A Good Night's Sleep

Well, our mystery hives seem to be over. They lasted for about 5 days, which is normal. I just wish I knew what they were from. I did not add anything to Andante's diet before the hives, and I did not take away anything during the hives, and now that they are over, I am still feeding him the same as before. This leads me to believe that the hives were environmental. OH JOY!

We were having some pretty strong winds for the Valley last week, mixed in with warm temperatures, along with the corn/nut/cotton harvests. It could have been any one of those things or all of the above. At least I know I don't have to worry about pulling another food out of our household. All the children had a round about with a low grade fever that just would not quit, but no other signs other than the runny noses and hives. Better that than anything else, but it made for a tough week!

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Yesterday, after school and dance, I decided to take the children out to Aria's Padrinho (Godfather) Scotty's goat ranch. It was kind of a two fold reasoning for going out there; I need Scotty to bring hay bales for Aria's party next weekend, and the kids could run carefree for a while since they had been pent up for almost a week now.

First thing out of the car, the children ran into the barn and started to feed the goats, who of course, had just been feed (yeah, I know... great timing, Tina!!!). I was leary, as I am sure Scotty could tell. He kept telling me not to worry... funny, he used to tell me that when he was in my music class as an 8th grader some 8-9 years ago. "Oh, Miss TinaMarie," he used to say, "Don't worry, it'll all be fine."

I could always count on Scotty to be my mellow yellow.

So as the children fed the goats, I could see little itty bitty hives starting to form on Andante's face. I fought the urge to pull him out, dose him, and take him home. He was having so much fun with his sisters running up and down the feeding trough, trying to entice the goats to eat from his hands so that he could grab on to their necks to squeeze some love out of them. I just wanted it to last a little longer.

As Scotty and I talked about his Goddaughter's birthday party and his trip to Vegas the following week for a Bachelor Party (Lord, watch over this big dummy for me please!), we took the kids through the barn to the corrals where he had some goats running around. I looked down as I was the last to step through just before Scotty and panicked. ALMOND SHELLS! Oh Mercy, Andante is heading straight for them!!! In comes Mamma Bird to swoop up her young and fly them to safety. Needless to say, Andante was not happy. I explained to Scotty that even the shell will cause him problems, which he didn't know. He thought it was only the nut. Needless to say, we avoided that area, and everyone was wiped down before leaving, but that is for later on in the story.

Once out at the corrals, one by one, Padrinho Scotty scooped up the children and set them on their way inside the pen. EEK!!! Panic set in. My mind was going a mile a minute, and I KNOW Scotty could see it. "Don't worry", he said calmly, "I didn't feed them any almonds today, and there are none in the corral." I bit my tongue, fully aware of the fact that the proteins from the almonds could be in the goat droppings, and I did so only for one reason...

Andante was chasing the goats towards his sisters. The goats would run right up to the girls, the girls would SCREAM at the top of their lungs, the goats would SCREECH to a halt, and then jump and run the other way. Andante was falling over laughing at the scene he was causing. The minute the goats would come back his way, he would start chasing them over towards his sisters again to watch the whole process repeat itself, and then buckle over in laughter. I just did not have the heart to allow my almost uncontrollable fear take over and pull him out of there and stick him in the bath tub. He did fall over a couple of times, and Scotty would help him up if Andante could not get himself up. All the while my OCD was in major overdrive and it took everything I had to not say a word or let it show on my face. Thankfully, years of stage performing works wonders... unless of course, I am around a good friend like Scotty who knows me all too well.

Finally, the children had enough and wanted out. Allegra was airlifted over the fence (she still had on her dance leotard and flip flops... you can tell this was a last minute decision.), Aria climbed her little dare devil self up and over, and Andante wiggled his way through a space left by a missing board. Once we were back through the barn, somehow, without my knowledge, those little darlings of mine sweet talked their Padrinho into tractor rides. I tell ya... for as good as those two are at advocating for their brother, they are 100x better at advocating for themselves and getting exactly what they want. I wonder who they take after??? lol

October's visit to Padrinho's goat farm - Padrinho Scotty, Ari, & Rory

October's visit to Padrinho's goat farm - Padrinho Scotty & Dante

October's visit to Padrinho's goat farm - Padrinho Scotty & kids

After a busy day of running around and on the farm, we headed out to Los Banos to pick up some things for Aria's party, dinner, and clear Benadryl... just incase the hives were from the coloring

We got home. We ate. We bathed. We brushed teeth and hair and took our medication. We said our prayers. For the first time is a week or two, everyone slept through the night without a peep... even me.


Seriously!

TinaMarie