Sometimes even a Velociraptor needs a little TLC...

Remember my last post? About my little dinosaur, Alyssa? Remember how I wished that she would turn into an angel?

Be careful what you wish for.

This week, Alyssa caught a bad stomach bug. Really bad. Like a few baths a night and several changes of sheets bad.

It started on Tuesday night...high fever, vomiting, the runs....

And went on through Wednesday. Then Wednesday night. Wednesday night was so bad, I slept next to her on the couch and had to give her Motrin and Tylenol two hours apart just to get her fever to leave the 104 range. We were just a few steps from the ER.

Then Thursday. Then Thursday night.

Through all of this, my little soldier trudged on. She tried to go play outside when it was sunny - she is an independent little cuss. She tried to eat her favorite things when her tummy let her...only to throw them up again a few hours later. She still fought with her brothers and sisters, but in a more pathetic way. But, she also turned sweet. Sweet for Alyssa is an indication that all is not right. She is usually a little spitfire - blazing her own trails.

We knew she was in trouble on Thursday afternoon when she slept and slept. We were really hoping that it meant she was breaking the fever and sleeping off the sickness. Not so.

Friday morning, she was lethargic, hadn't eaten anything in 24 hours, and looked terrible.

I knew it was time. I also knew that she would probably not come home with us after she saw the doctor (we have past experience with extremely wimpy kids and dehydration).

The doctor (bless him) took one look at her and knew. Then he smelled her breath (the sickening sweet smell of ketosis). She was burning her fat now. He did the blood tests as a formality, then off we went to the hospital for some IV's.

Here is the kicker. This all happened on my busiest workday of the month. The day that I can't take off. We also happen to have four other children. Don't know about you, but I have not yet mastered the art of being in two places at once...but when I can...watch out!

Grandpa to the rescue...he has done it before, he will probably do it again. My dad is great for sitting with the kids when they are in the hospital. He stayed with her and Clay was with the kids at home. He also held her down while they inserted an IV in her FOOT because she was too dehydrated to get it into her hand.

I went to work.

Grandpa has a soft spot for our little Velociraptor. He brought her at least 10.00 worth of coloring books. She really loves him. Not just cause of the coloring books. She held his hand and chattered at him while she colored in her beloved books.

Last night, Clay spent the night with Alyssa at the hospital and I was at home with the others. She was released at 3 o'clock this afternoon...I won't lie to you, she is not as good as new. She is still looking and feeling pretty rough. We are hoping she does okay tonight. She is a lot better than she was when she went in, though. We have to be vigilant so that she does not get this way again.

One thing that I have learned from all of this...Alyssa can stay a Velociraptor for a little longer, if it means that she is healthy. I don't want her to be an angel if it means she is sick.

Because I really do love her.

My Velociraptor

Do you remember the movie, Jurassic Park? And the dinosaurs that were prominently featured, the Velociraptors?

Well, if you remember - the Velociraptors were mean, angry dinosaurs. They were bipedal (travel on 2 feet) and primarily meat eaters, they also jumped on top of anything and everything and were very, very destructive.

I have a dirty little secret.

There is a Velociraptor that lives at my house.


No, they are not completely extinct yet...though, I am hoping that soon (very soon) this little blond dinosaur will be replaced with a sweet little angel.

One can only hope, right?

The funny thing is, you wouldn't know she was such a terror by looking at her.

She is Fearless.

The main reason why I Hate Cats...

Look Mom! I made a friend...Ashleigh meeting the kitty (AKA Weeza)...







This is Ashleigh, after the Kitty made her "mark"...My poor, sweet baby. Mean 'ol Weeza.

Adventures in Cake Decorating...

I have been wanting to learn (really learn) to decorate cakes for a while now...It doesn't help that all of the cool cake shows are on TV all the time (Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Ultimate Cake Off, etc.).

I just love to watch them create something beautiful out of thin air (and a little eggs, sugar, milk, etc.) These guys are truly artists in what they do...don't worry, I don't have any false hopes that I will ever be up to their caliber, but I want to be able to make birthday cakes myself, that actually taste better than crisco and sawdust, for much cheaper than what you can buy at the store.

Soooo....this month, was our RS birthday dinner and Sis. Warrick offered to show some of us a few tips on decorating cakes...My brunette sis and I showed up and learned a few tricks of the trade that we had never heard of before...

Then....I FOUND AN AWESOME COUPON....I know, I know, big shock....I am right up there with the Queens of finding AWESOME COUPONS (it has to be capitalized for effect). Anyway, 50 percent off of anything at Michaels...I hurried my little (sort of) self down there to check out the supplies.

I found a great starter kit and got it for so much cheaper than it would have cost for all of the stuff separately. It even has a great little book on techniques.

Kristen and I each made a cake for the RS birthday dinner. It took us much longer than it would have if we hadn't had two 2 year olds, an 18 month old, and an 8 month old to watch while we did it, but we survived...

I am pretty happy with the results of my first attempt to really make something semi-professional looking...My cake was lemon flavored with raspberry filling....yummy buttercream icing topped it all off.

The only problem with this new hobby is that it is murder on the diet. So, I joined the Y yesterday...
YUM!!!

What do racism, filth, and baby goats have in common?

Apparently, I am a common denominator in all of these things.

Wow. There some places that I visit that inspire me to come home and clean my own house. And BOIL myself. And my briefcase. And my eyeballs. When I put my papers down and BUGS run across them, that is not a good sign. This one ranked right up there with the people that let baby goats live in the house for the winter. That one was pretty bad, too. Nuff said. Wow.It was also an interesting thing that when I said "Hello" to the husband, he ignored me. When the wife told him to acknowledge me, he said that he didn't talk to "them white people", didn't like them either...

WOW.

There aren't many people out there who are whiter (or shorter for that matter) than little 'ol ME.

I think it may be time to replace my expired pepper spray.

I find it very interesting as well that my instincts told me in advance that I DID NOT want to go to this home. I tried everything, even waiting at Wal-Mart for her to show up, but apparently her car wouldn't start.

Thank goodness for Purell.