A Monster

A snot monster to be exact.

The weather is changing. For the last two days, it has been extremely windy here in the Sacramento Valley and not the kind of wind that brings in a wonderful rain storm to wash all the nasty out of the air.
This is a dry, hot, dirty wind that kicks up all the dust, dirt and other particulates and gusts it right into your nose and eyeballs. It's a gritty mess.
Ever since we went to the farm, Lucy and I have been miserable.
Sneezy, stuffy, and snotty.
I know, from many years of allergy experience, that I will fully recover as soon as the weather finishes changing, and the high winds cease, but I worry about Lucy.
In most cases, whenever she has a runny nose, whether it's a 'bad bug' she's fighting off or just seasonal allergies, it always manages to drip down (postnasal drip) into her lungs giving her a yucky, loose cough. It's the cough and excess mucus in the lungs that worry me.
As of today, I decided to increase her vesting time, and do an extra Xopenex nebulizer during the day to help keep her airways open during this high allergy time.

Lucy had zero complaints about this, and was adamant about watching Mickey Mouse Club House while she did her treatments. Yes, Lucy actually enjoys sitting in her shaky vest for 30 to 40 minutes at a time!
I am a very proud, sneezy Mom!

Trip To The Farm

We spent a great day at the farm that delivers our fresh organic produce.
It's local, it's organic, and it's delicious!
Farm Fresh To You is in the Capay Valley about 30 minutes from our home. It has wonderfully fertile soil that will keep up with seasonal crops year round. The farm was founded in 1976, is now 300 acres, and is still family owned and ran...and they deliver right to your home or office!
We were able to go on Saturday to check out where our fruits and veggies come from.

The fig orchard was beautiful.

We had a great time walking down to the pumpkin patch to pick our very own pumpkins from the vine. Lucy found a pumpkin that was just her size. We hitched a ride back on a trailer ride with hay bales as it was pretty warm that day. We leisurely walked parts of the farm for a couple of hours. They had a great band playing under the oak trees, fruits and veggies for sale, and a shed with some farm animals that Lucy just loved to talk to!

What a great day at the farm!

It's Pumpkin Time!

Fall is finally here!
According to the calendar, the autumn solstice was on September 22, but it was still crazy hot here in Northern California. I was in no rush to decorate and prepare for any Fall festivities when it was still 100 degrees outside.
We decorated the house in our Halloween and Fall decor this week, and went on our first trip of the season to the Bobby Dazzler pumpkin patch. Lucy had the best time picking out her favorite gourds and pumpkins for our front stoop, and pulling the wagon in the field.

A Bird Named Cookaloo

Lucy's imagination runs wild. When prompted, she could tell the craziest stories for hours, and make up the funniest names all on her own. 'Kookaloo' and George are the stars of this tale...

The Artist

We were hanging out in the living room tonight.

I was tearing up over watching the latest episode of Project Runway when Lucy approached me with a blank sheet of printer paper and a pencil. She asked me to draw a picture of her and I.

So I did...

She grabbed the paper and pencil from me, said, "Thank you!" and disappeared over to the corner to play independently as she often does.

As I was cleaning up her tornado of a mess at the end of the night, I came across the piece of paper with my drawing of Lucy and Mommy, but she had made her own revisions. She added some other 'characters' to the paper in what looks like TWO OTHER PEOPLE!

I was amazed and shocked that my two year old could depict such an accurate human form: a head, two legs, two arms, hands and feet! I am certainly turning out to be one of those moms that is absolutely amazed at everything her child does. The mom who insists that her child is a genius. Yup, that's me! My kid, the artistic genius.

When I asked her who or what it was that she drew next to us, she said,

"It's a POTHOLE!"

Um, what?!