2023 :: week 44

October 29

Sunday Elliott was asked to give a talk with the prompt, "Bishops lead the ward as servants of God." We were told that he was picked to give that talk because he is the only kid in Senior Primary who's dad was once bishop, so he would have a unique perspective. He did a good job and is getting pretty good with the comedic delivery. 

October 30

I am going to substitute pictures from trick or treating Tuesday night for Monday's picture because Tuesday was an eventful day and Monday was a day of housekeeping. My dad is out of town for a few days and Monday evening we had dinner with my mom and then I stayed overnight with her. My mom and I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie together and chatted about what is going on in our lives. On Tuesday our four kids went trick or treating in three different groups. Anthony was feeling sick and so he stayed home and slept until Will and his friends left, then he got up to hand out candy. Lauren went trick or treating with a group of 6th grade girls. I took Elliott and Miles trick or treating with the Brainard, Svezia and Warren families. Everyone got a ton of candy!

October 31

Halloween 2023 will be a Halloween to remember, especially for Lauren. A boy in her class dressed up as Forrest Gump for Halloween and carried a box of chocolates as a prop for her costume. During their math class kids were asking for chocolates and he shared them. Lauren asked if the chocolates had peanuts in them and he looked at the label and confirmed that it did not. Unfortunately, she did not ask about hazelnuts. The chocolate she selected had a hazelnut cream center. She told me she knew right away it was bad, but was embarrassed and didn't know what to do so she just swallowed it. She told her teacher she needed to go to the nurse and the nurse called me. The nurse gave her zyrtec and waited a few minutes to see if that would calm things down, but it did not so she gave her a shot of epinephrine. I drove over as fast as I could and then took her to the ER at OVRMC. They kept her for observation for 2 hours, as is the protocol when someone is given epinephrine. She had hives all over her trunk (stomach and back) and was given benedryl for that. Other symptoms she experienced were stomach cramps, swollen lips, a strong tickle in throat that wouldn't go away, and itching all over. She ate the chocolate right before lunch and once things settled down, was quite hungry. The nurse let us order lunch. Since both of us were so hungry, we've discussed since how the burgers, fries and onion rings we got at the ER were some of the best we've ever tasted. The doctor prescribed a steroid she needs to take for the next 15 days and told me "if she rages, blame me." She was able to come home around the time school let out and was feeling up to trick or treating that night with her friends. The last time this happened was in June of 2015. Lauren is usually very careful about her allergies, but does use "peanuts" as a shorthand for saying she is allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, sunflowers, etc., and knows she needs to be more specific in the future. We were so relieved that this ended up being something that resolved so quickly. 

November 1

Elliott has gotten very into football this year. He has me bring a football up to the park so he and his buddies can play. I signed him up for an instructional flag football league this winter so he can hopefully learn the actual rules of the game. Also, it was pajama day for his class, hence the pj's he is wearing in this picture.

November 2

Thursday evening we were quadruple booked. Lauren sang in the South Area choral festival with the combined elementary schools choir. Will was also at South, but at the football field, watching his fellow 8th graders at Indian Woods take on the 8th graders of Westridge. His buddy Knox plays for IW, and church friend Nate plays for Westridge. It was a close game, but Westridge came away victorious. Elliott had an activity day activity at the church--roasting s'mores and hotdogs at a firepit in the church parking lot. Then, after I took Lauren out for a post-concert Chick-fil-A milk shake I picked up Emily and headed to Sarah's for book club. Busy night! But we all had fun.

November 3

Miles likes to take pictures of himself on my phone. He was left to his own devices for about an hour Friday morning after the kids left for school because I was so tired I had to take a nap. It had been an exhausting week before I stayed out past midnight at book club. Anthony was still feeling sick so I made him an appointment with our primary care doctor in the afternoon. She confirmed the ear infection and sinus infection diagnosis from Saturday, and added pneumonia of the right lung to the list. She said it sounded like velcro when she was listening to him breathe with her stethoscope. She prescribed stronger antibiotics and an inhaler with steroids and within 24 hours Anthony had more energy than he had had in days.

November 4

Saturday afternoon Anthony took the kids to Collector's Cache. They were anxious to cash in on their good 1st quarter grades and get the free packs CC hands out for good grades. According to Will, Lauren pulled the best card available in the case of cards the packs came from. It's a rare Charizard EX which are pretty hard to get. The store employees told her the card was worth $60. She is weighing her options before she sells.