Mary Pratt original
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Croup

Well, its official Riley has the Croup. Now I have never dealt with a child having the croup, and having three children I would say that makes me pretty lucky. They say that it is fairly common. So basically he sounds like he cant breathe... he coughs horrible and is running fever. If his breathing gets to wheezy I am supposed to take him outside in the cold air and it will help to open up his lungs. We have been lucky so far.. all he wants to do is fight us about taking his medicine and sleep. By fighting I mean it take D and I both to hold him down and pinch his nose shut until he opens up then force him to swallow it once it is in his mouth. He hates to take medicine! And most of his medicine even tastes good..
I found this cool site called googlism. If you type in your name it gives you all the results of what comes up under your name in google. Heres what comes up for my name

Googlism for: mary pratt
mary pratt is one of canada's most eminent and beloved artists
mary pratt is the answermary pratt is a painter who lives in newfoundland
mary pratt is one of canada's preemimary pratt is as follows
mary pratt is a gifted portrait artist with an energetic impressionist style reminicent of the masters
mary pratt is bes
tmary pratt is the author of a personal calligraphy
mary pratt is a local painter whose work clearly speaks for itselfmary pratt is retired and the editor seems to think that she has lots of time to watch tv and read the papers
mary pratt is given to the emerson family to raise after mary is killed by agents of vandal savage
mary pratt is the cms project officer for the quality monitoring and review contract
mary pratt is #458
mary pratt is available after 9
mary pratt is one of canada's most respected painters
mary pratt is a parishioner of st
mary pratt is the first witness in salgado's murder trial to place him in the west ventura neighborhood where 18
mary pratt is an active
mary pratt is making dinner
mary pratt is in the gallery today
mary pratt is a gifted portrait artist with an energetic
mary pratt is murdered after giving birth to a son who was kidnapped by vandal savage
mary pratt is #3176
I am not sure about the whole being kidnapped by vandal savages thing.. but hey whatever.
Its quite funny thats what comes up.

D the fireman!
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Cheese!
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Unphotogenic

Ok, so the press picture below could possibly be the worst picture ever! Ever.. seriously.
The one taken at my b-day party wasn't as bad. I almost wish my boss would use that instead of the crappy pic. I doubt that will happen. So, honestly it just goes to show you that looks are deceiveing and pictures suck.
So Riley is sick again, big surprise there, one of my kids being sick.. I just hope he isn't getting strep throat.
Things have been pretty quiet since I hid all the easter candy. Maybe that makes me a horrible mother, but honestly I needed to.
So riley now has a huge addiction to taking spices out of the pantry and dumping them on the floor. Last week it was the cinnamon, while although horrible to clean up, kind of made the kitchen smell good. Monday it was the garlic. Which was not only hard to clean up but smelled up the entire house. I have now taken all the spices and put them on the highest shelf. I am considering a lock on the pantry. (we already have one on the fridge) but am not sure if it just wrong to lock up your food from your kids. Its not like they can't eat.. they can eat all they want, they just can't dump it on the floor! or the dogs!

My press picture
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Kristie, Me and Sharon at my Birthday party!
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Crazy on Chocolate

Easter went well. D was working so the kids and I were on our own for the day. We got up late and laid around lazy for a few hours. It was super nice. The kids were actually behaving. Its amazing what a basket full of chocolate will do... at first. Later on we went to my mother in laws for an amazing ham dinner.. very good indeed. By the time we were headed back to our house (my mother was waiting at our house and starting our second dinner) the kids were finally starting to feel all that chocolate they had consumed earlier. It was almost unbearable. I know, I know I was the one who gave it to them.. but I blame the easter bunny.. the rabbit did it!
We had our second ungodly huge meal for the day that evening. It wasn't ham though, I absolutely refused to have ham again, we had roast beef instead and it turned out wonderful. The kids were horrible.. they did eat they ran around.. At one point they were so loud that I had to shut all the french doors into the dining room just to hear what the guests were saying. I will say they are good at some things.. like eating every single bite of candy that they got in one day. I cound't belive those little vultures! They were seriously like little burglars that cleaned out the place. I couldn't even find a single chocolate egg..

Sleep? Whats that?

I need sleep.. and lots of it at this point. I think that my body might actually be in a state of delerium.. where everything is just running together. Riley has not been sleeping. And I don't mean that he is taking long naps and then not sleeping at night. I mean literally he is not sleeping at all. and we are all paying for it.. I know he is my son.. but I am with D on being ready to slip him some rum or something.. this is ridiculous..
So yesterday I was showing a property and it was a pretty yucky looking warehouse. I was walking along with my client and all of a sudden something came flying towards me. I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack... I was having some serious bat flash backs.. the client didn't notice but I did get a small snicker from the other agent with me who knew the story.. Damn that bat..

Hard Ass

Well, its like this. Tonight I have decided that I am going to have to start dealing with my children with an iron fist. Tough love. I don't mean I am ready to kick them out of the house or anything.. I just mean that D and I are both guilty of saying that they are in trouble and/or grounding them from something, then not following through. So instead of tough love lets call it Disiplinary follow through. Sounds a little less cruel. So, I picked the kids up from the sitters and got a report that Hailey and Riley were both blisters today. Hailey spent most of the day on time out for one infraction or another, and Riley was just bad. I was hoping that they had gotten all the rotten stuff out of their systems so that we could have a peaceful night. Boy, was I wrong. Hailey immediately started pinching Riley, fighting with Livi, you name it. She refused to listen when I told her to put on her night clothes. So I went in and told her that she was going to bed, that I was no longer going to deal with her fighting and yelling etc. So she then proceeded to spit on her sisters bed. Final straw. She is still in her room, no tv... shes been yelling and stomping for about 45 min now. I assume that before long she will drift off to sleep. Riley is finally sleeping.. maybe I can now get 5 minutes of peace and quiet to read Livi her library book.

This is a picture of the same kind of evil creature that was in our house.. I told you it was big.
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Mice with wings..

Well, it went down like this. At 10 o'clock I took the two sleeping kids off the couch and headed upstairs to watch Law and Order. D had ran to the store to get a few things and was due back any second. Well, about 10 after 10 he came in the door and about two seconds later I heard him running, full speed, up the stairs . He ran into the bedroom and shut the door. I wasn't really sure what he was doing. He was yelling 'You have got to go down there' over and over again. I wasn't sure what he had up his sleeve, I figured with April Fools Day right around the corner he was just getting any early start. I started down the steps and about two steps from the bottom this incredibly large black thing came flying right at my head. I immediately started screaming and hit the floor. As soon as I realized that the coast was clear I ran, as fast as I could back upstairs. So, here we were trapped in the bedroom with this crazy bat flying around downstairs. D immediately told me that I would have to take care of it, he hated mice and mice with wings. So I cautiously started down the stairs again. I could see our smallest dog in the living room running around trying to catch this thing. As soon as this evil, evil bat saw me it flew right at me again. I was stumped and ran upstairs again. So we hatched a plan. I would run down and open the front door and hopefully he would head outside on its own. So we both ran down and outside. Once there, D suited completely up in his fire gear. I wish I had a camera. He had on his full suit, helmet, googles you name it. It was a hilarious site. So we snuck back it and couldn't find the bat. Eventually we saw it hanging in the kitchen. We checked it out a little bit, this wasn't your everyday run of the mill PA bat. This thing was HUGE! Neither D nor I wanted to kill it.. it was definitley scary looking. I figured he was a rough, tough fireman he should be able to get a little old bat. He obviously had other ideas when he told me that I would have to kill it. I compltely played the woman card with him and told him that I am expected to be scared of things like that, I was a woman. After much debating about this, he called the police. A big old heavy police man came and in two seconds (while D and I huddled in a corner in the kitchen) he killed it. So ends the bat saga. Normally I am not scared of bats at all, but this was no ordinary bat, this was like dracula himself..

Normal again?

Well things seem to be finally getting back to normal in the Pratt household. There hasnt been a throwing up, neck swelling or sick issue in about three days. Maybe the sick curse has finally wore off. Thank goodness. Riley has been learning tons of new phrases from his sisters daily. When he gets in trouble now he looks at you.. puts his hands to his ears like moose horns and says "nana nana poo poo" then runs away. Sometimes it is so hard to correct him because he is too funny and too cute. yesterday he was standing on the chair in the kitchen saying "ta da" and throwing his arms in the air it was adorable.
Last night he was attmepting to take his sisters stuffed animal from her (he can be slightly bossy and mean at times) she was of course not giving it up.. So she hid from him. he was walking around saying "sissy where are you.. sissy where are you.." it was so cute.. he did eventually find her and threw on the floor as she was screaming 'mommy help me' that wasn't so cute, but the other stuff was. I wish that there was medicine that you could give your kids to keep them from fighting. gosh, I would take out stock in the company. LOL

Child proof locks

Have I mentioned that I love the person that invented child proof locks... I only wished that I would have realized this before this morning. I have friends who have put child locks on their refrigerators. I always just thought that they were weird...honestly I have never had a problem with my kids getting into stuff in the refrig until Riley. this morning he got into the refrig and opened about three containers of cherry yogurt and proceeded to dump it onto the floor and eat it. I suppose that the good thing was that I just spent an hour cleaning the downstairs, so the floor was clean. but I had to spend more time recleaning the floor. Everyone always tells me that boys are easier to raise then girls.. I am not sure that they have ever met my son. the girls had their moments, but were relatively good. If you turn your back for more then two seconds he is into something he isn't allowed to be in, its what he does. Last week he took a purple marker and wrote all over the girls bedroom wall, dressers and mirror. It was a nice portrait, but still. Did I also metion that I love the person that invented washable markers? Olivia is feeling better and boy can you tell, all morning the kids have been fighting. Livi hit me, riley pinched me.. etc.etc..

And on it goes

Its been a few days since I have had a chance to post. Olivia has been in the hospita since Monday. She was fine all weekend, but then on Monday morning she came wondering into the bathroom when I was taking a shower. She said her neck hurt. I told her that she probably had slept wrong on it.. Go lay down and I would look at it as soon as I got out. I walked into my bedroom and looked at her.. I almost had a heart attack. The entire right side of her neck was swollen bigger then her face. If anyone has ever seen the T Mobile cell phone commercial about the bug bite, that is pretty much what she looked like. I immediately finished getting dressed, we made arrangements for the other kids and I took her to the emergency room. There I found out that she was running a super high fever and had a horrible case of strep throat. To me, that still didn't explain the swollen neck, but they gave her antibiotics (everyones god) and sent her home. I went to work to take care of a few things, since D was home with her. I got a call about a half an hour later that she was having an allergic reaction to the medicine they had given her and was breaking out in a rash. I came home and we called the dr, who seemed unconcerned at the time. Later that evening she had an appt so we took her. The dr was amazed if not stunned by the side of her neck.. He diagonsed it as a absested lymphnode. He sent us home and told us that if the swelling did not go down, come back.. So the next morning when her fever was still 104.7 and the swelling was still horrible we took her back.. The immediately admitted her to the hospital. She was not happy at all, but thats how it goes sometimes. So it has been two days now and D and I have been taking turns being with Olivia at the hospital and being home with the other kids and the dogs. The good news is Olivia is feeling much better. She is up and around and the antibiotics are doing what they need too. they haven't had to drain it, and hopefully they won't, she isn't exactly fond of needles. So in the mean time, she is playing nintendo and getting waited on hand and foot by the nurses who are spoiling her rotten.

When will it end???

Ok.. for the last week.. I have spent the majority of my time at home helping one kid sit on the toilet, or puke. I love my kids and would do anything in the world for them.. but I have to wonder.. when will it end?? It just seems that one gets sick.. the next day the other gets sick.. and so on and so on. Knock on wood D or I haven't gotten it yet, but still. It is unnerving and you feel so bad for them knowing that they feel so horrible.
So yesterday D was standing at the bottom of the steps talking to me as I swept the floor. About two minutes into our conversation Riley came literally flying down the steps. Gosh, could I write a book about the dangers of socks and hard wood floors. He seemed ok, although immediately his nose got black and blue, and he had a big cut. He looks so sad and pathetic. Other then those few issues, which honestly seem like everyday occurances around here. I swear the emergency room people know us by name. When we walk in they sound a buzzer that flashes The pratts are here.. the pratts are here.. The whole thought cracks me up.

Crazy Dog

So, last night I went home after work with every intention of going back to the office to get some important things done. Little did I know that the minute I stepped through the door that all hell would break loose. It all started when no one could decide what they wanted for supper. Although to most 'normal' people that doesn't sound like a big deal, with a house of 5 it is super hard to try to please everyone. Then I couldn't get the stove to light .. then I couldn't get the water to boil. So, I figured while I was waiting ever so patiently for that to happen I would take Tiller out to the bathroom. So we went out back, via the front door as usual since he won't go down the stairs to the basement. He was in the yard chained, when all of a sudden he tugged on the chain and his collar broke. To most normal people with normal dogs this is not a huge deal. I knew the minute that he realized that he wasn't chained he would run off. I was trying to guide him to the house by holding the scruff of his neck and his tail, but he still got a way from me. (hey! I am only human and the patio steps were slippery) Of course he ran off, towards town which only makes the situation better. I ran inside.. yelled to D, grabbed the keys and took off after him in the van. I knew if he saw the van he would immediatley want to get inside. I drove around for a while... stopped and ask some guys who were up the street changing a tire, but no one had seen him. So I went home defeated. I then set out on foot. I walked around for a while calling for him. I didn't even see him and was starting to get worried. I am always worried when he gets loose that someone will hurt him because they will think he is mean. Usually when people see a 200 lb dog, they assume that he is mean, he is obviously not. So I was heading back down the street when I came apon the guys changing tires again. The guy pointed and there was Tiller standing there as calm as could be watching the guys. He was just intently watching them change the tire. He looked so silly. I wish I would have had a camera. As soon as I said his name he took off down the street and right up onto the porch, where Olivia let him in. Can you believe it? All that running around and he went right into the house. I figured he was out about 30 min or so, so he was probably tired and cold.. The big baby.

Fear Factor

After yesterday I think that I should become a contestant on Fear Factor. The day started at 7 am when I got a call from my mom telling me that Riley was sick and crying for me, I needed to come and get them. She had kept Riley and Hailey over night while D and I went out for my birthday ( which I am taking well considering it puts me another year closer to 30) So as physically challenaged as I was that morning I got myself out of bed and went to get the kids. Riley seemed ok when I got there, although he was running a slight fever and was just laying around, which everyone knows is unusal for any of my children. So we got home and he spent most of the day laying on the couch doing nothing. About mid afternoon i was sitting on the couch holding him when he got that look on his face. Now as a vetran, trained in motherly combat, I knew that that look only meant one thing. He was going to throw up. I held out my hands once again proving that mothers will do anything for their children, even if it means taking a handful of throw up. I yelled to D to get the puke bucket (and for anyone who has children they know that your house is not complete without a puke bucket. Well, he completely missed my hands and projectile vomited all over me.. my face, hair down the front of my shirt. It was chunky blue juice that smelled horrible. I was so grossed out. I was trying to comfort him without actually touching him. D ran in, obviously to late, and almost puked all over the both of us. You would think that being a mother of three that I would be able to handle one of my own children puking all over me.. I can handle a lot of bodily fluids.. puke, is not one of them. Riley seems to be feeling much better this morning. Olivia is still complaining of being sick, and Hailey well.. she's just Hailey.

School woes

I should have known that today would be a great day when I woke up with a headache at 6:10 to the phone ringing. After peeling myself out from underneath the dogs and two kids I answered the phone. It was D saying he was thinking about working overtime and might not be home today. I grumbled an answer and hung up. I wanted to crawl back into my nice warm bed so bad, but at a glance I realized that there was no room for me. So instead of standing there freting I just jumped into the shower. I was about halfway through my nice warm shower when the curtain was flung open and hailey was standing there. "are you taking me to school today" she asked. I calmly told her she didn't have school today. Then it started. She wanted to go to school. I told her she would be starting her new school on Tuesday. She whined and kicked and screamed. She didn't want to go to a new school etc etc. (i have to remind you that all of this was before 6:30 in the morning) I tried over and over to explain to her that she was great at making friends etc etc. I wasn't even quite sure why I was fighting this battle now since she didn't even have school today. I can' t even imagine what the battle will be like on Tuesday when she does actually have school.
I took Riley to get his frist boy buzz cut last night. and boy does he look cute. I was very surprised that he sat completely still for the entire session. The girls also got their trimmed. Boy, kids are expensive. It cost me 30.00 for three haircuts. Crazy..

Blood Sport

Yesterday afternoon I took my son Riley to get blood drawn. Because of the insurance I have I only have to take him to a lab in Camp Hill. He of course was completely game about going since he had no idea what was about to happen to him. When we got there D, the EMT, made me go in with him. I'll wait in the car with Hailey, shes sleeping, he informed me. Great, so I get to be the bad guy.
We got inside and Riley ran around the waiting room playing and flirting with the nurse behind the desk. When they called us back he defiantly walked ahead of me as if he knew exactly what he was doing. I sat him in my lap and said to the nurse with a chuckle 'you'll catch me if I pass out right. ' She didn't laugh. Riley was completely still and cooperative while they put the band around his arm and even poked and proded him to find veins. As soon as the needle hit his arm it was like all hell broke loose. He immediately started fighting and kicking, screaming at the top of his lungs. I was holding him the best I could trying to soothe him in that motherly voice that mothers get when their kids are in pain. It wasn't working. They couldn't get anything in the first arm, so they had to stick him again. This time the screaming started with the band (which doesn't even hurt). By the time he was down getting blood drawn, I was in tears. I felt so horrible for making him go through that. He was sweaty and crying. His face was bright red, he looked so pathetic. As I put his coat on him he wouldn't even look at me. He wouldn't let me hold him or anything. He was very mad at me. The nurse tried to give him a lollipop and he looked at her as if to say 'do you think that is going to make up for what you did'. He didnt take it. It took him the entire ride home to finally start talking to me. For the rest of the day he held both of his bandaid clad arms as if they were broken. He refused to bend them to eat or anything. I told D the next time he had to give blood he got to be the bad guy.
Hailey had to get blood also, but she gets hers taken at the med center. I went back with her too. Before we left her sister told her she was getting a shot at the doctors, which immediately sent her into a paniced screaming fit. I calmed her down by telling her she wasn't getting a shot. (well technically it wasn't a shot she was getting) When the nurse called her back to get her blood drawn I held my hands over her ears when they were asking me questions about the needles and such. I thought the less she knew, the better. I ask Hailey some questions and was talking to her while she did it. And you know what, she didn't even blink an eye. No crying, no screaming nothing. She screamed more at home at the thought of getting a shot then the actually thing. I was so proud of her.

Mean Mother

I can't say that as a mother of three that I haven't been told that I was mean a time or two. I merely reply that it is my job and so be it. Well, this morning I put Riley on time out because he would not stay out of the refrigerator. Actually let me clarify that, what he was doing was getting into things in the refrig and feeding everything that he could get open to the dogs. So I put him on time out. He then proceeded to look at me and say "your mean" as plain as day. Although I knew that I wasn't being mean, only making him realize there are certain things he can't do, it pulled at my heart strings. It was so cute, his little lip pouted out and all.