't want to cough," and then going into a coughing fit that ranged from just a few coughs to a long string of horribleness.  But then all three of us would pretty much instantly fall back asleep as soon as she stopped coughing.  It was long, and awful and sad, but by the light of day she seems a bit better.  I'm hoping now that we've had 12 hours of fevers, things will get better.  Of course, Isaac ran his 102 degree fever the night before his emergency room trip . . .

In other news, I shocked myself at this week's weigh in.  After a two day hospital stay where I was barely able to shower, and I was tethered with a 10 foot oxygen tube around Isaac's crib, you can imagine that my working out fell by the wayside.  I went from working out 6 days a week, with some pretty awesome intensity, to sitting in a rocking chair for two straight days.  It must've been the stress though, 'cause when I weighed in I was actually down 1.4 lbs for the week.  I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.  Of course, now I'm on day 6 of being way off my workout routine and stellar diet and this morning I found that 1.4 pounds, plus another 10 ounces of its closest friends, found their way back to my midsection.  Sigh.  I decided today was the day to get back into the routine, so after a healthy breakfast I put in an aerobics video, then promptly quit it about 7 minutes later.  I couldn't do it.  I could barely move.  I forgot how tired and sore and tired my body is.  (Did I mention tired?)  And I'd forgotten about my own 100 degree temperature last night.  I think I needed to remind myself there's a time and a place -- and two sick kids, a complete lack of sleep for nearly a week now, and a possible oncoming illness -- probably not the time for kick boxing.  I'll focus on the healthy diet thing, and just some walking, and we'll work up to working out . . .