December, 2008 | The Angel Forever

Monthly Archives December 2008

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Feeling frazzled

Posted on December 21, 2008 11:21 am by TheAngelForever

Lack of sleep, an ambulance ride and visit to the emergency room can leave a family quite frazzled. I would be one of those family members this morning.

Last night, we went to Nana and Papa’s house to have an early Chanukah dinner with them, Mimi and Aunt T. We had a wonderful time opening presents, spending time with each other, and of course eating a delicious meal. After dinner, we decided to let the kids play. JSL loves to run around the large space at Nana and Papa’s house. At one point he was playing with my father and they were running through the kitchen. The rest of us were sitting in the living room and heard a gigantic THUD.

The night quickly changed at that moment.

That noise was JSL’s feet wiping out, his body flying into the air and him coming down on the back of his head. After a minute he cried and wanted JL. We figured the boys were getting tired, so we went to the table for cheesecake.

Of course after the fact, everyone else mentioned that they noticed the same thing when we sat down. JSL suddenly got very pale, stopped talking, was sweating horribly and then started shaking. Then the scariest part, he was unresponsive to us.

Nightmares of February came flashing back to me.

We got him out of the booster seat and took him into the kitchen. He was still not responding to us. Not to his name, tickles, nothing. He was trying to close his eye. When he did look at us, it was as if we were not there. I screamed for JL to call 911. He did and they sent out first responders.

During the time it took for them to arrive, JSL came in and out of it. When we tried to let him walk, he looked like he was drinking and could not walk in a straight line.

When the paramedics came into the kitchen we noted more odd behavior. Typically if a stranger tries to go near JSL he will recoil onto one of us and scream. Nada happened, he just sat there starring into space. They did vitals and said they were ok, but wanted to take him by ambulance to the hospital.

As I went running to get his coat and my boots I failed to notice all of the water from the paramedic’s shoes on the kitchen floor. I went flying into the basement door jamming my foot, hand and fingers. I was on an adrenaline rush and kept moving.

During the ambulance ride JSL was very quiet. He did move or do much. Finally minutes from the hospital he uttered "Mama" and pointed to the light. When we arrived into a room at the hospital the little guy started to perk up after about 30 minutes. He wanted to get down, explore and he was chatting up a storm.

When the PA came to see us you would never know there was anything wrong. The end product is JSL definitely had a concussion and may have had a mini-seizure. We have to follow up with our doctor Monday and keep a close eye on him today.

Last night he was up until midnight and was screaming and very restless during the night. Thankgoodness this morning he is in a great mood and playing nicely.

Today we will be staying in during another snow storm for a quiet day with the boys.

Categories:
bad news doctor family holidays jsl ouchie vent weekend

Stuffed animal love

Posted on December 20, 2008 4:38 pm by TheAngelForever

I admit it, I am a recovering stuffed animal addict! I believe that this illness began as a child. Of course, the addiction really grew during my Care Bear and Pound Puppy years in elementary school. I believe that my parents were quite lucky that the Build-A-Bear Workshop did not exist when I was little, or more stuffed friends would have joined my world.

NHL was given his first stuffed friend, a My First Big Bird, from Uncle I. Bird was loved from day one. He would chew on his beak and he traveled all over. Bird was quite yellow in the early years. Here is NHL kissing bird and Bird watching over sleeping NHL.

Of course a boy can not have Big Bird alone. Thanks to Bubbe and Grandpa, Elmo and Cookie Monster joined the crew. Over the last five years, friends have come and gone, but the three Amigos remain on NHL’s bed. Here they are today along with his two favorite "squeaky" buddies.

As you can see Bird has been very well loved over the years.

Tara at Feels like home is having a contest to win a $25 gift card to Build-A-Bear Workshop. All you have to do is tell about a most loved stuffed friend like NHL’s Big Bird. I sure hope her hubby Joe appreciates a boy and his love for Big Bird!

Categories:
contests looking back nhl photos web fun

Bargains for under a buck

Posted on December 20, 2008 1:05 am by TheAngelForever

On Sunday I asked hubby if we could stop by CVS. I had some really good coupons and wanted to check out the deals for the week and month. I had not been to CVS since Thanksgiving Day, so I had a lot of ECBs to use. I mentioned to JL that they had a General Mills cereal special. The boxes were on sale 3/$10 and if you spent $20 on cereal you would receive $10 in ECBs back. That would make them $1.67 a box, but I had coupons for General Mills that made them even less.

The six boxes of cereal:

Deodorant (99 cents each after sale $2.99 and ECBs $2.00) and toothpaste (free + overage thanks to sale, CVS/MFR coupons and ECBs):

Now for the math part of the trip:

Price w/out sales –> $43.99
Total of all 11 items w/sale –> $34.95
Mfr Coupons used –> $4.35
CVS Coupons used –> $6.00
ECBs used in transaction –>$23.76
Money spent out of pocket –> $0.84
ECBs earned during the trip –> $20.00

Sure, I lost $3.76 in ECBs, but I still did quite well. I went to another store Thursday and completed the limit of 5 on the deodorant. I also picked up 5 of them for my mother with her CVS card. I was lucky that that store had plenty left.

Categories:
deals photos shopping

Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel…

Posted on December 19, 2008 9:59 am by TheAngelForever

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating. Th

Aloha #27

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My question for this week:

Have you ever played the Dreidel game?

As previously mentioned I went into my son’s kindergarten class on Wednesday to play the dreidel game with them. Here are some of the new dreidels that I bought for our family last year on clearance (always looking for a bargain).

To get into the Chanukah spirit, since the Festival of Lights begins Sunday evening, I want to share a fun video. Several of my friends have posted this and sent links to it via e-mail. Even my grandmother (Hi Mimi) received an e-mail from a friend with this. Please enjoy Captain Smartpants singing Dreidel.

P.S. Be sure to enter in my Chanukah Shopping Fun – Game Giveaway. Don’t be fooled, this is great game for non-Jewish participants as well. The giveaway ends today!

Categories:
Aloha Friday holidays laughs photos video

Celebrating the holidays in kindergarten

Posted on December 18, 2008 10:20 am by TheAngelForever

Several weeks ago, NHL’s teacher asked me if I would go in this Wednesday to celebrate Chanukah with them. Wednesday they would celebrate Chanukah, Thursday Christmas, and Friday Kwanza. Each day they would do something special to celebrate and have a treat. Friday is also their End of Year celebration.

They left it up to me on what to do. One of the teachers has been teaching kindergarten for quite some time and said she had many Chanukah sheets, crafts and items to use with the kids. I told her that I would go out and get each of the kids their own dreidel to take home. I asked about time to use the dreidels in school. She liked that and said she already had M&Ms to use.

Since it was snowing and nasty in the morning, I sent in some items with NHL just in case I did not make it. The dreidels were already with his teachers, a musical/light-up menorah, and a CD with Chanukah songs (BNL of course).

When JSL and I arrived at school, the kids were all sitting at their group tables working on sheets. Some were cutting and pasting, others coloring, and some using glitter (which is all over my jeans from sitting on the rug). Then I noticed there was a theme with the work. Everything had to do with Chanukah! Check out what came home with NHL, they are so neat.

The one teacher explained that NHL showed his menorah in the morning and they had already talked about dreidels, read at least six books about Chanukah, and had listened to the songs I sent in several times. When the kids were finished and cleaned up, they met me on the rug. I showed them some of our giant stuffed dreidels, talked again about the Hebrew letters on them and what they mean in the game. Then the kids were split up into groups, M&Ms given out and we played dreidel.

I have to say it was interesting watching the kids in my group. Some felt that anything other than gimel was not good enough and tried to hide their spin off to the side and pick it up quick. Of course, they would then proclaim they had gimel. This does not make for a very exciting game if everyone is constantly winning the pot of M&Ms in the middle.

While the kids played, the classroom aid was busy frying up potato latkes. Earlier in the day, the class had made the recipe together. Once the game of dreidel was over, they had a chance to try a latke with apple sauce.

I was so impressed! They honestly did not need me there, but it was sweet to be included. While the kids went to library, JSL stayed to play and I saw the huge rubbermaid container of Chanukah items that NHL’s teacher had collected over the years. It was amazing and possibly had even more than we have at home. Kudos to her for making sure that all of the holidays are represented so well.

P.S. Be sure to enter in my Chanukah Shopping Fun – Game Giveaway. Don’t be fooled, this is great game for non-Jewish participants as well.