Joyfully His

Running on Empty

2011-06-01T15:20:00.004-05:00

So hard to believe that it's been about 5 months since the last post. What in the world have I been doing? OH yeah, homeschooling. Juggling church, Awana, choir, library meetings, Mt St Laundry, soccer, life.
But my newest experiment in the life of me has been doing something I never, ever thought I would do. Interesting, isn't it? How many times have the lives of the unsuspecting taken a 90 degree turn from these experiments?

It all started out with a friend. The more activities we do, the more moms I meet. Some moms are really neat, the kind that you wish you could be when you grow up. The kind that have it all together, or at least brush their hair every day and wear shoes that match. Some moms are the crazy overbearing, scary kind. Some are so discombobulated they make me feel like I should be getting some kind of trophy for remembering my kids' names. And a select few are Friend Material. For me, finding moms made of this special fabric are few and far between. I think I have 2 or 3 right now, to be honest. Maybe a few more than that if I actually spent some real time with some moms at church.

One of these moms, however, was into all sorts of stuff that filled me with awe. She homeschooled her son, then 5. She was into all this organic and 'crunchy' stuff and didn't feed her kids refined anything. No sugar, white flour, etc. And her kids drank water. Without crying or being promised video game time afterwards. Wow! And she was completely unfazed by my kids' food allergies and even made them special brownies out of almond flour. They didn't exactly turn out, but we laughed our heads off at the treacle-like glue sticking our teeth together. I was too overjoyed at the taste of actual chocolate to complain.

Since then, this dear friend has moved to another state, but praise the Lord for technology. We email some and Facebook often. And when I decided to amp up my workouts a bit, she paved the way down the road of running by doing a half-marathon.
She fussed about her short, stubby legs and her slow run time, but the woman has a 13.1 sticker on her car. She RAN 13.1 miles in miserably cold, rainy weather. Even when I scoffed at running, a year or so ago, she was encouraging. She loved it. She felt great. There were endorphins. She was addicted to feeling this good. Try it. You'll love it.

Run?! Me? WHY?!!!

I am not an athletic type of girl. Believe me. It has always been thus. This is why I like books. I was in band. I had a disastrous middle school basketball career and I still have no idea how to play the game. Really. But the uniform was...uh, not neat. It was polyester and the girls on the other teams (and my own team) were scary. It only took me 20 years or so to figure out that I liked the practices and the drills, but not the game.

So I got on my treadmill and tried to run. *The first 2 and a half months were, let's face it, not fun. Constant interruptions (kids, dog, phone calls), I can't run fast and read at the same time, there was nothing good on tv, etc. There was no way I could run outside and leave my kids to wreak havoc on the house and each other. Treadmill it is. So my friend encouraged me to try a 5k. It's only 3 miles, she said. You can do it! You'll love it so much you'll be running them all the time. You'll want to run more and do longer races.

Ok then, I thought. I can be like those weight loss stories where the lady loses 50 pounds and runs this impressive feats of athletic prowess (a short-lived fantasy). So I ran every other day or so. (*see above)

There was a 5k in my town, a little podunk town, for our annual Loyalty Day (Loyalty to what? I always wanted to know.). It was sometime in May. Hm. I could do that. Tell me again why someone needs to pay someone to run? I have to pay $15 for registration to kill myself running on a badly paved road and all I get is this t-shirt? Okay. All right. Fine. But after that, that's it. I'm done. I'll tell everyone I tried it and that will be it, because I hate running! It's why God invented bicycles and rollerblades and cars!

Later on, I was at a gardening meeting and got into a conversation about running (because misery loves company?) and someone mentioned a run in town (the actual Town where we go grocery shopping, not the one I live in). "So-and-so is a runner. I used to run with her all the time. She's in our homeschool group, do you know her?" I did know her; she goes to my church and is in the choir with me. I had never really spoken to her. She is tall and thin and beautiful and looks like a runner. She sings beautifully and uses mushroom compost in her garden. Sigh. Wow.

So the next choir practice, I screwed up my courage and mentioned that her name had come up in a conversation with (insert name of previous running partner). Later in the conversation, she mentioned the run in town and that she wanted to run in it. "You should do it," she said. "It's weekend after next." Uh. That was the weekend before my town's run. How in the world was I supposed to be ready a week early?!
I signed up for it anyway. I also signed my family up for something called a Family Fun Run.
So I ran my first 5k and it was miserable! By the time I got to the turnaround I was ready to sock the measurer in the eye, because whoever measured this race was a liar. It wasn't this far on the treadmill! The second half was long and hot and the kid in front of me started throwing up repeatedly and shriek/sobbing noisily. I remember thinking "too late to change your mind." Yuck!

Granted, there was some pretty scenery and a scary bridge made of mostly mesh metal where you could see the water below you (urp). Not to mention the inclines (looking back, those weren't really hills, though they felt like it at the time). I rolled over the finish line ready to give up the ghost, sweaty, nasty and chafing.

I also loved the look on my husband's face when he saw me and gave me a hug. "We weren't expecting you for another 5 or 10 minutes!" Oh, balm to my winded, heaving soul. He changed his tune when he realized I hadn't been joking about the Family Fun Run and he actually had to run a mile with our 3 year old. (They ended up walking, with the kid on his shoulders while I actually ran with my oldest.)

The next weekend was the race in my town. I got up at dawn's early light (okay, fine it was 7:30, but everyone else was sleeping) and walked a couple of streets to where our run started. It was another interesting run. I felt like I did better this time, but on a flat country road with nothing but pasture on either side, your mind plays tricks. Wavy heat coming up from the pavement can make the end of the road seem like you're never going to get there. I tripped in a pot hole. I got busy watching horses running in a meadow and almost ran off the road. I counted the phone poles I had to pass to get to the end of the road. And then I got there and had to turn the corner and run still more before I got to the finish line.

I got a really good deal on this one. Due to the smallness of my town and the race, there weren't that many people there. So even though I finished almost 10 minutes after the first person, I was the first female to cross the finish line, so I got a plaque and a medal (for my age group) and some prize money that paid for my 2 races and the one I wanted to do the next week. The look on my husband's face when I waltzed through the door with all that loot was very satisfying. Oh yeah. More balm to my soul.

The next weekend was a Wellness Festival and my husband and youngest opted out of the Family Fun Run. This run was the worst by far. It was cold and windy and I ended up wearing a pair of cotton house-capris because I don't own any cold weather running gear except a fleece pullover. Because I run on a treadmill, that's why. And this run had HILLS. The kind where you look up at the top and the runners above/ahead of you are tiny and you can hear yourself wheezing. I also found out that all those running articles on Running Downhill weren't a joke. I could picture myself tripping and rolling to the bottom so clearly.
This was another race that Would Never End. The last length was uphill. Whose idea was that? My husband texted me "take off your sweater and put it around waist." HUH? Well, one of those great things about having running tights or yoga pants to wear is they don't show sweat like gray cotton. I feel bad for the people running behind ME! Having to stare at someone's sweaty butt-crack could be an incentive for passing someone, but not much encouragement if you can't. Oh, mortification. There will be no picture for this one. We can say it was too cold.
Then I decided to take a break from runs. It was expensive to keep running and I had accomplished my goal. I had run not one, but 3 5k's and even accomplished my secret wish to medal in my age group. I had improved my time to a respectable 28 minutes and change. And I was sore! My knee was hurting and I had a sore heel.
I waited a week and when I felt better, I got back on the treadmill. I realized I felt better when I was doing some sort of exercise. Then one day I wondered how I would feel if I ran 5 miles. What was 10k? Oh, add 2 5ks together. Okay. Well, I got a phone call after I hit the 5 mile mark and had to walk the last 1.2 miles of my 10k, but I still did it.
My friend from out of state congratulated me on Facebook. She said she'd be in Tulsa in October running a 15k (about 10 miles). "You should do it with me!" she said. "You did 10k, so what's another 5?" Uh...so I looked online for a training schedule for a 15k and it doesn't look so bad. Now my 'easy' run is 3 miles. Yes, this is me. When did 5k get to be the easy run? I'll let you know how it goes in October. Either way, I'm kind of amazed that I am still running. Why would ANYONE want to run 10 miles, much less 13.1? OH yeah, the t-shirt, the ball cap, the sticker. Because anyone who puts themselves through all this, physically and mentally, deserves something tangible. Especially if they never got their endorphins.

January with a Vengeance

2011-01-21T14:48:00.004-06:00

The winter storm hit and we finally got enough snow to play in. :) The dog is in raptures, kicking up her heels in the back yard like a calf in a spring pasture. My HC thinks it has something to do with her German (Shepherd) heritage and the fact that she has thick black fur. But when she comes in with rapidly melting cakes of dandruffy snow and shakes all over the play room, the excitement is lost on me.

The play aspect of the snow also quickly lost its novelty when my HC bundled up the kids and took them out. I stayed inside, cleaning frantically, lest the power go out as it is wont to do when the weather does anything out of the ordinary (like rain, snow or get really windy). And there is nothing more aggravating than having no power or warm water, a smoking pile of Mt. St. Laundry and an earthquake of dishes in the sink. But I digress.

So I was washing the dishes and putting clean laundry away, smug in my industry, when lo and behold, I hear wailing and crying children and an aggravated Daddy stomping at the front door. I grabbed the closest towel, a small kitchen towel, tossed it on the floor and prepared for the onslaught of frosted unhappiness. The door opened and 3 red-faced, ice-encrusted snow people squeezed in, two of which were howling. My HC had been playing with the kids outside and chased Ian. Ian did a tumbleweed into the ditch and got completely immersed in snow. He quickly learned the inconvenient effect of cold snow inside warm clothes. On his way out of the ditch, cold and wet, he slipped a couple more times and my HC had the effrontery to laugh. Thus the first round of howling. After a second or two of heated discussion and throwing of blame as to who caused the tumbling into the ditch, two stubborn males stomped (and cry/hollered) their way towards the door, towing an innocent, frosty Erin, now adding her own noisy chorus of crying because she wasn't done playing outside yet.
Well, my 5 minutes of quiet was over and I hadn't even gotten to sit down yet. Then the abominable snow creature yelling like a yeti needed assistance stripping at the door. It was not fun peeling all those frozen, stiff clothes and boots and layers off of him. Then it was Erin's turn. My HC had already washed his hands of the whole affair and retreated back to the bliss of the iphone. The kids finished expressing their emotions and ran off to play and I was left with cold, soggy piles of clothes, coats, boots, mittens, etc and a wet floor. :/

After a snack, more laundry, and a Netflix movie, (having coaxed my handsome HC from the clutches of the evil app), the neighborhood kids came a-knocking. My husband fled, again, and launched himself on the bed, claiming he was resting. The neighbor boys pleaded for some disctraction to ease their 12 year old boredom. My kids pleaded with me for more time to play in the snow. My husband projected loud fake snoring from the bedroom. So I got the coats and accoutrements from the dryer, dressed everyone and went outside to freeze. My Florida born, thin-skinned self would much rather stay Inside and enjoy the snow.

But I stood around, amused the neighbor boys for about 5 minutes before they got on their bikes to be bored somewhere else and then proceeded to yell the same thing about 78.4 times to keep the kids out of the neighbor's yard, whose snow was prettier, deeper, not as cold and so much funner than our own larger yard, which had dirt, dog poo, foot prints and other undesirable elements.

And evidently the neighbor's snow made much better snow angels.

Then it was my turn to drag noisily protesting merengue-children inside to peel snowy clothes off Again, and set them next to the heater to thaw (no handy Campbell's soup to melt my snowman). Followed by begging for hot chocolate and more snacks.

But I am happy to report that I got to work some more on my mini-quilt, made from the leftover squares of Ian's twin quilt. I also got a big box this week from my Grandma and Mom of mat-er-i-alllllll (said in an Oprah yell)! My next project is an amateur's attempt to turn pretty fabric into (hopefully) a casserole dish holder/carrier. Or a cotton origami figure.

In the meantime, we are still dealing with unwanted aspects of the snow, mostly sliding-glass doors that are frozen shut, and frozen car trunks. :)

An update: We ran out of Magic Treehouse books after we finished the BFG. So, since we are learning about the pioneer days and the gradual settling of the west in our History lessons, we are now reading Tucket's Travels by Gary Paulsen, a favorite author of mine. Francis Tucket is a 14 year old boy who gets taken from his wagon train by Pawnee Indians (on his birthday!) and rescued by a mountain man. The mountain man teaches him how to shoot a rifle, ride an Indian pony and survive in the wilderness. Eventually, Francis will try to make his way, alone, to Oregon to find his family again. How is Ian enjoying it, you ask? Ian wishes it had pictures.

Life in General

2011-01-07T16:46:00.003-06:00

These are the days of our lives...in January. The daily minutiae of our lives is what sets us apart from the other families with 2.5 kids (the dog is the .5, not the half-pint with red hair) and also gives us something to talk about when people ask "what's new with you?" So let's see...
We are reading the BFG by Roald Dahl. My HC remembered this book from his childhood and since I can count the number of books he admits to having read on one hand, we immediately checked it out and started reading it with the kids. This is a bit disturbing to Ian, who is apprehensive abou the idea of giants reaching hands through windows and munching people like popcorn, but the pictures are cute and the part about the BFG tooting is so funny, it eclipses all the yucky parts. I have had immense fun doing the voice of the Queen of England (and the whispering butler). Erin tends to fall asleep during bedtime reading (praise the Lord), but she also enjoys the pictures until she does. When we were finished with this one, we're going back to the Magic Treehouse just in time to correlate "Revolutionary War on Wednesday" with the same topic in History. Yay. So definite school points there.

Erin is going to be ready for pre-k next year. She is very interested in what Ian is doing and loves our one on one time when we work on Cubbies (Awana). I am hoping that she will actually say her verse this week during check-in time, though even the 4 year olds get all bashful and hug a leg when put on the spot. ;)

Ian is about to finish one of his reading books next week, the Robinson Crusoe reader with all the neat craft/drawing ideas that go with it. So far we've made a popsicle stick boat(that's what it's supposed to look like), a tiny island, some rocks, a tent and cave out of various materials, a playdoh goat and a big stack of illustrations. Mr Cheaterpants has been insisting for a couple of weeks that Robinson Crusoe will be finding a strange man on the island with him. I have been denying this, since we haven't read anything about that yet, thank you. Today, we got to the part where Friday is delivered to the island by savages and escapes, where Robinson Crusoe welcomes him and feeds him bread and raisins. Ian was elated and gloated like mad. "See, Mommy?! I TOLD you there was another man. I was right!" Add the victory booty dance to that. And a giant Mommy eyeroll. I will be sorry to finish this book. And a couple of weeks after that, we'll be finishing his other reading book. And by the end of February, he'll be finishing the dreaded, hated Phonics. I gave him the option of just doing one page per day instead of two. He was excited about this until I told him that it would extend Phonics until May, or we could continue and finish by the end of next month. He chose next month. :) It looks like math and spelling will be our long running subjects for this year. Those are two things that have more to do with understanding and less with grunt work. (Like the phonics rules, word-writing and language story-writing.)
We'll be starting a new chapter in Science next week and we'll be spending a lot more time on these than we have the rest. It has to do with sea creatures, with one animal per lesson. We're making an animal notebook with our drawings and colorings. I am very excited. The chapter after that is land animals with more of the same. I hope we can go to the zoo for this chapter! Ian will be happy to be finished with history, but I think he'll enjoy the next chapter on Pioneers. We will attempt to make a covered wagon. haha.
And we're only to the Capital H's in cursive, another hated subject. I'm not being too strict there. He traces a lot and just has to try to write it on his own. I am more concerned with him learning how to form them correctly than doing a bunch of wrong ones on his own. There's plenty of time for cursive in the future, right? Says the 98% of people who still don't form letters correctly...
So there, boring minutiae, yet the kind that occupy my days and thoughts. And it's Friday evening finally. So I'm out.

Almost done.

2010-12-29T16:57:00.004-06:00

The year is almost done. It's altogether surreal and relieving at the same time. It does seem, in retrospect, that time has flown. But thinking of all the hard times where the minutes dragged, it is nice that those are behind us and there are better times (and possibly worse) ahead. Either way, we know not what the future brings and the prospect of a brand spanking new year awakens an air of expectancy. Some things will definitely be different this year. For instance, it is not always a wonderful thing to be the one who eats the most black eyed peas on New Year's Day. Especially if you forgot the Beano. We got a new vehicle, after the December debacle. So there are no impending repairs looming over our heads (or under the hood) with their money hungry claws and disconcerting clunks and grindings. Just a long line of payments. But we are thankful that they are within our reach.

Erin and I had the stomach flu before and after Christmas, and my HC had half of the stomach flu earlier this week. Ian missed it and I am thankful for that as well, since I'm not as confident that he would have made it to the bathroom to retch as successfully as Erin did. Erin is more of a take-action person, where Ian just kind of freezes and stares. For example, if my HC jumps out and scares them, Erin will either turn and run away and hide under the nearest surface or run at him screeching back and jump on his head. Ian will stand there and scream like he's the lead in a b-movie. One long, shrill scream, feet planted. There is no obvious remedy for this.

Now I am waiting until the end of the week, when I can start taking down the Christmas stuff. We really enjoyed our gorgeous hand-me-down fiber optic Christmas tree this year (thanks Mimi and Grampa!). It is enormous and shimmers. It doesn't need any garland and all our ornaments fit on it without looking like a flea market stall. It was well worth driving from FL in July with the giant box strapped to our roof. Our yard was also one of the drive-bys with our new lawn ornaments and lights (complete with Santa, sleigh and reindeer). It was exciting for the kids to drive home from Wednesday church to see all the pretty lights coming from OUR yard. ;) (We have gotten lots of compliments on our yard, thanks to the creativity and industry of Mimi and Grampa!) It makes it even better that they remind us of one of our favorite places in Florida. I'll bet it's the first time any of those ornaments have seen the snow we got last week. haha.
We are trying to make it through our last week of Christmas vacation before the Spring semester of school. Ian and I are doing great. He is staying in his pajamas all day as late as possible and I am getting some extra cleaning, organizing, reading, websurfing done. Erin is overset. Her routine is completely messed up and we need to get back to work as soon as possible. She's not used to having Ian in her way every time she wants to watch something or play with a toy. Siblings!
We are also still waiting to see what will happen with the new boss that was elected in November. He officially starts on Jan 3 (read December 31, or earlier, since almost everyone has either gotten a pink slip or a phone call confirming their continued presence; everyone except for my HC!). Then the fun really starts as everything is restructured to his liking. It is always the hope of politics that the things that work well will be retained and the things that are broken will be fixed. It has been our experience that most campaign promises go out the window with the first enormous paycheck. We are more interested in who the new supervisors will be (and if my HC still has a job, of course!). Either way, it's always interesting to see how things work out.
I hope everyone else is having a nice settled, sick-free week and I wish you could see our Christmas lights. :) (or you could wait until next year)

December December

2010-12-07T17:06:00.002-06:00

December already? It seems like 2010 flew by but dragged at the same time. I guess that's how all things go. But things especially seem to drag when you are deprived of something that you enjoy, love, are addicted to, etc. Like, diet dr pepper, your car, your sanity because it's too cold to play outside and the kids are bouncing off the walls.... :)
Thanksgiving was good, HC's birthday was good, his trip was good. And now we have Christmas to look forward to. And after Christmas is the long slow wait for spring. But in the blur of days are small moments that make up the things that we remember the most. Tiny cold toes squirming their way to your lap under the couch blanket. Popcorn and hot chocolate in special mugs while watching the weekly Disney movie. Watching the dog have the fastest pee in history due to the temperature change of snuggled-next-to-the-heater to frigid winds and frozen ground. Remembering how miserable it was in the summer every time I was forced to use the oven and now, having it on almost constantly with roasts, cookies, chex mix and muffins in there. Cute winter hats. Looking outside and seeing snow (our yearly quota of 3 snows a year...).
So no matter how things seem to drag, there are other things to focus on.

Corn Maze!

2010-10-01T17:22:00.008-05:00

Today we went to the Right Choices Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Southwest City, MO (pop. 855). It was a nice drive up, about an hour and change for us, and pretty much a straight shot, so we made it there without hassle. It's a working farm, run by nice, pleasant Christian folks. We got there and promptly visited the small, red, barnlike structure that were nice, clean restrooms. We paid, went inside and ate a picnic lunch at the picnic tables next to the concession stand. Then all the homeschool group gathered in a large wooden area filled with benches for a lesson about the history of the area, the history and uses of corn, and how to farm a giant corn field. We had a great time, as you can see in the following:

Everyone piled into tractor-pulled carts with hay seats for a tour of the fields and woods. We went all the way around the maze, ending at the line of farm equipment and attachments that were used to farm the field (and new pumpkin patch). Erin had more fun pulling hay out of the bales and scattering it everywhere.

After the hay ride, we lined up to ride the cow train. Erin hopped right in.

Ian decided that he wanted to go too, and the Train (tractor) Conductor said that the big barrels were for grown ups, so I piled in too! (I was the only adult in the whole train.)

The Train went into one side of the maze. The tractor moo-ed the whole time. It got slightly annoying, but there were enough little kids moo-ing along with it that it wasn't so bad.

This is a picture looking into the outer wall of the maze. There ain't no cheating by going through the wall, folks. And there are also mesh walls to hold it together, as we found out later.

There were two slides built into the side of this big hill. The other one was slower, for smaller kids and required riding on a gunny sack. This one was the roller slide and required plywood squares. My adventurous cutie piled into line with the big kids and loved every second. Doubters be gone!

This was close to to the concession/picnic area and was a triple level accumulation of shin-deep corn kernels. And yes, it got everywhere. Ian dumped plenty out of his shoes in the car. Erin shucked her shoes off after a few minutes and kept playing.

This was on one side of the Corn Box.

There was a Hay Tunnel and an Echo Bale. This was the Hay Jump, outside of the opening to the Short Maze (the long one is a couple of miles; I was completely fine with the short one).

Ian took the map with the clues and did absolutely nothing with it. He guessed at every turn and it took us about 20 minutes longer than it should have, but he had fun being in charge. Erin just ran around. I trudged behind with the cooler and my purse.

We survived and were completely worn out.

We went to the Farm Zoo and visited the cute animals. The pig and chickens were Erin's favorite. She 'talked' to one chicken for quite a while (I was going down the slides with Ian, yee haw). Then we did the Corn Cannon, where they help you shoot ears of corn at targets. It was noisy and Erin was tired and crying, so we did not linger. I could tell that Ian could have camped out there for another hour.

So we quickly picked out our baby pumpkins and piled our tired selves into the car for the ride home with a movie and a cold drink.

And guess who conked out on the way home? So now I am ready for bed and everyone else is recharged. Sheesh.

Homeschooling

2010-09-15T10:53:00.007-05:00

I have been reading a lot of blogs and articles lately on homeschooling. As a normal female, I am inherently curious as to what everyone else in the barnyard is doing and am also on the lookout for new helps, advice, curriculum, etc. And of course, I want to evaluate what I am doing to and for my kids. :) One blog in particular I read is the Pioneer Woman Homeschooling blog. She has different moms contribute to this particular facet of her site. It talks about homeschooling, has discussions on general opinion and stigmas, what different homeschool moms face, etc. I have been asked why we homeschool by a few different people. They seem to expect a passionate diatribe about spiritual conviction, the evil of the world, or some kind of mental genius or handicap. So, for personal clarification, this is why WE homeschool.

1) Easy situation. We're different. Not in the, hello, I'm-a-freak-of-nature-way. I am already staying home with a younger child. I am not quitting a job to stay home. It was not a huge sacrifice to keep the older one home and torture him with Phonics. (Ask me that later when I am lying on the floor with a cold compress on my brow, moaning "Why?!" to the ceiling.)
2) Food allergies. We are allergic to a bunch of stuff. It was a pain in the butt to pack breakfast and lunch and various birthday cupcakes and holiday treats last year for Ian. And he still got a hold of stuff that made him sick. So, it was a mark on the + side when we considered homeschooling. (Yes, I made a list with little pluses and minuses.)
3) Concern for our child. Our kid seemed bored in kindergarten and was redoing stuff that he had learned in pre-k. When he was out of school for a week with a broken elbow, he did his entire week of make-up work in a hour. I asked for harder stuff for him to read at home. I didn't get much of a result by asking. I got the feeling that his teachers, who are great ladies, thought I was a pushy parent. I saw my kid getting disinterested and lazy and stop trying.
4) An Inkling. My husband and I homeschooled (but not together, though he did pretend not to understand math so I would 'help' him). I did 11th and 12th grade enrolled in Christian Liberty Academy, which is a correspondence-type school. They send your books and tests, you do the work and mail in the tests. You get graded and graduate when you're done. I liked it. I also tutored a bunch of younger kids in their various subjects. So I know how it feels to get to a point where your parents are no help at all and hide in the closet when they see you enter the room with a textbook. Like...Chemistry! Or Saxon Algebra 2!
No permanent scarring, though it shook my belief that my mom knew everything. Haha, Mom.
With the younger kids that I tutored when I was in high school, it was an eye-opener. There were kids that did just fine. There were kids that were several grade levels behind what they should have been. There were kids that the other kids thought were weird. There were normal(ish) kids. There was one boy with atrocious table manners. Those who were in the tutoring group will remember him as well as their inability to enjoy a meal when they were seated across the table from him. Or next to him. Or in the same room with him.
The point is, it's easy to say that you have these beliefs, opinions or feelings and you're going to homeschool. It's quite another thing to sit at the kitchen table for 5 hours a day, more or less, and try to get your child to understand the rules of plural, why you have to carry the 1, and why qu is spelled with a qu when it makes the 'kw' sound. And that is just first grade, with just one child.
I know the parents meant well and they thought they were doing the best for their children. But I wonder if they would make the same decision again, now that their children are grown and their lives are set. The ones who did not do well homeschooling hated it. They still hate school. Some of them got so far behind that they quit school. The ones who did well may have loved it, or may have secretly pined to be in a public school. Others did fine and went on to trade school or college and lead productive lives. We did not suffer from not going to prom or having a commencement ceremony. [Be honest! When you reach the 3rd hour of any commencement, are you still excited to be there? No! You wanna get it over with and go eat! All during my college graduation, I thought about how nice it was to have skipped the high school one.]
But it is important that I remember to give myself the option and freedom to change my mind if things don't work out the way I have envisioned. One day we may go back to public school. If the kids absolutely want to, then they have a say. But right now it's going pretty well.
5) State laws. We live in Oklahoma, a very accomodating state for homeschoolers. A couple of miles away, and the state our co-op is in, is Arkansas. I'm not exactly sure, but I think they are required to do state testing every year. Different states have different requirements. Some states make it very difficult indeed, like having lesson plans and checking in with a state-certified teacher once a month. We avoided a lot of these difficulties during my childhood in Florida by being enrolled in an actual school, even though I completed it by mail.
6) New oppoortunities! There are some neat things in our area that I wasn't aware of (or interested in) in my time. There's a play group at the library every Tuesday. The library is continuing it now that Cherokee Nation has pulled out. At least it will be a specialized play time and there are books to read and crafts. It is for children 5 and under, but Ian is still welcome. It is good for Erin to be around other kids (sharing is always a noisy debate) and Ian as well. We also joined a homeschool co-op. It costs $20 a year for dues. They have low-priced field trips, learning days, special classes, special ticket prices to performances at the Arts Center in Fayetteville, and more. We went to a swim day at the coolest pool ever in a nearby larger town. There were lots of other homeschool kids there and mine had a blast. Next Friday we're going to a Fire Safety Field trip at the Fire Station there. And October 1 is the Corn Maze in Southwest City, Missouri! There's no way we could find out about (or afford!) these things on our own. And meeting other families that share our daily trial is a great encouragement.
7) Curriculum Choices. I can't give all of the above reasons without mentioning that we get to focus on learning opportunities that would not be an option in public school. Our curriculum includes science from a Creationist's perspective as well as a Bible course. And if we want to take a bunny trail and make a covered wagon out of a shoe box, then we can do it together and have a good time. We take extra time on things we're interested in, like pirates, castles and volcanoes. And it's really nice not to get every question wrong because you skipped a line and wrote all the correct answers on the wrong line. Had to put that one in there.

If anyone is making or considering a decision to homeschool, here is my humble opinion. These are our reasons. I won't gush and say that everyone should homeschool because it's the ONLY way. To quote Pioneer Woman, "It's not for everybody, but it works for us." And obviously, I also don't think that public or private school is the only way. In the end, our goals are the same. We want our children to learn and grow and prosper. And we want to make it through without bald spots and facial twitching. I'll let you know how that goes.

The Blur of Summer

2010-09-10T08:47:00.008-05:00

Wow. I see now when my last post was. That was quite a while ago. And so much has happened since then. We had the summer library program and I wrote about 6? 7? articles for it, including a kiss-butt sponsor article to thank the sponsors for all their donations. I felt very shmoozy, but tried to keep the cheese level down. We went on vacation (sort of) back to the home-town, and got to see a lot of family. We were there for the kids' birthdays, and had their party at the park. They had a blast! It was one of my goals (and parental desires) to have a big bash with all their family there to play with them and spoil them. Previous parties have had 2 people there. One year we had a couple of much older kids and some coworkers, but it felt more like a barbeque type thing than a party. Anyway, the kids had so much fun and played with all the family and still talk about it.

Another time, we will discuss the difference between visiting-family vacations and other vacations where you sit and do nothing until someone decides to sight-see. We had fun, but we were really tired when we got home. :) And of course, no one reads this but my family members and they will be horrified: "We thought you had fun! We tried so hard to make it fun for you!" [dissolves into sobs] We had some really fun times, but it is hard to coordinate schedules with 10 people and the 'are we or aren't we?' aspect. We also wish we could have spent more time at the beach....a lot more?

We got home and recovered some. Then it was my birthday! The big 3-0! We went to one of those Japanese Hibachi restaurants and freaked the kids out with the flames. It was funny.

The rest of August was spent doing schoolwork, keeping the house together and trying to find a way to save Play n Learn, the library thing we go to every Tuesday. Cherokee Nation cut the funding and it will be ending next week. So we wrote some letters to the Council House and fussed a bit, but I'm pretty sure that no one will go against the Mighty Budget Cut! The decree has been made. There have been noises with the other mothers about continuing it independently, but it is a lot of work and I think it will fizzle out eventually. I have volunteered to read stories, but it won't be like the 2 hours of playing at stations, crafts and snacks that we do now. But at least it will be free.
Something else that happened. [sniff sniff.] My friend, my homeschooling encouragement, the one with the 2 kids conveniently the same gender and ages of my own kids, has moved! As soon as we got back from FL, they moved to TX, following the awesome new job her husband got. We are so excited for them, but I am selfish and I miss her! And the playmates for my kids.
And now it is September. In a couple of weeks, Ian will be finished with 1st grade. We will take a couple of weeks vacation and then start 2nd grade.
We joined a homeschool co-op out of Siloam Springs that has great activities. We went to a group swim at the Aquatic center there and it was fantastic. There is a Fire Safety trip in a couple of weeks at the fire station there and a trip to a Corn Maze in Missouri on October 1! Woo hoo! So everyone who thinks that socialization is an issue can relax. Though honestly, socialization is the LAST thing I am concerned about. It's not like we are hermits in the Canadian wilderness. Those are kids I would worry about socialization, yet I'm sure they are pretty normal too.

I am almost done with Ian's quilt! This just the quilt face. I have put the back on and am doing the final handwork. It seems to be so slow, but only because I am so close to finishing!
I have been using my free time (haha!) for the treadmill, and even then I am interrupted several times. Eventually though, the kids will come to respect Mommy's quiet-don't-mess-with-me-or-I-will-trip-and-end-up-smeared-on-the-wall-with-carpet-burn treadmill time. And the dog will quit trying to jump on with me while I am trotting.

So with our normal routine, the kids, the dog, the homeschooling, the travel, the HC's job, etc, we have been busy. If you need an example of how hard it is to do anything for more than 2.47 minutes at a time, then know that, while writing this, I have been interrupted about 8 times due to a schoolwork help request (silly ones, like, what's that word? Oh! It's right there on the page.) and 3 times for a pee break, since Erin has fallen early into the ritual of girls going to the loo in groups. The dog is barking, my HC is texting, Erin needs a bandaid for some imagined boo-boo, the kids are screeching at each other because Ian won't quit making an annoying noise that Erin takes exception to. Sigh. Another squabble. Sheesh!
Summer was such a busy blur, and the fall promises to be even more fun. But don't worry, I'll try to keep you posted. :) It could have been worse, right? I could have posted all my summer articles again (yawn!).

Too Many Funerals

2010-07-13T15:29:00.002-05:00

It seems as if we've had funerals every time we turn around. As if we needed more reminders of our mortality. Today's funeral was for a fellow cop. He and his state trooper friend went to a car dealership to pick up a surprise new car for the trooper's wife. The cop was driving the new car back to the trooper's house and would wait until the right moment to drive it into the driveway. The trooper was following his friend in the new car when a tow truck pulled out in front of the cop. The new car was totalled. It took 30 minutes to pull the cop from the mangled car. He died. He was 31 years old and had a wife and two small children. He served warrants with my HC for a day. He was the only cop my HC knew in Wagoner. This is a very sad thing for us. My HC went to the funeral today.
The last funeral he went to was for his boss's husband who died from a brain tumor less than three months after he was diagnosed.
So I guess I'm in a pretty somber mood.
On a lighter note, I did get to pet a chinchilla today. Erin wanted to take it home. She also didn't want to let the 9 foot boa go back in the box. Or the toad. Or the tree frog. But she did not like the stuffed otter. It was weird. I agree. I'll take a real otter any day of the week.

Busy as a June Bug

2010-06-21T12:19:00.005-05:00

This month has been pretty crazy. We've got our homeschooling (I am such a slave driver, but my kid is smart), we've got the summer library program, which is 3 and sometimes 4 days a week, we've got a garden, a grassy lawn and a pool, which all need to be tended regularly, and we've got a house with two active kids, which is hard to keep clean. Oh yeah, and I write the newspaper articles for that library program, so no ducking out for me. So it's been crazy nonstop. I haven't watched any tv (pbs kids does not count as tv for me), I haven't been able to work on my quilt (tick tock, Mandi!) or have much me time, but everything else is coming along nicely. Erin is having a bunch of fun with Ian home all the time. They play, fight, love on and screech at each other. This is the pinnacle of sibling affection, to me. My HC has been busy going to one training session after another. Some have been good and educational, some have been a waste of time. All I am concerned with is that he gets to eat out more than me. Aren't I so shallow? Then again, he did gain a little weight....lol. But being home trimmed it right off. No fair.
Now that June is almost over, Ian's favorite holiday, July 4th is coming up. The kid loves fireworks! And there are fireworks stands everywhere. We bought a few bucks worth of smoke bombs, sparklers and poppers and he is already putting in his order for the big day. Our town has an ordinance (there is an ordinance for everything...) that you can't let off any fireworks until the week before and the week after the 4th. The small noiseless ones are ok. They won't get you reported to the cops, anyway. And we don't go for the screaming ones anyway, since our kids are still little and our neighbors are close. But Ian is very excited. Of course, after the 4th, it is not long until his birthday, so that is thrilling for him too.

Saturday we went to see Toy Story 3 and since we couldn't find a theater that showed it in 2d, we were forced to watch it in 3D. We had promised the kids that we would go to see it in the theater, so 3D it was. Erin wasn't interested in wearing the glasses and I don't know how she wasn't cross-eyed afterwards, because the picture is blurry if you don't have the 3D glasses on. I will admit, though, that my HC looked adorable because the glasses are plastic and black-framed and he looked kinda nerdy. A new look for him, to be sure. Ian had to be reminded to put his back on. I was in and out with an antsy Erin. It made it worse that there were no seats together and we managed to find 2 on one row and one seat in the row directly behind it. Erin and I ended up sitting on the steps next to the seats for the last 30 minutes of the movie. Yippee.
Here are some pics of the kids, just in case you've forgotten what they look like. :)

My Lonely Bad Self

2010-05-11T08:58:00.003-05:00

My HC is gone again, this time within driving distance. This is week 1 of Investigator school. What's the big deal about Investigator School? From what I gather, "it guarantees you'll never be put on night shift again." Which is a big deal to someone who spent the first 3 years of his law enforcement career in the dark. There were vampire jokes long before Twilight movies ever came on scene.
So here at the homestead, I am strangely getting a lot of stuff done. I'm not sure it's because I need to console myself because my HC is gone, or because his not being here frees up a lot of time...uh, I may just stop there. Either way, the house is pretty clean. Sort of. At least until Curious George is over and Erin starts up again.
Yesterday was our 6 month checkup at the allergist. It went very well. I can start weaning the kids from some meds and our next checkup is in a year. Yay! This is very good news. Our elimination diet (not eating the foods we are allergic to) and our rotation diet (testing our tolerance of foods we are allergic to once every 4 days) are working very well. We still have our meds for the odd flare up of symptoms (sometimes foods get cross contaminated or we have an oops moment), but I am very optimistic and pleased about the whole thing.
Ian was not happy about having to go back to school after our appointment, but he went back anyway for the last 2 hours. This is the last full week of school and I guess things are getting a little funner, because Ian hasn't been moaning or complaining half as much. No homework may have something to do with that. Hm...
Yesterday after school I decided to break out my new workout DVDs and try it out. Ian was gung ho to do it with me. We decided to do the kickboxing one. I pulled on the weighted gloves and committed myself to 10 minutes. Ian stayed for about 90 seconds and left me, the punk. Erin participated by riding her tricycle in front of the tv during kicks and lunges and imitating me (har har) behind while I was trying to do back kicks. It was very hazardous. I'm not sure if I'm sore from doing exercises improperly while trying to avoid my kidlets or because of the actual workout. I decided to finish out the DVD. By the last part, the ab workout, I was getting pretty frustrated with Erin. Ian had abandoned both of us for Lego Indiana Jones and Erin was convinced I was doing this to amuse her. The ab workout involved lying on the floor on a towel and contorting yourself into interesting positions to work your abs. There were a lot of chuckles behind me on the couch. No comment. Then Erin decided to improve my form/spot me by sitting on my stomach and hopping up and down. No comment again.
But I finished! Is there anyone close enough to give me a massage?!
Today is Track and Field day for Ian. He'll be in the gym doing 'real' exercises and tearing around vigorously. He has his running shoes, his 'fast' shorts on and his water bottle. I can't wait to hear about this one.
We finally finished Double Fudge. Now we are reading Otherwise Known As Sheila the Great. And while I was typing this, Erin decided to beautify herself with my makeup bag. She needs to go easy on the cover-up next time. Thank the Lord my lipstick is in my purse! Last time, it ended up in several lines all over the walls.

The Power of Styrofoam!

2010-05-04T16:06:00.005-05:00

We are so happy about our Netflix Instant Play. I love watching nonstop seasons of Bones. Erin loves Caillou and VeggieTales. Ian loves the Mario Brothers Supershow, circa 1986 (save me) and Lilo and Stitch episodes. My HC likes to choose a bunch of B movies that we end up turning off. That's not always the case, but we're on a roll right now. But what we have watched at least 27 times in the past week (and I wish I were joking about the number) is Bolt. Erin always asks for it and Ian always gravitates to where it is playing. We all laugh at the same spots every time (well, we do not find the same spots funny, but I laugh at the hamster every time and Erin laughs at the cat every time and Ian laughs where Bolt gets the traffic cone stuck to his head every time. You get it. And just so he's not left out, my HC laughs at the hamster in the kayak, the hamster stealing a french fry and the animal control guy getting pepper sprayed in the eyes. Every time.) So when I say something like "You don't know the power of styrofoam!" or other related comments, especially those in the overzealous fan voice of Rhino the hamster, forgive me. It is now subliminally imbedded in all our minds.
We are in the last 2 weeks of school. Huzzah. So we are wrapping up homework, testing, the washing (again?!) of backpacks due to leaky thermoses. Sigh.
We also ordered next year's curriculum, which we may start half-time after school is out just to give us something to do.
(Ian just interrupted me. "Mommy, uh, are you wearing sunscreen?" "Uh huh," I said, "Erin and I went to the park today for Play and Learn." "Oh. I can smell it. I wanna go to the park."
Considering that when we went to the park today, I had to call in a broken step where Erin and I almost fell through, I'm not a big fan of the park. They did come and fix the step, where a bolt had broken on one side, but there are too many other areas that need repair (or broken things removed) that I'm not too fond of the playground at the park. But when school is over, we will be available to play with our other home school friends. Yay!
This week, my HC is home, having a normal (haha!) week. The laugh is because he's been having to be here and there at 5am yesterday and today to assist with this and that. And he's been coming home at the normal time. Next week he is starting his first week of Investigator school in Ada, OK. It's a bit of a drive, but he'll be home on the weekends. It is a very good thing to be in that school, however, as they handpick who gets to be in (everything is all about who you know. sigh!) and only allow 30 attendees at a time. I think there may be 2 such classes a year. So it is well indeed. Now about that supposed training class in Hawaii? (waaaah!) We'll see if that comes about. You'll hear plenty of whining and crying from the peanut gallery if it does (mostly from me and Ian the Vulcan (volcano lover)).
Meanwhile, we are enjoying the goodies brought back from New Mexico, including the cactus seeds we are attempting to grow. We'll find out in another couple of days if they will grow.
I got my sweepstakes prize in the mail today. It came FedEx and they called again to ask where my house was. 'Rural route what? Do you have a house number? Uh, that house number is not registered either (duh, if it was, we wouldn't have a rural route in town). Um. What street? Oh, hey! Didn't I just deliver something to you last month? (yeah, the Blackberry replacement). Oh! Now I remember your house. Alright, I'll be there in about 30 minutes.' (Uh, just how lost WAS the guy?)
So I get this box from Anchor Bay Entertainment and the first thing I think is Thomas the Tank Engine. Hmmm. Maybe the grandparents sent something? Uh. It was kind of heavy. Well, it was this:

Is this a sign? Mandi, you need some help. The first thing Mom said was "so they think if you do this video you'll look like her?" Clearly my mother is not a fan of the workout DVD. Not that I am either. I am not very consistent about such things. I get turned around when I'm facing someone chirping "Left! Left!" while they're going to my right. But these are a bit different. One is a boxing type DVD, another is pilates (I'm frightened) and they all come with something. Resistance band, weighted gloves, etc. I will report if they ever get used. Or unwrapped. Or if I can nag my HC into doing some with me, just for fun, in case he starts mocking me.

But he's just ignorant. Because he doesn't know the power of styrofoam.

Coming soon: my Mother's day present, as soon as it comes in the mail, barring any more complications from the FedEx guy or UPS.

I Just Won 11 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

2010-04-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

I Just Won 11 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com

Holding the Fort

2010-04-26T20:14:00.005-05:00

My HC left this morning for a training session in New Mexico. Today has been crazy. I'm not sure if it is a result of him being gone or just a Monday or what. But come on! We were late getting up this morning. Erin has had a bad cold for a few weeks and it is on the downward slope with a bit of sniffles and coughing/asthma. Which means lots of breathing treatments and less sleep for me. So I'll try to quit blaming it on the kids and admit that I didn't get up when I heard the alarm and everyone was late. Ian had a bit of weird eye goop this morning in one eye, but we wiped it off and kept on. Erin's appetite is off due to sickness, so coaxing her to eat is time consuming and futile. So I spent the morning cleaning and finding blue play doh in strange places. My HC texted to say that he had to check his bag in because our tiny suitcase was too big to carry-on. I'm pretty ticked about that. Besides the cost, it was a pain in the butt to fit everything into that tiny suitcase. If we were going to check, we would have packed everything we wanted into a larger case...argh. But he made it to Texas and said he'd text when he got to NM. Meanwhile, Erin was fussy, the dog got into the shed outside and mutilated a bunch of stuff in boxes and had it strewn everywhere.
I finally sat down to finish Gosford Park and sew a couple of quilt squares.
Then I got a call from the school nurse. Ian's eye was red, swollen and itchy, they think it might be pink-eye.
It would be best if I came and picked him up and took him to the doctor. I called the doctor. They said "tomorrow morning ok?" I mentioned his kindergarten program tomorrow night and asked how long he would have to be on meds before he was out of quarantine. They said to bring him in, they'd fit him in somewhere.
So I got Ian from school, loaded his bike into the Jeep and got him from the nurse.
We got into the doctor rather quickly (shocker!), then went to the pharmacy.

Then we hit another snag. The cream the doc had prescribed wasn't in stock, but they would have it by tomorrow after 1pm. Argh! 24 hours of meds before tomorrow night? Yeah right. I called the doc, who called the pharmacy, who checked. Insurance didn't cover the other choice. On to Plan C. The doc was busy and had to sign off. We waited for over 45 min at the pharmacy. Since Ian has pink-eye, he is contagious. Trying to get him not to touch anything in a crowded, small town pharmacy? Nigh impossible. Erin's whining, squalling and meowing didn't help either. But of course everyone there thought she was cute as a button. They weren't holding her squirming, gymnastic little body, either.
We finally got some eye drops. The ones you have to put in every two hours the first two days? Then every 4 hours for 5 days after that. While Ian is awake, not during the night, thank you Lord! So no school tomorrow. If the eye gunk is drastically reduced by tomorrow night, we may make it to the kindergarten program/reward assembly. Otherwise, nope. As for Wednesday, how can he go to school when I have to give him drops every 2 hours? No one else at the school will/can administer them. And 5 days after that, every 4 hours? Argh! Oh well, I just hope that no one else gets pink-eye!

My HC landed in NM. They are an hour behind us, so that's neat. It looks flat and pretty, with mountains in the distance. Ian was disapointed that there were no cactus in the picture. My HC said he'd keep looking. I told him to eat well, because isn't there supposed to be some phenomenal Mexican food in NM? Mmmm...yeah yeah, thinking with my stomach.

He did end up having Mexican on the 70 mile trip from the airport to his hotel. And I haven't heard from him since, so he must be busy and having a good, educational time. :) Because that's what training sessions are for: learning. Right? We'll see, because really, it's all about hotels and restaurants. Mmmm... We at home will take this time to feast on cantaloupe.

An Interesting Week

2010-04-23T11:30:00.003-05:00

This week has been interesting. Really interesting. It seems as if I've won some kind of sweepstakes through Redbook Magazine. It is my "grown-up" magazine that I get, though I am suspicious that my HC also reads it when he's bored. You didn't hear that from me. April was it's Sweepstakes Every Day month or something and I entered everything. I guess I was bored. Well, I got an email saying that I won April's Work It Out sweepstakes and I cannot for anything remember which one that was. I remember there was one for workout videos and one for athletic shoes and a few more that has something to do with 'Working It Out'. I guess I'll find out when it gets here in 3-6 months, like the email said.
Another interesting thing that happened. We opted out of Ebay and decided on CraigsList for selling our Xbox stuff and for the Kelty Kids Child Carrier (which we only used once for Hiking Devil's Den and then my HC was so sore from toting Erin around he vowed never to use it again! And we didn't.) Yesterday we got an email about the xbox stuff. Then came a flurry of texts resulting in a sale last night! It only lasted 8 hours before it was sold and we are very pleased. Now we are waiting to hear about the Carrier. Please, Lord let it sell!
These things, of course, will go into our Florida Fund. We are hoping to make a vacation-type trip sometime this summer. And my HC will be coming this time, too. Woo hoo! It was so bleak without him in January. Everything is always funner with Daddy around, as the kids will attest. And Mommy is a little more fun with Daddy around, too.
There are 26 days of school left and Ian is becoming increasingly difficult to get out of bed and to school in the morning. Sigh. At least we have the weekend to look forward to. Relief! Another Friday is almost over.
I am watching Gosford Park right now and finding it hard to do with Erin crawling over me like I am her personal tree/trampoline.
Everyone is almost better, just some lingering coughs.
The garden is doing very well. Some peas showed up, as well as a couple of watermelon and cucumber. The morning glories are sprouting up as well. Now we'll see if they get big enough to actually climb the fence. We'll see.

Fried Ears

2010-04-13T13:58:00.005-05:00

The weekend was an incredibly busy one for us. Do you ever get those [incredibly rare] days when you just feel energized and actually get a whole list of stuff done? Then you spend the rest of the week wondering why you can't feel like that all the time and have a Donna Reed-esque life? Well, last weekend was incredible. We put our entire garden in, ironically the biggest one to date. We had said that we weren't going to do a garden this year, but we are forgoing the weed mat (waah!) and got the seeds very cheap at the local farm store. We did spring for chicken wire to put a barrier between the yard and the garden, to signal the dog to stop (it doesn't exactly keep her out).
We also changed our garden menu a bit. We are not doing corn this year, since it has been set upon by Japanese beetles every year and we only get a 1/2 gallon baggie of shucked corn total after they've finished with it. And we didn't plant anything that we didn't like this year. In the past, we've always planted okra since we love pickled okra. But there was never enough ready at the same time to pickle. And this year I am not making cucumber pickles because we have approximately 27 jars from last year that no one will touch. I am trying, but there was that one mushy jar....yuck. And I have discovered, by a majority vote, that no one else likes zucchini. And no one wants to eat any more zucchini bread or muffins. Ever.
So that saves me a bundle of work right there. So I get a break from pickling, harvesting gigantic okra that is inedible and shredding pounds of zucchini to freeze that no one will eat. I feel better already. Am I REALLY the only one that likes zucchini?! Really?!
I was outvoted again when I suggested opting out of the tomatoes. Phooey.
So this year's garden menu is: (drum roll)
Early Alaska Green Peas [along the whole back fence]
Maxi Beans (green beans) [3 short rows, bush style]
Carrots [a short double row]
Tomatoes (100 and Rutgers) [5 plants total]
Strawberries (Quinalt) [2 plants]
Crookneck Squash (yellow) [3 hills]
Cucumbers (burpless) [3 hills]
Cantaloupe [a short row]
Watermelon [4 hills, with 3 plantings in each hill]

Keep in mind that half of our garden is watermelon, since they need a lot of space.
We are hoping that the peas will shoot up and cover the whole 6 foot back fence, since the lot behind has been turned into a gravel parking lot...whee.
Personally, since we are not doing weed mat this year (bigger garden = more weed mat= too expensive...), I am hoping that a mulch truck will stop at our house and ask us if we need a ton or 2. In the meantime, we'll be out weeding....

So we spent all weekend outside, with the kids going in and out, depending on how many flies they wanted to let in. My HC got fried around his tank top and then burnt weird the next day, so from the back it looks like he was wearing a sports bra. It's a really good thing he can't see himself from the back. Try to smother a laugh or he will find you.
So all my lotion has been used up for the Greater Good (translation: HC). Erin's little pigtail part got red and she has a nice farmer's tan. Ian's nose is a bit red and my ears are fried to fire engine-like proportions. And I am sore all over from raking and shoveling and hoeing. My HC only had to do the rotor tiller, don't know what he has to be sore about. (I am only pouting a bit; watching him till with that thing was enough for me.) Erin also loved a few earthworms to death and pulled one apart ("Mommy! Wum boke!")

In addition to the garden success, my HC mowed and weed eated the front and back yard. We scrubbed all the winter muck off of the siding (as high as I could reach with the scrub pole), cleaned out the yucky corner of the house/yard, cleaned out the tupperware cabinet, cleaned out the shed, cleaned up some stuff to sell on Ebay, did all the laundry, etc. Still can't believe we did all that. Boo yah!

So you'll have to forgive me if I don't have any pictures, because I left my phone inside while I was performing all that manual labor. There's not much to see now except for dirt and hills, anyway.

But as with soreness, the after-effects remain. Now I have garden fingers, because my left hand is all scraped and rough from planting and there's dirt stuck in my nails that will just have to wear off. But I got me a garden, man!

Easter

2010-04-08T09:17:00.006-05:00

We had a pretty good time this past Easter weekend, even though we missed the family. Saturday night we colored our eggs. We told Ian that if the Easter bunny liked our colored eggs, then the Easter bunny would leave treats. And in our house, the Easter bunny hides the baskets, because bunnies are skittish and like to hide. And Lily sleeps inside, though she sleeps hard enough that we could hide the basket under her, but she would smell jelly beans and go nutso. She has acquired a real taste for jelly beans. The Starburst kind. If you trick her with generic, she tastes it and will spit out a sticky, goobery mess wherever she happens to be. And people tend to step on sticky, goobery messes around here. Namely me.

On Sunday, we had our Easter dinner (our piglet ham, I meanly called it. I apologize. It turned out to be a good, solid ham and I shouldn't have mocked it.) And, of course, The Hunt. The kids and I put a bunch of plastic eggs together inside while HC cleaned up the yard (a constant endeavor with an energetic young dog). We got 55 plastic eggs assembled and counted and waited inside, where every second seemed like an hour. Finally, Daddy was ready! And then Mommy had to take pictures. Groan!

We hid and hunted eggs until everyone was tired of it (it was rather windy; a normal spring Oklahoma wind of 20-30 mph).

And later, my wonderful HC started tilling my garden plot!!! Woo hoo!

A little Wii Before Bedtime

2010-04-02T09:31:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a pretty busy day. I got an entire pile of quilt squares finished, so there's a pat on the back for me. Ian had his class Easter party yesterday, since it's supposed to storm today. He is so finished with school it's not funny. He's just not interested in school or homework or the mean kids in his class. But he is interested in the class trip to Fun City on April 30. It's sort of like Chuck E Cheese, but not quite so crowded and a bigger playplace. I am still working through the logistics of substituting their pizza for him. Hopefully it won't be so bad and he won't feel so bad about having to have homemade with a tiny scrape of cheese on it. Hopefully he'll be excited about playing and not worry about the food so much.
We played outside a lot yesterday after school. The only way to bribe Erin back inside was with a popsicle. Boy are we glad that it's warm enough for popsicles! It was pretty windy yesterday too, so we had a definite need for conditioner at bathtime, not to mention finding half of a green fruit snack tangled in someone's hair (no, it wasn't mine, thanks). Also got the sandbox sand out of the back of the Jeep and set up the sandbox for the season. The kids were ecstatic. Unfortunately, none of the sandbox toys from last year survived rough play and/or Lily through to this year. So that's on the list. but from the looks of the sink, they didn't have any problems at all. You can always tell when the kids have a good time; there's always evidence left for me to clean up.

And you didn't even get to see the tub. But you can imagine. Then my HC and Ian had a bowling competition with the Wii. And as you can see, Ian paid Erin in Easter candy to distract Daddy long enough for him to win. Let me tell you, the kid can Wii bowl. But he is very encouraging to everyone else too, especially if they get a gutter ball. But he doesn't look very sympathetic, not with that oh-boy-I'm-going-to-win twinkle in his eye. Stinker. But that's ok, because after he went to bed, I got to bowl and I beat Daddy too. ;)

In Memory Of

2010-03-31T13:07:00.005-05:00

In memory of my uncle, Frank Peacock, whom I will remember for his big mustached grin, his infectious laugh and his love for the outdoors, especially airboating the St John's River around Christmas, Florida. He loved his family, his boat and telling tall tales. He will be sorely missed.

Just a taste....

2010-03-31T12:14:00.003-05:00

The kids got Antiquities photos done as part of a fundraiser for the Cherokee County Child Abuse Task Force. Some of them turned out very well. These two are pictures that I did not order, but they gave me a couple of proofs. Just to whet everyone's appetite about the ones that I did choose....so without further ado. Da-Daaaah!

Flars and Aigs

2010-03-29T10:32:00.011-05:00

This past weekend was pretty busy for us. The town had its annual easter egg hunt at the park on Saturday. Of course, it was over in about 5 minutes. But we didn't see the Five o'clock shadow guy with a warrant in the Easter bunny costume, so I guess that was good. Then the fun trip to walmart (on a saturday! aaah!). Sunday, we went to another Easter egg hunt in Siloam Springs. Caught that hunt and then went back to Walmart to get the finishing touches for our flower bed. And then, since our Xbox 360 was broken, we took the plunge and got a Wii. More kid games, more active, cheaper games, etc. Anyway, we spent the rest of last night doing the flower bed and sending the kids to bed so we could play bowling (I won), golf (got creamed by my HC for some reason) and boxing (worked up a serious sweat). So now I'm sore from working out a bit (and playing a video game?!).
So if you wanna come and challenge me to a round or two of boxing, just remember, I have 2 KO's under my belt. Oh yeah.

(and in case you're wondering, that's Valerie Bertinelli on the tv behind Erin)

Visitors to our Planet

2010-03-26T16:35:00.005-05:00

This week we had some visitors, who opted to go off the beaten path and stop at our house for the night. Well the path originally went from Colorado to St.Louis. St Louis got dropped for little old Cow town, Oklahoma. And eventually ended for a bit in GA before going home to FL. Some path, huh?
But since we are so special and pitiful and no one ever visits us (big puppy dog eyes), and because they were convinced by Papaw that it would be the Christian thing to do to prove to my kids that I actually have friends, they came!
Of course I looked out the window all day, even though I was assured they wouldn't arrive until 5. And they gave me periodic updates at rest stops. But I couldn't help it. They stayed the night on Wednesday and left at 5:30am (on the dot, I tell you truly). Even so, it was so good to see dear friends that share such a long history with me.
Ian was thrilled to have a deviation in his schedule that allowed him to play and goof off with someone other than me and HC and still stay up past bedtime. Erin just enjoyed the general chaos (and she stayed up late too). My HC enjoyed the visit too, since he shares the same history. There's nothing so comfortable as old friends. They understand when things aren't quite as clean as they could be, fuss at your kids when they want to bungee jump from the fan (or other tempting feats), and stir the skillet of browning meat when you are untangling the cord from the fan to prevent future jumps. This is metaphorical of course.
It was just plain nice (the help, not the feats of derring-do).
That much being said, I can whine a bit. Because they could have stayed longer. But they wanted to keep jobs and previous commitments or something else equally ambiguous.

Spring Snowstorm

2010-03-21T17:05:00.006-05:00

After a week of gorgeous spring weather, where it actually approached 70 a couple of times (but didn't quite get there), we were hit with a surprise sneak storm. So we celebrated the first day of Spring by dragging out our boots and heavy coats again, finding gloves and then just watching all the mess fall outside. This is the most snow I've ever seen at one time here. Pretty crazy. So we popped popcorn, pigged out on whatever we could forage and just stayed home. The power was fine, but it was a challenge to get the dog to do her business instead of leap around like a crazed rabbit and eat snow, especially in the middle of the night. But Erin got a huge kick out of Lily's antics from the warmth of her room, watching from the window. Ian's favorite parts were making a really strange snow pinnacle (not really a snowman) and the snow fort they figured out this afternoon. He said it was really warm in there, out of the wind. He and the inventive HC got Lily in there too. cute. Erin opted to stay inside for the second round and washed all of her play dishes in the sink with some soap bubbles. But you can see for yourself. ;) Of course, it's supposed to be all melted by tomorrow or Tuesday and spring temperatures will come back. We'll just have to wait and see on that one, because we're not taking anyone's word for it.

Muddling Through

2010-03-08T13:43:00.006-06:00

For big, happy announcements, Saturday was Anniversary Day for me and my HC. 6 Years! Crazy! On Friday we had an appointment to have the kids' pictures taken, for a Child Abuse Task Force fundraiser. Antiquities: Unique Portrait Fundraiser. They dressed the kids up and had the neatest props. Got some really sweet pictures. For our $10 donation, we get the sitting and a free 10x12 of the kids posed together. Then for an extra couple hundred dollars, you can get all the poses and a few pictures. But they are really wonderful pictures; just wish we could justify the expense! I'll be going back on the 30th for our "portrait selection appointment."
Since we were in town for the portrait sitting (my HC met us there in his unit), we decided to have our night on the town a day early and save some gas (Tahlequah is a 45 wind-y, long drive from home). So we went out for Chinese! Woo hoo! It's been a Looooong time. It was a little tricky with the kids' allergies, but Ian loves boiled shrimp and fruit and rice, so that what he loaded up on. I couldn't peel shrimp fast enough for him. Erin was not hungry, having enjoyed her Burger King french fries from earlier that afternoon. Ian was too busy on the playplace and the slides and tunnels to think about eating, so he was ravenous for dinner. (We can't go to Tahlequah unless we stop at the BK play place; it's a Rule. There will be mutiny otherwise and who can pass up a chance to expend all that energy?)
So we had our chinese....mmmm.....culinary delight. My HC took cranky Erin out, so he didn't get his seconds, but it was good enough (and inexpensive enough) that we have plans to return. High praise indeed from the selective HC. I love chinese food....sesame chicken. Mmmmm. And the dumplings with spicy sauce.
Then I got to pick out my anniversary present: a new sewing machine! Woo hoo!

Had an old one, but with bobbin case difficulties. Ended up being unrepairable. So I've been diddling with my new machine. HC got a new drill, so the loose siding is fixed on the house and some other odds and ends on The List are taken care of. Who knew all we needed was a drill to complete these onerous tasks?
Meanwhile, we are proceeding with our homeschooling plans for next year. We've checked the state laws (surprisingly lax, compared with Florida), perused curriculum, and will start homeschooling this summer (lightly, don't worry) when kindergarten is finally over. I am optimistic and confident about our educational future.
My HC is also looking at pursuing a degree as well. We are currently talking to admissions, etc, trying to see if it's something that's realistic for us right now (or should I say, him, since he'll be doing all the work). We are grateful that he has an employer that is excited and very encouraging about further education and is willing to work with his employee/students. HC was very impressed with a coworker in his 50s who just completed his Bachelor's degree.
My HC is taking it slow. No commitments yet, but we're just checking it all out.
Prayers would be great, especially about finances. I am hoping for a bunch of student aid, since he's working full-time and we's po'!
Still waiting for house to sell, though there is genuine interest from people moving due to road construction and widening. The gov't is buying their houses to tear down for new lanes and they are relocating, hopefully to our house! But first they are waiting on state to pay before they can buy. Who knows how long that could take? But it's good enough to keep our hope alive!
That's about it. We are pottytraining at our house. Having graduated the dog, we are working on the ErinNoodle.

Back in the Saddle

2010-03-04T10:26:00.004-06:00

With much fanfare and celebration, we are so joyful to have a computer again! Talk about withdrawals. After spending months in the library waiting on the slow computers and spending 45 minutes trying to pay 3 bills online, I am beyond relieved to be able to do it at home (and it's so fast!). Now the only problem is that we've managed to fill our time with other things and have to rearrange again to remember to check the email every day.... hope to get our new pictures downloaded and figure out this windows 7, then we'll be back in business for sure. ;)

Fudgie

2009-11-19T12:09:00.002-06:00

Ian and I try to read almost every night before bed. I would like to say that it is because I am such a model parent and blah blah, but really it is for several reasons. One reason, though not the most important, is that I get to reread the kiddy stories that I've carted around for years and years. Another reason is that it gives Ian a chance to settle down after romping all over the house horsing around with Daddy. It's good for the sweat to dry off before bedtime. I also love it when something tickles him and he just grabs his middle and laughs his head off. There's not much better than that. And it's hard to predict what will set him off, other than body parts or body functions. He is 5, after all.
My HC of course, thinks I just like to hear my own voice. But nobody listens to him when he gets in those moods. ;)
We have read Stuart Little (he liked the first half, but lost interest in the last couple chapters) and several Bobbsey Twins books (now he has a renewed longing to go to the circus...and I think I caught him saying "Swell!" once). We've also read all of the Junie B Jones Kindergarten books. We're going to wait a bit to start First Grade. But for some reason, I decided to try him on Judy Blume. So we started "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing." Fudgie is now his favorite topic of conversation. At the chapter about Fudgie's 3rd birthday party, he laughed so hard he rolled off the bed and into my lap (I was sitting next to the bed in a kiddy chair). He still mentions it from time to time, the funny parts. Tonight we are reading the last two chapters. We'll see how that goes, but I think "Superfudge" is in our future. I can't wait until he gets older and we can start Chronicles of Narnia. But in the meantime, any suggestions or favorites? Try to keep in mind that we are PBS kids and don't even like the Disney movies with death and sadness (Lion King? Bambi? Fox and Hound?) That's curbed a few that I've thought of. Thanks!

Into the Fall

2009-11-05T12:24:00.004-06:00

Things have been different at our house with the death of our computer. The desk is used for papers and bills, free time is used playing inside and out and all my daily websurfing is being replaced by other things, like reading on the treadmill. A good thing, believe me. I find myself composing blogposts in my head at odd times. Like the third night in a row of no sleep when everyone had the flu a couple of weeks ago. What misery!
Now we just have lingering obnoxious coughs. Erin says "Blesh" after every one of them. I guess she thinks they are sneezes?
Ian got his cast off yesterday. In September, he fell off the monkey bars at the big playground (a rare treat for his kindergarten class) and broke his elbow. Thankfully, it did not need surgery and seemed to have healed nicely after 4 weeks in a water cast (we love water casts!!! No itching at all and nice long baths without having to keep anything dry...). Ian's face was comical yesterday as the nurse came at him with the saw to cut off his cast, but he got through it. Now he just has a puny little arm and has to be reminded that he can use it. The first thing he did after getting the cast off was to wiggle a bit and say "Hey! I can touch my ear!"
He is enjoying being able to turn over easily in his sleep and being able to wear long sleeved shirts again, since it was 34 last night here and a bit chilly.
Erin is just buzzing right along, asserting herself at every opportunity, yet still managing to be charmingly adorable at the same time. She is wrapped around Daddy's finger so tight he bounces. This year she was Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween and everyone made much of her cuteness. Ian was a quiet ghost and didn't get it that everyone kept calling him Casper.
My HC is still having fun at work, though the driving all over the place gets old, naturally. The real estate agent wants us to lower our asking price again, but we're not going to. She is not happy with our decision, but we'd rather stay here with our currently manageable payments than end up with nothing left over to purchase again and have to rent the exorbitant prices that are now so normal. Even in our little town, a 2 bedroom rat hole is renting for 5 or even $600 a month. No Thanks! So that's frustrating, but at least we LIKE our house! It's just in the wrong town!
Also trying to save up for Christmas, which is increasingly hard, as anyone can attest. The holiday season always seems to turn into a giant Excess Party, where money and meaningless gifts are flung about in abandon. For the rest of us, who struggle anyway, we wish that others would realize what a big deal it is for us to buy our 20 Christmas cards and finagle the postage to send them. Last year there were some hurt feelings from a few that didn't get a Christmas card from us. I didn't have the energy to explain that we only got 20 and had to ration.
It is so tempting to just gloss over financial difficulties, but so much of normal worldly life is about glossing over and faking prosperity. It's also hard to hear others whine about their difficulties and how Christmas is 'so hard' when they only have $x amount to spend on their kids this year because money is tight and blah blah blah. It's hard to feel sympathetic when you know they make $1,000 a month more than you and eat out every day for lunch.
And now the self-pity part of my post is through. We are grateful for what we have. It could be so much worse. It's just a bit frustrating to see the piddly amount in the savings account, since we've been saving for 8 months.
And there's a fair share of guilt since it was my turn to go to the dentist this time and took a big chunk out of the kitty. I would feel no such guilt if it was my HC that had to go to the dentist. And yes, I really needed to go to the dentist and now all my teeth are fixed, etc. But still! Argh!
In happier news, it looks like we will be having company for Christmas and we are all very excited. Maybe this time there won't be an ice storm and the power won't be out for a week. ;)
Other happy news: we are done mowing the grass until next spring! Yay! Now as soon as we get a freeze, all the flies will die. That is what I'm truly waiting for. Hope everyone is doing well. I miss interacting with everyone. I just wish I could post pictures. That is truly the worst!

New Schedules

2009-08-30T12:05:00.003-05:00

Well, we have officially gotten into the swing of school and the new job. Erin is increasingly hard to keep busy, since she is constantly saying stuff like "Daddy door. Ian door." Which means that they've gone somewhere without her (through the door). The nerve of those guys! I've been on a housecleaning kick because it makes me feel like we'll sell the house quicker if everything is clean. The real estate agent came to take new pictures of the house since it's been on the market since Feb of 08. And those pictures show dead grey grass. Unfortunately, we've done a lot of work on the house since those first pictures, but she likes the old pictures of the unpainted kitchen cabinets and drab walls better than my paint jobs, so those pictures are still on the description. I'm sure if anyone does come to tour the house, they will wonder if they're at the right one.
Ian still says that kindergarten is long. No nap time, so I guess they work instead. The new teachers are....serious. It's a big change from pre-K because they were young and bubbly and enthusiastic about everything. In K, you're lucky if anyone cracks a smile. Not too crazy about that, but there's nothing I can do. They've also told me that Ian is immature, but he did just turn 5. It's hard for me not to get a little riled at that, but a lot of the class is 6 or turning 6 soon, so I guess that would make a difference. I comfort myself with the fact that Ian is smoking the rest of the class's butts in reading. He is also finding it hard to make friends. Several reasons being: Daddy was a cop in town and so has arrested a lot of parents and relatives; Ian can smoke everyone's butt at reading; he has food allergies, so he brings his breakfast and lunch every day and has faced ridicule because of it. So there's no friends there, really, but it just makes us want to move! New start, new teachers, new classmates! It would be really nice. But until then, we will deal with teachers that really need an attitude adjustment and look annoyed and tired all the time.
My HC is loving his new job, even though it takes a lot of hours and we are both bone tired every night. Movie nights are now only on the weekends. We don't even watch tv. He is also becoming quite the filing guru. I am very proud of him. We are still excited about visiting the dentist when our insurance starts.
The kids are recovering from the first school-borne illness. Ian got a cold and a stuffy nose. He still has the stuffy nose, but feels fine. Erin got it and it turned into a raging ear infection. The meds prescribed gave her raging diarrhea and rash, so she was taken off of it. Now we have to go back to the doc's on monday. I really dread these dr visits. I hate sitting there for 2 hours just to be told to keep drinking fluids and taking tylenol. Waste of time!!
In the meantime, we are doing ear cleaning with prescription drops because I don't believe anyone has ever seen the inside of Erin's ears. All 3 of the doctors and specialists that have tried just say "There's too much wax in there to see." After I got annoyed and asked a nurse how to fix this problem, I got a scrip, instructions and plenty of help. Gee, why didn't anyone think of this before?! Honestly. Is it small towns or what?! Ridiculous!

Lest I get all het up again, I will brag about my brilliant HC. The people next door moved and left a bunch of junk, including 2 broken headboards to twin beds. My HC took them apart and used the lumber to make me a coffee table! I love it. I get to stain and varnish it and I'm so excited. We are completely table-less in our living room and now we have something to put our glasses on instead of the floor! And we have something for the kids to snack at and color at (not on, Erin!) and it's a gorgeous wood. I have none of this ability and am amazed that my HC would be motivated and able to do it. The staining and glossing are done and we are so impressed. It's a bit darker than I expected, but that way it won't show Erin's scribbles too badly. ;)
Now I think I've caught everyone up to now, having skipped a week or two. Can't believe that next week is September!!
And congrats to my friend Rachel for delivering a gorgeous baby Elias last Thursday! Mommy and baby are doing great and should be home by now. Thanks for all the prayers! The fun has just begun, Rachel, but I know that you're enjoying every bit of it.

Job, School and Grandparents!

2009-08-06T12:02:00.003-05:00

To be short, since I'm sitting in the library and my hoodlums are being hoodlums, my HC started his new job, which has so many initials, I'll just keep him as my HC. This was his first week and he's been busy, but he really likes it. I think he likes eating lunch out even more, since he can eat whatever he wants without the guilt of our munchkins and their food allergies. He had pizza. Twice. sniff sniff. I think I've forgotten the taste of cheese. sigh.
So that is going wonderfully. Still no bites on the house, which makes my HC's commute rather miserable. And school is starting next week. We were hoping to have been moved before school started, but you do what you've got to do. Ian is excited about his new teacher, since we know her from church (it's his Sunday school teacher) and he's got some friends in his class, so that's even better.
And Gramma and Papaw are coming to visit! That's the best! They'll be here for his Meet the Teacher and for his first few days of school, so we are all excited about that. And there is the promise of Red Lobster. Mmmm...
And did I mention that my birthday is Sunday? August is turning out to be a pretty spanking good month. Now if we can just hold out until payday. Transitioning to one payday a month stinks, but we'll get used to it. :)
And my bestest college friend, Rachel is due for her first baby in the next couple of weeks. So August is good for more than just me. So if you're eating a pizza or a really good mouthful of cheese, think of me and enjoy a little more. And if you see a little bundle of joy at church or the grocery store, think of little Elias and how eager we all are to see him when he manages to come out into the world.

Happy Birthday Ian!

2009-07-23T11:39:00.003-05:00

Today is Ian's birthday. He is 5. My HC and I are still reeling from the fact that he can no longer be considered a baby, a toddler, or a preschooler. He is now officially a little boy. Sigh. Tomorrow is Erin's birthday. She will be 2. She is definitely not a baby anymore. Sigh. Our home computer is still dead, so I am at the library. No pictures, obviously, since the library computer doesn't download or anything, but I figured I could at least update our lives. My HC is excited about his new job. He'll be starting it at the beginning of August. He will be receiving all new equipment and a pretty jazzy take-home car. We are very thankful and psyched about how everything is going. He's going to Wagoner next week to try on his uniforms, collect some of his equipment (hopefully the take-home car?) and meet some more people. He'll still be working at the Ranger office on the weekends until things get a little more settled in the job transition department, but he is happy with it, so I guess I am too.
In the meantime, we have a lot to do getting Erin's joint birthday present (from Gramma and Papaw and Great Granna and Great Papaw and from us). It's one of those play kitchens with the dishes and stuff. We got it from Toys R Us yesterday and my HC and I will be assembling it tonight. Uh...one of those spouse-bonding things, since I am an instructions fanatic and my HC is a slap-it-where-you-think-it-goes type assembler. In August, Gramma and Papaw will come to visit and we are very excited about that. It's something else to count down to, now that the birthdays are upon us. :)
Now I need to scoot because the kids have trashed the library's blocks and puzzles and I have pickles to can and a cake to bake. And it's almost lunchtime, at least from the rate Erin is screeching "Nak!" (snack)
So thanks to everyone who has checked and not found anything new for a while. We feel just as out of touch without our computer. And how in the world is anyone supposed to know the weather?! (that was sarcastic)
So Happy Birthday to my munchkin/urchin/punks. How did time go by so fast?

Hot and Sluggish

2009-07-12T23:22:00.005-05:00

July has been punctuated with periods of extreme heat and mountains of garden vegetables. I think the neighbors are starting to hide when they see me trek down the road with shopping bags full of my vegetable offerings. There's only so much that my little freezer can hold and I ran out of canning jars. Sigh.
We are having a heat advisory until Tuesday. The heat index will be up to 110 until then and it is Nasty out. We have been trying to get outside earlier, but still end up with sweaty red cheeks after 20 minutes. And that is including staying in the shade with a popsicle.
Mimi and Grampa (my grandparents) came to visit with their friends, Bill and Shirley. They got here last Wednesday and they continued their trip after touring the Oklahoma Aquarium with us last Friday.
We had great fun. I have some pics, but I need my HC to fiddle with the camera and download them for me, since our computer had some kind of brain aneurysm and is malfunctioning every 16 minutes or so.
Can't believe that the kids birthdays are in 10 days! Ian revises his birthday list often, but only to rearrange the order that he wants his Hot Wheels ramps to go in. He got one from Mimi and Grampa for his early birthday present and he's been putting them together every day and getting them just right.
Praise God for Netflix too, because when you are forced inside to sit in front of the AC and move as little as possible, it is best to do it while watching a movie. And since my Pride and Prejudice allowance has been used up until at least October, there is precious little for my HC and I to agree upon. Well, we did start Lord of the Rings again, but then we got our Netflix delivered and that got put on the back burner.
Wish I could post some new pics. These are a couple years old; electronics and I are not getting along this month!
But I will end by saying that I am hoping that we have some very, very good news to share tomorrow.

Tails of Four Skunks

2009-06-29T16:37:00.004-05:00

As told to me by my HC.

I was driving along, going from one campsite to another and saw two little baby raccoons in the road. I got out to make sure they were okay to to make sure they got across all right. I got close enough to see that they were healthy little babies. I leaned over them and got hissed at. They started to get a murderous gleam in their eyes and eyeballing me like I would make a good snack, so I backed off some and watched them get across the road.

I went on a little farther and saw a Mama skunk and four little baby skunks crossing the road. They were so tiny, they could have fit in my hand. I stopped the truck and stayed in it (did you really think I was going to get out?) and watched them. The Mama skunk went off somewhere and it was just the baby skunks sitting there. I sat there watching. They were so cute. Then they all put their noses together and stuck their tails all up straight in the air. They looked like the points on a compass. Evidently, they were willing to spray EVERYthing in all directions. I guess they didn't like my truck. I backed up a little and stopped again. Then they all ran towards me, and immediately stuck their 4 little noses together, stuck their tails up and waited. I backed up again and they chased after me and assumed the position. I don't know where the Mama skunk was during all this, probably right outside my truck door with HER tail up.
I've never been chased by baby skunks before; I've never even heard of them doing that. And I don't know that I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.
But it worked; I picked another road.

*I would like to add that my HC didn't take any pictures, he was too busy backing up in his truck. I got these off Google Image for illustration. ;)

Dripping

2009-06-27T13:48:00.005-05:00

Yesterday it was over 100 degrees here. Everything was dripping. It was the day that we had decided to put off the inevitable and drive to the recycling plant to deliver our cargo of soda cans that we've been saving since last winter. It was 30-something cents per pound. We got about $15 for the lot, so we were pretty happy. We went to Sonic and got some lunch. We had set the bug bomb off at home to rid ourselves of the pesky black ants that had become too much of a nuisance to ignore or spray any longer. So we couldn't go home for another hour and a half, so we decided to drive over to the nearby State Park, since we'd never been. Having spent all our money at Sonic, we had to scrabble for change in the car for the $3 entrance fee. It was so hot outside, we weren't interested in the playground, which we could see rippling in the heat. What to do? Oh, Dripping Springs on a hiking trail with natural falls, which at 77' was the highest waterfall in the area. It was next to the park's 'formal gardens' so we started there. You can see from the red faces that we were keen to get in the shade. We went to the overlook and saw the falls, and the suspension bridge (eek). It was supposedly 88 steps down to the base of the waterfall and was recommended to wear hiking shoes (Ian was wearing flip flops). We weren't going to go down there, but Ian's pleading won out. Everyone grabbed a hand and we walked down. It was a bit steep, but it was all paved steps with rails, so it wasn't bad at all. The falls were gorgeous. The boardwalk was railed off with lots of benches, so you couldn't actually touch the water, but the cool spray from
the falls was enticing enough so that we stayed there long enough to cool off some. On the way back up, my HC and I remarked simultaneously: "That was worth the $3."
Then we went home and got in the pool.

Turtle Trouble

2009-06-25T14:31:00.002-05:00

Besides this being the last full week of the library program, I was also holding onto the last threads of sanity when my HC told me that he had found us a new pet at work one night. "Excuse me?" I said into the phone. "I think there's some static. Did I just hear you say something about a puppy?"
"No," he said. "It's not really a puppy. It's a kitten."
"!!!" I said (My HC is allergic, hello! And we have two large dogs. I am not one who believes that cats should be allowed inside... In college, my roomie had a cat and the large, solid, smell of the litter box actually made me contemplate sleeping in my car a few times. No thanks!)
"No, it's not really a cat."
"????"
"It's really a turtle. A little baby turtle."
"And?" Clearly there was a catch.
"It's a little snapping turtle. I found it in a puddle."
"What about our fish? It will eat them! We've had them for years."
"It's tiny. We can get it minnows or something."
I haven't even seen minnows since I was a girl in Florida. It is hard to see how we will supply a growing turtle who would probably like small fingers to eat even more.
So the turtle came home.

Then chaos erupted.
This turtle should be named Houdini. We lost it twice the first two hours we were awake. It was still in the tank, just contemplating its escape. And wedging itself up between the tank lid and the lightbulb so no one could see it.
We got back from the library.
"The turtle's gone," Ian announced on the way to his room. Clearly unfazed, he kept going.
"Whaaaaa?" I said, rushing to the tank.
Yup. Gone.
Thus began the search.
An hour and something later, my HC and I had torn apart the house searching and resigned ourselves to olfactory location sometime in the next week.
Then my HC decided to dig one more time in the corner behind the desk. He got a nip for his efforts, but he found the turtle.
The turtle's floating log was taken out of the tank. Now he is reduced to sitting on top of the air bubble stands, but he's doing well.
[shakes head] Sigh.

"Oohs, Aahs and Ha Ha Has"

2009-06-18T15:39:00.003-05:00

An article on the front page Westville Weekly Times, Tuesday, June 16
by Mandi Goforth

Lessons, left brains and laughter were the products of this week’s fun at the John F Henderson Library this week. Native American Storyteller Will Hill performed on Monday for a special family program. Dressed in Native American costume, he told several stories that have been passed down from his grandparents. Mr Hill also began each story with beautiful flute music and a song. With his many voices and dramatic movements, he held the audience captive as he told diverting, moralistic stories featuring character favorites such as Rabbit, Skunk, and Buffalo.
Upside down artist Dana Helm came to show us how to turn off our right brains and enter into the realm of the left. She began her presentation with a musically timed upside down artwork that she later gifted to the library. She would periodically rotate her easel so the audience could see what her composition would look like once it was right-side up. Children and adults looked on in amazement as her sketch was completed. Then she turned the tables. “It’s your turn,” she said. “Everyone try. Even the adults!” Dana supplied a page of comic faces and instructed everyone to turn the paper upside down. “Turn off your right brain. The side that’s telling you that this is impossible, that you can’t do it. Yes, you can!” The amazing results to this difficult exercise are being displayed in the library’s hallway. Come and see your child’s left-brained masterpiece!
Harmless T Jester, a veteran entertainer who has toured all around the United States and even performed an opening act for the Smothers Brothers, left everyone with aching sides and laughter-induced tears. He told jokes and stories, did impersonations and funny faces. He juggled everything from little balls to sharp knives (they looked more like machetes). Three helpers tossed him bowling pins and he juggled those while perched on a board centered on a rolling cylinder. He then made everyone in the room raise their hands and swear a solemn oath that they would never, ever play with fire. Then he proceeded to juggle flaming torches and set his own bottom on fire. Almost. Well, it was close. In case anyone missed it, he did it again in slow motion. “I never laughed so hard in my whole life,” nine-year old Dusty said. “That was the funniest guy I’ve ever seen,” a mother added. Harmless ended his show by telling the kids of a prehistoric time before computers, DVDs and YouTube. Every trick he learned, he said, he learned by reading books. Needless to say, there was a stampede in the library later on as interested boys looked for books on rope tricks and juggling.
Next week promises to be just as fun when Robert Lewis, a Native American Storyteller comes Monday to enthrall us with more timeless lessons. Toddler Tuesdays are rolling around again with games, singing, reading and experiences guaranteed to expand the knowledge of your toddler (siblings too!). The much anticipated Critter Tales will be returning on Wednesday with live animals to touch and discover. Come a little early to get a good spot, as this presentation is always crowded. On Thursday, Kirsten Jackson, Queen of Theatre will be presenting another opportunity for your little Drama King or Queen to show their stuff. Acting, singing and dancing is all anticipated and encouraged. A teen drama workshop will also be held. Don’t miss this opportunity to let your inner diva loose!
The spectacular summer program is at the halfway point. It’s not too late to register or attend this inspiring and hilarious free entertainment. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! Be creative at the John F Henderson Library. See you there!

Ian, Erin and friend Connor play during Toddler Tuesdays at the library

Rain On Our Parade

2009-06-12T16:48:00.005-05:00

Today, we were very excited. We have been planning on going to the river all week. Ian had his follow-up with the allergist in Tahlequah and then my HC was going to show us a good spot on the river to play and swim and picnic. We were a bit late for our appointment and it's a bit of a drive, complete with sharp curves, s-bend roads and a hairpin turn up and down mountains to get there. The posted speed limit is 65 for most of the way, though there are "suggested" speed limits of 35 in spots. My HC thought it was very important to get there on time and proceeded to show us exactly what our Jeep could do at 55 around those curves. Most everything fell from one side of the Jeep to the other, then back again. When we got there, I peeled my hand off of the handle above the window and unclenched my bottom from the seat. Ian reluctantly unfastened his seat belt and hobbled down to the ground. Erin was just glad to get out of the car. It took a few minutes for the green tinge to leave her face. (We made it there on time and he never went over the posted speed limit, so I could hardly fuss about it, could I? At least, that was the argument my HC presented to my terrified whimpers.)

Well, we found out Ian's results. If you remember the previous post about Erin, there's a scale for the severity of an allergy. A level 3 is an alert level.
He scored a 2 for Brewer's Yeast, Coconut and Corn. (sigh, but not such a huge deal)
He scored a 3 for Cheese, Eggs, Wheat and Soybeans. (Grrr! Soy?!)
He scored a 4 for Milk. So now we are completely on Rice Milk and I cancelled our WIC today. We can buy our own Juicy Juice and Rice Krispies.
He had no reaction at all to environmental allergens. So that was good.
We are still processing the whole soy thing. So far, we are swapping our vegetable oil for canola oil. The doc told us to drink o.j. with calcium and added vitamins, keep taking our vitamin supplements and try to eat a lot of green leafy vegetables.
so there.
As if to echo our sobering reality, we exited the office to a dark grey sky and strong winds. We went to Wal-mart to pick up more rice milk and a rotisserie chicken, since Ian couldn't eat the sandwich I packed with wheat bread and cheese (Erin doesn't care for sandwiches; she had cut up chicken in her baggie). We decided to go to the river anyway. We stopped for gas and pulled onto the road to the bridge we had decided to visit. We were immediately enveloped in a curtain of hail that smacked and bounced against our Jeep. My HC spun us around and we took shelter under the overhang at the gas station we had just left. The hail left and a heavy downpour took its place. We proceeded to the bridge, but it was raining/lightning/thundering too hard to get out of the car. We ate some beef jerky and watched. We decided to go explore under a double bridge not far from that same gas station. This picture is one I took while under the bridge. You can see how dark the storm was. Ian thought it was night time. The rain stopped enough for us to get out and throw some rocks in the water. We got back in the car, as the temperature had dropped to the low 60s. The kids pretended to drive.

Erin's turn.

Ian's turn.

Everyone's turn.

"Dad! Ian's hogging the steering wheel! Make him move!"

After a while, the rain slacked off some and we played a little more. We threw some more rocks in. We ate some chicken. Erin was cold and wanted to be held. We were all cold! We decided to go home.

Erin took a nap, Ian immediately changed into some sweats and played video games.

Now we are watching Nemo and the sun is shining outside.

Busy Bees

2009-06-09T13:37:00.004-05:00

The library summer program has started and we've been weaving around like crazy, getting here and there. The programs are scheduled differently each week to accomodate the different presentations and audiences, so I finally cleaned out the ole bike trailer (it was yellow with pollen) and hitched it up to my HC's bike. I forget why the hitch was put on his bike, since he's rarely around (or in the mood) to haul Shorty Red Curls around. I would like to place a motion to move the hitch from his bike to mine, because he is a good 8 inches taller than me and his bike reflects his size. In other words, my feet don't touch the ground very well when I am riding his bike. But that's neither here nor there.
Our favorite thing so far about the library program is Playgroup. It is co-sponsored by the Cherokee Nation Learn and Play Kid Connection. They have so many toys and learning experiences. There is a tub of water and floating ducks, wooden fruit that you can string up, play-doh, drawing, books, etc etc. And the teachers there practice counting and fine motor skills. It is for children 5 and under, though older siblings are encouraged to play along as well (and who doesn't get a kick out of baby toys? Everyone protests and scoffs, but after the baby leaves the room, the toys are still being used.).
But the absolute coolest thing about this is that they teach Cherokee. For those who aren't familiar with this area, Tahlequah (where my HC works) is the capital of the Cherokee Nation. The Heritage Center is there, the tribal buildings, the Cherokee Hospital, etc are all there. All of the street signs are in English and in Cherokee. It's pretty cool.
This month, the focus is learning numbers. I don't have a Cherokee font on my computer, so I will give the pronunciation.
One-- sa w u (sah-quoo)
Two-- ta li (tot-lee)
Three-- tso i (chjoh-ee)
Four-- nv gi (nuh-gee)
Five-- hi s gi (hees-gee)
Six-- su da li (soo-dah-lee)
Seven-- ga li quo gi (gahl-qwoh-gee)
Eight-- tsa ne la (chah-nay-lah)
Nine-- so ne la (soh-nay-lah)
Ten-- sgo hi (sgoh-hee)

There will be a quiz. So far, I can remember a few, but the best part is the accent. You know all those indian movies, like Last of the Dogmen and Dances With Wolves? They make those gutteral throat noises? Well, it's just like that and it's pretty awesome. But that is just me and my fascination with languages. And yes, plenty of people around here speak it. You can go into a room and two old guys will be rattling back and forth.
The lady who is the native speaker is a lot of fun and laughs at my pronunciation. It is now my personal goal to impress her. For some reason, Spanish was a lot easier....
When we are at home, we are goofing off around the house and playing a lot outside. My first squash is ready to come off the vine today. We will be having a squash cutting ceremony later today when we are out playing, if it does not hail (hello, summer storm season!). I can barely keep the swimsuits clean and dry before we are putting them on again to go out and play. The kids and I are getting tanned (okay, fine, the kids are getting tans). "Mommy, your spots are getting more!" said Ian as he pointed in wary fascination at my darkening freckles. In Britain, when someone has acne, it is described as having spots. Great. I am either pimply or a dalmation.
But today is my HC's Friday, meaning it's his last workday before his weekend. We're planning a visit to the river to play, so I'm sure I'll get even more spots then.

Nice Cold Air

2009-05-30T17:27:00.004-05:00

Finally (!!), my HC deemed it hot enough outside to put in the ACs in the kids' rooms. Woo hoo! Erin was very happy about this, since she's the one that has been sweating through her naps and waking up wet and red-faced. Ian has been sleeping in his underoos and finds it very inconvenient now that he actually has to wear pjs. Both were bundled up under their blankets last night. We also put the pool up yesterday, since Ian's been asking since February. It all started with a puddle. I had emptied out the dogs' water bucket and it made a puddle. Erin made a beeline and plopped right down next to it. She played happily until Ian found it and entered feet first. Mud was everywhere! Of course, they were both thrilled and played like the little piglets they are for a good hour. Thus the pictures. :)
While they did that, I was looking for the sprinkler in the shed. I didn't find it, but my HC decided that it was time to get the pool out. Yay!
Of course the water was still way too cold today, but Ian got in anyway. He gasped and chattered and insisted that it wasn't too cold to swim. After a bit, the wind started blowing and he came inside so he could be bundled up into his comforter and play some video games. (the ac in his room was on and it was cold to him...sheesh)
Meanwhile, our new fun thing is signing up for Netflix. We have a good ole video/tanning place in our wee town. The proprietors are very nice people, but they have the monopoly. You get movies until 5pm the next day and pay $3. The really old ones are $1 and they let us have the kiddie ones for 5 days. After a good salespitch from my mom, who does hers and my grandparents' Netflix accounts, we decided to take the plunge. Of course, this lead to quite a bit of time picking movies out for our queue. Isn't it ironic that after all that time, 3/4 of our picks are kid's movies? Hm. We just like to say that the ones we want to watch aren't on dvd yet. Yeah, that's right. We didn't REALLY want to watch Madagascar 2 or Bedtime Stories. Nah.
With great reluctance, my HC headed back to work for another week of fun on the river. The kids and I are trying to remember what day it is here at home. I am trying to remember the right way to load the dishwasher since it is my least favorite chore and I have short-term memory loss when it comes to that sort of thing.
The sad thing is that you can't do quite the same thing with laundry. If you run out of plates or glasses, there are always the paper ones to fall back on.
Not so with underwear. Pity.

The First Week

2009-05-24T19:46:00.003-05:00

Last Monday was the last day of school. It was also the middle of my HC's first week at his new job. He really likes it, but the 45 minute commute is pretty rough. So he's gone for 12 hours, sometimes more, depending on required overtime, like a call at the last minute. But he did see a moose. I didn't believe him at first, but then he whipped out the camera phone. It was blurry, sort of like those pictures of Sasquatch. You can sort of tell what it is if someone tells you first, but the "moose" looked like a cross between a deer and a horse. He promises that it really was and said it was a female and he suspected a newborn in the bushes, but being someone who enjoyed life, he decided to observe from a distance. What a smart guy.
Erin had another virus that kept us from doing her entire allergy testing. My HC also had to go back to the doc for another physical, since a letter was required. Then it was back to the allergist on Wednesday for Erin's followup and Ian's blood tests. Ian was a trooper and did great. All the nurses said how well he did. I guess they get a lot of screaming and hysterics. He cried a little, but the stickers and sucker and post-visit Hot Wheel from Walmart worked its magic. We find out the results at our next visit. Erin is on her no milk/wheat/egg diet for 6 months. At the end of that, she might go on a rotation type diet where she can have one item every 4 days. Taken in small doses, she may build a resistance to it. He also cautioned us to be aware of the development of more allergies, like rice and potatoes. I refuse to think about that. If we have to do without much more, we'll be stick figures.
As it is, we got a cookbook called "Sophie-Safe Cooking" by Emily Hendrix. She grinds up oats in a chopper and makes her own oat flour. Then you can make muffins and pancakes and cornbread. Every recipe in this cookbook has been great so far, though we are still adjusting to the texture of oat flour. The porcupine meatballs are a raving favorite so far. And the apple muffins. The cookbook is "A Collection of Family Friendly Recipes that are Free of Milk, Eggs, Wheat, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Fish and Shellfish." Perfect for us and such a gift from God! Try going for 2weeks with no carbs and you'll get it.
On Wednesday, we came home from the allergist in Tahlequah and went on The Great Road Trip of 2009. My HC had been summoned to Little Rock, AR to do the PT portion of the hiring process for the Arkansas State Police. They're like Troopers in other states, but they get to do more than just traffic. He had to report at 8am and do a jump, sit ups, pushups, a sprint and a 1.5 mile run. He passed with flying colors, though he does admit to having difficulty with the 24 situps. And he was pretty sore the next day. :)
Immediately following the run, they had to go inside to do a written test. We find out in about 4 weeks if he passed. If he does, it moves on to the next phase: Background Check. Then they contact everyone you've ever known (according to my HC) and ask them questions. He is nervous about this part.
ASP is hoping to be able to form an August academy. If not, the academy won't be until January (Aaah!). :(
It was a long drive home. It took about 4 hours, though who knows for sure since we stopped so often. There are gorgeous rest stops in Arkansas, though, for the record.
One even had a creek that we played in. And did I mention the Cracker Barrel at almost EVERY exit?! Oh yeah.
Living in Arkansas won't be so bad at ALL.
Friday we recovered. No one wanted to go anywhere.
Saturday was a workday and Ian had a party to go to; the fire chief's son turned 6 and had his party at the fire station. You should always have a healthy respect for invitations that say "Prepare to Get Wet". Water balloons and I'm not sure, but there may have been a fire hose involved.
I'm not sure because we dropped Ian off and stayed home to clean it because we had a showing!!!
And later that day, we had an offer. It was 10K below the asking price and with a lot of extra demands that we were supposed to pay for.
Today we counter-offered. We'll see how it goes. If it is successful, they want a June 30 closing date. Wa-hoo.
It's been a busy week.
Next week is the library program.
I regret that I don't have the blurry picture of the moose to share. Maybe I can convince my HC to email it to me. hehehe.

Slugs and Flashing

2009-05-17T22:07:00.004-05:00

Yesterday morning was greeted with a loud scream of alarm from Ian. Since this is a normal occurrence, it didn't merit much of a response. Then came the thumping of feet down the hall. "Mommy, come look in the toilet!" My mind instantly flashed back to high school, when similar requests were made by Jeff Foxworthy with questionable results. I shook these disturbing pictures out of my mind and followed Ian into the bathroom. "Hurry Mommy, I gotta go!" I looked in the toilet. Nothing but pale blue water. Guess it's time to replace the breath mint in the toilet tank. "No, no. Look!" Ian got down on his knees and peered into the toilet. He motioned me down. I gingerly knelt next to him. He got eyelevel with the toilet seat and pointed again. "There." Then he jumped up and ran for the safety of the doorway. Uh....I had just seen a byline for an article where a man sat on the toilet and got bitten by a snake....on the unmentionables. I backed up a bit and kept looking. Well, I'm sure you already guessed. It was a little slug. It had taken residence under the rim.
The cold and wet had left them with no choice but to come inside and pester us. I had found and disposed of 4 the night before, but this one was sneaky. I'm sure he was grateful, ultimately, considering the nature of his hiding place. I chucked him outside and Ian relaxed enough to do his business. Though I have noticed him thoroughly checking out the toilet every time before he uses it.
Erin has been sick again, but not from allergies, that we know of. Just lots of diarrhea and fever and some ear pulling. I put off the egg allergy testing until tomorrow to give her tummy a chance to get better. The fever is almost gone now, at least.

Anyway, I've been encouraging Ian to play with Erin a bit more, since they mostly just do their own thing in the same room, but are finding their interests merging some. Erin likes to watch the trains when Ian puts the track together. Ian is concerned that she will grab one and run off or mess up his tracks. It's true, she does do that, but so did he, up until about 6 months ago. You'd think he'd remember.
Anyway, I was painting the hallway during bathtime (it's 2 feet away, don't freak out) and it was time for tub cleanup and getting out. I heard some crazy baby laughter. Big belly laughs. I think she started getting hoarse after a while. It went on for a bit and I peeked my head around so as not to disturb them and watched. Ian had wrapped his towel around himself and was doing a jump/spin open-the-towel "Da-Daaaaaaah!" Erin thought this was hysterically brilliant. She actually started holding her belly before I reminded him what he was supposed to be doing. You never know what will set her off, but everyone has fun doing it.
I just never figured my sweet munchie would get such a kick out of flashers.

To change gears a bit, my HC's last day at the local police department was Friday. He started his new job yesterday. Now he's a State Ranger. So I guess it's not accurate to call him my Hot Cop (HC) anymore. I guess he's really my Hot Ranger, but I'm too lazy to change it. They call them River Cops around here, so I guess I can technically keep the label. So he's enjoying the state-wide jurisdiction and the new job. He's not really enjoying the commute, but at least it's a pretty drive. And me? The hardest thing for me to remember is the packing of suppers. Whoops. I miss him being able to stop in for supper, but the lowering of stress levels is worth a whole lot more.

Liking It

2009-05-11T22:22:00.003-05:00

Now that we have sort of reached an understanding with the new trial diet, we are finding out a lot of new things. My HC is finding out the most. Now that Erin is her beautiful healthy best, things are changing. As is normal, when most kids are babies they want Mommy, or whoever their primary caregiver happens to be (I have utmost respect for you no matter your age or gender; we are all after the same thing here). And when most kids don't feel good, they want the same person. In our house, it's me. Continuously.
Ian is getting to the point where he doesn't care who changes the sheets when he wets the bed or gets him another glass of milk. But Mommy is still the kisser of boo boos (for another couple of months, anyway). Erin is discovering this fact as well. Last night, it went like this.
I'm not sure if it's the normal course of things or not, since she's been sick for so long, but Erin tends to get up at least once a night because she is thirsty. She's always thirsty; she's part camel. And she takes after me. I get up a couple of times a night to get a drink or visit the bathroom and check on the kids. Usually my HC is awake and doing his after work wind-down and computer fix (Mobster, anyone?), so there's the added bonus of saying hi and how long have you been doing Mobster and come to bed already. (!!) Last night I was tired. My little chickie is up with the sun, which comes out 6-oh-something here. Last night she got up like usual. She fussed half-heartedly for a bit. Then started calling. "Maaaaaaaaaaa-meeeeeeeeeeee!!" After a while of no corresponding footsteps signalling my arrival, she tried something new and hit paydirt.
"Daaaaaaaaaaa-deeeeeeeee!" Daddy was on the computer and probably pounding keys loud enough to broadcast his presence. It didn't take many repetitions to have him bounding into her room to save the day (uh, night). Well, Daddy = playtime. She instantly went into a monologue. He got her some milk and walked with her for a bit. She wanted to talk and play and see what everyone was doing. Eventually, she got dumped into bed with me. She was cold!! Last night was chilly, somewhere in the low 50s and damp. I dozed off and on with her laying next to me, still talking to Daddy, who we could see from the bed, tapping away again at the computer. (as a side note, did he really thing she'd just go to sleep?)
After a while, I got tired of being kicked with little toes, warmer now, and got up to put things right. She got some more milk and then we changed a diaper. I turned her heater up and straightened her pillow and blanket and found Elmo. I walked with her for about 2 seconds and poof! Back in dreamland, back under the covers. Still, Daddy is mystified. But not intrigued enough to log off...
Erin was still sleeping today when it was time to get Ian from school, so I left Daddy home to monitor and went to get Ian. When I got home, they'd practically formed their own secret club, with handshakes and everything. Daddy had put shoes on her and taken her to play on the carport (which Mommy doesn't do; Mommy prefers the security of the fence.). They had colored pretty pictures with the sidewalk chalk. They had played on the playground and Daddy had pushed Erin on the swings just the way she likes it (this is one of the few things that Mommy cannot do; Daddy rubs it in, the oinker). They were happy to see me, but I have a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with the drinks I brought them from Sonic.
At suppertime, squealing, shrieks, giggles and wordy explanations heralded Daddy's stay at the table. At bedtime, she somehow managed to kick the wall, sing to herself and twiddle her thumbs until 10. She tried calling for Mommy and Daddy, but Mommy didn't go in until 10, when Castle was over.
I went in. The bed was mussed, the cup was empty and the diaper was full. I picked her up and went to get more milk. It was so predictable. Erin leaned out of my arms to peek around the corners. "Daddy? Daddy???" "
"Daddy's at work," I whispered.
"Shhh," she replied. "Daddy? Seeeep? Daddy?"
"No, Daddy's at work," I said again. "But Ian is sleeping."
The whisper was comical. "Daaaaaaa-deeeeee!"
I got her milk and she looked out the kitchen door, presumable for the cop car to be parked there. It wasn't. She looked disappointed. I guess she hadn't stayed awake long enough after all. Shucks!
She got her milk and a dry diaper and her bed all fixed. I walked a bit and she fell asleep. But that's okay. In a couple more hours, she has the chance to try again. And some things work every time.

Improvement

2009-05-08T22:06:00.002-05:00

There has been improvement on several levels over the past few days. The weather actually improved for 2 days, allowing us to mow and weedeat the jungle that had shot up in the interim. It also allowed Erin to discover just how much mud she could step in before it sucked her shoe off of her foot. She also discovered that she didn't like the feel of mud on her feet or her hands and expressed her feelings by wiping it off on me. Ian discovered that he'll miss his teachers an awful lot after school ends in little over a week. His attitude toward school has improved somewhat.
Erin's health has improved so much, it's almost uncanny. The runny nose, wheezing and cough is completely gone. She is focusing on being as ornery as possible and getting into everything that's not nailed down. If it is nailed down, she knows where the toolbox is.
I have improved the oatmeal muffin recipe, or I actually followed the directions. One of the two.
We have decided to improve the interior of the house, having done our yard duty. The kids and I moseyed on over to Lowe's and got us a gallon of Brilliant White Flat Ceiling Paint. You never realize exactly how yellow your ceiling is until it is directly compared to Brilliant White. It also helps that I spackled all the cracks. But as for the color, think of the Crest White Strips commercial.
We also got us a five gallon bucket of Summer Rapture. It's the same minty/leafy green we painted the laundry room/bedroom. I think the house is ready. It is desperately needed in the hallway and in the kids rooms, since I've scrubbed all the old paint off along with a lot of pencil and crayon drawings. The blue ink remains, however. I disintegrated a Mr Clean Eraser trying, but to no avail.
Another improvement that has everyone smiling. My HC gave his written notice today at work. Yay! One more week to go and then you'll be able to see every one of my HC's teeth when he smiles. Then our stress levels will just float away. And that will be the biggest improvement of all.

Adjusting

2009-05-04T09:35:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marks my first attempt at wheat-less, egg-less, milk-less baking. And it was edible. It was pretty good if you didn't remember how much better it tasted before I modified everything. But I digress.
I scoured the internet for recipes. I found one for oatmeal muffins. It called for weird ingredients and hand juiced oranges, the zest of one whole orange and cranberries. Real cranberries. Call me a nut, but I didn't want to waste our oranges to make muffins. And I'm not sure I've ever really seen real cranberries. Oh, wait, I did see some last holidays because my HC told me if I ever tried to make cranberry sauce from scratch he and the kids would go to McDonald's for Thanksgiving. I don't think he likes whole cranberries very much. Did anyone else get that vibe?
Anyway, that recipe was not realistic. So I took my old recipe and modified it. Instead of flour, I made my own oat flour in the chopper. Instead of an egg, I used 1/2 a banana. There was already applesauce in the recipe, which was good. The banana instead of an egg idea was from the pamphlet the allergist gave us. For everyone else, it had "For baking:" in front of it, so I wouldn't recommend it for fried rice or anything. :)
They baked and came out. They smelled so good. We have been without breads, crackers, buns or any kind of baked bready goods for a week. They cooled and the kids fell upon them like hyenas on a carcass.
While they were distracted by the discovery of muffin cups and the fact that they had, indeed, ingested paper, I snagged one. It was crispy on the outside and very moist on the inside. Very moist like it needed to be baked a bit more. Very moist like it giggled when I broke it open. You get it.
I was also confused by the fact that they hadn't risen much. Is oat flour really that heavy?
Anyway, I think Erin ate 4 of the things yesterday. And she ate one this morning while we were in the doctor's office for her follow-up.
Last night I made sweet potato fries that would have been better if I had read ALL of the directions and put them on a paper towel when they came out of the oven. So they got a wee bit soggy, but they were still good.
This morning we went to our doc's appt. Erin's doing better, though she's still wheezing. She's still got a cough, etc etc etc. She doesn't have a fever anymore and she's eating, which was evident from the muffin crumbs trailing us from the waiting room. We will continue to monitor her as she goes off of the 5 day scrips, blah blah blah. Ian is also going to be scheduled for his own allergy testing. Though his isn't as scary as Erin's he still gets the never-ending sleep-interrupting cough every 6 weeks or so. Sigh!
Tomorrow will be our first allergen-conscious shopping trip. We are sincerely hoping it goes well and is not too awfully expensive!

Another Worst Fear

2009-05-02T21:00:00.004-05:00

There are several things on a Parent's Worst Fears list and I checked another one off today.
Some of the list that comes to mind are things like your child getting burned on the stove, bitten by an animal, falling off of a high surface (like the top of the piano) or drinking water out of the toilet (you just think that could never happen to you, but I assure you, it or something similar will come to pass eventually). Ones I've already checked off include: watching your child struggle to breathe, having to be hospitalized with an IV while they look at you in pained confusion. Today's was finding an open and empty bottle of Children's Tylenol in Erin's hand. I had been in the bathroom and my HC was sleeping off another late and stressful night at work. I don't know how she got that child-proof cap off when it takes me 3 or 4 muttering, frustrating minutes to manage it, but she ate the rest of the bottle. I woke my HC up and we read the bottle. We deduced that she had ingested 3 or 4 doses (thank the Lord that the bottle was almost empty!). After a frantic call to my mom, I hauled Erin into the bathroom to induce vomiting and my HC raced off to the pharmacy to find some ipecac.
Did I mention that the power was out?
Erin sputtered, gagged and screeched. I had a few sympathy heaves. After a lot of phlegm and a little bit of tylenol colored spit, I had mercy and stopped to wait for my HC's return. I wiped Erin's nose and face. She calmed down eventually and fell asleep sitting on my lap in the bathroom. My HC came in. Ipecac is not manufactured anymore due to the ephedrine in it. Ephedrine is used to make meth. He had called EMS. EMS called Poison Control. I talked to the EMT, who asked me how many miligrams were in a dose, Erin's weight and how many doses that I estimate she had taken. He continued talking to poison control.
When he called back, it was with good news. She had ingested around 600 mg and the overdose level for her weight was 1,000 mg. Even if I had gotten it wrong by a couple of tablets, she was still safe. I was advised not to give her any more tylenol for the rest of the day (duh! we were out anyway) to give her liver a chance to process it all. I was also advised to monitor her closely just in case, but assured that she should be okay, but EMS was there in case we needed them. God bless that man! He has come to our rescue several times. When I am worried about Erin's asthma, we have gone to the EMS building several times for them to check her pulse/O2 levels. They have always done it with a smile and soothing concern.

Meanwhile, Erin slept off the bad effects of her ordeal (and my torture) for the next couple of hours and woke up quite refreshed.

My HC and I collapsed in the living room. It took a while for my shaking to subside, though I will admit to some tears of relief and thankfulness to God.

It was rainy and cold today, but we roused ourselves later in the afternoon to see the Loyalty Day parade, of which 2/3 was squawking, blaring emergency vehicles.

It also happened to be Burnout night, where every broken, rusty car with a smoker's cough muffler pays $5 to burn out on one of the main roads into town. This lasts for hours and the burnout marks on the road are measured. Trophies are handed out to the winners (those with the longest mark). People come with lawn chairs to sit on the side of the road and watch this diverting entertainment. The rest of us stay holed up in our houses, trying to avoid the burnt rubber smoke, the disturbing cacophony of revving engines and displays of juvenile testosterone at every stop sign, including the one in front of our house.
Did I mention that our road is part of the Turn around route and the Detour? Yes. It is.

I have to admit that I am glad this day is over. Now we have 10 days left of no wheat/egg/milk before we test for triggers. My mom found this cookbook online developed by a resourceful AllergyMom that has recipes without the 8 or 9 common allergens. Who knew oat flour had SO many uses? Who knew anything about oat flour at all? Who honestly knew that McDonald's french fries have wheat and milk in them?! Huh?! HUH?!

But now the kids are in bed, Erin having conked out on the second step into her room. Ian is enjoying his weekend bedtime ritual of movie in bed while playing with Hot Wheels. It's Peter Pan tonight. I just know I'll get that "Following the Leader" song stuck in my head, though anything is better than "K-9 Krunchies". My HC sings that one when he wants me to scream and pull my hair out. I will most likely regret making that public.

It has been the absolute worst 2 weeks in my life. Surely the bottom must be reached at some point and the climb return upward? I can only pray.
And hum. Tee dum, tee dee...Following the leader, the leader, the leader...

Allergic to What?!

2009-04-29T15:16:00.002-05:00

We went to the doc today for Erin's allergy testing results. She tested negative for any kind of environmental stuff, like pollen and ragweed and normal stuff. Then we got to the basic food allergies. Sheesh. It's a scale of one to six (severe) and the doc said he raises his eyebrows at a 3. Well, Erin got a high 4 for eggs, a 4 for wheat and a high 3 for milk. The best way to decide what exactly is causing her respiratory distress is to have a 2 week hiatus from the offending element, then introduce it in its purest form and look for a reaction, first in the morning, then in the afternoon. For the sake of time, we decided to combine all the elements in our hiatus.
So, in short, for 2 weeks, we are doing without eggs, wheat and milk. Poor Erin. Then I got the doctor's sheets on all the different ingredient names for all of this and the basics of what we can't have. No dairy. No butter. No bread or anything with flour in it. No noodles (!). Nothing breaded. No eggs or anything with eggs in it. Baked goods. Breakfast. Sheesh. So we are down to meat, veggies and fruits. Or anything weird that we can find at the whole foods store, though has anyone seen anything that doesn't have whole wheat this or 5-grain that?? Come on! No goldfish! No chicken nuggets! No toast! No cheese! No pizza!
It's like being on that Adkin's diet, sort of. Thank the Lord that we can have rice and potatoes (french fries). So we have two kinds of rice milk in the fridge (soy milk is nasty; sorry, but have you tasted it?!), lots of fruit and hopefully some applesauce for night-time meds that usually get stuck in milk.
So tonight's dinner is bunless hamburgers, veggies and fruit. Breakfast is grits or oatmeal, after I check the label to make sure there's no wheat products in there...argh! Lunch? No clue. We'll figure something out.
In the meantime, does anyone else have any ideas? We can use all the help we can get.
Either way, it will be worth it. Getting rid of this horrible 7 month cough and wheezing will be SO worth it.

Country Boy Videos

2009-04-28T21:31:00.003-05:00

These two videos wouldn't fit in the original post.
For hints, Ian is wearing a black cowboy hat and a plaid long-sleeved shirt. In the country boy video, he is standing in the back right corner and is hard to spot. In "Buffalo Gals" he is standing right in the middle, though the lighting is bad. He was on the sides, so my HC got right up in there with the camera. Gotta love his dancing, either way. Some of the boys got pretty rowdy up there, so we were proud that Ian stuck it out and remembered his moves. :)
Sheesh, it's so hard to think that school is out in 3 weeks.

Country Boy

2009-04-28T21:04:00.004-05:00

Today was a pretty good day. I got a pretty neat new haircut that will require a flat iron (another reason why more accidents happen in the bathroom). I was told that I look 5 years younger, which is a pretty big deal if you are still under 30. So I got a demonstration from my new hair stylist (Gwenda, God bless you) and I now know how to duplicate it. It's pretty easy too, even for a lazy hair person like me. Ian likes it, anyway. He's been telling me I need a haircut for a week or so. My HC is just happy that I didn't get bangs. The things you never knew... We went to Ian's class program and it was so cute. All the kids were decked out in their cowboy/girl finest. There were plenty of doting parents and big bottoms blocking cameras. Erin was fussy the entire time since it was a special occasion and couldn't be persuaded to nap. She got quieter when the program started. Talk about excess cuteness! The principal started it off, telling us to take plenty of pictures because after we blinked a couple of times, the kids would be walking across the same stage to get their high school diploma. There were a lot of tissues at this point. After all the singing, they did awards. Ian got the "Brightest Smile" award. Naturally, my HC thought he should have gotten something more along the lines of "Gifted Genius" but I explained to him that they didn't want the other kids to feel inferior [wink, wink]. The last thing was the slide show. Every child's baby, toddler and now pictures were shown. We went to the cafeteria for refreshments, but the line was all the way through the cafeteria, around and out the door, so we decided to say our goodbyes and head to "McSongit" as Ian calls it. Of course, they only wanted the apple juice slushes, but at least my HC and I got the leftovers (woo hoo!)

Pink

2009-04-27T22:25:00.004-05:00

The wind is still relentless, though it's finally gone down from the 30 mph gusts that have been tearing at everything. Now if we can just get rid of all the coughing...that would be nice. Ian seems to be doing better, though the cough is still there, a little.
Now it's Erin's turn again, to hack and hack, a dry then a wet cough that makes her choke and gag and wake up and cry. Last night was not a good night. Now I am just sitting here listening to the coughing/gagging. We were hoping that the allergy doctor would figure out a way to fix this. We're hoping the blood tests will yield treatable results. It's strange that you get so used to being sick all the time that it starts being normal. Then you realize that not everyone else makes weekly and bi-weekly visits to the doctor and pharmacy. I think those offices have our numbers on speed dial. The pharmacy knows us by our prescriptions and just may get a picture of the kids at Christmas. Not really, but it's comparable to being so familiar to the Chinese takeout place where you call and they say "The usual?"
It still stinks that our camera is malfunctioning because I got some prime shots of Erin after she decided to decorate her arm and legs with pink marker.
I think she knew she was naughty because she brought me the marker when she was finished. The cap, too. I scolded her like she expected and then she kept saying "stuck, stuck!" Ian was scandalized. "Ooooh, Mommy! Look what Erin do to her!"
I told them that it probably wouldn't come off (though Erin tried with wet wipes). The worst part is that some of it came off in the tub and now she has faint pink marks, like she's been scratched. It looks like she's recovering from being dragged through the briar patch. Except it was a marker and not a pen, so the lines are thicker. Anyway, it's obvious enough that you want to inform everyone of it before they decide to call a social worker on you.
Big fun tomorrow. I am trying a new hair stylist, the praise leader from church. She is so busy by herself that she doesn't often take new clients, so I am relieved. Or I will be relieved if I leave her studio without a bowl cut, a puffball or a mullet, which seems to be the specialty around here. For females, anyway.
Ian's pre-k program is also tomorrow. He has to dress up like a cowboy (please, no guns or spurs). He will receive a blue bandana when he gets there. I know there are songs involved because he's been singing a garbled version of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" that took me a while to translate from "Mommy, do you know that song, "Tha-Gadda-ma-Kutchy Boy?" He looked a little confused and then happy when he understood the real words to the title (I can't help him with the rest of the song, unfortunately). I think he inherited that skill from me. Though I have JD, my very knowledgeable step-dad, to thank for revealing, after 20 years, the real words to "Take On Me," even though there is one line still in dispute.
We'll try for some camera phone pics, and maybe some video. Cross those fingers! And pray that God sends us a camera that works.

How Does My Garden Grow?

2009-04-23T22:13:00.004-05:00

With blister, sunburn and aching muscles. And there's not even a guarantee that it will. But at least there's one unpleasant thing that I will be avoiding. This year, there is an abundance of WeedMat. Yay. There almost wasn't, due to the 30 mph wind gusts that kept ripping through the yard. And there might be some missing pieces tomorrow, due to the 30 mph wind gusts that will be ripping through tomorrow, but please Lord, let them stay!
Our garden this year is twice the size that it was last year, and that's not counting the hills on the other side of the yard for pumpkins, watermelons and canteloupes. Now comes the hard part....waiting for results.

We have all recovered from our illness and for those wondering, my HC never got sick. He didn't get sick the last time the stomach bug roared through either. He says he has an iron stomach. I say he's ingested so many toxins from all the soda and junk food that nothing can survive in his bloodstream. We agreed to disagree.

Yesterday was the first day of the year that it was 80 and sunny. We were tilling the garden and shovelling out rows. We all got sunburnt. Erin is fine, she just got a wee bit of red under her eyes. Ian came home with burnt arms and neck and nose. And his little lips were all chapped and cracked this morning when he woke up. I keep chasing him with Herpecin, a medicated lip balm. He doesn't mind, but he likes the other stuff better, that tastes like mint. We don't have that kind anymore. Erin ate it.
Today my HC and I got even more burnt. Tomorrow we will rest. And then it's supposed to rain for 5 or so days, so I guess it doesn't matter that much.
But in the meantime, my garden plot looks goooooooooood!

Saving Mommy

2009-04-19T15:12:00.004-05:00

Well, Ian got better. Then on Friday night it hit Erin. She threw up plenty, though she never had the other end of it. I was just fine and dandy and so was my HC. Then after all day of the other end, everything I had ever eaten decided it wanted to make an upward appearance. And of course it wanted to happen about an hour before it was time for my HC to go to work. He was sleeping through most of it.
And everyone else? Well, they wanted to watch.
I think Erin was trying to hold my hair back at one point and Ian was just standing in the doorway with an EW! look on his face. I had keep Erin from getting too close and after I almost knocked her down (I thought I was finished), I had Ian go wake Daddy up. Of course, Ian came right back. "Daddy won't wake up," he complained. It was clearly not a good time for me to do it. I hobbled into the bedroom and scrabbled at his leg until his bleary eye cracked open. Thank God he went into alert mode right away. He entertained the kids while I had some more trips to the bathroom. He called in to go on a later shift, which gave him 2 more hours at home. He fixed supper while I lay on the couch like a dead thing.
I almost cried when he went to work, I felt so awful. But one thing saved me from utter despair.
It was Elmo.
Elmo bubbles to be exact.
Gramma and Papaw got Erin a little Elmo bubble blower for her birthday last year. Since bubbles are seasonal in our neck of the woods (?!!!), we eagerly snapped up a bottle as soon as we saw our brand. Almost every day we have been filling Elmo up and turning him on for some bubble frolic.
Unfortunately, our lame camera is not transferring pictures to the computer, so you'll just have to visualize. If I can get my HC to sit and help me, we'll figure out what's wrong with it. Until then, I am thanking God for Elmo and the distraction he afforded while I was so disgustingly sick.
Today I feel better, just TIRED and my stomach feels like something you want to poke at with a stick, wrinkle your nose and leave on the edge of a ditch.
To Ian's great disappointment, he will be going back to school tomorrow.
That's okay. As long as Elmo has batteries, the world is a friendly place.

Ew

2009-04-16T19:19:00.004-05:00

*note: due to the sensitive nature of this post and for the protection of my readers, there will be no pictures in today's blog.

Last night was the beginning of Stomach Bug II. The first was a few years ago when Ian was a toddler. Now he is 4, and praise God he can throw up into a bowl or the toilet (or the sink; or outside), most of the time. Erin thinks the emergency puke bowl is great fun. This morning she threw some cereal into it (don't worry, it's kept rinsed out). Then some bottles of Gatorade. A couple of hot wheels. Then she wanted to lay on the ground next to it to see her reflection in the sides. Ian thinks she is quite gross. "That's a YUCKY bowl!" he keeps telling her.
Of course, the twin companion to vomit comes out the other end. Explosively at times. Unfortunately, there is no bowl for this. But we are now minus one rug (I was sleeping; my HC determined this a matter of household security and made an executive decision), several pull-ups and a couple of rolls of tp.
Meanwhile, Erin decided to do another diaper fingerpainting when we were too slow to get her from her nap. So I have seen enough body fluid and waste today to last me for quite some time. And the Pizza Rolls that we heated for supper (we were desperate and cooking was not an option) did not phase us a bit. Ian finally managed to keep some string cheese down (he insisted, I was pulling for the jell-o). It's been 2 hours so far with no gastronomical pyrotechnics and we are SO praying that it was a 24 hour bug?? Please? Please?!
We are also praying that no one else gets it (go ahead and laugh, but we can hope, can't we?).

In other news, we went to the allergy specialist on Wednesday, for Erin. We got some nasal steroids even though she is under 2. They also took a few vials of blood for testing. We go back in 2 weeks to see the results. My HC was there to hold her while they took her blood and of course, it hurt him more than it did Erin. After a medicinal Happy Meal, Erin felt better. We also got strict instructions for some earwax removal, since it was too thick to see inside her ears. I don't know about anyone else, but I have always heard that "you should Never try to clean your kids' ears out with q-tips or anything; let your doctor clean the ears. You could damage something!" Of course, I go to the doctor and get "his/her ears are too filled with wax to see anything," with a hint-hint type of look. Finally the allergy doc steered us to an OTC oil that will cause the buildup to slip out (or you can suction, if you have kids that are amenable to that [I don't]). Sheesh.
Now we have the Blue Beast (nasal aspirator) and the Tuber of Terror! But so far, I haven't been able to catch anyone long enough to use it...

Drippy Eggs--Part 2

2009-04-13T22:46:00.004-05:00

As a little add-on to the last post, this is a pic of my new, beautiful niece, Aislynn, who has just completed her first month on the Outside (of the womb, that is). I think it's just no end of funny that the Easter Basket is bigger than she is. She's probably eyeballing all that chocolate and thinking "Just you wait, next year, I'll be all over you!"

Of course, her cousins Ian and Erin would be more than happy to help her right now with all her Easter Candy.
Upon seeing Aislynn's pictures, Ian's first response was a look of pity. Then he spoke up. "She doesn't want to be a baby. She wants to be big. She NEEDS to be big." Clearly, he's happy being 4. Erin just points and says "Baby!"

Drippy Eggs

2009-04-13T15:53:00.005-05:00

Eastery Sunday was pouring rain and 40 degrees. We had to practically swim from the parking lot to the church. Ian and I had wet shoes and legs and Erin's face was buried into my shoulder trying to keep rain out of her eyes. It was not fun.
But I did have a chance to try to take some pictures.

For those who think it's completely necessary for kids to have their eyes open, I finally figured out how to turn off the flash. So there. At least some eyes are open.
We played Candy Land after our big Easter dinner of ham and asparagus, though Erin was only interested in the Hawaiian rolls. Erin got an Aqua Doodle and she loves it. This is a wonderful thing, since she has adorned almost every surface of the house with ink, crayon and/or colored pencil. Erin also got a coloring book, an Elmo movie and a book to read. Ian got a HotWheel, a Matchbox play scene and a book on Outer Space. There was a little candy involved and a small chocolate bunny, but we are overflowing with candy from the egg hunts we went to. These pictures have disappeared from the camera due to a mysterious removal of the battery (bad picture maybe?). Oh well.
Tonight we are having Hawaiian pizza with leftover ham. MMMmmmmmmm!!!!

Bunny Ears

2009-04-10T20:23:00.002-05:00

Today was Easter Fun Day at school. Everyone had to bring 6 candy-filled eggs, their Easter Basket and a happy smile (due to the cancellation of naptime for holiday festivities). Ian complied. He returned home with an insane sugar high, a little crankiness (happy smile suspended after the end of cancelled naptime), and these cute little ears.

Immediately, the kids sat down to examine the loot and open those filled eggs. Daddy added a little bug juice in case Erin felt deprived at being too young to go to school.

What is that on Ian's shirt? It goes with the cock-eyed ears...

Awwwww, it's a little bunny tail!!! And it came off about 2 seconds after the picture was taken. "I don't wanna wear the tail anymore, okay? I frow it in the trash."

Meanwhile, someone else was more than happy to play with Ian's discards, candy included...

First Haircut

2009-04-05T16:29:00.004-05:00

We've been sick a lot this past winter. Erin has been sick all except for about a week, and that's adding the days together. With all the runny noses and smearing and drool from teething and other messes, there have been a lot of unidentified masses in her hair, especially the part that gets in her face. We do a barrette or a pony tail almost every day, but at night, her hair gets in her face. It really aggravates her, and you can tell from all the impatient swipes to get it out of her eyes and accompanying huffs and noises. Gramma has suggested several times that we cut the poor thing's hair so she can get it out of her face.
After having to pry out a dried boogie last night and almost just cutting it out, I asked my HC again and he FINALLY gave the go ahead. He might change his mind after he sees it...

Ian said it looked beautiful. I say that it's really hard to cut a one year old's hair, especially around the face and ESPECIALLY when it's curly! It's growing on me. But she does remind me of a picture of my mom and her sisters when they were little mites. Now she looks more like Gramma than ever! Don't worry, I saved a little bit of curl for the Memory Box. Now I have to wonder, what am I going to do with all these barrettes??

A Windy Hunt

2009-04-04T17:37:00.004-05:00

Today was the annual town Egg Hunt at the park. After a lot of restless pacing, waiting and nagging, it was finally time. We walked, because parking is usually crazy, at least for our town. We joined the crowd, complete with pit bulls on leashes (who, I'm sure, were looking at the crowds of children and thinking of snack time).
We got our goody bags and our pictures with the Easter Bunny (how many kids will have nightmares tonight??) and then waited at the starting line with the other mercenary parents and understandably ill-tempered children 4 and under who didn't get why they
had to stand and stare at the eggs for 10 minutes instead of snatching them up.
We were herded along the edges of the field. It was 2 minutes and counting. Then someone started a familiar dance. "I gotta PEE!" ??? He started to run off toward the fence. He was stopped by my HC. He told me to take him to the bathroom. The bathroom was a tiny mirage at the other end of the park. "But he'll miss the hunt," I protested. Ian squirmed and danced and held his pants. My HC crouched down and looked him in the eye. Erin bopped him on the head a few times ("Up up!"). "Ian," he said, "can you hold it?" Ian was faced with the inconceivable possibility of missing the hunt. Before he had time to answer,
the shout had sounded. The Hunt had started.

They had a great time and we got a lot of eggs, since we were at the end of the craziness (mostly parents).

Gramma and Papaw sent a little box to us and a taste of the steel drum concert (the island lollipops). They were a hit (and a dribble).

Monkey See

2009-03-27T09:22:00.005-05:00

Monkey see, monkey do. Erin tried to do a Tarzan from the couch to the rocking horse and missed. She bopped her head on the horse's backside and now sports a matching lump on her head.

Happily, she is easily distracted whenever Uniqua comes on. She comes on a lot at our house. And yes, Gramma, she does bootyshake sometimes, but more so if someone starts it. (Who, me?) [And yes, I realize that look is saying "Get the scary woman away from me! Daddy, help!"]

Mostly though, once she gets in the mode, annoying people who are trying to get her to bootyshake no longer exist in her sphere.

Ian was happy to cheese for me and show that his boo-boo was fine. When i told him I wanted a pic to show everyone how it was getting better, he told me that "The boo-boo was a long time ago." As if anyone could be interested in a boo-boo that happened a long time ago (you know, yesterday)! But he suffered through it.

I am not feeling kindly disposed to the cold front that will hit us with snow tomorrow. All of my 4 o'clocks and morning glories are enjoying their last day. It's been rainy and chilly for the last several days, but it's still hard to believe that it's going to snow at the end of March. But that's my Southern talking.

Two Little Monkeys

2009-03-25T22:56:00.004-05:00

Two little monkeys like to jump on my bed. Today (albeit at school), one fell down and bumped his head. "On the hallway," he told us when we picked him up from school. But with all head wounds, they call parents, so I was alarmed to get the call that he had fallen and hit his head. There was no blood, just a red mark and the crying had stopped. He wanted to go back to class (though he might not have been so quick to say that had he known that it was naptime). Did I want to come get him or send him back to class? It was only an hour until pick-up time. I told them to send him back to class.
Then when we picked him up, we saw it. It was not quite the little red bump that I had imagined. Sheesh!

When we got home, he was immediately coddled, kissed and plied with chocolate pudding, which is what is all over his mouth. As Papaw would concur, chocolate pudding can do wonders, especially for bumped heads. It's a bonus if you get to lick the pudding lid.

Meanwhile, Monkey #2 would not be happy until she was lounging about watching 'Neequa. Her favorite Backyardigan is the pink one with pink polka dots and her name is Uniqua. With Ian it was Veggie Tales. With Erin it is always Backyardigans. Sigh. It could be so much worse, I know! It could be something completely obnoxious. So I am reduced to singing "Mystery Lifeguard" to the tune of "Guantanamera" and about Pizza Delivery in Ancient Mexico to the tune of "Bicycle Built for Two".

The last of the teeth are coming in. It's canines now. Yay! Until they arrive, she is chewing on her hands, her sleeves, biting people. (She said her first sentence. "I bite you," and accompanied it with a chunk taken out of my shoulder...)
Not hard, just enough to make you jump and eyeball her little sharp teeth.

Ian got a new Leapster game, the Kindergarten one, so he has been engrossed in it (yay! points for me; I got him a game that he actually likes...it's harder than you may think).

Today has been a long eventful day and Erin's next dr appt is at 7:30am tomorrow morning! We'll see how that goes.

Cuteness

2009-03-19T22:07:00.003-05:00

Due to popular demand, we have found a way to do video with sound. Isn't it sad when your cell phone is more advanced than your expensive camera?? Sheesh. And for those who missed it, there is a 10 second shortie at the very end of the Zooooo post of Ian.

Zoooooooooo.

2009-03-18T18:51:00.008-05:00

We went to the Tulsa Zoo yesterday. It took us a while to get there, some vomit, some whining and crying. In short, we had a great time, though it was crowded. The elephants were the favorite.

That's me and my HC in the Rainforest exhibit.

Ian got to ride the camel; it didn't spit.

Doesn't he make a great little monkey??

The giant tortoises were cool too, even though he didn't get to ride a real one.

The train ride was a nice bit of air conditioning. Erin liked that part. I liked the 'sitting down' part. It wasn't long enough to me.

This morning, it was back to normal. We're nice and sunburned and ready for...video games.

And maybe still a little worn out.

This is Ian on the rock formation that all the kids were climbing. I think he liked the view.

Is it Spring yet?

2009-03-15T21:31:00.004-05:00

Spring officially starts this Friday and I am hoping that it will put a spring in all our steps as well. Aside from Spring Break, we have all been battling colds and winter sickness. Winter sickness roughly translates to "Sick of Winter!" One day it's warm and in the 70s, then the next day it's sleeting. No thanks! We want spring. Erin has been sick with one thing, then with another. We've been to the doc's every week for something or other. We are currently on a new antibiotic (a ten day one; not a convenient z-pack) that causes constant diarrhea. So we are eating constant yogurt. I don't think Erin will touch yogurt again after we finish these meds. She will probably ever correlate yogurt with sickness, the way others think of ginger ale, or Gatorade or chicken soup. Have I mentioned this year that my family is strange and no one cares for soup?
Or meatloaf?
Or sloppy joes?
Or potatoes?? No, I'm serious. Baked potatoes are okay sometimes. Mashed potatoes every once in a while. Potatoes in an au gratin or in a stew? Ewwww! All that's left in the pot is gravy and potatoes. There is no rhyme or reason to this behavior, but it has spread to the children. Anyone with an antidote must contact us immediately and save us from this abnormal half-life.
I need to think about something else before this starts to resemble the plot of a L'Engle book.
(Please don't force me to explain that L'Engle wrote A Wrinkle in Time and other strangely provocative books.)
Back to my reality. Last Friday started our Spring Break. By Saturday afternoon, I was pulling my hair out.
Due to Erin's recovery, we stayed home from church, but God rescued me somewhat by sending Girric over to play for a bit in the afternoon. Then Girric had to go home. And the chaos resumed. The week is looming before me like the beginning of of a new rollercoaster. You know that sooner or later it will end, but how many times will you be turned upside down, or toss your cookies, or lose your shoes, car keys, sanity, before it's finally over? It may even be fun, or have a great view, but sheeeesh, the screaming.
Oh, speaking of screaming, my sister Vicky is going to be hearing a lot of it. She just had her baby on Thursday. Happy Birthday to Aislynn Bronx. :)

Warm and Windy

2009-03-05T19:35:00.002-06:00

Today was very warm, but with 30 mph winds. Yuck! But good, too. But it really meant that it was a great day to play outside! We are still having fun with our new playground, though Erin occasionally needs help with the ladder...

and a catcher at the end of the slide. :)

Meanwhile, Ian was hard at work, getting ready for t-ball. He is loving it and, not being the athletic type, I am astonished at his progress.

I will also take this time to mention that I am not the one who taught the face here. But it sure is cute.

Here is one that HC and I got the biggest kick out of. Sharing is a sore subject in our house (and anyone else's who has kids or someone with a raging chocolate/cookie/cake/ice cream/fill-in-the-blank addiction). But some things are easier to share than others. Especially when there are two straws.

Makeover: Floor Edition

2009-02-28T21:52:00.007-06:00

"This project was supposed to be about replacing the carpet!" Clearly, from the pictures, it didn't end up that way. When we moved the furniture out of our room/laundry room/back entryway, the cheesy panelling was moldy and rippled. Ruined! We calculated the cost of drywall and insulation (because there wasn't any!) and took a trip to Lowe's.

15 sheets of drywall, 8 rolls of insulation, 9 strips of trim, a box of nails and a tub of spackle later, I would like to take this time to mention that I am the Expert Insulator (and I have the fiberglass grains to prove it!). I have also (almost) mastered the staplegun. I still kinda stink at hammering though. I still say it's because we only have right-handed hammers. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This is some of the mess that was scattered about the living room. We ended up laying our mattress down and sleeping on it for a couple of nights. Boy were we ever so glad to have the bed set back up in our room! The kids really liked having something to bounce on and play in. They especially liked the nice cushy bed when they were watching movies or eating goldfish crackers (pieces of which are still embedded in various parts of my body after sleeping on crumb shards).

Finally, last night, the spackling was dry enough to coat with primer and the primer was dry enough to paint. The carpet and linoleum were rolled out and the trim was smacked on. Now about that mess in the living room...
Today it snowed all day. I was intending to take a picture of the finished play ground, but the back door was frozen shut and there was no chance of me getting dressed just to walk to the back yard for one picture. Maybe tomorrow. ;)
Meanwhile, putting in drywall and such is not something for the faint of heart. We are both sore and with colds, smacked fingers, cuts, bruises and gritty eyes. No more projects! At least until the new front door comes in this week...

Done! Almost.

2009-02-23T21:14:00.003-06:00

Today was supposed to be the finishing day for Le Grande Playhouse. We were almost finished. We started to put the ladder together and then noticed that there were no ladder rungs. Anywhere. We hadn't really paid too much attention to the metal parts, since there were piles of wood of varying lengths lying everywhere. Then there were no ladder rungs. I went inside to call the number on the front of the manual. The service rep was very nice and agreed to send it to us. I sighed. He asked for our address and I gave it to him. I said our town's name and he said, "Oh, that's great. Our office is in Siloam Springs! You can just come and pick up your parts and it will be a lot quicker." Yay! So we loaded up the car and drove to get our ladder parts. We got home and put it together. We had some drama putting the slide on because we wanted it to start farther back on the playhouse so no one would fall out before the high sides began. But we figured it out and then tried to put the roof on and the little window screen while both of the kids weaved through and around and over and under to go up the ladder, through the playhouse and down the slide as fast as possible. We finished and then sat back to watch.

Erin had to go in for a much needed nap, so she's not in these pictures, but rest assured, she loves the slide and can get up and down the ladder like a champ (believe it. I watched her go up time and time again and even change her mind and come back down).

What do you think? I think they like it.

For an added bonus, we opened the swing beam package and found several missing parts. Like swings. And the trapeze bar. And the swing chains. And a couple other things. We are on a first name basis with the sales reps now. Sigh. Now we can get rid of the rusty, squeaky old swingset and enjoy our new one. :)

Makeover Home and Yard Edition

2009-02-22T21:03:00.008-06:00

For ye who are interested in the new mini-makeover the house got, here you go:

The little border at the top was a huge thing for me, as I am not fond of clinging to a shaky ladder while Berry tried to climb it after me.

This is a bit of the leftovers of the Ice Storm of 09. The entire town has these huge piles of branches, sticks and bits of trees piled on the side of the road, waiting for someone to come with a chipper.

Buddy and Berry were very curious as to why I was standing in the middle of the street taking pictures of them. They were too cute to pass up.

Meanwhile, Ian has been eagerly awaiting something else. From morning 'til night, ever since Nana and PopPop left.

"We get my new playground today??"

Finally, the day came and the heavy boxes were brought home. Then the fun began. Oh yeah, The Sorting of The Boards. It's almost ceremonial. And it was 35 degrees outside. But we got them all sorted into piles and marked with taped on sticky-notes. Those aren't all of the board piles. I kinda forgot to take pictures at first.

But by Saturday afternoon, we had made a dent and had created a masterpiece. Ian began to get skeptical. He kept looking at the picture on the box and staring really hard at the poles.

By Sunday afternoon, everyone was happy to be outside supervising.

But I'm not sure. Erin might have been more of a distraction than a help, but she sure was happy to be in the middle of it all...

This could be a picture of my HC hard at work, or it could be a very illuminating picture as to the present location of the tape measure and the drill bits....(ahem, Erin!)

Finally, we were getting somewhere! Even Ian could see that it was not a cruel trick. There really was a playhouse in there somewhere.

By afternoon, we were this far. My HC had to get ready for work at 4 and the rest of us were banned from going into the yard. For obvious reasons.

A big thanks to Nana and PopPop for helping us make our cool playground possible!

100 Days of Crazy

2009-02-14T21:37:00.004-06:00

Last week, Ian hit his 100th day of Pre-K. They celebrated by doing a project that involved 100 items, either brought in or stuck onto a posterboard. You would be astonished at how many parents had problems with the number 100. I saw several posterboards that only had, say, 16 dots or pasted shapes, or 65 M&Ms. Interesting. Ian and I did a paper chain (yes, 100 loops). He cut out all of the strips and did color selection. I drew lines and stapled. He has it hanging in his room. But for this special occasion, the teachers made special "100" hats for all the kids. They are just too cute.

Erin, in the meantime, has been occupied with shoes. And socks. But mainly shoes.
She tries on everyone's shoes. She likes the slip-ons. Sometimes she likes just walking in one shoe. Even Ian thinks it's funny when she stomps around wearing his cowboy boots, since they come above her knees.

The weather has been wonky. Warm one day, freezing at night, warm with a really chilly wind, cool at night. But tomorrow, it is forecasted to rain/snow. Hm. We'll see. Though no one is as skeptical as they were before the Ice Storm.

I have been painting. We went to Lowe's and bought some red paint so I could redo the kitchen cabinets. My kitchen seems to have adopted an apple theme and I really like it. I've never seen myself as a theme type of girl, but I really like my Appley kitchen. So much that I painted my cabinets (4 on the bottom, 4 on top and one drawer) apple red. After a couple of days of double-taking, I'm starting to get used to it. But then I had all this red paint left over. Even after 2 coats on the cabinets. So I decided to do the kitchen door (to the carport) to match. My HC suggested that I do the little carport porch and storage door too. So I did. And then we thought it would be nice if we did the front house trim (the strip of wood under the roof line all down the front). So I clung, white-knuckled, to a ladder and did that too. And the carport beams. And the front porch railing. But I'm not quite finished with that yet. So that's pretty crazy for me. Normally, it could be accredited to a mid-life crisis or some other relevant life passage. It's strangely exhilarating though. Maybe like wearing a bikini at the beach for the first time (but without the inevitable sunburn or strange tan lines). There's a certain freedom in escaping from the beige doldrums and making your own vibrant mark on your street. Now it's not the little brown house, it's the one with the bright red trim. I would take pictures of the front of the house, but it's dark outside. No matter what, though, it sure does perk things up a bit. Now Ian is waiting for us to do the floors in yellow.

Ice Storm

2009-02-04T09:53:00.006-06:00

On January 27, a storm swept through our little town and completely turned it topsy turvy. All our appointments were cancelled due to nasty icy roads and school was cancelled too. We lost power a little after noon. We were scheduled to go on our bi-monthly grocery trip, but had to postpone it too. It's really tough to be out of bread when you're stuck home with the kids!
My HC was called in to work and I resigned myself to a very interesting afternoon/night with the kids and no power. A lot of the town runs their heat on natural gas. We do too, so we weren't worried about heating the house. We still had water. Yay for flushing toilets! But we didn't have any hot water. And none of the usual activities that engaged the kids worked. No computer, no tv, no lights!
Another big yay for camping gear! We got out our Coleman lantern (battery op) and our kerosene lamps and about a dozen tea candles. We were in business. It was so cold outside, I couldn't get the grill lit. I don't know why, if it was the cold, or the ice that was starting to accumulate on Everything, or what, but I couldn't get it lit. I was very thankful that there was still some warm water left in the water heater. We ate sandwiches and had warm stand-up baths. I let the very grateful Buddy and the "This is GREAT weather!" Berry in for the night. I lit candles in the kids' rooms and we went to bed. The next day, we woke up to this:

I don't remember what happened every day, but I do know that it wasn't much fun. The damage was very severe to our town. At one point, Ian and I stood on the carport and listened to the almost constant crack-the-whip sounds of icy branches twisting, breaking and falling off of huge trees. They fell onto houses, cars, sheds, the street and demolished several fences. Branches and entire trees, coated in over an inch of ice, continued to fall for several days. My HC got the grill working and we cooked on it and heated pots of water for more stand up baths. We went to the EMS building for a hot meal and a couple loads of laundry. HC got a hot shower because he had to go back to work. Fire and Rescue went door to door to make sure everyone was okay and had heat. Some went to a shelter at the Assembly of God. Red Cross came after a few days, held up by the person in our town who was in charge of Crisis Management and didn't think the damage was extensive enough to call FEMA. He is not well liked at this time. FEMA and Red Cross had been in Arkansas, 15 miles away since the first day.
The Street Department worked around the clock to keep the roads cleared, though I don't know who was fool enough to drive with all the ice and snow all over the roads.

In the meantime, we went outside to play in the snow that fell over all the ice. It was very cold and we had to keep going inside to warm up. Ray from the EMS building let us borrow his camping propane burner, so we had some hot chocolate. The kids had a blast sliding on the ice, riding in Ian's Power Wheels, and inspecting the ice. We also saw a Channel 6 helicopter, surveying the damage. We provided them with some excellent footage of booty shaking and slipping in the snow just in case they were filming us.

In the middle of this, my dad decided to make a surprise visit. He and Nana called from Alabama. "We have a bushel of oysters and about 100 lb of deer meat!" Uh....we don't have power. "We'll get some ice," they said. Boy oh boy, did we have ice. We put all our fridge and freezer stuff outside in coolers and plastic storage boxes. I beat ice off of the fence to put in the coolers. They did just fine until Saturday, when the weather got too warm.

We had a great visit with Nana and PopPop, who got a hotel room so we could all take hot showers and baths.
Our powerline had a large branch on it and it ripped the line out of the side of our house. We were very glad that PopPop (who is also an electrician) was there to help us fix it. He also replaced our sadly outdated 1950s fuse box with a safe breaker box.

PopPop and Nana also got us a generator, because boy howdy did we have some laundry piled up! The power came back on Sunday afternoon. And we've been cleaning up ever since. The town looks much better, but there's still a lot to be done.

On the upside, when there's no electricity, the kids learned how to do other things.

My First Committee

2009-01-22T22:35:00.004-06:00

I must now take a moment to feel completely weirded out by the fact that I'm a grown up and I was asked to be on my first grown-up committee. And it was for one of my favorite places. Yay!
I got an email from the Head Librarian at our library and she asked me if I would like to participate in the 2010-2013 Library Planning Committee. Lunch would be provided...the only catch is that it's a workshoppy sort of session (those are my own words) and that it would be from 1-5? (those were her words) and lunch was at 12. I immediately talked to my HC. Nrrrt! Scratch that. Insert "should have" in there somewhere. In a whirl of being flattered that she would even care what I thought, and elation at being on my first grown-up committee, I emailed her back and told her I'd do it. My HC didn't have to be at work until 4. He could watch the baby and pick Ian up from school and then I could keep them at the library for what little time remained.
Well, ha ha ha and fiddle dee dee. Guess who found out he had court at 1? And guess who, when I was busy sleeping in, woke me up at 9:30 to tell me that he had to go to another court session at 10:00 and he just found out? Well, he really did just find out, the courts don't do nice things around here like give notice. So I was left to work out the details of my afternoon. So I did what anyone would have done in my position. I loaded up a huge bag full of baby toys, snacks and a sippy cup. And I went to the library.
And it was a lot bigger deal than I thought it would be. Librarians from schools and other schools and educators and Friends of the Library and council members and the Regional Director of the Eastern Oklahoma District Library system from Muskogee. The local bank manager, the guy who processed our mortgage. The school superintendent. School board members. Biiiiiig deals. And real reporters from real papers (instead of my freelance library work). It was introduction time. Everyone had a big something to add after their name. Everyone looked at me, the youngest one in the room (by a good amount), who had brought her cute but noisy baby. I gave my name. Then I added a dazzling smile and said "Library Patron." Because by golly, my library card is the most loved and used thing in my wallet, other than the odd tissue. Everyone smiled and nodded. They moved on to the other movers and shakers in the room. And we got down to business. And boy was it a looooong business.
You know those huge drawing sheets, like the ones they used to use on Win, Lose or Draw on TV? The big ones that you draw on with smelly permanent markers and then tear off? Well, after groupthinking and commenting and discussing, the room filled up 5 or 6 of those things. Then we stopped for snacktime and I had to go get Ian from school.

I picked him up and went home to change a poopy diaper. I had forgotten wipes and thought it would be pushing the envelope a little too far to change the mud in front of those still eating spinach dip and carrot sticks. I told Ian we were going back to the library until Mommy was finished with the "boring grownup meeting." He was thrilled. He loves the preschool computer and the big blocks and the bean bags and giant books. He was a perfect gentleman and SueAnn, the head librarian went to get him so he could have snacks too.
You could just about see haloes over their heads and EVERYONE in the room commented about what good kids I have and how I must be a great mother. Wow. Well, we try. And we bribe with soda and sweets. But we're still mystified as to how everyone behaved for so long. Finally it was over and we loaded up and went home.
So wow. I was on my first grownup committee and I really think that I am helping to make a difference in our community. And it feels Good.

*For those interested parties, please note that this is one of the only pictures we have of Erin with her eyes open. Also note the red tint of the photo. I had my finger over the flash (which flashes 3 separate times!), which caused the discoloration, but led to open eyes. Sigh.

Bust 'Em Up Bowling

2009-01-18T21:41:00.008-06:00

This past week was cold. Reeeeally, really cold. As you can see, Berry's water bucket was frozen over. And we had to get all bundled up to take Ian to school.

It even snowed once or twice, but only enough to completely distract Ian and make him not want to go inside the school building. But Ian has been counting down all week and wishing for it to be Saturday.
And finally, it was.
Saturday was our friend Tra's (pronounced 'Tray') 9th birthday party. It was the first time that Ian has been bowling and he loved it.

Brian and Girric were there also. Girric is Ian's friend and they love to play and fight with each other.

This is Tra. He's the birthday boy.

The first thing to do was to try and find a ball that Ian could pick up. He and Girric chose these great bright orange ones.

Then they put it in the ball return. Ian wondered why. He was concerned that someone else would use his ball. This is another example of how sharing helps smooth the way in the real world. This is where I stopped taking pictures. Here's why:

While trying to get the kids to sit and arrange turns, one exuberant kid dropped his bowling ball. It bounced, thank God, and then landed on my toe. It really really hurt. So I was relocated to sitting in the corner and entertaining Erin while another grown up stepped in and got the kids playing.

Then the grownups organized a game, which I watched. Turns out my big toe was just bruised, but it had a very vibrant mark on it and still hurts when I put weight on it. No high heels for church this morning.

Anyway, after a while, Ian got tired of shot-putting his ball down the lane (his legs are too short to granny-style it) and asked me for the camera. These are pictures that he took. Too bad Daddy didn't make it into any of them. He was too busy wowing everyone with his bowling prowess. :) I was still sitting in the corner with Erin. Yeehaw.
Oh well. Everyone had a great time. As you can see.

Inside Fishing

2009-01-16T09:54:00.002-06:00

This is the latest game that we are stuck on....

Fishing Girls

A fun little fishing game! .

Play more games on Miniclip-Games.net

Mismatching and Messes

2009-01-12T16:03:00.002-06:00

I think the mismatching went rather well, don't you?? And of course we got to school and everyone else had on relatively normal clothes with mismatching socks. Go figure. The teachers had forgotten all about it and hadn't even worn their jeans.
But when we got Ian from school, we discovered Something Important in his folder.
REPORT CARDS!
It is his first report card and he didn't care one whit about it. HC got it first and was squinting at the tiny print and rows of skills and the corresponding letter. S = Satisfactory, W = Working on Skill, N = Needs Improvement.
There were 42 skills and only 2 Ns. For scissor using and for gluing/pasting correctly. There were 5 Ws. One of those was for skipping. Poor kid. THAT'S hereditary. Uncle Steven had a hard time skipping. I think it's one of those things he kinda skimmed over all his life, because I haven't seen him skipping since. Ian just said "The girls skip. I run fast." And that's all he had to say about that.
But the teacher left a comment in the comment section and I quote: "Ian is doing great this year. The things that he needs improvement on are due to his later birthday. I wouldn't worry about it; he will get it as he gets older."
There are a lot of kids who are already 5 or turning 5 all year. I'm not worried at all. The longer it takes for him to use scissors, the longer I don't have to worry about impromptu haircuts on dogs or little sisters.

For the ones who mismatch and stay home, we spent our day a little differently.

Erin was climbing where she shouldn't have been.

And making messes.

And I was following, trying to pick up. I'm not going to show an 'after' picture, because not much has changed.
And now I am going to turn the heaters back on. Because after our heat wave that got us up to the 50s today, it will be cooooold tonight. And I'm starting to feel it already.

Penelope Pig Picnic--Updated

2009-01-08T20:52:00.005-06:00

Update below!

School is back in full swing. We've had homework: new words to learn, "Mother" and "Sally" and today some cutting with scissors to do. You know the world is changing when you have to explain to your 4 year old that Mother and Mom and Mama and Mommy all mean the same thing. He didn't question Sally as much as he questioned why we've been calling her "Baby" in every story until now.
But I digress.
Tomorrow is a special day because Ian's class will be having a Penelope Pig Picnic at lunch time. I can only assume that Penelope Pig is the character of a book they read during storytime. The whole class will be eating on old blankets in the classroom and there is a stipulation. The children have to bring their lunch and they have to bring items that start with the letter "P". Then the teacher gave a rather strict admonishment that I am curious about. She said to let the children think of their own "P" items.
So for the first half hour after I read Ian the letter from the teacher, he said "Popcorn." Boy are we SO glad for that Jiffy Pop that Gramma and Papaw got at Thanksgiving. It was really hard not to start barrelling off "P" items, but I got a brain wave. I told him to go find the popcorn and then look in the pantry and in the fridge for anything that started with "P". He got distracted halfway, so I had to steer him back to the pantry and help him find the popcorn.
He found some Peanut butter. Yay!
We went to the fridge. He found pickles. Yay! Yay! We looked for fruit that started with "P". He thought of peaches, but he couldn't find any. Mommy found a fruit cup that had peaches, pears and pineapple in it. I was a hero!
Then Ian asked for Punch juice to drink. We couldn't find any Juicy Juice Fruit Punch, which is what Punch juice is. But I did find some sugar-free Fruit Punch mix that we made up this afternoon.
I think Ian is more excited about taking his lunch box than anything else, though.
There were things that he thought of that did not make the cut like Peas, porkchops, peppers and a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. He opted for pbj instead, though I don't see anything wrong with my PB & P childhood favorite.
I did help, I admit it, but it was Ian's idea to put it into his lunch box. I made some Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars today, because we are out of everything sweet and my HC was starting to bang his head against the wall in despair.
And I stuck some peppermints in the lunch box too.
I can't wait to hear about it tomorrow. I am really waiting to see which parent sends a pomegranate or a passionfruit or a pulled pork sandwich on pumpernickel.

Update: The picnic was a great success, but the only thing Ian will tell me about is popcorn, peanut butter sandwiches and pickles. And now he wants pizza.
Oh and next week is Homecoming (again?!) and Monday is Mismatch Day. We'll see what Ian picks out.

Blah-Choo

2009-01-04T22:08:00.002-06:00

Well, after getting everyone else mostly recovered, it's my turn to sneeze, wheeze, drip and spin. Well, my head is spinning, figuratively. And due to some kind of insanity, there's no school tomorrow! Monday is supposed to be some kind of Teacher Work Day. So school starts back on Tuesday instead.
Then it's January as usual. MLK Jr Day is not a school holiday here. I don't know why. There are one or two African Americans in our entire county. That probably has something to do with it. But the sad, and sometimes amusing, truth is that I live in one of those areas (the misled majority is Democrat) that did not vote for Obama because "he is a Black Muslim." I heard that 6% of Texas holds that belief as well.
Anyway, if I don't seem very cohesive, it's because my brain is stuffy, along with my sinuses and nose. So I got Ian ready for church this morning, called one of his friends and arranged for him to be picked up and transported to church, and woke my HC up. Then I went to bed. When I woke up, it was after 2. Erin had already napped and gotten up. Ian had been home and gone again, to his friend's house to play with his new Power Wheels Gator and freeze outside. My HC had stuffed Erin with every kind of goody he could think of to buy her silence and happiness. How did I know? Follow the trail of crumbs, the caches of half-eaten Cheez-Its and gooey bits of fruit snacks. Of course after he went to work, I had to deal with the gastrointestinal distress that comes from having way too much junk food.
She had yogurt for supper.
I made myself some Potato Cheese soup, a comfort food for me, since no one else in my house will eat any kind of soup. I had a small bowl and realized that I wasn't hungry. If only we felt that way every day, the world would be a size 6. Until then, I have to find a Tupperware for my leftovers. I don't think there is one. We have melted a lot of Tupperware in the dishwasher. When they say "top rack only" they mean it!
I hope everyone, including me, has a good Monday. And I really hope I feel better tomorrow, because no one has any clean underwear left. It's Mommy's fault because she took a sick day.

Rrrrrt!

2009-01-02T16:04:00.004-06:00

That's a common sound heard in our house, but you have to say it while skidding across the kitchen floor in your socks, right before you run into someone, something or fall over. Now it is screeched while driving our new (used) race car. At least until you encounter road[yard]-kill. :)

Hope and Disappointment

2009-01-01T19:21:00.004-06:00

We started our new year off with a frenzy of house cleaning, in preparation for a much anticipated visit. We called to check up on our visitor late afternoon and were informed that they weren't coming. Nice, huh? We made the necessary emotional adjustments and explanations to Ian and enjoyed our clean house. And wondered what we were supposed to eat, since we had emptied our freezer in anticipation for promised seafood, deer meat and pork to be delivered by the visitor. Oh well. It gives me something to do tomorrow.
We had our black-eyed peas and ham (with rice for my insatiable family; I really miss potatoes!) and went out to pop our poppers. It was cold and fun. Even though I popped my first party popper into my palm. It hurt! Ian thought I was funny, for once. Erin didn't care about the poppers as much as she did the sidewalk chalk. And I think she thought she was doing something naughty because when I went to draw with her, she threw the chalk to one side and ran off. I caught both of them and we drew some before Ian tried to run us over with his bike ("I was running over poppers, Mommy. I not hit you.") We chose life and moved anyway. We burned a little bit of trash and I pushed the kids on the swings. My HC went to work. I installed some child-proof cabinet locks in the bathroom and on the computer desk. Yay.
That was our first day of the new year.
On the hope side of this year, we are hoping with all our might for a new baby announcement. Don't get all het up now, because it's not going to be MY baby. Please keep reading before you grab the phone and start gabbing. The baby (or babies) will be the long awaited offspring of my dearest friend Rachel. After a heart-wrenching 2008 of disappointment and disillusion, fundraiser after fundraiser, prayer after prayer, the IVF process has yielded that much coveted little red line on the pregnancy test. And there may be more than one in there. Shoot, there may be three!
It is still in the early stages, but they are there. And darn it, nothing can take that moment away from her. So we are hoping with all that we have and praying with all our hearts that God will give her a safe and successful pregnancy and that she will hold her babies in her arms this summer. Then let the fun begin. I think I should send her some under-eye concealer, just to get a head start on those eye bags. :)
Her first ultrasound is very soon, to determine how many little miracles are in there.
In other news, school starts on Monday!! Ian is very excited, though he will miss watching movies every night before bed (this is a weekend/vacation only activity), he misses his friends and teachers more. He misses his circle time, recess and exercising. He has tried to demonstrate the exercises they do in PE, but it involves a lot of flailing and rolling around, so I'm not exactly sure. But I know that Ian loves it.
Erin is battling through another round of cold/sickness. With the breathing difficulties, every cold lasts for weeks. We are finishing up a round of antibiotics for ear infection, but we are still having congestion, runny nose, phlegmy coughing and extreme irritability. Sigh! Daddy is the only one that can make my little niblet smile. I am just there for on-demand holding, feeding and drink stealing.
One thing I'm happy about. As of tomorrow, the world restarts. No more holidays for a while (at least until the 19th), Walmart will be a little less dangerous, and things will start to get back to normal.
My HC asked me about New Year's resolutions. I've never really been one to make those, but when I have, they've seemed kind of generic. And ongoing. And unchanging. Uh...things like 1)getting more sleep (Whaaaaaaa-hahahahahahahaha), 2)shaving more often (Hoho hohohoho hahahahahahahaa), 3)keeping the house a little cleaner (my sides are starting to really hurt), and writing more (I sincerely wish this last one happened more). But a lot of my wishes and intentions (including the amusing ones above) are realistically, well, unrealistic. The most important thing I can do is to take care of my HC and my kids, because this stage in our lives is not going to last forever and I am determined to enjoy every little bit of it. So there. My New Year's resolution is to enjoy every bit of this year. To revel in the good parts and to learn from the bad ones. And to keep the peace, I guess I will try to shave a little more. Or pray for a gift certificate for laser surgery. :D

Christmas is over? Now what?

2008-12-27T00:01:00.013-06:00

Today was the day after Christmas and there was a definite feeling of uncertainty in our house. Ian seemed to have a sort of "uh, that's IT?" mentality. And at the tender age of 4 realized that Santa had not gotten him Everything that he had asked for. He had been a good boy, he assured me, but Santa had forgotten to bring him the Wall-E movie. "Well," I told him, "you have that gift card from Pop-Pop and you can buy Wall-E with that." He seemed satisfied. "Or you can get a new game for your new Leapster." He brightened. "Yeah!!!" And that was the end of that conversation. I'm sure we'll get something completely unrelated to both of those when we go to Wal-Mart, but at least he's thinking about it.
Erin is just really enjoying her new toys (and Ian's Legos) and has spent considerable time with all of them today. And she has joined in the rest of the family as we inhaled countless Hawaiian rolls. (Well, not countless, we only got a 24 pack, but if you ask anyone how many they've had, they'll just look sheepish and confused and say "I dunno. Why?"
So without further ado, here are our Christmas pictures. They would have been More and better detailed and better thought out, but the kids were lightning fast and ready to get down to business. Ian didn't think he needed to look at name tags and Erin was just trying to stand up on top of a couple big ones to see out the window. She put her foot through one box and it had to be doctored up a bit (Ian didn't care, but he was upset that she was allowed to stand on them and he wasn't).
So after our offspring's 8 minute frenzy under the Christmas tree, this was as good as I could get. :D
For our Christmas breakfast, the only picture I made it into, we made waffles.

It was a bit chaotic, especially since everyone kept changing positions, but I'm positive that my HC was there, doing crowd control.

The Leapster. (crowd roars) Thanks Gramma, Papaw, Mimi, Grampa, Great-Granna and Great-Papaw!

What do you mean, I hafta wait until she's done?! We could be here for hours!

Thanks, Auntie Jacque and Uncle Jeremy! This is a Berry Doll, sorta like a Popple.

Thanks to Auntie Jacque and Uncle Jeremy again, the Fridge Phonics WordBuilder is a huuuge hit with everyone.

These are a few pics of Erin and Daddy playing with his boot inserts.

Thanks to Great Granna and Great Papaw for the neat helicopter. There were some Hot Wheels in need of rescue....

This is another one of Ian actually opening something slowly.

Oooh, what's in here? It's a Leapster Game and a charger (thank you so much to Gramma, Papaw, Mimi, Grampa, Great Granna and Great Papaw...what a huge deal)!

And every little girl needs a Raggedy Ann dolly. Thanks Mimi and Grampa!

And if anyone is curious about the cup and saucer above, Santa got egg nog and turtles for his snack. We also spread the glittery oats in the yard (a gift from someone at school...sheesh). It's a good thing that Santa likes egg nog, because I sure don't. But I do like the turtles.

Even a Mouse

2008-12-19T09:45:00.005-06:00

The Christmas program at church went very very well. Ian decided that being a mouse was not so bad, especially when he got to put on the entire costume. These are the only pictures we got of the program, since we were in the church gym and the lighting wasn't conducive to picture taking and everything was so far away it would only have looked like black with white dots.

But everything went very well and the set was wonderful. There were plenty of mice on a rug, listening to the Gramma Mouse tell the story of Christmas. The dialogue was a recording, so the actors just went along with the recording and acted it out. To keep all the young mice ON the rug and relatively quiet, a brilliant mom decided to get yarn, big, blunt needles, and boxes upon boxes of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. Then they set all the kids up and had them make Froot Loop strings "for their Christmas trees," though most of the kids treated it like a huge candy necklace and kept eating the cereal off of the yarn. Ian was so engrossed in this, I had to pry him off of the rug long after the play was over. The other kids were gone and he was still there, crowding Loops onto his yarn string. We brought it home for him to nibble off of the tree in the middle of the night when no one is looking. It does seem to be getting suspiciously shorter....
Thursday was "Wear your PJs to School Day" and the kids watched the Polar Express and had hot chocolate and popcorn. It was a hectic morning, I didn't get a picture, but boy was everyone excited. I picked Ian up and he still had the chocolate ring around his mouth. It took a while for that sugar high to crash and when it did, well, let's just say he fell asleep last night with the lights on.
But before he did that, he had another round of "Ian the Photographer." Pictures are worth 1,004 words, so here they are. We'll hear all about the class Christmas party when I pick Ian up this afternoon.

Just for clarity, the last one is Ian's drink...tea, ice and straw. :D

December Madness

2008-12-14T22:18:00.010-06:00

If it's not one thing, it's 238 things. And they all happen in one week. First was the awards banquet/dinner thing for the town. My HC was on duty, but we went anyway. It's the first time I've been to a dinner that did not serve meat. They did put little chunks of turkey in the stuffing, but if you don't like stuffing, you were left with instant mashed potatoes, green beans, corn and rolls. But at least there was tea, even if you did have to add the pink stuff.

Then it was homework, housework and making cookies for the children's church dress rehearsal/Christmas party that lasted during church and stretched to about 2:15 today. My cookie total? 16 dozen sugar cookies, complete with frosting, sprinkles and green and red sugar crystals. I had to make my own frosting for the last 2 dozen, so it wasn't as good, but I got some satisfied eaters today and a couple that asked for some to take home. Huzzah! And I still got some to take home with Me, so everyone is happy.

Is that it? Um, just try making cookies and decorating them with certain niblets hanging on to your legs/ankles.

And I've been completely busy thinking of/talking about/praying for Rachel, who is on bed rest to ensure the safe planting of those 3 little miracle embryos. Everyone please pray!

And I was sort of busy trying to get Erin's hair into pigtails. And I succeeded, but they didn't last long.

We also found time to do a couple more things. Though not in that order.
My HC tried a self-portrait. He still looks grouchy, but isn't he cute??

The next is a picture of some exhausted person that has been up since the crack of dawn chasing grouchy children and making scores and scads of cookies. The whole time, she is thinking that when she delivers the cookies, the chairwoman will say, "Oh, I'm sorry, there was a mix up and so-and-so brought chocolate donuts."

The next picture is of a little imp that was caught in Ian's room. She didn't think that she really needed to leave. Ian will never miss the brown crayon. And it tasted so good. It also leaves no evidence: the perfect crime!

Ian and Buddy valiantly chased off a cat. A few times. Aren't they formidable?

And we finally hung the stockings next to our old gas exhaust pipe. We had to leave it up or we wouldn't have a 'chimney.' Get it? The two little ones are Buddy's and Berry's. If they are good dogs they will get a bone. So far Berry's will be a bone of coal. He chewed up our borrowed water hose and he is in biiiig trouble.

Getting My Husband Out of Jail

2008-12-06T22:53:00.005-06:00

Today was finally Saturday, the day of the Christmas parade and the school Winter Carnival. We bundled the kids up and walked to the town's main street (which is not Main Street, ironically. Main Street is a residential street that ends at the train tracks. Don't get me started on street names how half of them change names anyway if they do go over the tracks...). We only got a couple pieces of candy this time. Clearly we need to stick to the other side of the street. But we did see some cute little floats and some frozen kids from the local Head Start who were strangely catatonic for a trailer full of 3 year olds. This year there were only 11 fire trucks, as opposed to last year's 15 minutes worth. They only blared a little bit, thankfully. The band ended up playing at the end of the street where no people were (??) and not many people smiled or waved, but Ian didn't care. He really liked those fancy cars that had pretty girls on the tops. What? Girls? No, he liked the cars. And the truck that had bows all over it, but that was more of a mocking type of 'like'. But Ian saw Santa on the back of his fire engine and waved like a loon. We decided to skip the line of crazy, mean, rioting parents (and the innocent kids who just wanted to see Santa) and just see Santa at the school carnival.
We walked home from the parade, attacked the kids with tissues (that wind was Cooold) and drove to school. At first we weren't sure where to go, but then we found The Line. The Ticket Line, to be exact. And it was a whole lot longer than it looked from outside, but it did happen to snake past the water fountain and the bathrooms, so that was good. We finally got to the table. The tickets were 25 cents a piece, most activities took 2 tickets. Santa and the concession stand took cash. Excuse me? Santa is HOW MUCH? $5 for a picture with Santa? No personal photos at all? They let Ian and Erin talk to Santa (a REAL looking Santa with the real hair and beard and little belly! He was such a nice guy.) and sit on his lap, but it was a let down that we didn't have the money to pay for pictures. Ian chattered away to him and had to give him 2 hugs. sniff sniff. Erin wasn't so sure and would only get close if Daddy held her. Maybe we'll go on over to the mall and get some pictures there. Because we sure missed the freebie after the parade. Sheesh.
We talked to Ian's teachers for a bit and I admired their camera (it was so beautiful; Rachel, go ahead and drool).
Then we hit the games. Most of the games were 2 tickets. We did the Alphabet pond (think Duck Pond, but with floating letters) and the bean bag toss, where Ian kicked booty (clearly he got his coordination from my better half). Then we did the Yum Yum tree, where you pick a sucker out of the tree. If the stick has a mark on it, you get a special prize, but none of ours did, so we got to keep the sucker and get a piece of candy for trying. There was a kissing booth, where you closed your eyes and chose a Hershey kiss from a bowl. If you chose a red or green one (most of them were silver) you got a prize. Ian picked a green one, but he was more interested in eating the kiss. He still picked out a prize. And he got a stamp on his hand (he looked horrified when they offered to put it on his cheek) of a red kiss (kissing booth, get it?). There was a Pop Walk (pop as in Coke), where you do musical numbers. When the music stops, you stand on a number. If they draw your number, you get a 2-liter bottle of soda. Ian won on his second try. There was another, harder bean bag toss that Ian kicked booty at and won a beanie baby. Erin stole it and wouldn't give it back. It was a cat. She hugged it and talked to it for the rest of the afternoon. Then Ian got a spare at the bowling booth and got another beanie baby, a hammerhead shark this time. He hit the fishing booth and the cake walk (no luck there) and we started hearing the loudspeaker announcing that there were "warrants" for certain people. We had noticed a little corner that had been made up into a jail. With bars and everything, and two little old guys dressed up like cowboy sheriff's with badges, red bandanas and cowboy hats. It was great. Evidently, for one ticket (1 Ticket!) you could 'issue a warrant' for anyone of your choice. Then a 'deputy' would go find this person and escort them to jail, where they would serve their 2 minutes. We were getting Ian's face painted (I sneaked over to the concession stand to get a drink) when my HC's name was called over the loudspeaker. There was a dead silence, then a lot of laughing and vengeful snickering. I wasn't too happy because he transferred all the candy, prizes and 2-liter bottle over to me to hold and I was already holding Erin. He went and did his two minutes. When he got back, he counted our remaining tickets and started figuring how many people he could get into jail for paybacks. Later, we were standing in line at the cookie decorating table (4 tickets got you a huge Christmas tree-shaped sugar cookie, a little tub of green icing with a popsicle stick spreader and another tub of sprinkles, stars and a small red licorice string). Of course it took an ice age or more for all the kids to get it done, but it was so cute. Ian was working hard on his when the deputy went and got my HC AGAIN. This time he was really contemplating revenge. That jail was only about 3x3 and it was pretty full almost the whole time. I think a lot of people went by a few times just so they could laugh at my poor HC. He was giving the evil eye a lot, too. hehehe.
Funny part: Ian was decorating his cookie and there were two little girls across from him. One of them was in his class and they were chatting. She was having a hard time finishing her tree because she kept tasting the contents of her little tub of 'decorations.' Her friend kept tasting the icing. We had helped Ian with his icing so he could place every tiny sprinkle (clearly we would have been there for hours otherwise!) and he found his little candy star and put it at the top of the tree. The little girl in his class looked at Ian's star, then looked at her friend's star on her tree and then started digging around in her little container looking for it. "Where's my star?" she asked. Her friend crowded in to help her look. Ian glanced over, then resumed sprinkle placement. "Where's my star?" she repeated a few more times, each time more shrilly. She dumped the entire contents onto her paper plate, but to no avail. Her star was not there. Big gasp from her friend. "I don't see a star," I said, willing to go ask the teacher for another one to avoid a disaster. She took a deep breath. I cringed. "I guess I ate it," she said in a normal voice, and went back to decorating her cookie. After a minute, I laughed my head off.

Finally my Cute Convict got out of jail and raided my pockets for remaining money. He bought more tickets and used them all to place his acquaintances (anyone who could have possibly done it to him) in jail. Then we left.
Ian was not pleased. He really wanted to stay and play everything again. I just wanted to put Erin down and go to the bathroom.
Ian wasted no time in eating his cookie (though he did share a small chunk with Erin). I'm just glad that everyone is out of jail.

Week in a Flash

2008-12-05T13:55:00.012-06:00

Okay, fine, so it's been more than a week. But hey, it's been chock-full of all sorts of things. First it was the Thanksgiving holiday where Ian didn't have school for a week or so. Then it was picking up Gramma and Papaw from the airport and driving home to set them up on our not-so-comfortable sofa bed. They braved it (and the whole sharing-one-bathroom thing) like champs. And had a great time with the kids in the process.

Then it was that frantic, nerve-wracking "Oh-no-I'm-a-grownup" revelation you get when you realize that you are solely responsible for Thanksgiving and even if your helper and confidence-booster (I love my Mom) happens to make a boo-boo, it happened at your house and will be remembered for all time as YOUR boo-boo. But we didn't have any boo-boos at all, unless you count my really runny sweet potato bake (okay, fine, so I cheated and used canned sweet taters instead of fresh).
But it all turned out swimmingly.

And it happened to be my honey's birthday. We just loooove pumpkin pie.

I don't really remember what all happened after that, other than a visit to McDonald's so the kids could pig out on Happy Meals and play with their puzzlingly annoying Happy Meal Toys (Shrek the Halls was SO last year, and what is it with the Madagascar talking figures? Thank the LORD they come with an off switch!).

Sunday it snowed. And we went to Devil's Den to cuddle up to the fireplace in our gorgeous cabin.

When the snow finally melted a little, though the temperature never felt like it went up any, we went for a hike to see the caves.

Devil's Den itself was closed due to the hibernation of endangered Ozark bats, but

there were several other caves, crevices, etc for us to explore. Once we thought that Chris was stuck but he explored a cave that came out at a cave we had been in previously and had to hike back to where we were. He got to carry the baby backpack, so I think it was his way of demanding a break. The kids and I waited for he and JD to explore and sat out of the wind eating snacks with Gramma.

It took a while to recover after that hike, but at least we had a nice cozy cabin and some stew in the crock pot to go back to. Aaaah.
We left early Tuesday and then had to take Gramma and Papaw back to the airport. The house was bigger and a lot quieter after we got back, but that may have had something to do with the earplugs I had jammed into my ears after having endured that many hours in the car with the kids. Anyway, Wednesday was back to school and back to the routine. And back to doing laundry. It is still a mystery to me how we can be gone for 2 days and come back with 7 loads of laundry. No, really.

Tomorrow is the annual Christmas parade, which Ian would rather watch than be in (the church float) and then the school's Winter Wonderland Carnival, where we will see Santa. I am curious to see what Ian puts on his list.

Loooong Christmas Lists

2008-11-24T16:51:00.003-06:00

This blog is for family mostly, who will possibly be interested in what to get the kids for Christmas this year. Ian (who is 4 years old) has the list that's 5 miles long after seeing the Target catalog. He wants everything from page 4 to page 27. Including the toys that are for ages 8+. "I a big boy," he insists. But seriously, he is very much into Hot Wheels and wants a race track. The kind where you really race the cars. He also loves volcanoes. I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but he always adds that in. He really really wants another pair of cowboy boots, having outgrown the last ones, much to his dismay. He likes books and PlayDoh like it's going out of style. He also wants a Leapster (cha-ching!) and about 47 games that go with it. We'll see if any miracles happen. He also wants his own digital camera, but now he's really starting to get into the land of fantasy.

Erin is 1. She doesn't care. But she does need a little bookshelf for her room to hold all of her books (plus the ones that Ian feels he has outgrown, yet still goes back to read in her room). She also needs a girly type rug for that hardwood floor next to her crib. She could also use some dresses for church (size 18-24 months), but remember it is really cold here. She also loves bath toys, books and music with any kind of singing. And stealing everyone else's cup for a sneaky drink before she is discovered. She likes to play with kitchen stuff too and she likes to color. She also plays with Ian's toys when he's not looking, so she is pretty diverse.

Has that helped anyone??