Tales from the stay-at-home-mom

Pendleton Underground

2008-08-01T13:12:00.001-07:00

Kevin's mom was here for a visit in July. One of the things we finally did, after meaning to for almost 3 years now, was take the Pendleton Underground tour. It's not as easy as it sounds, you actually have to call ahead and make reservations. It was a very fasinating tour, obviously we were given a very short tour, but it was eye opening as to how some citizens were treated (i.e. the Chinese) and how the bootleggers did so well in Pendleton during the years of prohibition. Not to mention the many brothels, the last of which didn't close until 1967!

This is bunk beads where Chinese workers lived. Back in "those days" they didn't allow them to come "above ground" and actually gated them off below the hotels and streets where the chinese dug more tunnels. Very low ceilings; Kevin had to duck for much of the tour. We didn't realize they would have allowed cameras, so these poor quality pictures are actually from my cell phone.
One of the corridors off of a room where gambling and drinking occured, with the "speak easy" door still in place during the prohibition period. We learned that they kept lots of moth balls around to cover the smell of the alchohol.
This is one of the "girls' rooms" at the last brothel that is still kept for this tour above one of the buildings in downtown Pendleton. There is a very narrow doorway, and the name "Cozy Room" is still on it. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but is very nice on the inside. The woodworking frames are very nice!

June-July catching up...again

2008-07-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

Well, these photos didn't upload in order, but it is WAY too much work to fix it. So be it. I need to get caught up quickly so I can post a couple of pictures of how Kevin spent his 40th birthday this week. :) First things first:

One side of the family went camping at Honeyman in July.....here's some highlights.
This is campfire time, as evidenced by the nearly glazed stare in each of the boys' eyes.

Plotting, even with squinted eyes. I believe there is a verse in Proverbs about a man who winks his eye is plotting evil, or something to that effect. I wouldn't call them evil...just mischevious. Most of the time. There are other times when....
Lucy liked this chair best, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Jenna squeezing in next to, or on top of, her.They had a great time in the dirt.
The following weekend was the OTHER side of the family get-together near Salem. This is Tavin and her good friend/cousin McKenna. Uncle Dave was lucky enough to have these too jaberwockies in his room, and awake until the wee hours of the morning.
And there was a waterslide/giant slip and slide. Need I say more?
Out of sequence now, but oh well. In June Kevin completed a 100-mile bike ride in Portland with the Lance Armstrong "Livestrong" foundation. The 2 older kids got invited to grandpa and grandma's house, where they spent most of their time like this. Lucy had to stay home with the pre-arranged house sitters, who likely enjoyed having just 1 child, as they are relatively newly wed and have not yet embarked on that particular adventure. They made a comment to me about being very effective birth control, but after the first day, they really liked her. The lovely young lady did learn that a 2-year old who is prone to occasionally waking up at 6:45 am (such as when someone new is around) is not conducive to staying up until 2am texting friends...

This is Kevin walking his bike to the starting area at the Nike complex.

Lance Armstong himself made an appearance. I didn't see much paparazzi, and was actually hoping to see some celebrity on his arm just to verify how trashy.....I mean nevermind. Kevin is in the left background of this picture, green and black jersey, red & silver bike.
Back to the camping...Lucy and Jenna enjoyed cousin Tim's trailer.

I"ll get more posted, and try to do better here! I"ve been putting more things on facebook, but I'll try to put more on here. :) If you actually read this, drop me a comment, it shows on my email and you don't have to be a registered user. :)

Today was a sad day for me...Kevin had to go back to work, technically 1 day early, so I was bearing unfriendly thoughts towards his new superintendent.....something to do with me having to scramble for child care even though he was the one with changed plans....but I digress...

I still have more than a month before both kids go back to school! Simon starts the 25th of August, and Tavin the 2nd of September, so at least I have more time to get supplies!

Visitors from North Caroline

2008-06-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Kevin's sister and her family were her from Thursday night to just a couple of hours ago. It always seems like the pictures are the last things to be done, but we did get a few last night.
R.J. was in doggy heaven with 2 more kids to give him more attention. The girls were missing their own dog, so he benefitted from that. Lucy really enjoyed having Alice read to her. The adults enjoyed a dinner out last night while Sadie bravely took on all 4 kids herself!

The best pictures are the ones with the sun in your eyes! This was taken this morning, actually Father's Day!
We had to literally corner Lucy to get her to be in the photo. This is a great picture of all of the grandkids; I know this is the first with all 6 of them, and I don't know if there has ever been one with even the first 4. This is truly an historic photo! I think all of the older girls are wearing some of the finds that we scored while garage-sale-ing yesterday. We had a great time and found some incredible deals......it seemed like several local Relay for Life teams were having huge yard sales....at least 2 that we went to were like that and they all seemed to have things for tween-teen girls. Even Simon got lucky because I found one yard that was getting rid of 7 Bionicles, and they still have all their parts! Anyone with boys knows that finding good used boy clothes is just impossible. They seem to get any use possible out of their clothes until there's just nothing left to pass on to someone else. He seemed happy to settle for really awesome toys instead of threads.

Relaxing and visiting on our last evening together. The girls all stayed in Tavin's room and maybe got a total of 20 hrs of sleep for the 3 nights they stayed....maybe! :)

All in all, we had a great time and only wished that Grandma Dot could've been here too. Our plan is to make a trip out there at least by the next 2 summers...hopefully next summer! Thanks for driving all the way from North Carolina and come back anytime!

2008-05-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Again, I'm massively "behind" as I was so gently reminded this weekend at our delayed Mother's Day celebration. So, here's the film I have yet to print, and I'm even behind in taking pictures!

During the week-long Dr. Seuss theme at school in March, Tavin went like this....Suzy-Who or something like that.

We took a family trip to the coast for an extra long weekend in March as well, Lucy really enjoyed the beach!
All of the beach, and she didn't care where it got on (or in) her person. After we got home, she found some sand in a coat pocket and (gulp) ate it. Chewed it and everything.
Beach time was fun.....it wasn't too windy, but it was not warm. Just typical Oregon beach sunshine, the dry type.
Snack time where Lucy could enjoy "equal seating" and not be in a high chair or booster.

There was a tragic incident that happened less than 1 mile from our home. A boy was trapped in the surf and ultimately drowned, as did one of his young would-be rescuers. From our windows, we could see the S&R guys patrolling the beach for the next day looking for him (the rescuer). He was just recently recovered in the last couple of weeks, I believe.
Fast forward to April, when my mother and I took a road trip to Salt Lake City to pick up a minivan! :) Mom drove us there, along with my grandma (her mom) who we dropped off in Idaho. Then, we drove back after a 1 day-2 night stay. We had a great view from our hotel in Salt Lake (Priceline is great for 2 adult stays!) and watched airplanes.
More fast forwarding to 2 weeks ago......A friend/neighbor has several pets, one of whom is this cat "B.W." who is 7 yrs old, declawed, and "fixed". She got 2 new min. daschund puppies and his royal highness here did not appreciate their presence. He left smelly, staining evidence of his displeasure on her bathroom rugs and other personal articles.
He spent the first 2 weeks hiding, as in this baby basket of Lucy's doll, and just last night he purred and showed us some affection. I have been referring to him as "ghost cat" because he never makes an appearance except for some brief, quiet verbage at night. I'm also pleased to say he uses the litter box appropriately and exclusively.

Firepit, finally!

2008-02-24T18:43:00.000-08:00

Kevin got a stand-alone fire pit at Home Depot last week and we have been enjoying it. Tonight, we were out in a mild sprinkle.
Don't Tavin's new $5 pants look great?

RJ considers himself a person and promptly took Simon's chair.

Lucy, giving RJ what-for. This is the "No" word. Notice the chopped appearance of the right side of her hair just above her ear. That's because she cut it all off the other day. I can probably wait a month or so for more grow out, then I'll have to get a haircut or she will just look like a freak.

Otherwise, all is well with us and I apologize for getting lazy. :)

Snow Season is here!

2007-12-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

I must be slacking off, it's been a long time since my last post, I haven't done my Christmas card/letter yet, and I didn't even get the kids dressed in their Christmas stuff for the picture. This was a reject, by the way....have to save the actual one. RJ tolerated the outfit, he's become quite the spoiled brat now that he's the sole "protector" of the house and kids.

Having snow is almost as good as an early Christmas!

Here's our snow from last week....we were eating lunch after church and looked up to a veritable snow storm (ok, flurry) that lasted a couple of hours and still lingers on the ground. The comment about "not being able to do this next year" refers to the looming 40th birthday that will inevitably lead to the hampering of joints and desire to fling oneself onto a firm serface, such as the ground, especially with multiple witnesses that enjoy spreading tales of the injuries a father can incur in a moment of jubilee. It's even better because it starts with "Hey Simon, watch this" which is just ASKING for trouble...By the way, the little kiddos in shorts are the neighbors that usually aren't allowed to be outside when it's "cold".

Catch up time

2007-09-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

Since I've let more time pass than I realized since my last post, I have selected a hodge-podge of photos to kind of update you all on some of the funny, boring, yet interesting, aspects of our lives....

This picture illustrates what happens (or what happened a few weeks ago) when a 5th grader asks for help with math and then repeatedly interrupts her father, causing great frustration. This picture actually is a reflection of the end result, the taped-back-together-homework after it was ripped in half (not by the actual 5th grader) and thrown about the living room and the 5th grader went crying upstairs....then amends were made on all aspects of the rather humorous occasion (at least from my perspective).

Simon at Grandpa T's 80th birthday/reunion last weekend.

Lucy can't wait for deodorant either.

Tavin shared a special memory of Great-grandpa T, that of playing checkers and always losing. She surprised us and even herself, she later said, as she wasn't planning on getting up in front of the crowd of 100 or so.

Neighbor Rosie likes when Kevin plays his guitar. Her next favorite hobby is to hang out on my porch and play the doorbell. Then to be dragged away, screaming, by her sister.

The other boys in the house. This is a couple of weeks old, so they're now even bigger. And.....altered.

At the reunion, with my glasses. Her shirt says "Monkey see, monkey do, monkey get in trouble too." It was so appropriate, I couldn't resist. Then I learned I got her the boy version, when I saw the pink girl one. Oh well.

Mission Accomplished

2007-08-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I'm breaking a cardinal rule and posting pictures of myself. I apologize sincerely for anyone that has to see me in spandex. :) But, there's no way around it because of the fun I had this weekend (except for when we were actually DOING the tri) for a once in a lifetime experience. Or maybe twice, if mom changes her mind next year. :) But it still won't be the first time. I can almost walk normally today, 2 days after the fact.

This was the only time we were dry for the next 6 hours, at least. Rain started in the swim.

Hard to tell we're near drowning, huh.

Still near drowning, even though we were technically done with the swim.

I am the skinny one. Take your pick. That's me in one of the greens. Any of the greens.... :) hahahhaahhahaha.

When's the last time you did something for the first time?

2007-08-18T22:02:00.000-07:00

I am currently in a hotel in Bellevue, WA (near Seattle) on the eve of the first triathlon I have ever done. Actually of any race, except for high school track which I did one season and HATED. We all start tomorrow at 0600 in the lobby to leave for Qwest Stadium, to catch shuttles from there.....
Here is Qwest Stadium, apparently home of the Sea Hawks. This was our caravan of 3 cars, all with 1-2 bikes in tow to register and get our race stuff and numbers, so we could then travel to rack our bikes for tomorrows race. No accident occurred after this photo was taken.

This is our group of racers, myself, Mel and Jody, Mom and Heather, our adopted sister for this event. :) This is in front of Lake Washington, where our swim starts. In the background is Mercer Island, where we bike to via the I-90 bridge, apparently. Holy cow, I'm giving myself the shakes just doing this. We swim first, then go onto the bike leg...604 meter swim (200 shy of 1/2 mile), then a 12.5 mile bike...

This is just a small (very small) portion of the bikes of the estimated 4500 participants. Here you can see the swim area and part of the bridge we will bike across. We swim, "hurry" to our bikes where we "transition" out of swim cap and goggles, don shoes and socks, helmet, etc. and off we go, running our bike to the road. We then return to this spot and take off on a 3.1 mile run (?) to complete the race.

Here we are, with our numbers marked on us, in all of our nervous glory. They are purely for body ID should we drown on the swim. :) Kidding! Anyway....more later, time to try to get some sleep and make sure I am all packed accordingly for fast transitions! We are to arrive at 0645 to set up our transition area by our already-racked bike, then get in our swim area and begin our "wave" of participants at approx 0750. Chances are, by the time you see this, it will already be a thing of the past and I'll never do a triathlon for the FIRST time again! My motto: Slow and steady may not win any race, but it will finish it!!

Haircut for Tavin

2007-08-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Tavin has always held "long hair" as a very important measure of beauty and femininity (is that a word?). She's never had bangs, mainly because hairstylists have advised not to due to her cow lick right smack in the center of her forehead. Today, we decided (she agreed) to try to cut it shorter, layer it, and get her some "bangs". She's old enough to fight them herself, although I'm not ready to give an almost 5th grader hairspray and a curling iron yet. Her curls underneath the back are more apparent, and so are her natural highlights. The gals at the salon couldn't believe she's only 10 and made comments about modeling (which her daddy quickly corrected with a quip akin to "over my dead body".)
This was Tavin helping me make zucchini bread by grating the zucchini, and she was helping train an exuberant RJ to house manners. We've found it very helpful to be told to keep the pups on a leash in the house at all times, tied to our belt loops or such, to teach them proper manners and to prevent.....damage.

This was Tavin's "model" pose.......

This was laughing at her "model" pose.....

This is a little more natural. I told her I think she has hair like her aunt Jody, light colored and very thick. She liked that. Simon, well Simon is being the typical brother...he told her it looked stupid but at least it covered up her zits. I only type that because she does not have a zit problem and she paid him back with a swift kick. Then he threw a rock at her...Then all of the friends weighed in as to who started it....I have 5 other kids outside besides these 2, Lucy is upstairs "sleeping" although I just caught her wandering around her room "playing". Didn't take her long to figure out she's no longer confined by a crib. :) Now I get to prepare for a trip to the laundromat, since our washer is in need of a new pump and Sears apparently needs 2 weeks to get one here. It may cost a little, but at least I have to be alone! I mean, it's terrible to be separated from all of the dozen kids outside........

Lucy's Birthday!!

2007-08-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

It's official...Lucy is no longer a "baby". She is 2!! She shares today with cousin Eric, who is 19. Her main gift was a "big girl" bed, which is a BIG step for her mom and dad (mostly mom) because it meant dismantling the crib, for the last time ever, and no more babies in this house! (I speak with surety on that!)
Here is a nice picture from only a week or so ago, when Kevin and I had a date. Apparently Lucy wouldn't stop crying, so Tavin fixed it (unbeknownst to the babysitter) by sleeping with her in the crib. This is the same crib that Tavin had, as well as Simon but I never thought I'd see anything like this. Mainly because I thought it would collapse! I don't even want to know how she got in there. I do know that it was very difficult to get her out! Notice the lovely bumper that Grandma (Lucy's Great-grandma) made. I think I'll keep it for Lucy. Along with the dust ruffle, and crib sheet!

This shows the transformation from "cute" 1 to "terrible" 2. We have captured it on film. Like the 2 towels on the barstools? Our washer died, and we had the Sears repairman here today, but instead of working, we are delayed until the 22nd! Replacing a pump, apparently.

THIS is how you eat cake and ice cream. All at once.

Lucy has mastered making an ice cream cone out of a spoon. The "ice cream spoon". She even managed to blow out both of her candles on time, and in 1 attempt, which shocked all of us! Unfortunately the cameraman wasn't "on", so we had to set it up again and she suddenly had trouble. Oh well!

Lucy's new bed. As you can see, it was for jumping, walking, and falling on. It does stretch out to a twin, so it'll be nice to have. Gotta love garage sales!!

Finally, asleep. We won!! Now to paint her walls. Happy Birthday Lucy! We love you and can't imagine what our lives would be like without you!

This also means that we are 1 week away from our 2 year anniversary here as well. So much has changed! All I can say is I am much more comfortable now than I was then (physically!!). :)

Photographer, playwright, and actress

2007-06-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Tavin's added a new "hobby", posing her dolls (and Valerie's) for posters. She begged, pestered, and bothered until someone finally took the picture for her. I only wish I'd done it sooner, so I could have reminded them that anything in the flower beds was off limits!

We had a great time in Seaside last week with Melissa, T, Grandma and Great Grandma Shank. Unforturnately, when Kevin has conferences, he's unable to be with us for most of our activities which doesn't leave me with much arm space or mental capacity to carry a camera, so no further pictures for now! We do still love our dogs, however. :)

Puppies, plus we went to the pool today for the first time

2007-06-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

The puppies will be 3 months old on the 17th, just a few days away. They are huge to us, and seem to have doubled their sizes in the last week. This is Boss, and tonight he tipped the scale at 33 pounds. Notice the shoes are out of their range at this point, but only because the floor is still more interesting to them than is "up".

R.J. is very cute, this is my new desktop. He only weighed 29 pounds, but it's because he lacks muscle, I"m sure. He's the first one to "quit" on the short walks on leashes. Just tonight, Kevin walked them and said how well they were doing and suddenly after they were in the garage it felt like one of them suddenly pulled in another direction. When he looked behind him, it was just R.J. sprawled on the floor, letting the leash drag him over the garage floor. Dramatic. Typical for him, though.

The dogs let Lucy read to them whenever she wants. They have already figured out that she is the smallest and try to be careful around her in their bumbling, clumsy, puppy manners. At least when they knock her down, it is unintentionally and they don't scratch her or maul her while she's down. She has learned some new phrases: "Boss! No,No!", "'top it!" (stop it), and I'm afraid she'll pick up on a few more soon. Just like Simon learned "Sup up soopid dog!" when he was about this age.

New Puppies!!

2007-06-07T08:17:00.001-07:00

Here are our most recent family additions, as of yet unnamed. I have limited time here, for obvious reasons, they've only been here a little over 1 hour.

They are brothers. The black one is definitely the boss already.

CSI anyone?

2007-05-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

When Kevin came home from work a few minutes ago, Tavin surprised us both with signs she'd made. I"ll skip the part about her taping them to the walls (newly painted), but they said "Big Meeting", and "Sit Down" with arrows pointing to the couch. Once she had our undivided attention, she proceeded to unfold a paper marked "Top Secret" in red crayon. This is her happy, "pleased with myself" look at the end of the ceremonious tattling. She proceeded to read the note, which is below, and then displayed the evidence: A bag with the involved scissors and toy motorcycle.

The note reads: "All about Simon. Today at 3:17 I Tavin was sneeking on my brother. He was disturbly (pronounced "disturbidly") distroying his motorcycle with my sisers (scissors) that he took. The best spyer in the world got out of the closet when he went downstairs and took my scissors and the broken motorcycle and ran to my room and wrote this story! This has been the Best spyer in the world! telling you this!"

To further explain, she had been hiding in his closet and observed this behavior. It also means that she saw him go to her room to get and return the scissors. Dangerous territory for a little brother, but she doesn't see her part as intrusive, as of yet. This is only the first week of summer vacation, and I am desperately waiting for sports, or pools, or SOMETHING to begin!! I guess this is what I get for harping on them so much to stop tattling on each other all the time. It was impressive that she sat on this story for a good hour!

Simon's Kindergarten Graduation

2007-05-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Simon graduated from Kindergarten this morning. It was only a brief ceremony of diploma giving followed by a longer, noisier, sloppier and more entertaining pizza party. The balloons caused quite a stir. Unfortunately, Simon's only lasted about 10 minutes once we got home. He declined to have me tie it to him, and when he looked up at a passing airplane, it escaped. Being the nurse and paranoid mom that I am, I was actually relieved as I know that balloons are a terrible choking hazard for young children. I can tell a tragic story, but only if you contact me in private. :)

Each child also received a personalized "year book" of pictures of themselves on various class trips and activities.

Simon thoroughly enjoyed the star shaped jello pieces they had. Tomorrow is their last day of school and only a fun/field day. Simon is convinced that he is a first grader as of his graduation.

P.S. I am already on vacation with Lucy.....everyone else will join me tomorrow. ;)

Belated Mother's Day Posting

2007-05-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I forgot to blog after Mother's Day! Oh well. We spent the weekend with my family, as we stayed home last year. Friday Kevin worked until 4ish, so we decided to stop at Melissa & Kenny's for the night. Tavin had a great time with T's many hermit crabs. Even if she did have some scabs afterwards. The kids had a great time playing together, and basically just running around the house waving pirate swords and yelling. Lucy was initiated to the world of sword fighting with her brother, by way of a swipe across the cheek. Inadvertently, of course. The bruise is mostly faded.

Saturday we continued on our way to mom & dad's. This would have been a really cute picture if the cameraman (me) wouldn't have had to hurry to catch it. The little stinker. Lucy was looking for her aunts on Monday, asking where "Dody" and "Fafissa" went. She also was handing Kenny DVDs saying "Foofie!". We'd never heard her swap her "fs" for "ms" before.

Grandpa had remnants of a burn pile in the back yard that T and Simon thoroughly enjoyed. It was only smoking a little, but they did manage to fan it into flame again. Scary. I missed all pictures of Brenden somehow, but I was present to hear him pronounce to Grandpa that he "...couldn't see the back yard because of all that JUNK!". Which I believe was all of our cars. He stayed out of the dirty ash pile...or maybe it was just during his "nap" time, when he whispered to uncle Kevin from the bed "I'm supposed to be taking a nap!". We are looking forward to a long weekend over the holiday all together in Sun River! I"m sure there'll be stories to tell afterwards!

Fishing and Flying Day

2007-05-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today was the annual Kid's Fishing Derby at the local dam. Since Kevin was in charge of opening the gym for men's basketball this morning, I felt obligated (and thought it would be fun) to take the kids. The kids were supposed to do their own casting (as much as possible) and reel in their own fish, which we didn't need to worry about. I soon became very familiar with everyone to either side of us while retrieving errant casts

by Simon. Tavin couldn't believe that a fish would bite her lure without her seeing it, so she was only letting it sit for 30 seconds or so before reeling it back in. Lucy, well, Lucy was not impressed with ANY of it. The derby started at 9, we were there at 8:30 to register and borrow 1 pole, and it was to end at noon. I was sure we'd been there for 3 hours between the line criss-crosses, the screaming, the whining, and watching everyone else all around us catch fish, but it turns out we were done after only 29 minutes!! The only thing I have to say about that is: Never Again. I just couldn't handle it any more and told the kids that I was sure dad would take them back after he was done playing ball, which he did. The kids and I piddled around a couple of garage sales, and then when Kevin got home he did take them back to the derby.

I gave them a good 1/2 hour, then drove back there with Lucy to get a picture of the fish they had caught....here they are!

Invisible fish. Hogged by all of the other anglers around us....the smiles on the faces of my children were now concentrated scowls, and the whining was a little more high pitched. We finished the derby and all was forgotten by taking them to McDonald's.

Little Eagle's Day at the airport was a very busy event, just like it was last year. Unfortunately for Simon, you have to be 8 to get a free ride in the airplanes, but he still enjoys going. Tavin managed to be called with a couple of girls (twins) from her school and past basketball team.

Kevin says she got to fly in "the best airplane there", a Cessna 185. I see she's wearing her black flip flops, one of which she had to retrieve out of the muck and mud at the fishing derby, as she snuck them by her father when he took them back....mean old mom made them wear socks and shoes. :)
Tavin got to sit in the front seat and said she "talked to the pilots". Here they are getting ready for take off.

Birdies on a fence

2007-05-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

I finally caught the pair of Quail on the fence this morning. It really is entertaining when they run along the top of it. They tend to mostly just stand there and survey their surroundings, mainly, where is George? I think that within the next month or two, I should be able to get photos of the little quail, which are even cuter.

Lyrical composition

2007-04-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Kevin left for Missoula this morning with his boss, they won't return until late tomorrow night. Since I'm on call and all that, the kids and I skipped church and had our own "service". This was basically the kids playing outside with our neighbor kids that were astonished to see us home on a Sunday. We are slipping for sure. Tavin and Valerie composed these lyrics to go with a song on her keyboard, I wish I knew the name of the little diddy but I don't.

I apologize for the "non-Sunday" lyrics, but here it is:

"1,2,3 kick my knee, go behind a tree and pee.
4,5,6 pick up sticks, go upstairs and play.
Go outside and ride a bike, go get married and take a hike.
1,2,3 kick my knee, hope you do that stuff."

My pride was great as I heard them belting this from my front porch. Obviously, greater things await them. I chose to blog this particular event rather than the truly disgusting thing that happened when a poopy diaper somehow got smeared all over the carpet and clothes basket while Tavin was pushing Lucy around in it.....

Noisy neighbors (and not the human or canine type this time)

2007-04-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

We have quite the collection of bird species here in NE Oregon. This was our "lost neighbor" this morning.

I frequently see Quail this time of year, sometimes an entire "squad" complete with a whole string of very small ones trailing their parents. Even better is when they are running across the top of my back fence, but I've never been quick enough to catch them with my camera. This morning however, one was calling quite loudly in out front.

As you can see, the birdy made its way around our neighbor's garage then helped itself right up to the front porch. I did catch a smattering of video so we could hear its vocals, but I can't copy video as of yet.

The only thing this birdy managed to attract was a curious Robin that began responding from my yard. Fortunately for them, George (the cat) was nowhere in sight.

Yabba Dabba.....

2007-04-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a brief pause from my household duties (as if anyone needs a reason to do that) to enjoy 1 of my 2 recent purchases that are exciting to me. The first, is a new recipe organizer/book. I don't know why, but for some reason I, and I'm sure many other women out there, seem to enjoy getting new recipe books and or organizers. This has pockets and allows me to put the 4x6 cards in a separate box into these folders and get rid of a small box, with a large book. Seems reasonable. There's also nice, crisp, big, lined pages to write new recipes onto, as well as a magnet list for the fridge and 3 fridge magnets. All for $8.99!

This is not the new thing that I am enjoying right now though...A few weeks ago Tavin and I went to watch the local middle school production of "Fiddler on the Roof" because a friend of ours had a lead role. We came to find out that neither her nor anyone in her family had seen the actual movie, nor were they even aware it was a movie. Travesty! So, my other purchase, for a mere $12.99, was a 2-DVD set of "Fiddler on the roof". Yesssss!! That's what is playing now, and I really like it. My next plan is to invite them over for a "Fiddler" evening, as they did express interest in viewing the real thing. :) Next, would be to see if they've ever seen "Gone with the Wind", as my parents made sure we watched it when I was 16. ;)

Acquire the Fire, Portland, OR

2007-04-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Acquire the Fire (http://www.battlecry.com/pages/atf.php), a youth event that travels nationally to encourage Christian (and other) youth to affect their culture positively and to recognize the media and other "stuff" out there. We also heard some awesome music. :) This is my new favorite band, and I'm surprised. Any adults, you probably will think I have lost my mind, but your kids, well, they'll love this.

The band is "Red", this is a link to their video. Of course they are a Christian band!
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid416542555/bctid155450316

I was never so , um "happy"?, to be on the first row of the "non floor" seats so close to the stage, it actually protected me from the giant speakers that vibrated my entire body Saturday when we heard "Pillar". The other band was "Grits". I am too tired to find a link to them....I had less than 9 hours of sleep over the last 2 nights, so all things considered I'm doing very well! I did have a great time and have decided that being with 22 teenagers isn't any harder than being with my own children! I do have to say that for some of the kids, my children are much better at following guidelines and authority. :)

Current events

2007-04-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

Simon lost his first tooth, followed by the second one a week later, about 2 weeks ago. We were in a diner for the first one, and he was at a birthday party for the second. This picture provides a lovely setting of silver, thanks to his recent dental work. It is sad that being 6 and being the little brother of an older sister, he has no regards for any tooth fairy. He just hits up dad right away for money.

Lucy is beginning to feed herself with a spoon; sort of. A more accurate description would be that she is more interested in eating when she can feed herself. In case you're wondering why she is not wearing a bib, none of my kids were big fans of them. No one would keep them on, which is also how they all feel about shoes and socks.

We received an easter package from Grandma Dot yesterday. Here is Lucy enjoying the Reese's peanut butter egg. This is "before".....

This is "after".

Tavin made me an early birthday picture. I'm sure my co-workers will appreciate this as all but 1 have kids of their own. :) In case you can't decipher what she wrote, it says, "I (heart) you! Happy Birthday! To: Mom From: Tavin Hang this picture on your work wall"

Color! Finally!

2007-04-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Lucy was delighted to have a friend here since Thursday. Part of my duties as my house was being painted was to watch the baby and keep out of the way. :)

My wonderful friend Kaylene painted the entire lower level of our house for us. I really liked a striped design and didn't even know that she specialized in faux treatments, and was generous enough to give me my favorite wall! :)

We selected a khaki for the base color, used the wine color for the kitchen and dining area.

The kitchen colors are the same as the striped wall, just without a faux treatment. Kaylene started Thursday pm and finished earlier this morning. Talk about fast! Part of her speed had to do with my assignment, which was pretty much to stay out of the way.

This color is "tate olive" and really is not done justice by the photo. I am so glad to be a far cry from the "tofu" color we have been living with, and still have upstairs, for now at least!

Here is the illustrious artist finishing up this morning. She refused to look up, so her identity is safe for now.

Thank God for friends! Bless you Kaylene, and your family for sparing you! :)

Furniture finally arrives!!

2007-03-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

After at least 1 month of looking, we finally settled on new couches for the living room. We managed to find a good deal for a couple of tables and lamps as well.

You can't see the coffee table, but it is the same pattern as the cocktail table, and the other lamp is identical. Simon wasn't exactly thrilled. As he put it, "They're not mine." We tried to explain that they belong to "us" but it really didn't help.

Each couch has 2 recliners, so I expect we'll soon have drool marks on the leather as we all find them extremely comfortable!

Basketball Game #3

2007-02-24T08:20:00.000-08:00

Tavin had another basketball game last night. Astonishingly, I forgot the camera. So, briefly, they lost on the score board in a high scoring game for 4rth graders, 32-21, but technically they won because the team had to borrow 3 players from us to start the game. Tavin played very well, as well as aggressively. She even used her left hand to dribble!! We dont' know for sure, but we think she had 12-14 points. Since I don't have a basketball picture to add, I'll just put in this one of her "project" that she made for school. It is Cinderella's castle. Cineralla recently discovered her love for chiuahuas, or maybe it was Taco Bell.

Valentine's Day

2007-02-15T07:18:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day is traditionally a day of too much sugar in our house. This cute little mess is the result of the valentine package from grandpa and grandma, for which their names were blessed profusely by Tavin and Simon; Lucy would have had she had the ability. Afterwards, Lucy was running around the living room screeching, while stopping occasionally to bang her head on the couch and laugh hysterically at herself. The marshmellow cream in her hair was painstakingly removed in a bath before bed.

Simon and Tavin each had parties in their respective classrooms. Tavin's teacher had forbidden valentine cards prepared at home to be passed out, because of some ill-conceived notions from some students about what was acceptable to write to their classmates. As a result, Simon came home with a pile of small cards and various small packets of candy. Tavin's class were all encouraged to bring treats to have a party in their class, where she consumed as much of the forbidden substance (sugar) as possible, not bringing any home. Rather than exchange cards,
Tavin's class each had a red plastic plate that they passed around and each student wrote a kind thing on a small paper heart, taped it to a pipe cleaner and attached it to the plate. The girls in Tavin's class wrote things like "I like you", "You're my best friend", "Your nice", etc. Most of the boys wrote "You're fast", which I tried to explain to her was a high compliment from a 4rth grade boy. She only had to "report" one comment from a likely very honest boy to her teacher, because he had penned "You're annoying" on her plate. He was made to change it, and he then wrote "I like your shirt". I suspect the one that declared her annoying probably holds her in higher regards than the ones that labeled her as fast. Kevin and I spent the evening at church, after he attended a school board meeting, in our respective youth group and men's groups, but I did get a few roses in the 5 minutes that we saw each other to collect children after school until we were all home together at 9pm. The chocolate that he was to get yesterday disappeared rather quickly, after watching the kids eat theirs.

Tavin's latest basketball adventures

2007-02-13T08:41:00.000-08:00

Last night was Tavin's 2nd basketball game, only it was at home. Their gym is better than any gym I played in before college! If you notice the handsome referee, to the right, you'll see the reason that Tavin was whistled for a couple of fouls. This was a shot that she made, but I don't know how many points she actually had. One got called off by the ref because of a foul before hand, which was non-shooting. Someone in the crowd heckled him for that, but I have no knowledge of their identity. Tavin is #45, in the white uni with black shorts, pretty much the tallest one out there.

Kevin overheard people from the opposite side saying "They need to put a really short girl on that 45 and just steal the ball whenever she dribbles." Flattering for us, but Tavin was still very disappointed (near tears again) when they still lost by 2, actually the final score was 22-18 because of a last second shot that the ref counted. :) It was still legal, and one of these days, these girls will win a game. The coach and I agree that our girls are just so polite they don't want to cause any hard feelings and have yet to learn the value of a little aggressiveness. Plus, all get equal playing time without equal ability and there are 11 girls on the team, even though 9 is the most that showed up. Tavin played very well and had a good time, I think, despite the result.

This was Lucy's take on the entire evening. Of course, when her daddy picked her up she stopped immediately.

Basketball season arrives

2007-02-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

Last night was the first basketball game for Tavin's 4rth grade team. It was her first "real away" game, ever. I had to keep the book for our team, so I was challenged to get any good pictures, but Tavin is in the center in the blue shirt looking away. The game was extremely nerve wracking, the girls lost in overtime 22-20. Tavin had 8 points, including the first and the last. At the end of regulation she had a steal, break away layin (missed), but got her own rebound and got a last-second shot off, that just missed. In this league, pretty much anything goes, but there are some very aggressive girls that adversely, and illegally affected the outcome of the game. And that's all I have to say about that. ;) Everyone plays equal amounts of time, and we look forward to Tavin learning about team play and having a good attitude, no matter the outcome. :) Another part that surpirsed Kevin and I was the crowd turn-out. There was at least 100 people there and they were ROWDY! It was very fun.

One week prior to last night, I surprised Tavin with a "mother-daughter" weekend at Lincoln City. This was part of her 10th birthday gift. We stayed in a hotel room, ate at Kylos on Friday night, Tavin enjoys good oysters just like all other rational people, and watched at least 6 movies in our room. Did I also mention we visited the outlets? Tavin was very much in the mood for crab, so for dinner Saturday night we hand picked 2 crab (live at the time) from a fishing boat on the old bayfront in Newport, bought 2 forks at the Goodwill store for $.39/each and made our own table in the hotel room with our own crabs. YUM!! You'll notice the window is actually open, not because of a crab smell, but because of the fair weather. When at the coast, one must be able to see and hear the ocean, or you may as well stay home.

A very rare picture, as it contains me. However, for the benefit of my daughter and for the sake of memories, I sacrificed my vanity. We were able to walk on the beach, but didn't find any glass floats or notable sea shells. Hopefully our summer will include a few days on the central coast, I guess we'll invite the rest of the fam too, even the boys.

Simon's birthday weekend

2007-02-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

Here are (finally) some picts of Simon's 6th birthday weekend with all of his "boy" cousins (plus one girl). I think they all had fun at the bowling alley, and it was a great place for them as they didn't have to be quite or stay still, and the kids got unlimited pop. The party room was actually in the arcade, which was an additional (albeit costly) bonus. I have to admit, I did play a few games myself. One of these days, I'll beat Mel on that dumb driving game.

Grandpa taught T how to "swing" the ball, but I think the ball ended up swinging him more! Sunday morning was a great time as they all went on the stage with other kids from church with tambourines. I know dad has pictures and he may have even gotten one with T with his hands over his ears!

Brenden was as entertaining as always, with a ready smile
and an exuberant laugh. He enjoyed the cars that Simon had, especially when Simon and T went outside to play in the sand pit and he had them all to himself!! He did a great job bowling, I think he had the dubious honor of being the only one able to actually bounce the bowling ball off of the pins, and to get one ball stuck in the middle of the pins, without actually knocking over more than 1! Quite a feat!

Lucy and Jenna were confined for as long as possible, Jenna handled it much better! Lucy's cries were partially drowned out by the din around us, but not before a few of Simon's "guests" told me I needed to let her out so she could walk. Simon also got a bike, a Spiderman sort, but it has been too cold for him to ride it except for the day of his birthday. When he does, I'll get some picts of that too, just so we're fair! :)

Simon and George (the cat, not George the neighbor)

2007-01-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

We've had relatively sunny weather as of late, although it is still in the very low thirties in the mornings. This is "George" the famous cat from previous posts (around 12/05). Simon is his favorite person. George lost favor by erroneously assuming the living room was his litter box and the back and undersides of my newly restored chairs his scratching posts. Therefore, he lives outside. Tomorrow we have grandparents, aunts, and cousins coming for Simon's birthday on Saturday. I'm sure we'll have more picts of the bowling alley party. This is our back porch, with the $5 lounge chairs we got at a local garage sale last fall. Happy almost-weekend!

Tavin's Birthday!!

2007-01-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

Tavin is 10 years old today. Funny, I don't recall myself aging 10 years. She had a great time at her skating party Saturday. Tavin can go really fast, but ultimately, it just meant that she crashed harder. I wished I had taken pictures of the dark purple discoloration of her entire right knee. We had a great time Saturday. Tavin had 8 friends with her. After 3 hours of skating/blading there were groans and whimpers all around. The biggest one came from the poor gal taking the returned skates when she received the birthday girls' pair. Tavin is beautiful and talented, but she can stink up some shoes!

Lucy is very pleased to be able to climb onto the table chairs, and was allowed to feed herself some of Tavin's birthday cake. Simon stayed home with daddy and Lucy. He has never skated and has not really expressed any desire to do so, but he did practice his casting.

Simon is very excited about fishing again in the spring. This particular friend was on skates for the first time ever....and just about to be off of them!

I'm glad to be able to post pictures, now I need to figure out how to arrange them how I want them! But it's better than just black and white letters, in my opinion.

Lucy's first snow

2007-01-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

It's about time we get some snow out here! What's even worse is that the old homestead has more snow than we do and we have a few hundred more feet of elevation. Oh well. Here's some pictures of Lucy enjoying herself.

She actually has pretty good mobility in that snow suit, which I've had for nearly 3 years, new, packed away because it was so cheap I had to buy it.

This is our house. Notice Lucy's tracks. She reminds me of the Family Circus cartoons where you see all the circuituous routes the children take rather than straight lines.

Jerusalem has bugs like this?

2007-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

I have a neighbor that recently told me to look up "Jerusalem Cricket" on the web for a picture of a very ugly looking creature that never should have made it onto Noah's ark. Unfortunately, she said they have been showing up here and I am just so please to learn more about freak entomology. Here's a link to a lovely picture and description. If I find one, you'll hear about it, trust me.
kaweahoaks.com/html/jerusalem_cricket.html

Pictures! At last

2007-01-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Finally! I can post pictures! This was the horrible Saturday before Christmas, when the abdominal emissions began. I'll get some more pictures now, with my new laptop toy and digital camera, which for some reason wouldn't work on the desktop computer. Poor Simon. Luckily, the bucket wasn't required in the car. He made it to the downstairs bathroom at home. Barely.

Could I have the definition, please?

2007-01-06T19:39:00.000-08:00

I have to share a rare comment that was made in our home a few days ago. I know LeAnn has raised some boys that made "Mennonite" comments, but I've never had one come from my children until now. Tavin and Simon were arguing over whose turn it was, or some other rare conflict, and when Simon didn't bow to his older sisters' wishes she said, "That's not very Mennonite."

Unfortunately, she couldn't tell me what made it so, or what would have been the "Mennonite" thing to do. I think she was going for chivalrous, which at this point is a concept that Simon really couldn't care less about when it comes to his big sister!

Sympathy anxiety attack

2007-01-05T07:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took Simon to the dentist for his first "repair" work. Unfortunately for him his mother didn't get him in for his first cleanings until years after she meant to do it, and the ultimate result is a couple of visits to repair teeth that will surely fall out before they can work off the debt they are incurring. I did find a reputable place that freely uses Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) and has t.v.s and headphones over every chair. Simon did very well as he spent just over 2 hours in the chair, whilst his mother was fretting in the waiting room. I hate going to the dentist. I hate the sound of drills. One more appointment, and he's done. :) We have been successful largely due to the fact that Simon doesn't really know what was done, only that he got a cool prize and could watch all the "Spongebob" that he wanted!

They don't sell these bubbles at Walmart!

2007-01-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

We spent a relatively uneventful New Year's Eve at home with just us. We watched "Black Beauty" and had banana splits. The children were extremely dismayed to go to bed at 9pm, but we explained that we weren't going to stay up until midnight either, since I had to work the next day and they had school today. To be true to our word, Kevin and I went to bed at 11:45, but we still new when it was midnight because of the fireworks, and ruckus around us. It made me so glad we didn't have a dog. At least we started the new year in good health, Lucy just has a runny nose and cold, which I really don't consider sick. But, out of consideration for the nursery kiddos at church I kept her home with me on Sunday, just in case other moms don't like to see snotty bubbles being blown out of their kids' noses with each expiration!

Insomnia (?)

2006-12-31T00:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I'm awake. Tomorrow is Sunday, and church of course, and I can't sleep. So, since I now have a laptop, I can play downstairs without bothering anyone. I was asleep, but Lucy fussed for a while, and now my brain is awake. Hopefully not for long. I am sipping "sleeping tea", decaff of course, but hasn't worked yet. Too bad tonight's not New Years, I don't plan to be up at midnight tomorrow either!

Escape to work

2006-12-29T20:56:00.000-08:00

We are nearly normal, for us anyway, here finally! I have never been so excited to work as I was yesterday and today. I'm even looking forward to covering New Years' Day. Of course, who wouldn't for double pay?? I haven't been covering this holiday since I was on call New Years' Eve for Y2K, the great hubaloo that never happened. Yesterday while on a home visit (to a person that could nearly be described as "my neighbor") I encountered something I actually haven't seen before, but now that I type this I recall a similar incident in East Linn County. On yesterdays visit, I was sitting across from a man who was pleasantly describing his political views to me, fortunately we pretty much agree, and I looked over at his much-used ash tray to see his hand gun. It was the first time we'd met and I was very glad I wasn't a Nancy Pelosi enthusiast! The only similar incident was an 80 + year old gentleman, who was very vision-challenged that kept a loaded shot gun by his recliner. I'm discovering that I"m more comfortable around guns, than large dogs, as one seems to be more predictable than the other and yesterday was the first time I had a dog come at me over a gate as soon as I turned my back. I think I"m the one that needs a hand gun. Ha!

Warning: This blog not for the faint of stomach

2006-12-27T08:23:00.000-08:00

What a Christmas this has been! I think it is one for the record book, as the....well, I hate to say the worst one ever, but there's very little other comparisons to make. First of all, our original plans of the family get-together with my parents and sisters was to happen December 16th, with us leaving on the 15th. I should back up, though. Monday the 11th Simon woke up with the stomach flu, the worst kind...both ends. He made a quick recovery and we were sure our plans were safe. However, Friday morning as we were all packed and making some last minute arrangements before our targeted departure of noon, Lucy got the throw-ups. So, cancel family Christmas (boy, you want a house full of woe and wailing, do that to kids!), reschedule for 1 week later, and everybody stay healthy. Worked for us, until we were at grandma and grandpas house, the day to leave (at least we had our family time) and Simon does a repeat all over Grandmas kitchen and bathroom floors. I wasn't feeling too hot, neither was grandma, but boy was I glad there was no carpet involved!! We made a hasty retreat with a bucket in Simons lap. He made it home until the next "incident". A few of us were still having some sort of symptoms, so we missed Christmas eve Sunday and any other church services, but felt we could still do a Christmas dinner on Monday, which I had prepared for by asking mom a bunch of questions, as it was to be the first I've prepared myself (stuffed turkey and all). I prepared the stuffing, stuffed the bird, and put it in the fridge to pop in the oven Christmas morning. Alas, it was not to be. Tavin, 6:20 am Christmas morning, loosing her cookies. Sigh. I took my beautiful bird to the nurse who was on call for home health/hospice, and they had it for us. We ate 7-Up and saltines all day. Finally, I thought we were done. But no. Lucy's turn at 11:30 pm Christmas night. Which made me go back to feeling crummy. I found a cure, though. Yesterday morning I got up at 7, supposedly to work, made it in the office for all of 10 minutes and went back home and to bed. I woke up 4 1/2 hrs later feeling better.

So far this morning, everyone feels better, but Tavin still has some...ummm...lesser symptoms. I can handle just about anything but throw up. So, this was our Christmas season this year, the reason for the season doesn't change, nor does the excitement with presents. I, however, hope to never have one like this again!!

Sunday Procrastination

2006-10-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

If anyone checks the day and time of this posting, it may pique your curiosity. Yes, it is 8 am on a Sunday morning and I am blogging. Yes, I go to church every Sunday, even 45 minutes early. I am taking online classes to attain my BSN (which is just for further education down the road) and have weekly assignments. You may be surprised to know I have 1 due today and need to print of the needed paperwork. Rest assured, I have been thinking about this assignment all week, have done the necessary reading (well, most of it) and the online/CD ROM assessment trainings as well. It's really not hard to just perform a Cranial Nerve assessment on an adult, fill out their assessment forms and submit it electronically. What makes it hard, is when you can't access their site to download said forms in the first place. Annoying.

I also learned something yesterday about last Saturday's hike. Turns out the SAR teams (Search and Rescue) we saw were not on a training. They were looking for a hiker missing since November (hence, the cadaver dogs) and a couple of other hikers that have been missing for several months. I wondered where all the strapping young men (like Nick) were! They must save them for the living, so they can carry them out. :) Congratulations to Nick on his latest rescue assistance involving 2 19 year old maidens in need of help. Seems like a better way to meet people than some others I've heard about!

Lucy has discovered Tavin's barbies. So far, the fascination is only in chewing the feet. Simon is doing very well in kindergarten, he seems to love P.E. the most. Tavin still loves her first-year teacher, and revels in the fact that she plays Christian music very quietly on her computer all day. It is also Tavin's favorite station, so I think she feels like she has a "secret" with her teacher that no one else shares. We received a note from her teacher a couple of weeks ago, telling us how happy the teacher was to have Tavin in her class. On a morning that the class was given an assignment to use a topic sentence and write a paragraph, Tavin wrote about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. The teacher noted that Tavin has the ability to reach her classmates in ways she (teacher) could not. That's good to know, it seems like for the last month all Tavin wants to do is go back to her "old" school, even though I remember things she used to complain about there as well.

Yesterday our family embarked on our first "Family Fun Run/Walk" for a local school group. It was only 5K, and although Lucy was the only one NOT walking it, she was the loudest complainer. If I would have taken pictures, and if I could get them to post here, I would post them. :) Same with my hike pictures, but for some reason, can't upload the things.

Day Trip

2006-09-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

I survived, and even enjoyed, a rather adventurous trek into the Blue Mountains on Saturday! It was supposed to be a group of women from church that make up the "Fit Girls" or Women's Wellness Group, whatever floats your boat, but it wound up being only myself and the leader who just happens to be a personal trainer, works at a gym, cycles 50 miles on one trip for leisure, you know the type.

Anyway, it was a really good time, even if it was not 8.4 miles like W.L. and N. venture on, it was mountainous enough! We had beautiful sunny weather without being hot, and I have some lovely pictures of the river, which we followed, and some wildlife. I became immediately alarmed when she told me we were advised to avoid blackberry bushes (I've yet to see any out here) because the bears are stocking up for their hibernation, and not to look up...else we may spot a cougar watching us. I would've been GLAD to look up, but we had to always watch our footing or wind up falling down a steep embankment at times and swimming with the fishes, if you know what I mean. We will pass on the information that the bear we spotted was in the water, less than 100 yards away from the German Shepherds and a bunch of people in the campground. How's that for comforting!!

We hiked in 2 hours then planned to break and snack before returning, but discovered that by allowing our bodies to stop even briefly, we allowed pain to make its unwelcome appearance. So, we just kept moving and really didn't have severe pain until the last 1/2 hour of the 3 1/2 hour excursion. Did I mention that the local Sheriff was there with the SAR (Search and rescue) team conducting a training? And that I saw a bear? Oh and 3 snakes (but not the rattlesnake that we were told was ahead of us, I was kind of hoping to get a picture of that one instead of the bull snake), a fuzzy caterpillar (cute, huh?) and about a bajillion lady bugs all in huge masses and piles. Now I know Ladybugs are harmless, but we did dance around a bit and wig out a little when they flew on us and attached themselves. That made me feel better. Plus, I'm wasn't sore except for ankles and foot pain, from walking on loose rocks and uneven terrain. Sometimes I even moved fast. Someone had to out run the bear. (HA!) No, the only things we had to dodge was a dirt bike, a loose dog, and a cadaver dog. (It was on a leash and well-behaved, but EWWWWWW!!)

Falling Riders

2006-09-19T23:27:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking there were things that I wanted to post, and apparently my mind works best late at night when everyone else has been asleep for hours! I doubt I'm the only one in my extended family with this trait. Anyway, my wonderful husband and I attended our first rodeo ever, last week, which is a huge annual event in our vicinity. It got off to a huge bang when the opening parade of rodeo princesses and the queen of the rodeo came galloping out of the pens on their charging steeds, only for the queens horse to fail to clear a low rail, as well as fail to turn as it approached the grandstands, right below where we were sitting....the result: A dethroned queen in a very undignified manner!! I can make light of it you see, because she was ok. Let me mention that I was the ONLY one of my 2 sisters to NOT be a princess of any kind....:) Of course, if I could've been a princess that rode a horse I would've found a way to at least try. The only horse I every really got to ride was an ornery Appaloosa named "Ace" that seemed to figure out very quickly that a 100 lb. 8th grader was not the same as the typical adult male rider it was accompanied too. He didn't mind very well and tried to "rub" me off on the barn eave, as well as on a moving SUV driven by our neighbor. I have some great pictures of action shots, bull riding, calf roping, bronc riding and so forth, using my new digital camera's 12 zoom, I was pleasantly surprised at the focus and clarity....but I will send a couple to my nephews. If I'd have known the dethroned queen was ok, I'd have some of her too!

Pit Juice

2006-09-02T18:48:00.000-07:00

Tavin has been asking me for deodorant for the past few days, ever since I've said no to shaving her legs and another completely unnecessary request. We made the trip to Walmart and she smelled a few scents, then decided on one that I handed her. Most likely it was because of the name "Teen Spirit" rather than coming from mom's hand. Anyway, she immediately applied it in the car, after I had to continuously remind her to leave it alone in the store. I gave her basic instructions on exactly where it goes (one never knows where it may end up!) and how many "swipes" are appropriate, prefacing that with "This should last you at least a month", to give her an idea that this is not to be applied like chapstick. We also discussed the best time to use it is after a shower and every morning, etc.

Kevin knew I had gotten the deodorant for her, but I still think he was surprised when she came charging at him later in the day after her shower proclaiming, "Smell my armpits!!".

As for me, I spent the day with 25 pounds of peaches. We have 3 cobblers on our cupboard and more than enough freezer jam, but only because no one carries "Fresh Fruit" or the like anymore so I could have just frozen the stupid things! Oh well. I experimented with my cobbler stuff, and the last 2 I sprinkled chocolate chips between the peaches and the "cobbler". I couldn't figure out why they never set, even though I added more pancake mix after 30 minutes of not setting, finally resigning to a stewy texture. Now I know that some helper turned the stove off at an inappropriate time. "It was beeping." That's what timers do. :)

Dinner Theater

2006-08-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

Today is "Friday" for my kids, and for hubby as well. This means an unusual 4 day weekend for everyone. Too bad our only plans are to fix the brakes on one car, and get an estimate on the other! Everything seems to happen in pairs when it comes to vehicles. Earlier this summer it was air conditioning (entire compressors, not just recharging!).

The dinner table seems to be the place where most of my blog inspiration is borne. However, I must say this about Simon; in the van today he opened his backpack and handed me about a 2 inch thick stack of papers, after I asked him if he had been given anything for home. Remember, this is the END of the 2nd week! I found out when school pictures are, they are always in September here and in the spring, school open house is in 3 weeks, fundraiser starts in September, and oh yes he was supposed to bring a "self bag" last week which included items to tell people about himself. Lots of good it does me to be married to the principal! Which reminds me, I wonder where Tavin's stash is? When she comes home with Kevin, things tend to get lost between school and home.

Tonight's Dinner Theater actually began just before we sat down to eat. Tavin was in the yard with my OTHER 3 kids (actually, just neighbor kids that apparently think they live in our driveway) when she came in yelling that George (5 year old neighbor, equal in orneriness to Simon) had taken her wallet into his house, and she was up-SET. Crying even. I reminded her that this was an empty wallet that had remained neglected on the porch for a few days. "But GRANDMA gave it to me!" :) Ok, we knew it was empty, but daddy's instincts kicked in...good for daddy...and he summoned the boy and wallet in a short time. During dinner, I asked Tavin why George had taken her wallet, as if boys need a reason to pick on big-sister-types. She said "George said that I was his girlfriend and I told him I didn't want that at ALL. So he took my wallet to his house." Simon then chimed in, "Yeah, and he said he's my BOSS." Kevin and I did a poor job at stifling our laughs, he actually coughed "Blog!". When Tavin and I had to go to Walmart later this evening, I had to move a jean jacket from behind the car, a boys bike from the front lawn, a plastic glass, markers, and other objects to "their side". At least they don't have a dog.

P.S. Lucy is walking! She started just after her birthday. Her lastest mode of communication is what I call a honk without the "K". It's the sound she makes when she is displeased while wrinkling up her nose.

Year #2

2006-08-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I mentioned it in my last post, but Lucy had her 1st birthday earlier this month. This means that we have lived here for just over 1 whole year!

Last week was the first week of "back to school" for Tavin and Simon. Since Kevin works at the school they attend, he visits their rooms almost daily (as he does every other room as well) and had the occasion to see a boy in Tavins room "misusing" a chair. Tavin's teacher is a new hire this year, also a first year teacher, but very impressive. Rather than intervene, Kevin decided to just see how the teacher would handle it. Tavin told him later that the boy had to kneel on the floor after his chair was taken away, which is just how Kevin stated he would have handled it. The next day Kevin asked Tavin if the boy had his chair taken away again. Her response: "No, but I did."

AACk!

2006-08-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been over 2 months! Apparently this online classes thing, plus having all 3 kids home for the last 3 months, has dramatically sucked up all of my free/spare time! ;) Well, yesterday Lucy decided she could walk, and within a number of hours could travel across a room. Today, it's just stand up and walk, turn corners, etc. I think she's been holding out on us! For her birthday a couple of weeks ago we had some friends over for a barbque, then spend the next several days with my parents in the valley. Speaking of "valley people", my little sister, the one that had a baby like 4 months ago, just completed the Danskin Triathlon in Seattle. I know. Sick. Just kidding. :) We are very proud of her, and marvel at her Wonder-woman capabilities.

Simon's first day of Kindergarten is tomorrow, as is Tavin's first day in the 4rth grade. I am just so excited as well! I want to pick out what clothes to wear to be actually almost alone for a morning! Actually, I have a packed schedule with gym, and Lucy's nap (hopefully)...I have to take them tomorrow, since it's also the principals' first day with students there. After that, they'll go with Kevin M,W and Th. No school on Fridays and Kevin has a basketball and prayer group to vie for his early morning attention on Tuesdays, so I am the am transportation, as well as pickup Simon at 11:00. Did I mention they have to be in their classrooms by 7:45 am? And that it's a 15 minute drive? We've been practicing an "almost" school wake-up time for the last week. Since everyone under the age of 10 has been going to bed at 8pm, Lucy has adjusted quite nicely and wakes promptly by 6:30. Another interesting fact: I had Tavin's feet measured today, just to be sure I was getting her the correct size of shoe. The saleswoman used a child's instrument, despite my information of her current "7" shoe size (women's that is), and was "open-mouth shocked" when Tavin's foot was too big for it. On the appropriate adult scale, she was easily into a womens' 7 1/2 size shoe. Tragic for a 9 year old to not get to select "cute" shoes. I think she's matched Grandma! The gal at the shoe store gasped, "I've been a size 7 1/2 since I was 15!!". No wonder she trips over most minimal obstacles!

My first (sort of) attempt at pictures

2006-06-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, this is aggravating. I had a picture and a post and lost it. So, here I am repeating myself. Long story shorter, now: Tavin and I went a-garage-saling. (New phrase that I will bravely put out there.) We found a "wild fire", albeit a small one, that was within 20 feet of a nice neighborhood. We stopped, and watched crop dusters spray the houses and the very fire. We didn't stay to avoid being in the way, (rubber neckers) but did get to see a few sirens, just not where we were. No one seemed to know how it was started. Cool airplanes and very low. Too bad the boys missed it. :)

Battleground

2006-06-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

Man, here I am again, thinking that I have some really funny things to post and not being able to recall them! I know that since the last post Lucy has cut her first tooth, Simon was in the emergency room (all for me to watch an MD use a giant clippers, and not much else), and Tavin is as dark as coffee (sun tan already).

Wednesday nights are our Youth night and this week I think I saw the most disgusting "activity". The kids were divided into "chocolate" and "vanilla" groups. Then, each team was given a tin of chocolate or vanilla pudding with SARDINES in them. The object was to be the first team to get the sardines out, using only the fine motor skills of their toes. Dih-skuh-sting. It can be a difficult ministry to be involved in, you want so much to help some of the kids that are from really hard families and tough situations. We are regularly approached by kids that have been assaulted, have a pregnancy scare, make bad choices, etc. and are sometimes the only people they have to speak truth and God's love to them. And then keep on loving them anyway, and give them a ride home, while you want to grab their shoulders and shake the living daylights out of them. I am continually reminded that "People are expensive", one of our pastor's wife's favorite sayings. I also had a very wise woman tell me "Baby Christians are just like babies...they poop and puke on you." Amen sister. I guess it should be considered refreshing that some of these kids just haven't been in church enough to learn to pretend that everything is fine and that they should act differently at church than they do anywhere else. No plastic christians here. It has definitely felt like a war zone the last few months.

Whoops...Time is slipping away

2006-05-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Has it really only been 2 weeks since my last post? Seems like I am further behind than that. Well, I've kept some things to myself. Mostly just one, I guess. I am now in my 4rth week of an online RN-BSN program. Things are a little hairy, I have 2 papers to complete before midnight on Sunday. I've already done 2, but there is a lot of reading (abstracts are such a horrible thing! :)) as well as discussion boards that we must participate in. It has paid off to be somewhat of a computer nerd (though not as skilled as other relative) but I can navigate my way around blackboard, powerpoint, as well as attaching documents with ease.

Last week was the end of school for this year. Sigh. Tavin brought out her 2nd journal for 3rd grade, this one started in March. I sort of flipped through it and found her entry for April 11th:
"Today is my mom's birthday. She is 32. She is old."
As for Tavin, she is grounded. Just kidding. :)
Lucy is so smart, she is not even 10 months old yet and already puts the phone to her ear to try to hear. Simon is still, well, Simon. At his preschool graduation last week, he was the only one to miss a step walking off of the stage. I guess that makes it sound like he tripped, he actually LEAPT from it. That reminds me of his Kindergarten assessment 2 weeks ago. I was helping his next teacher cut out some stuff (after Simon was done of course, I was not in the room for his assessment)and there were 2 girls at the table with the teacher. One girl was struggling, the other appeared to be "smart as a whip". The teacher asked "smarty" to draw various shapes, and when it came to 'diamond', she paused and said,
"I can't draw one, but I have an uncle and he has a 10 year old boy. HE can draw you a diamond."
Then came the letters. She (teacher) said "Now, we know 's' says 'ssss', can you tell me what sound 'a' makes?".
The little gal thought for a minute then asked, "Can 'a' say whatever it wants?". Mrs. Teacher said, "Sure."
"Then 'a' says 'yee-haw'".
"How about 'b'? What does 'b' say?"
"'B' says 'oink-oink'."
That was enough of the assessment, we laughed at that for a long time. The teachers' only comment afterwards, much to her credit, was something like how much she wished she could have a camera there!

A New Perspective for Mother's Day

2006-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last night Kevin had several back to back meetings that prevented him from being home for dinner (actually until 8:30). The rest of us were partaking of a Walmart version of frozen lasagna, which really wasn't all that bad. The conversation turned to upcoming Mother's Day, because Simon had brought home his project from preschool. Tavin made the comment:

"On Mother's Day you get to be the dad." Now I wondered what she meant and thought it may be humorous, and she did not disappoint.

"What do dad's do?" I asked her.

"Sit on the couch and watch T.V.". Surely she must be mistaken! I should've asked her what mom's do. I'm sure Kevin will, after he reads this.

My late afternoon/evening with the kids was anything but QUIET. I decided Tavin needed a "strong trim"...Say haircut to her and she's likely to immediately begin seizing, otherwise known as "coniption fit". Lucy was in the living room, standing up to things, causing destruction of any paper product she could find. Simon was outside dumping copious amounts of catfood onto the back patio (all for the magpies to eat), and Tavin was upstairs checking out the damage done to her luscious mane. I was sweeping up the hair on the kitchen floor, Lucy (who had been placed in the play pen) was LOUDLY expressing her desire to be free, when I called Simon in to remind him NOT to feed the cat. He ran around the house and was effectively stopped and grounded by cement steps. (Luckily for him it was only a flesh wound in his big toe, as he was running with his shovel!) Tavin has began crying loudly upstairs, a true maiden in distress, Lucy is still yelling, and now Simon arrives dragging a bleeding toe wherever he sees carpet or any other stainable surface. This was about the time I contemplated running out of the house screaming myself.

Things did calm down, after about 15 minutes. Later Tavin sheepishly said "Actually I like my haircut." (I had layered it, making it seem like I'd cut a lot off, but she could still get it all in a ponytail. The true test.) So, I did what any smart mother does when she doesn't want to keep monitoring, chasing, cleaning, whatever. I took us all for a DRIVE. We went to an area off of the river, that was designated Wildlife Observatory (quite loosely in my opinion) where I found a killdeer nest and was able to show them the eggs and what the parental bird does to detract would-be predators from the nest site. It was fun. Of course, I also made it quieter by getting ice cream at Dairy Queen. :)

Tavin & Simon Find Notoriety

2006-05-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the local airport had an open house. They were offering free airplane rides to kids ages 8-17, so Tavin was the only one qualified (unfortunately for Simon and all those around him). When it was her turn, she got into the Piper Saratoga, the best plane available that day, along with some Eastern Oregonian reporters. 157 kids went on rides that day and she gets lucky enough to get in a plane with reporters, another boy, and a little girl named "Jimmy". I saw the article Sunday and was greatly relieved that they didn't print a majority of what I'm sure she must've said. :) She did ask them to take her picture and hammed it up, according to Kevin, but only the other two kids actually got their pictures in the paper. Tavin was just quoted a few times, stating that her grandpa was in a plane with her when she was 2 (her dad was actually flying the plane) but Kevin was glad to see "grandpa" mentioned. Now discussions here are finally back to normal after dreaming about "when we can buy our own airplane".

Simon had a less than ideal day at preschool yesterday, to say the least, leaving one of his peers with a bloody lip. Oh boy. Why they didn't call me is beyond me, but he spent all of the afternoon in his room, after receiving the merit of his behavior from his dad who was summoned home from work for a brief period. The preschool teacher has a behavior system of "bees" where each child has 6 bees to begin the day. A bee is "removed" for each infraction of the rules, and if they have all of their bees when class is done, they get a piece of candy. (Not my favorite, but works for her.) Yesterday was the first day all year that Simon lost all 6 bees, and reportedly made the remark to the teacher as he was being sent to remove his last bee, "I HATE bees." I chatted with his teacher today, with Simon in earshot, asking her to please call me if/when he loses even 1 bee, so I may speak with him. Luckily for all involved, excluding myself of course, they are done with preschool (pretty school) in 2 weeks.

Baby Story

2006-05-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Well, this is a first. Blogging with Lucy in my lap, "pecking" with one hand (otherwise known as typing like my dad :)) all because she has learned to stand and not yet to gracefully lower herself. We, as a family, watched her pull herself up to the couch for the first time just a few hours ago afteer learning the trick on mom & dad's stairs this weekend. Apparently the wall is her preference to laying down. Which means not only do we hear her yelling and screaming in anger and frustration, we get percussion. As do her better-trained older siblings who are truly asleep. At least for the time being. I can tell this session must end soon, Lucy wants to bang on the keyboard as well. From past experience I do expect this to be another short phase, one that like the ones before will end all too soon. (Better stop or I'll make myself all emotional.) Now she grows vocally louder and more unappreciative of lap time. So, goodnight AGAIN dear Lucy. I'm afraid she"ll be walking very soon. We are still a week away from 9 months!

New Product Find! (to me)

2006-04-25T09:59:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was in the valley for the birth of my latest NIECE! I was returning a favor to my ready-to-pop sister by cleaning her bathrooms (which she did for me first) and she gave me these pop-up-wipes..Lysol or something and said they worked well on sinks, toilets seats lids, etc. I was completely sold over to these little babies! No more search for a rag, "Is it safe to clean the faucet now that I used it on the toilet seat?" (just kidding), washing, storing, drying,..etc. So, upon my return to the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE I went to Costco and purchased a package of 3 Clorox wipes. HALLELUJAH why didn't I do this before? I think part of me is still in my younger years of 'this is how we did it then' and now I can part with a few extra bucks to use these puppies to clean the fridge handles, walls (apparently our children believe that if they don't walk with their hands along the walls either themselves or the walls will fall down), high chair and tray, cupboards, microwave door (gave up on the inside), etc.

If the makers of these products ever realize what they've done, they could make a LOT more money! I did have to stop Kevin from taking one to Lucy for clean up of the baby....There is some limits to their use after all. Oh, and I became concerned last night over possible misunderstandings from my previous post. I really want you to know that the poor gentleman with the "episode" was FINE and hence it was only funny because of the kids' response. So, enough of my guilt. I am a good person, and 'dog-gone it....People like me.' Now to go finish cleaning my windows....It is the season of wind and dust again, and the dust becomes DIRT when there is enough of it...Plus my phone just rang. Cousin Steven and his family are headed this way! Yay! That will be fun! (I think I'll wait to tell the kids until it is time.)Better run!

Inappropriate Humor

2006-04-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

Kevin came home today with such a good story, I have to plagiarize it. (I guess if I'm giving him credit for it, it is not plagiarism, right?) He had a substitute teacher in his school today, in a 2nd grade class. This individual happens to be a not-too-elderly gentleman, also a retired teacher. Anyway, the 2nd graders were doing their journaling and he has an "episode" (hypoglycemia apparently), loses consciousness, falling from his chair to the floor. Here's where it gets interesting (Ok, I have to admit I am sick.....I laughed)....NONE of the kids did anything! No body thought this was unusual. Somehow, an adult found him (another key is that he does this EVERY time he subs...I'm guessing he's not making adequate adjustments in his intake/med doses when his schedule changes)and he was assisted without use of any major medical attention. Kevin covered his class during this snack time, and read the journals. (Come on, you would too.) The comments were like this:

"Mr. So-and-so is our substitute...He fell asleep in the chair and is on the floor..."
"We have a substitute today. He is passed out on the floor...."

Seriously. I know, I know....Diabetes is serious. I am a NURSE after all. But surely, you can see a LITTLE humor in this? If he would've been injured, or had this NOT been a predictable occurrence (according to Kevin) it would not be amusing, and would never have been in my blog. But it is MY BLOG. :) The impression one may get is that 2nd graders in that small community think that an adult passed out on the floor is no big deal... Either that or their petrified of getting out of their seats....Must be a really MEAN principal. :)

The Quiet Game Strikes Again

2006-04-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

I will have to hurry here, I'm trying to get ready to go to Spokane with/not with my husband, who is going there for a job fair tomorrow. My role is to not impede or embarass him (that would be keeping Simon and Lucy away...Tavin is staying at our pastors' house) so he can dine with his administrator counterparts and their relatives that orchestrated this event. Apparently part of his job is, along with the superintendent and high school administrator, to entice young (foolish?) teachers to come out here and practice their new talents in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, being as tomorrow is my birthday (and I will be 25 thank you very much...again)I don't fancy the thought of being alone for 2 full days with all three kids. Plus, I looked into it and there will be minimal extra cost for ME to pay with the proceeds of my "job". And I promised to be independent and not needy of him or his time. (snort)

Anyhow, I remembered something Simon did Friday that reminded me of Uncle Will. Tavin was at the birthday party, Lucy was sleeping, so it was just the 3 of us at the dinner table. Simon wanted gum (a very hard-to-earn prize in this house as Kevin doesn't like to find the deposited chewed pieces in the carpet, amongst other hiding places)so he says "Can I play the quiet game for some gum?".

That, my family and friends, is successful parenting! :) He was quiet for the dinner just to chew gum for 15 minutes before bed IN THE HOUSE. Actually, we bent the rules and gave him gum right after dinner, and then I took him to see "Ice Age 2" which I thought was hilarious. He kept thinking the ads before the PREVIEWS were the movie and laughed at pictures of salon people. Well......

The Name Game

2006-04-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

Tavin finally got to spend the night at a friends house Friday night! It was a birthday party, but Tavin was the sole "overnighter". (They are a family from our church that homeschools, so I expect to hear more tales of astonishment from Tavin.) They watched "Seven brides for seven brothers" which I have never seen, but apparently there is a female character in it named "Dorcas". I have known of some people with that name, and know it is not all that uncommon amongst Mennonites and I am sure other populations. However, we have not "ran in those circles" for quite some time. So, Tavin was talking about how she thought that was a funny name, and by the was she didn't like HER name and she really wanted Lucy to be named LISA etc.,etc., etc. Simon said "I don't' like my name either." I just said "Ok, we'll just call you guys 'Hey'." After a bit Simon says "Actually, I do like my name. I'm glad you didn't name me 'Dork'." Tavin then proceeded to tell me what her preferences were. "I like 'Melissa' and 'Jody'."

Looking forward to seeing my new niece/nephew and hearing THAT new name very soon! Tuesday would be great! :)

Another thing I have never seen before.....

2006-04-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

On call again this weekend...I have now come close to seeing just about everything, I believe. If this isn't enough to get me to put away the remaining Christmas decos on my front porch, well, then I don't know what would be! I saw an unfortunate individual today and yesterday for rather involved wound care. This wound is just huge. It's a cavern. When 85+ year old flesh is impaled on the steeple of a ceramic church, the flesh loses. The result is (roughly) a 6 cm x 4 cm opening appoximately 7 cm deep with very visible flesh, tendons and sinew on the inside of this person's upper thigh/lower buttock. It reminds me of what a losing bull-fighter may look like if the bull catches him as he is running away. This person would've had surgery were it not for the extensive lung disease. (Lesson #2: Never smoke.) Wound care has to be done with the pt. standing, because they can't breathe in any other position. Pretty much rules out surgery. The individual fell, landed on the church steeple, pulled himself off, and has an impressive wound to show for it.

Some of the comments going around as I was given report Friday:
1) Looks like God got the last point in the end.
2) God's right in the end.
And other sacrilegious things. Oh, if you want to know who the REAL idiot is......no pain medication from any of his physicians. I called Saturday, got the on call doc and received an aggressive order for 650 mg of Tylenol. Let me just take this opportunity to say how much I miss the physicians I worked with in the valley! They have an appointment with the surgeon on Tuesday, so my advice to them was to not leave without an actual prescription for at least something stronger than that even if only take before wound care, as that is the only time it hurts "20" on a scale of 1-10. Please, people! (And yes I know the potential risks of narcotic usage with lung disease, but for any of my medical buddies reading this, 10 mg of Morphine once a day? I guarantee respirations will still be at least 16!) If it were my family member.....well, it's not and they seem to be the kind of family that doesn't mind the described "old coot" being in a little bit of pain...they seem to be holding some grudges from somewhere. Just doing my job!

Spider Wall Art

2006-03-30T13:30:00.000-08:00

The recent warming of our weather appears to have called some spiders out of their much appreciated slumber. Today I had to kill 2 "jumping" spiders, and although small they are still enough of a sight to startle me. Which brings to mind the OTHER spider that I had killed this winter. This is one of those times when I REALLY wish I had a digital camera, as words alone are inadequate to describe what remains on the garage wall. (Oh yeah, like you clean up spider guts if you don't have to!)

One morning I was loading up Simon and Lucy to take Simon to pre (I mean "pretty") school. I had to go back into the house for something, and since we were in the garage, door closed, car not yet running, I left them in the car. I flicked on the garage light, and that's when I saw an impressively huge Black Widow sitting on the wall next to the door. My initial thought was to run away, but I knew that the kids often walked along that wall to the car while running their hands against it, or we do as we blindly feel for the light switch or garage door opener. So the bravado of my "mother protecting her offspring" kicked in, and I decided that it was the appointed time for this creepy crawler to meet its creator. What to use? A shoe would have left me too close. (What if it jumps? Or splatters?) So, I wisely settled for the garden spade hanging on the wall. To show how smart I am, I even carefully considered the amount of force I would need to sufficiently smush the disgusting thing WITHOUT endangering my marriage by putting a hole in the garage. I'm pleased to say that what remains now is a dark stain and one (inch long) leg. Not even a dent in the wall! I haven't had to deal with spiders of that size since the jungle in Thailand! EWWWWWW!

Telling of my age

2006-03-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Last week we joined one of the local gyms, with a "family membership". The main difference here compared to any other gym I have ever been part of is that with this one, they actually have REGULARLY scheduled child care morning and evenings during the week AND I don't pay extra for any of it! {Note: Just to explain, "family" was $9 more/month than "couple", with couple child care would have been $3/hour/child.} So, this is how this story begins...I wanted to start going to some aerobics classes, and since I am not obligated to work, have more time on my hands. Unfortunately, so do my kids since there is no school on Friday for either of the older 2. There was an aerobic aquatics class M-W-F at 9 am, just when the FREE child care started, so I excitedly loaded everyone up yesterday and got to the gym just in time. However, the sitter was a few minutes late so the class was already in session when I tried to sneak in. My first clue as to what type of class this was came when I noticed not towels against the wall, but CANES. The aerobic content of this class was mostly focused on getting all of the crimps out of our fingers...Seriously. Fine motor skills, likely designed for those with arthritic hands that have been impaired for a LONG, LONG, LONG, LONG.....You get it......TIME. I was trying to think of how I could leave un-noticed, but figured I could just leave with any of the gals that were leaving 1 at a time apparently to use the bathroom. Well, that was a bust so I asked the gal at the front desk when a more appropriate class would be held, and had they considered indicating senior classes on their schedules? Anyhow, today I ended up at an 8:15 Intro to kick boxing which I really enjoy! I actually got to PUNCH things, had to wear the gloves and all....But I have somehow injured myself (boy am I a wimp) and broke vessels or something on the inside of my left wrist. The gal just said "Next time you'll have to wrap your wrists"....Apparently I am so STRONG that I hurt myself and didn't even know it. So I got to play at HITTING things (and it was a hard workout for someone as out of shape as I am) for an hour, swam in the pool to get some of the soreness out (ya right), hot tubbed, back to the pool, then watched some DODGEBALL of which Kevin and I decided we will now play on Saturdays there, since most players are kids of school age and their parents. Any connection there? I think SO. 6 hours later, I have such a gimp to my stride...I don't know what I have done to my right hip, but I hobble like, well, like one of the ladies in the aquatic class that I apparently should have stayed in! :) Maybe I can get enough physical endurance up to join the "regular" kickboxing classes they have 3 times a week. I just never realized how satisfying it is to glove up and hit something with intent. I'll bet I could think of motivators to, but I'd better wait until my bruised wrist is healed first.

Dooder-Ramany

2006-03-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I drove 6 hours (combined) to accomplish a couple of tasks, one of which was exchanging my cell phone. The day before it stopped working suddenly and went to "Car Kit" mode, of which I had never used. I called and was told that unless it had water damage, it was under warranty still and I could pay $10 shipping for my "free" replacement (and pay to send them my defunct one) or go to the nearest store (not kiosk) and exchange it. Since there were a couple of other things that I could accomplish by driving 3 hours one way, I decided to do it. (By the way, I've never been one to shy from road trips.) So, as I am in line in the phone store, with Lucy and "sick" Tavin in tow, the techno gal points out that there was actually water damage in the car-kit port (which I have never used). I assured her it had not been dropped in any water, etc. She then eye-balled Lucy who was frantically grasping for anything she could see and trying to shove into her mouth, and wryly asked "Do ya think it's possible SHE got it?". Great. I did know that she had played with it some, but who knew that baby drool was the equivalent to dropping a phone into a bucket of water? So, no warranty equals no new phone, equals no PHONE for me. It's alright, I'll manage.

At dinner last night Simon was announcing to all of us that their class learned a verse from Deuteronomy. "What is it?" Tavin asked him. Simon very slowly and loudly said "DOO-DER-RA-MAH-NY". We still don't know what the actual verse was. :)

Mirror, mirror in the stall....

2006-03-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

Last night Kevin and I had our first "alone" date since prior to Lucy's birth! And by prior, I mean a good month or two at least. We've gone out with other couples a few times, but this was definitely a welcome milestone. While we were driving in the van, we were almost giddy saying "Listen! No sound! No kids! And we're not even playing the quiet game!" We discovered a really nice restaurant, very new and what I'd call "swanky". Excellent Seafood, fresh from the multiple sources of our area, and the company was also wonderful. (It is "Oyster Festival" for this month, which means we had the best Oyster sampler ever for an appetizer!) We spent more than 2 hours on dinner alone...not that we minded (although the price almost made Kevin choke.) Here's the kicker, and why I deemed it "swanky" instead of just "up scale". Every stall in the women's restroom had an individual sink and lighted mirror. Wow. So of course, I asked Kevin to check out the men's restrooms. Get this: Every urinal had a 13 inch T.V. playing "Smoky and the Bandits". Vanity mirror for women, TV's for men! I guess it's better to have them over the urinal than in the stall, otherwise, as Kevin commented, you might never get them out of there!

Info on Foley Catheters

2006-03-10T08:33:00.000-08:00

I am still recovering from this weekend, which was my 2nd one on-call since I started with Home Health/Hospice. I had serious thoughts about HATING my very part-time job and many reasons why I should quit, especially when I had to go to an unfamiliar region, known only by a less-than-glowing reputation and it was a little after midnight. However, once I got there and waited for the mortuary staff to arrive, I realized again that there were people having a much worse night than I was. After returning home around 1:30, I was awakened AGAIN at 6 :30 am. I have decided that Foley catheters are a tool of the devil. Not only then, but again Saturday night was I summoned for misbehaving plumbing. I'll spare all of you non-medical personnel the details. Overall......2 hospice deaths and 7 catheter incidences. Must have been a full moon. Sheesh. It seems like only yesterday, and it's been about a week already. PLUS when I was on call on Wednesday I had to go out for ANOTHER catheter mishap. Good NIGHT. Let me do some teaching to these folks about how to MAINTAIN these things and to their PHYSICIANS about appropriate use! They should be used for genuine problems, like retention or temporarily for skin breakdown, not for convenience or incontinence, unless they are a hospice patient. There is my rant for the day.

Tavin had an art project/science type thingy at her school last week, sponsored by the parent club. They were given 3 weeks to complete a project of their choosing, and Tavin had hers done the day after coming home with the information. We tried to get her to take her time and put some thought into it, but she was afraid of waiting until the last minute like she did with the hat contest. So, she took a cereal box, empty paper towel roll and a paper place setting with the Chinese Zodiac (of all things) from our neighbor's restaurant and fashioned a "telescope". It was the first one finished and sat in the school library for 3 weeks, waiting for everyone else. We didn't want to discourage her, but knew there were kids working on elaborate things, likely with parental input and guidance. I wish I had a picture so show you the project, and the 2nd place ribbon it won.

Farewell to Basketball

2006-02-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the last game of Tavin's Pee-Wee Basketball season. (Only 4 games, keeps everyone interested apparently.) She actually did very well, scoring 12 points and rebounding and passing the ball in an unselfish and unbiased manner. Her dad did alright too.....I only had to remind him every 3 minutes or so that she already HAS a coach, this is only for FUN and that she is only 9. He was not inappropriate by any means, but very excited to have an apparently athletically gifted child. (He's already telling her what they can work on, how she can get college paid for, etc....I keep saying "She's 9!) Today though, he did tell her that "..If you don't like sports that's ok too...". Right after he told her that was the best 4rth quarter playing he'd ever seen from ANY third grader. (Just what does that mean, I ask you? Both of her parents played 2 sports at the college level and her dad was actually her mom's 8th grade basketball coach, so I guess he didn't step on my toes.) She asked if you could get college paid for by being "Nice and quiet." I said no, but it was a good way to get a husband! Ha! :) (Kevin just smirked at that one.) They offered signups for Little League (baseball/softball) next....we'll see if she's into that. I am ALL for any kind of physical exercise/outlet for the energy of my kids! And the free entertainment too. ;)

Poor Squirrel

2006-02-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Part of Tavin's writing class includes journaling. Sometimes her teacher gives them the freedom to write whatever they want and other times they are to copy a topic or question to elaborate on. It is very easy to tell which is Tavin's preference. "Free topics" are very sloppy and have quite a bit more content. The assigned topics are written very carefully (in cursive) and have a 1-2 line answer. She recently filled up her journal and brought it home for us to have. Always a good read to see what your 9 year old REALLY thinks. She had entries about how she misses her friends, how much she likes Lucy, and other comments about her brother, her frequent travels to the valley...my we go there more often than I realized. Anyway, she made an entry after our trip last week to Salem and then to the coast. (Kevin had a conference in Salem, which just happened to coincide with the state wresting tournament. Guess what highschool wrestlers do in their hotel rooms at night? Imagine what it sounds like!) Anyway, after a full day with all 3 kids, I was a little less-than-sane. Kevin offered to take them out for a few hours, drive around, get them dinner and go to the mall or something. (This even made a journal entry for Tavin.) When they returned, my children reported to me that they'd witnessed a gruesome, cruel (depending on whose aspect you take), life changing scene that will stay with them always. The rural roads of Salem are apparently crosswalks for various rodents and other wildlife. Let me just report it as it may have sounded to a fly in the van:

"Look dad! There's a big grey squirrel in the road!" Tavin says. (Actually probably a grey digger, a little lower in the rank of rodent cuteness.)
Thumpthump.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Cries Simon.
Kevin, aka "dad", checks the rearview mirror and sees a mortally wounded grey digger (aka, glorified possom) performing various hip-hop dance moves in the middle of the road. His conscience pricks at him, as does the various outcries of his children. He stops the car, and since there is no traffic within sight, turns the van around and sends the unfortunate squirrel to it's next step in the circle of life.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"
"YOU KILLED IT!"
And other protestations could be heard emanating from the passenger seats of the van. Kevin, aka daddy, graciously gave our children a gentle lesson in the differences of suffering and death, only as it relates to ANIMALS of course. :)

To truly understand how funny this was, may I suggest getting a first hand account from one of the witnesses.

Weekend Recap

2006-02-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

Last night we returned from our family weekend to a FRIGID house. Due to some unfortunate events, our heating system was shut completely off. This resulted in the inside of our house being colder than the outside! And it was 45 degrees outside. We all went to bed in sweats, etc. And it took hours for our home to feel hospitable. (I got up at 5 a.m. to turn the thermostat down.) As for the coast, it was a beautifully clear and sunny weekend but once again the frigidness prevented Lucy from actually experiencing the beach yet. It did not, however, stop the other females from experiencing the President's Day sales at the Outlet Mall! We didn't even require a motorized cart for the "post-op" member of our family. Actually, the pregnant one was probably in more need of it. I believe our cousin, the brave soul that volunteered to come along to help with the children as a service project for school, even survived. I don't know, do you think that keeping track of a 9-year old girl (who likes to "help"), a 5-year old boy (with apparent middle-child issues), a 4-year old boy, a 2-year old boy with a cold, and a 6-month old infant (who actually slept the entire evening they were home alone) qualifies for Christian service or martyrdom/sainthood? Next year should be even better with the addition of another wee one and one more mobile toddler! I'm afraid that word of our children will get around, though and it will be harder to find someone willing to undergo such an adventure for a free weekend away....Plus we didn't tell her that the probability of sleep after 7 a.m. was somewhere between "Right!" and "Ha!". (At least for me!)

Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink

2006-02-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm still waiting to get the appearance of this blog fixed. Oh well, just know that if you want to read past posts, you have to scroll down to the bottom left of the page and the links are there. Simon can now write his name completely by himself. That is from writing it on 18 Valentine Cards for his classmates and teacher. Then he decided to finish the remaining 15 or so to hand out this weekend to our family. "I want the red one for T because he likes red." (Cousin T, that is.) I didn't bother to try to explain to him that because he has SPIDERMAN Valentines, they are ALL red. He was concerned that T liked his. :) Tavin selected Narnia Valentines, and did them all independently. She also has a big stack to pass out this weekend. Instead of candy, which they get loaded with at school, I get books for our kids. Tavin's was my favorite this time..."Roses are pink, your feet really stink." It's about a little possum kid that writes mean valentines and signs someone elses name to it. Although Tavin's feet have been known to cause watering of the eyes, that was not what I had in mind when I picked this one! It was just a funny, cute book. :) I guess I should mention that we are having our annual "Family Birthday Weekend" and will all be at a house on the coast, courtesy of my parents for a collective "birthday present" to all of us. It has been a tradition for several years. One in which there is (usually) equal trade of shopping and golfing. Last year we got even smarter and brought along an older cousin for child relief. (Kind of like Tylenol for pain relief, you know?) I think those plans are in the works as well, hallelujah! (Being the only one with more than 1 child, at least for 2 more months, I believe I benefit the most!) We are all very glad to finally confirm moms health yesterday....she will be recovering still this weekend, but we assured her we could get her a motorized cart for shopping. I know of several of her relatives that would likely pay a tidy sum for a photo of such....do I have any offers? (I am thinking mostly of brother-in-law types....)

Mother-Daughter Lunch and the Lady Question

2006-02-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

I was reminded by a very attentive aunt that I haven't yet revealed the content of Tavin's "lady" question. I will fix that immediately! I think. When I first established my blog, there was a random question that I could have answered. (Being a "random-concrete" personality type, last I'd checked, I immediately decided that I was sure that I didn't want to answer that one and have skimmed a few others, no keepers.) The question was along the lines of "Boy lions know they are "men lions" when they have a mane....how do "girl" lions know they are grown?".

Tavin and I were at the "spontaneous lunch" a few months ago now, when out of the blue, she asked, "Mom, how do you know when you're a lady?". I was immediately struck with the thought "Don't blow this off." Then, my random-concrete brain said "Don't bore her to tears and say too much." Then I thought..."Where did this come from?" and "Oh help..." somewhere along those lines. I know that I told her that being a "lady" wasn't something that can be measured by how old you are or by a certain "stage", but that it was mine and daddy's job to teach her what and how a lady is and acts. A true Lady is someone who knows her value is not based on what people think of her, or who "likes" her, but she is royalty because she is a daughter of God Most High and is already above what the world would call a "lady". I also mentioned that it was character and how she acts (that kind of stuff). Also, that it was Daddy's role to be the example of how a lady is to be treated, and how she can expect any "future suitor" (not in those terms) to treat her. I think that pretty much sums it up....like I said it was a few months ago and I may have left something out. I know that after that, she seemed satisfied and I haven't heard anything more of it since. It is difficult not to be frightened of how she may let herself be treated or act, etc. if she is not sure of her identity when it counts. But, we will parent with boldness and faith, not out of fear and paranoia....hopefully! :) (There's that random-concrete again.)

Bring on the college sports scholarships!

2006-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today was Tavin's first Pee-Wee League basketball game. She is in a 2nd-3rd grade league on a team of 3 boys and 4 girls. Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed the show, and as many before us I'm sure, thought that if only we'd had a video camera we could've won $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos. Let me just say that another name for a rebounding drill for players in this league could be called "Duck and Cover". Tavin is the tallest girl amongst everyone (Yessssss) and is only slightly shorter than the tallest boy, aka "ball hog". I did think it was funny to see this side of Kevin. He couldn't help but "coach" from the stands and offered to help Tavin. As we are home tonight, he's teaching her to "rub off" her defender. They practice of course by running around the house bumping each other into corners, walls, furniture, etc. She shot 1 for 8, but she said she made 3. It is a great time, and there are games every Saturday this month. I think the player on Tavin's team that I enjoyed watching the most when Tavin wasn't in :) was a young man, also in the 3rd grade in Tavin's class that reminded us of her uncle and cousin. Kevin insists it's uncle, I saw more of my nephew. This young man is already a "diver"....any loose ball, errant pass, or other feasible reason to leave skin on the floor he did. (He reportedly also dives across the lines during practice to beat Tavin in sprints!) None of this is why he reminds us of our family, that is because of his looks. Kevin knows him from school as well and describes him as a "Hyper Macho" 3rd grader. I doubt that will last long, I hear he is part of the cheerleading camp they are doing for the elementary kids! :) HeeHee.

On Call!

2006-02-03T19:33:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed that I changed templates. That was in an effort to correct the appearance of my blog (it's all out of whack), didn't work, so I have emailed for help. I like this picture better anyway. Well, the kids really haven't been all that entertaining unfortunately. It's more of a work or parenting issue lately. :) Simon did give a stranger directions to our house while we were in the valley last week. Something like this: "You go by Panda, then you turn left. Then you turn the other way and you kind of turn again. Our house is butterscotch." Panda is his favorite Chinese restaurant (or the name he calls it) and I could believe he knew "butterscotch"! He and Tavin played at our neighbors' this afternoon. They have girls that are their ages. Tavin said they "got rid" of some old Oreos. Must have been a rough day! This is my first "on call" night/weekend in about 4 years! Since 5 pm I've had one call, but nothing I had to leave home for, which is how I measure success. :) We'll see how it goes. We have a pretty high Hospice census with a few that are hovering, so it may get busy in the middle of the nights. On a plus, I think I may actually get to pick up my chairs that are being recovered (since last July) next week! Then I'll be able to (almost) compete with the W.L.E.N. site for furniture! :) By the way....LeAnn I did see some people actually consuming food on the new sofas. I would've understood if you'd have covered them in plastic before our brood got there! :)

Not a place to go shoeless

2006-01-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally getting back to this. I was going to see if I could get a couple of pictures from Tavin's tea party scanned to put on here, but didn't really attempt it. We were in the valley for Simon's birthday this weekend, and there are plenty of "techies" with scanners and the capabilities of putting photos on here, there just wasn't enough time. Tavin's party went well, I think everyone had a good time. Simon's birthday wouldn't have been a birthday without at least 1 grandparent present, so we decided to go to the valley for his "party" where he could also see his cousins. (1 for 2 due to illness, but we'll all catch up at the coast next month!) He had a great time, Lucy maybe not so much because it was shot time but that only lasted for about 24 hours. Kevin and I were simply THRILLED that Simon got more little diecast (sp?) motorcycles and airplanes to leave scattered in our paths. For example: Thursday I was finishing up some laundry for the trip to the valley. I was carrying a basket downstairs and managed to step on a small train (I guess this one was actually plastic) that had wondered from it's appointed place of "out of the way". I got it right on the ball of my foot, no shoes on, and WOW did it hurt. I told Simon (he asked after hearing me yelp) that my foot hurt so bad I thought it was broken! (I did have a swollen bruised area!) He looked concerned, ran to where I had thrown the offensive toy, and said "It's ok mom, you didn't break it." Not really what I was meaning, but there's more. Kevin snickers at me when I tell him this after he gets home from work. Then, Simon leaves a metal toy on the floor at Grandpa & grandma's and, guess what? DADDY steps on it enough to draw blood. Heheheh. At least in my case my vision was obstructed and it was really not my fault as much as here, but guess what Simon said when Kevin brought his pain and injury to his (albeit brief) attention? That's right, he ran to his toy and said "That's ok dad, you didn't break it!" HA.

Party Prep

2006-01-20T21:36:00.000-08:00

Tavin went to a friends' birthday party today from 4-7. They are a family we know, and actually moved here just a couple of months after we did, from our same town! I was with her in Walmart, buying some party items for her "get-together" on Sunday, and she was telling me how it went. I will just try sort of re-tell....you have to read this as if it is one giant run on sentence and rapidly...just as Tavin would speak it. :) Here goes:

"WehadpizzaandpopIhad4cupsofPepsiand2piecesofpizzaandIsaidIwantedmorebut
shemustnot haveheardmebecauseshedidn'tgivememore...."

Now, I know that must be hard to read because it is REALLY hard to type without using the space bar. So now that you get the idea (and the why) I'll type normally. :)

"We were listening to the Superchick CD I gave her and dancing to it (Note: Anyone been around 9 year old girls hyped up on sugar and music?) and I was doing this thing where I put my hand on my head and stick out my elbow and I grab my ankle with my other hand like this. (Note: She actually demonstrated in Walmart and nearly fell over, as did I due to laughter. The motion, for those of us less hip than 3rd graders, is to move your opposing elbow and knee together. Quite comical.) And we were doing it and I sort of tripped on a chair then I stubbed my toe on the chair and that HURT so I fell, and the chair fell over, and can you believe it fell over from a little TOE?" Etc., etc. I can imagine that scenario as I've seen it many times. Some of you may wonder "Who is Superchick and why would they give it as a gift to a 4rth grader?". Well, being in youth ministry the past couple of years has opened my eyes to yet another genre of Christian "rock" music. This band I like, and Tavin does to.....alot. They do some stuff with TobyMac, The Kutlass guy, and a few other people. (The KJ52 CD -which is more of a christian rap :)- is Kevin's favorite...he has it in his office most of the time.) ANYWAY....There's a song that I think every "tween" girl should hear called "Bowling Ball". Instead of reciting the lyrics, I'll tell you a couple of lines form the chorus: (Now don't go thinking that I am "anti men" or a feminazi for crying out loud....this is for a certain age group, and I do not fashion my husband in this way! Just clarifying.)

"You need that boy like a bowling ball dropped on your head, which means not at all.....You have too much to (etc.etc.....) waste your time on him....."

I'm sure Tavin will have no problem understanding why dating is really serious and is prep for marriage, because that's surely what we're going to instill in her. To the best of our ability, anyway. (As to why even though maybe some/all of her friends are "going out", she possibly won't be.) We decided that this year marks the beginning of "Birthday dinner out" where she gets to pick where to eat, just her and us, and Daddy treats her like a lady and all that stuff. (He'd better beef up!) So we said,"Pick any restaurant you want." She still wants the local chinese place, since there isn't a close Chucky Cheese. I guess we should appreciate the inexpensive taste while it lasts! On my next post, I'll have to say what she brought up when we had a spontaneous "mother-daughter" lunch.

Oh, and she won the bubble blowing contest there because she put 4 pieces in her mouth (the most of anybody) and didn't care that half of the bubble got in her hair because she won. :)

2006-01-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

Let's see.....time for some boring, just-keeping-everyone-updated stuff. Simon is still trying to solidify his knowledge of the alphabet. Tavin asked him, "Simon, I'm going to say the alphabet and you tell me which word I leave out." Tavin apparently hasn't yet grasped the concept of "letters" yet. :) So, she recites and leaves out "U". Simon immediately pipes up, "7!". Close. Sort of. Then, the other night, it was strangely quiet at bedtime. Now, our main objective is simply to get the children in their rooms (preferably beds, but floor is ok), lights out, and no talking. We've found that if these three guidelines are strictly adhered to, sleep will surely follow.....eventually. Usually there are several variances, mostly from Simon, about why daddy should again come to his room. This almost never results in a pleasant experience for him (Simon) but he is slow to grasp this concept as well. Anyway, what Kevin found was the kids were on the floor, which was ok, but they were NOT in their rooms. They were each half-way out of their doorways, allowing them to be about a foot apart; but Tavin was quietly reading to Simon and he was actually listening. What to do? It's a school night, they aren't following the rules, but this was such a rarity that it was given a "time limit" and then regular bedtime regs followed.

They are also eagerly anticipating the end of the month....birthday season. Tavin has a party for a friend that she is attending this Friday, then her own party on Sunday afternoon. We are doing a "Girls only, no boys allowed, tea party." She has invited 3 friends. We will serve "tea" (probably hot chocolate) with their choice of my collection of tea cups/saucers, and make necklaces or bracelets with beading stuff. They will also be able to dress up with old hats, gloves, etc. Kevin has been instructed to take Simon somewhere else. :) The following weekend is Simon's birthday and he will have a less structured "party" at Grandpa & Grandma's house. He is VERY excited, as he is still telling me what he wants for Christmas and can't quite figure out why we aren't still giving them presents! Here we go!

Perspective

2006-01-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day that I went on visits during my orientation. Remember what I said about vicious lap rats? We went to 3 homes, and saw 3 Daschounds! Only one was a slobbering, snarly little pile. All I really have to do is about 2 hours on Wednesday, then follow a nurse on Saturday, since that is when I will be in the office. They have a type of "1/2 laptop" I guess that is new since I last did this type of home visits. Since I will only be working 1 weekend a month, I'm not going to have the office support to figure things out, but I really have a hard time learning by having someone tell me or just reading. So, this afternoon I plunked down in front of a computer hooked to the server, the 3-ring binder and fiddled away. Fortunately, I like computers.....my manager looked at me strangely when I said I wasn't quite a "geek", but that I could find my way around a server. It will be really strange to not have ANY paper with me....no field charts, or anything. I just hook my little gizmo to the server in the morning, import/download whatever charts I will need (or suspect will call) and away I go. I plan to carry several yellow sticky pads for a while to take short hand on so I can look inept in private at the office when I'm trying to input my data. Then we just hook the do-dads up to the server and export the "charts", printing a copy to put in the "office chart". How advanced we are!

There was a sad story, though. Our first visit was to a woman in her 40s who has been battling cancer (GI with liver mets) for about 1 year. She'd been off of her chemo for 6 weeks for some reason, and had to resume last week. She became violently ill, and had decided that her time off of chemo was worth more than whatever more days she would earn staying on chemo but feeling miserable. She obviously had a close relationship with the nurse (I was the tag-along) because she told her before she told her own doctor. She and her husband will be trying to bump up a special cruise they'd planned because her feeling is that she won't be here for very long. She asked us "What can I expect?" She was choking as she was telling us about her son (who is very nearby) that refuses to visit her because it makes him to sad. It inspired some thoughts in my mind about her son that are best left unsaid! It was a very emotional visit for her and her husband. It puts into perspective what is really important. Regardless of what happens with jobs, finances, and stresses of moving, etc., at least we have healthy loved ones and close relationships. After my morning, I came home for "lunch" and to feed Lucy. Kevin, Tavin and Simon were all here, as there was no school. The big grin on Lucy's face and Simon telling my co-hort "I love you!" more than makes up for the small cost of this morning. It is wonderful to have a loving family, and as I've said before, PERFECT children.

What am I thinking?

2006-01-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

I have accepted a new job as a "per-diem" nurse with the local home health/hospice of our area. This will still allow me to be a "sahm", as I will only be "on-call" 1 weekend a month (at the most) and 1 night a week. (But I will help out with a visit in an evening if they are busy, or with an occasional chart reviewing session.) It's probable that I will have to actually work the weekend, but this schedule is optimal for our family. The children will have a parent with them, I will be able to still provide nutrition for Lucy, and I will have a way to maintain my professional license, as I have to work a minimum of several hundred hours every 2 years for renewal. Anyhow, today was my first day in the office for orientation. I spent the better part of the morning poring over 2 HUGE Policy & Procedure manuals. I had to copy a portion of the job description for a HH/H nurse because it is so accurate, yet so intimidating....if you hadn't done this job before, you'd think "Who in their RIGHT mind would want to go to such places?". Sometimes we are in the criminal element, others just the quite "unclean", and often a dwelling wherein the terroristic dog is out to maim and destroy any living creature it sees. I call these animals "chihuahuas". For as many scary rotweillers and pitbulls I have seen, I have only actually been bitten by such lap rats. Sometimes I wonder, why can't just clean, law-abiding citizens with an untainted rap sheet and an appreciation for pleasant odors need skilled nursing care in their home? But, Jesus loves all people, therefore, so must I! Anyway, here is the quote of #2. under "job description":

"2. Working Conditions: Inside and outside environment is not always protected from the weather temperature changes. Inside environment including temperature variations, smoke, unclean homes, various sizes and types of pets and structural faults/barriers. Subject to frequent exposure to infection, contagious disease, and hazardous materials and equipment. Subject to combative patients, dysfunctional families and varying relationships. Variable noise levels. Also subject to rapid pace, multiple stimuli, unpredictable environment and critical situations. "

A mini-translation of what may possibly be experienced: Various weather onslaughts (rain, icy conditions, wind, mud.), houses that smell like an ash tray themselves, houses that feel like a sauna because the thermostat is set to "80" in August, dirt floors, pet squirrels that run up your leg during a sterile central-line dressing change, birds that fly to your shoulder at inopportune times, shoot-out-over-drug-money gunshot survivors (with rotweillers named "killer" that eat plywood), marriage proposals (and others), houses set up more with 30 in/out cats in mind than the single bed-bound person that lives there, etc. I love nursing! (I really do.)

Dodgeball Rules!

2006-01-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

Yes! I just have to say that I still know how to have fun. Tonight at youth group we braved the freezing cold, old (literally falling apart) gym and played DODGEBALL!! I even got injured, I think. That's what I get for being old, overweight, and for playing on a dusty wooden floor. BUT I earned some respect (I think...or was it just shock?) when I got the coolest high school boy out. YES again! Next time, I'm making sure I have traction. I shocked them with what little remaining talent I have left. Heheheh. I can't believe there are actually girls out there that still throw like girls! Next time Tavin has a lesson on how to throw something, besides punches, football or a baseball pitch, I think I'll teach her!

Christmas still?

2006-01-11T09:01:00.000-08:00

Last night was Simon's rescheduled Christmas program. Seems the ice storm that kept us from leaving on our Christmas trip also hampered locals. His part was over very soon, and since we are such nice people, we stayed for the entire program to watch other kids whom we've never met. The choir director, who is also Simon's teacher obviously put a lot of time and effort into this program, but there was something very obvious to us. We were careful not to say anything or even look at each other during the program, which had about 20 solo parts (short bits including "Mary Did You Know", "Born in Bethlehem" and the like), but once we were outside I couldn't help myself. Making sure no one was around me I told Kevin, "We should've brought a bucket so they could carry a tune." Then we could make our comments in our car on the way home, but in careful "code" so as not to let Simon know what we were saying. The stage was still very nicely set, as the Christmas trees were still miraculously up and decorated. I have a feeling that if someone would have sneezed they would have dropped all of their needles!

A little bit of knowledge...can be catastrophic

2006-01-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

My children have received a new kind of education today. Mostly Tavin. Her dad taught her to throw a punch. I think I can safely say this because my parents do not often read this blog and we are no longer "practicing" Mennonites. (A little inside joke.) However, that does bring up the question "Is the Mennonite church a denomination or an ethnic group?". I tend towards the "ethnicity" side....once a menno, always a menno, and if you're not a BORN Mennonite, you may not be a TRUE Mennonite. So, here's something else I haven't thought of before: Kevin and I were both raised in Mennonite churches by parents raised that way for generations before us. Our children were born to us while we were members of a non-denominational congregation, but yet we were "ethnic Mennonites"....what kind of Mennonite affiliation are they?

I realize I've gone way off on a tangent here, and I hope I have not offended anyone, for that is not my intent, nor is this really a serious subject that I am elaborating on. It is a subject that we talk about sometimes though. Kevin disagrees with my "once/always" theory and I don't hold too fast to that either. I digress....back to the punching.

I think Kevin is finally tired of physically removing little Simon from much bigger Tavin. Simon observed her getting the lesson, and although she fussed more about her hand hurting from hitting her dads palm, he did look a little worried. I'm not entirely comfortable with the notion, however......he's the dad, head of the household and all that stuff. (Translation: If anything bad happens from this it's his fault.) I am but the submissive wife and loving mother. (That should bring some comments.) He did teach Simon something today: How to run a football "pattern" in the house. I heard a few things that concerned me and then tried not to pay attention. Here they are:
1) "Simon, if you don't stop it I'm going to have Tavin come and punch you in the face." (tongue in cheek....I hope)
2) "Just wipe it on your shirt Simon".
3) "Try diving into the couch to catch it."
Full sized football, while he was holding Lucy, not a bright idea, maybe not even a bright day. We shall see!

Something else about Simon: Last night we went to the Skating rink for the first time with a couple of other kids and their parents/grandparents. Simon does not skate, but Tavin & Kevin did. I was on the "sideline" with Lucy and Simon. Simon, who doesn't have a concept of strangers, was jabbering away at some Hispanic ladies and their adorable children. It was soon obvious that they did not speak english, or if they did, weren't fluent enough to understand a fast-talking, high pitched little boy with a slight lisp. They would smile and look at me....they understood the universal sign I made with my hand for "yakety-yak". He didn't even seem to notice that he was the only one talking!

Business Lesson

2006-01-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

Poor Tavin...she had to learn another lesson today. Unfortunately for her, her parents are apparently smarter than she thought yesterday. At least she learned it at a bank and not at the checkout counter at Walmart! I'd better back up and explain.

Tavin's teacher was giving kids $1 million bills. Tavin was SURE they were real. Her father and I both told her it wasn't real.....didn't work. Then I tried reason. If her teacher had millions of dollars (this was past the discussion of if such bills even existed) why would she be working? Answer: She's retiring. Which is actually true. Ok...I finally convinced her father that it would be MEAN to let her go to Walmart and get whatever she wanted in a cart and try to pay for it with the bill. Plus there was something slightly illegal about the sound of that. I convinced him to take her to a bank and have her validate the money with a teller.

So, this morning, Tavin was telling me what she was going to get. Went something like this:

"I'm going to get you an MP3 player, socks (?), clothes, furniture..."etc. Then she moved on to Simon. "I'll get him some Hotwheels." Daddy was next. "A musical tie...." (What?) She didn't even bother to list the massive thoughts she had on what to get herself. What I found VERY amusing was that she had no plans to leave Walmart. What a limited, sheltered life she must lead. :) So, Kevin took her to the bank today. They managed to get in the line of a "first day at work" teller. Tavin lost her nerve, so Kevin had to present the question and show the bill. When the answer was received (not too well by the evidence of a shredded, phony-baloney million-dollar bill) Tavin decided she would tell her teacher to stop teasing her, as the teller advised.

I have to say, I am surprised that it went that far. Not only did Tavin BELIEVE the thing was real, she did NOT believe us. Of course, this is the same child that wrote a letter to Santa (that I only heard about) saying something like..."Please get us presents, we are very poor....". Oh BROTHER.

On Second Thought....

2006-01-04T17:20:00.000-08:00

Tavin is giving her brother a run for his money in the "trouble" department. On the way home from school this afternoon, I glanced in the rearview mirror and thought she was asleep because she was leaning over. At a stop light however, closer examination revealed that she was hiding behind the seat to prevent me from noticing her appearance and activity.

I knew we had not picked up a clown, but that was my first thought when I saw her face. Bright blue eyelids, red lips, and red circles on her cheeks AND nose. I will give her this: She did well without a mirror using only markers. She had brought home markers that she'd received as a class Christmas gift. This explains our house rule of no writing utensils (of any kind) allowed in the children's bedrooms. Ever. Or at least until we stop seeing their marks on blinds, walls, bathroom doors, bed frames, dressers, mirrors, oh yes, and themselves and/or each other! Another difference: She doesn't even try to explain...just smiles and lets me rant for a while. She's since bathed and scrubbed a good part of the skin of her face off so she can eat dinner at the table. :)

The Value of a Little Education

2006-01-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Well, we have learned more of Simon's verbal skills. At supper tonight, it was mentioned by "daddy" (who is an educator and should know) that Simon was so good at his letter & number recognition, he thought he would be among the higher-abled students in his schools' kindergarten class. To prove his point, he asked Simon, "What sound does 'A' make? What does 'A' say?"

Simon, very proud, confidently said,"Rabbit!". (I now refer everyone to a previous post I made about the "L" and it's sound. Iguana. Kindergarten is looking pretty far off right about now. ) When there was laughter at the table, Simon smilingly said "I don't know! I forgot how to spell it!"

I have learned some things about boys today. Maybe not learned, more like confirmed suspicions:

1) They can always find a way to accidentally hurt their sister.
2) They are fierce defenders of themselves and motives. If they didn't MEAN to do it, then it doesn't matter if "banned" behavior was the cause of an "accident".
3) The end justifies the means.
4) Situational ethics rule.
5) No matter how soft and squishy a ball is, it can fly when rolled and damage the homeowners' merchandise. Or injure a sister accidentally.
6) If they are caught in a lie, they are VERY forgetful and therefore not liable for what they previously said.....Or did, or ate, or broke, or colored on.
7) If someone is hiding from you, they will surely show themselves if you yell loud enough. Everyone wants to be around someone that can break the sound barrier. The neighbors must love it too, they are the ones to be treated most often.
8) If you want to go home from preschool (or pretty school), pee on the floor. Worked for one of his friends today.

I am sure there are more. This list is simply from TODAY'S experiences.

Hard-of-Thinking Cat

2006-01-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Our new kitty has settled in quite comfortably as a new member of our family. He was pretty reserved and calm for the first few days, then we left for Christmas. He was not alone the entire 1 week period, but did garner some new found confidence and, shall we say, "spunk". For example: He has determined that we are his couch, lounging chair, entertainment and prey whenever he feels the need for any of those items. He "talks" to us, lets us know when there is dirty dishes or food left on the counter, and is quite insistent on being held for as long as he determines. If I try to move or get up, he hangs on, as if saying "Surely there is a mistake on your part....I'm not ready to get up yet." However, he must be a very brave kitty, as we saw on New Years' Eve. We spent the evening with friends, and returned home promptly after midnight. So far "George" had not bothered our humble Christmas tree and I had not yet dismantled the thing. From what I can tell, the fireworks disturbed and frightened him. He must have deduced the threat was coming from the Christmas tree. He courageously attacked the tree, disabling it by pulling it OVER, removing ornaments, breaking bulbs, unplugging lights, etc. When we arrived home we found a very calm cat, and a very big mess. My response was a simple two words: STUPID CAT.

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

A very special Christmas Gift

2005-12-30T15:34:00.000-08:00

We finally made it back from our adventure to the valley. We had a great time with family and friends, and received many gifts and blessings from our loved ones. There is one of note that I would like to share. My cousin, Lance-Corporal Tyler Troyer was killed in Iraq on November 19th of this year. His mother had just received a box of his belongings, and I was given some of the motomails that I had sent him and an envelope addressed to me (us) but it had been opened, and was empty. Long story short, yesterday I was given what was assumed to be the letter meant to be in that envelope. I wonder if he maybe was also referring to some things my dad had sent him....I know dad mentioned how sorry he/we were at the loss of his friends as well. Maybe it was reopened to add a future note that was never written? We can all think what we'd like, right?

I cannot thank Terri & Michael enough for giving it to me...there really isn't any indication that it was written to me, other than it was apparently an extra and there was the empty ennvelope addressed to me. Anyway, I cherish it and am very protective of it....children have to wash their hands before touching it. :) I will do as Aunt LeAnn did, and type as written.

The letter is dated Oct 30, 05

Hi everybody,

I am sorry that I didn't write sooner. things around here have been really busy. We really don't get much time to ourselves. But I finally found some time to write.
Well I don't know what to write about. I bet you already know a lot. When we first got here it was about 130 (degrees) durring the day and a cool 110 (degrees) at night. Now its about 100 (degrees) durring the day and a cold 60-70(degrees) at night. The lifestyle of the people here is very different than ours. There are no police or driving laws. Very few people have running water. They take a bath in a river, that is very dirty, once a week. They hate dogs. Trash is everywhere. They dont have indoor bathrooms. They go to the bathroom in a hole outside, no poty to sit on. They dont use TP after they go to the bathroom they use water and there left hand. yeah gross! 95% are muslum and pray 5 times a day. There is a lot more but that would take to long to talk about.
Not too much is going on here. Just the same old stuff you hear on the news. As you have already heard I lost 4 friends in a road side bomb. There families are doing good and so is my platoon. We are working hard and doing our job. But thing are ok. I'm tired, hungry and I havent showered in 2 weeks. I cant wait to get home. But I have to go now theres work to do. I thank everyone for your prayers they really do help and its great to know you all care. I love you guys
Love,
(signed in Arabic...Tyler)

Alert: Babysitter outsmarts wards

2005-12-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

Last night we went out to dinner and a movie with the same "good friends" of ours that brought us George. They recommended the BEST salad I've ever had and it was so big, it was sufficient to share with Mr. SAHM. He is usually not a willing "meal sharer", but knowing he'd get popcorn at the movie motivated him (or was it the half-price?). However, once he'd had his half, he did say it was a very good, satisfying meal! Crispy chicken salad served with warm bread. Then, took the baby home, put her to bed, checked in with the other kids and the sitter, who said they were playing the "quiet game", and off to "King Kong".

This morning, Tavin said they had to play the quiet game the entire evening! Ha! (Which was only 1 1/2 hours until they went to bed.) But, when I had gotten there to put baby Lucy down, it was NOT quiet. Anyway, she said they were "bribed" with dollar tree items. Even though they knew they didn't have to "win", they are just to greedy, I mean competitive, to actually try to have fun instead. Kudos to the sitter. Our kids are her "teeth cutting" experience, babysitting wise and I'd say she's doing very well!

Hello Kitty

2005-12-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

We have a new addition to our family! And no, it is NOT human. We have "rescued" a cat that is chewing on my blinds' chord as I type. We have a good friend that works at a theater very close to our home. This unfortunate creature began showing up last week and was fed chicken from the deli by the staff. He (still a "full" he) appeared to have been well-cared for, but either was very lost or abandoned. Knowing that we are suckers, I mean caring and compassionate people, our friend called us to tell us of this opportunity. I let Mr. SAHM answer the question and was very surprised when he accepted. Several dollars later we have litter, litter box (big rubbermaid works as well and is cheaper than a "litter box" by name), food, and a pet door that will be installed today to our garage. George, as he was named, is very well behaved, already litter box trained (although cats are much easier to train there than dogs), and very quiet. He has had no "accidents" in the house, even though it is up to us to put him in the garage to use his facilities until his door is installed. He arrived Saturday night and is just today beginning to play and cavort around. We estimate him to be 1 year old. He is a beautiful sable/black striped combination. As to how he got his name.....Well, I tried. It was decided that we would all put our "nomination" in a bowl and whichever was drawn would be it. So, amongst such clever and apt names as "Festivus or Fezzy", "Newman", "Cosmo", and "Curious" (which our eldest daughter was sure was the baby's nomination because she smiled when someone said "Curious George"), "George" was selected...Which made the boy very happy, as it was his choice.

We are delaying our trip to the valley due to weather. Hopefully we will still be able to stay at my sister's house enroute...Or our sons will surely drive us mad. If not, we will have to come up with a clever substitution or alternate plans. Maybe a trip to the moon would make it fair in their minds if we have to cancel? What do you think, Mel?

Happy Anniversary!

2005-12-17T09:27:00.000-08:00

Today is my 11th wedding anniversary! It's also snowing outside. So far, it is the most we've seen, beyond very tiny flakes that don't stick. It is coming down more and sticking this time. So, Big Sister and Big Brother are outside playing while baby girl is in here yelling. Such a nice combination! Last night was a lot of fun. We had about 23 people here for dinner. I got lucky though. I had put the 3 loaves of garlic bread in the oven when they called and said they were 5 minutes away. 15 minutes later I remembered them...As everyone was already eating! No smoke though, they were actually just right. It was fun to watch them conduct their "scavenger hunt". Good thing we didn't have anything to hide!

Canceled Plans and Early Christmas

2005-12-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas get-together scheduled for tonight has been canceled due to ice. Strange, it is the clearest day so far that I have seen in about a week. We have had "whiteness" everywhere, not snow, just frost. I think it's warmed up to all of about 30 degrees maybe? We even had a sitter scheduled for the 2 older children, but I am so tired, staying home sounds even better than finding something else to do! I think it comes from staying up for an hour after everyone else has gone to bed so I can read, make Christmas blankets, wrap Christmas goodies for my husbands co-workers, or just think about pointless worries and concerns that I am powerless to do anything about so late at night. A small price to pay for absolute quiet time!

A little tattling on myself/ourselves: We let our children open up packages from Grandma (Mr. SAHM's mom) yesterday. She lives in Virginia and is always excellent about sending packages and presents that everyone enjoys! Here was our reasoning....Monday we go to my family for Christmas and we didn't want to pack the extra gifts with us plus tomorrow no one has school so we knew we would get bombarded with "Can we open ONE present?". We did ourselves and our babysitter (had she been here tonight) a huge favor. Plus, WE'RE the parents, so WE make the rules, right? Which means they can be changed at any time to suit us. Of course, we opened ours too. Actually, Mr. SAHM opened his first (like 2 DAYS first). We loved everything we were given....And enjoy making Christmas a true SEASON rather than a one day occurrence. We wish all of our family lived close, but that would mean an awful lot of moving for many people, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone! Another one of our wishes is that Grandpa (Mr. SAHM's dad) was still living, and could be here to experience his latest grand-daughter with us and to talk to about all of the things that have happened this year. It's not often that a new baby, job and major move happen all in one year...Never mind one month. We do believe that he knows little Lucy and can see her from Heaven. I'm not sure doctrinally how to back that up or if I even can, but I believe that he is among the "great cloud of witnesses" watching us run our race. I also know that he is very proud of his son, as am I, and that he is a wonderful father and husband.

Now, I'd better go downstairs and tackle the 3 loads of laundry waiting to be folded and put away (UGH) as well as the ones yet to be finished, look at some dishes, and see what Simon is up to. One more reason to stay home....Don't have to clean the house up for anyone! But, it will have to be "touched up" for the progressive dinner party we're having here tomorrow night with the youth group. I'm making a main course and have yet to hear a definite number of people coming. As long as I know by mid morning, I should be fine. Spaghetti is a wonderful thing.

Living on the Edge

2005-12-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

I had to make a trip to the nearest "big city" today. Seems my husband needed to do some Christmas shopping for some of his staff, which I was entirely in support of. Since their break starts tomorrow and tomorrow night is the last staff Christmas dinner, today was the deadline for my practiced, bargain-hunting eye. (Not quite cheap, but very frugal!) It's about a 30 mile drive, one way, and I thought I had plenty of gas....Do you see where this is headed? Well you're wrong! I did NOT run out of gas. Good thing too, because this particular stretch of interstate is lonesome, speedy, and at the time covered with dense, freezing fog. Stupid on my part, I know.

I think it was a very good thing that before we left, I had my son pray after me for protection for the drive. (I knew it was cold and we had very sparse, dry snow here.) Our highly teched-out van has a little "Distance to Empty" gauge. Ours read "0" for 19 miles until I made it to a gas station. That's about what we get as our mpg. That was the return trip, by the way. I didn't notice our predicament until I was on the long, bare stretch of interstate. Lesson learned. And before any male readers get any bight ideas, ask my husband how we came to own 8 gasoline containers!

Of iguanas and lizards

2005-12-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

Last night when Mr. SAHM got home, he asked our son what he'd shared at school. (Having read my first post and knowing the story.) He was a little concerned that the teacher may think he needed anger management help from the "punching holes in the wall" story she'd heard. Keeping in mind that this was now evening, and preschool sharing happened in the morning, it is not surprising that a 4-year old had no recollection of any such stories being told by him. He did however say what the "Letter of the day" was. And I quote: "L. L says ulll..ullll..ulll.....iguana..." That's supposed to be "lizard" for anyone familiar with this phonics program. They learn a new letter, its sound, and a corresponding animal that starts with the letter and sound. Our son saw an iguana and appropriately called it such. I don't actually know if it was an iguana or other type of lizard. Evidently he apparently is not yet making the phonics connection.

This does bring an older tale to my mind, which may explain why "iguana" is more familiar to him than "lizard". (This will be an oft repeated story for any of you that know my family, and especially our oldest daughter. I apologize for the redundancy. But it is good blogging material, factual, and can be confirmed by any number of sources.) In May of 1999, we purchased our first house, from which we moved in August of this year. At the time we had one child, a 2 year old girl. The house had been occupied by owners of a full-grown pet iguana. We didn't know this, and there was no need to be told this information. What we needed to know was that the iguana had gone missing 6 weeks earlier and had not been found when we took possession of the house. Our 2 year old was upstairs for a "time out". (This was before our kids became perfectly behaved.) The upstairs was a remodeled attic that still had doors in the walls of her room accessing storage/attic space. She was behaving as a typical 2 year old in time out in her room. She was jumping on the bed in OUR room, looked up, and noticed a creature staring at her from across the very short space between our rooms. So she screamed something about there being a "monster". To which her logical parent (father....mother wasn't home yet from work) informed her that there was no such thing as monsters, reminded her she was in time out and needed to be quiet. The screaming didn't stop, and eventually father went up to deal more firmly with the issue. Discovering she was to his left (our room on our bed), instead of to his right (her room), his back was to the 3 steps that led up the remodeled attic/bedroom. She kept pointing behind him, not listening to a word he said. He finally turned around and was about 2 feet away from this lizard-like creature that had finally ventured out of the crawl space, probably hungry. A little secret here: Mr. SAHM hates snakes and there really isn't much difference between a snake and a 5 foot iguana. When I came home both were at the bottom of the stairs with the door shut. I took the poor, traumatized child (who firmly believed in monsters by now) and prepared to go call the previous home owner (who had rented the house, so we didn't know to whom this creature actually belonged or if it was just lost?). Mr. SAHM felt brave enough to go try to "catch or contain" the creature, plus our little kitten had just ran up the stairs, and the two females, in our rational brains, were afraid it would get eaten by the monster. (Ok, I was a little shook up too.) So, our rescuer opens the stair door and we immediately hear him scream and the door shut quickly. Apparently the iguana tried to follow us downstairs. At that time, I beat a hasty retreat with my child to my parents' house with "Call me when it's gone." It finally was captured, and we dealt with bedtime issues (understandably) for MONTHS that didn't resolve until we took her to the iguana's grave. The thing apparently was unable to recover from such a long fast and died. (We had told her it was dead long before that, but when it truly did die, she was able to see the burial site.) Seriously, it was about 6 months, but we managed to avoid therapy!

Still, it did give her some good "ammo" to use to try to scare her little brother with, very effectively I might add. We put latches, locks, etc. on the attic crawl space doors, rearranged furniture, and dreaded any wind or drafts that caused rattling upstairs the entire time we lived there. Thankfully, our new house, which we've been in since August, hasn't kept any left over pets. Pugs, as I understand, were the pets of choice for the previous owners. At least they are warm-blooded mammals.

A new venture

2005-12-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

Well, here goes a brand new, somewhat frightening, endeavor on my part. Will I spell correctly and have proper grammar? Will I attract some freak psycho? Will I embarass myself? Will anyone even care? (About the grammar and spelling.) A secret to some of you....Mr. SAHM, although he is an educator with an advanced degree, is a mediocre speller at best.

Today I picked up Simon a little late from preschool, which is actually not my norm! His teacher said "So it sounds like you had a rough morning! Today was Simon's day for sharing." Hooooo boy....what did he say? Apparently, he told of his dad's truck breaking down, of us going to pick up him and his big sister at 6:45 in the morning to take them to school. Correct story, but it happened last week. Also, he shared that "My dad punched a hole in our wall!". Also, a SOMEWHAT correct story, but the hole was carefully created a week ago Sunday to repair a ruptured water pipe. Not bad, considering another boy shared a story of his mom in her underwear! Glad THAT wasn't me.