Not for the faint of heart...

So Cass really wanted to post a picture of her current condition. I've gotta warn you. It's NOT pretty. It really, really isn't. She has had a very severe reaction to her antibiotic. She's not taking it any more and has replaced it with doses of Benadryl and Zyrtec. She can also have oatmeal baths. When the doctor walked in the door this afternoon he actually exclaimed, "Oh my goodness!" and proceeded to tell me it is the worst case of "Drug Rash" he has ever seen. Way to go Cass. So, here it is...if you're curious. Her skin looks like this from head to toe.

Are you sure you want to see?

Okay, but you have been warned:





I know! Ouch! Cassidy's response when she saw this photo, "Wow! That's a lot of spots!" Such a sweet outlook on the whole thing. She really is a trooper. Let's hope this is the end of this ordeal.

Distraction...

Brogan has a very real and sincere fear of Thunder storms. We had a pretty good one just blow through. In an effort to distract him from the unrelenting sound of thunder, we gave him headphones and the ipod. He watched "Burn-E" a short on the Wall-E DVD. It worked. By the time he was done watching, the thunder storm had blown through. It was far more relaxing for all of us then trying to comfort him as each clap of thunder echoed through our house. Thank goodness for modern technology!

Aaaah, hooray for summer nap time....

This is what happens when you combine quiet music, an air conditioner, medication (in regards to Cass) and "nigh-night" blankets after a busy afternoon of activity. NICE!

Where's Brogan?

Brogan loves to play "Hey I bet I can fit in there!" and as an added bonus, this way he stays fresh for hours.

The Family that plays together....

Summer indulgences...

The girls scored a new pool this weekend (bargain deal for only $14 at Target...best $14 spent this summer so far). We've already had friends over for a pool party. Granted, the girls want the water to be warm and take a bit of time to adjust to the temperature. Funny because they don't think twice about jumping in the lake which is much cooler.
Anyway, everyone celebrates and indulges differently...and this is the way Brian combines his parental duties with his other hobbies:

Yep! That's a bag of Cheese Doodles. He loves 'em.

Boy Band

Strawberries...Yum!

Our friends have a lovely little strawberry patch in their back yard. Today we went over to help in the harvesting of these sweet little treats. We got the perfect amount. Just enough to snack on and make home made strawberry ice cream with the "blend tech". If you have a blend tech and haven't tried the ice cream, we highly recommend it. SOOOO yummy!

Cassidy's First Piano Recital

We are pleased to present Cassidy's very first piano recital. She practiced for a long time and was very nervous at first. We were actually a couple of minutes late and arrived just in time for Cassidy to play (she was 2nd in the line-up). This worked to our advantage because she didn't have time to sit in the audience and grow increasingly nervous. She just walked in, and was directed immediately to the front to perform. She announced herself and told everyone the names of her songs and who composed them. SO...have a listen and see if you can name them.
As a side note: she seems to be recovering from the pneumonia. Still gets a little tired and wares out fairly easily, but no fever or residual effects beyond that. Whew! She is still taking her antibiotic...which she doesn't like the taste of but takes like a champ anyway. Such a good little girl. We are lucky parents for sure.

Our Hero...

So we couldn't wait to give Brian his Father's Day gift this year. Guitar Hero World Tour...the drum set is lots of fun. Brian seems to enjoy unleashing his inner Rock Star. And he isn't picky: drums, guitar, vocals...he'll do it all. We want him to know that we love him very much and that he is the best Daddy and Husband ever (of course we fully anticipate that YOU all feel that way about your dads/husbands too). Happy Father's Day! To our Dad's too...we love you.

Maybe it's not soooo bad....

This is Cass...sick in bed. She is watching a movie on her dad's iPod. She would like to say "Thank you" for the beautiful flowers and balloon that Grandpa and Lori sent her. It made her smile and her exact words were, "That was so very kind of them. I should make them a card to say Thank You...maybe when I'm better." They have made her feel very special today and we all appreciate that right now. KK appreciates it so much that she is asking when she can be sick. Brian is trying to convince her that she's currently the lucky one but I don't think KK is buying it. Anyway...we'll keep you all posted. (Literally, by Blog.) Thanks for your thoughts and concern.

An interesting week...

So, Cass has been running a low grade fever since Monday. On Wednesday I took her in to the Doctor. At the time, nothing seemed to be pointing to one thing or another and the assumption was that it was just a bug of some sort. We were told to watch her and if her fever didn't break we should bring her back in. Well, this morning she woke up and was only about 99.5. She ate a big bowl of Fruit Loops for breakfast and then declared that she felt well enough to go to school. We let her go and she stayed the whole day, but when I picked her up this afternoon she looked awful and informed me that she felt awful too. We got home and checked her fever...back up to 102.8 (this of course had me wondering how it was missed at school). We were at the doctor's office 15 minutes later. I should point out that the fever has been her only symptom and on Wednesday they did test her for H1N1...it was negative. No coughing. No sore throat. No runny nose. Just a fever and every once in a while she would complain that her tummy hurt but not like she was going to get sick, it just hurt. The second time around with the doctor yielded different results. The doctor spent a lot of time listening to her breath and determined that her left lung sounds "crackly". Cass has pneumonia. She is on an antibiotic. She will go back in on Monday morning for a follow-up. We are anticipating a quick recovery. As long as she is on Motrin for her fever, she actually does quite well. In fact, right now her fever is gone (thanks to the fever reducer) and she is watching America's Funniest Home Videos. She finds them endlessly entertaining. She and her dad will spend hours hunting down funny videos on YouTube. She is currently loving the Taylor Swift music video for "Love Story". SOOOO Cute. Not funny, but sweet none the less. Anyway, that is our interesting week. We are hoping next week if far less exciting.

Lake time

Morning comes to  lower Chateaugay Lake in upstate NY. We're at Five Pines for one week to kick off summer vacation.