Happay Mommay

Bwoobewwy Pank Panks

2012-02-19T10:55:00.003-07:00

Pank Panks (pancakes) are sort of a weekend tradition around here. We go through phases where I cook them more frequently than C does and where he makes them more frequently than I do. Right now, C is on a roll. And, today he made a monster blueberry pancake for Phin.

He had asked for a monster pank pank but then thought it was too big! He's struggling with his behavior lately. We can't decide if it is because of not enough sleep or if it is some other reason. It will be nice when the sweet Phin comes back. Another week of green cards and no notes about running away from the teachers would be nice! But this morning he cuddled up with me in bed and he was just a doll.

But, then maybe I was in a good mood because I slept in a bit. I stayed up too late last night enjoying some new television - we switched to satellite to save money and the picture quality - even in my craft room is incredible.

Basketball, oh basketball

2012-02-19T10:41:00.003-07:00

Elias is improving on defense. Here he blocked.
They played knock out and Elias was - well, knocked out.
And, they had a free-throw shoot out. He didn't make any.

Elias surprised us when he asked to play basketball. And, he's really not good, though he's really improved. He just doesn't like exercise - he doesn't run and play like the other kids do. He has no drive to do anything physical. He'd rather read or play with Legos. From what I can gather, he's this way at school, too. Today he told me he doesn't like gym class because he can't do the jump rope and he wished he didn't have school on Wednesday instead of having Monday off this week so he could miss gym class. Tuesday is his favorite day because he has computer class. He reminds me of me, when I was a kid in so many ways.

Valentine's Love

2012-02-19T10:26:00.005-07:00

Phin said he wanted Grandma to be his Valentine.
Elias wanted Panda.
They made their Valentine's Day cards this year. I found the idea on the Internet and Elias wanted to do it. I was going to have Phin pick some out at the store but he wanted to be like his big brother. So, we went into the craft room

and they got busy.

Superhero Lollipops to the rescue! They will solve all your troubles with love.
And if that doesn't work then, perhaps the one who delivers it will.

Pandasaurus

2012-02-19T10:14:00.003-07:00

She continues to grow both in size in in our hearts.

Last weekend, at 13 weeks old, she weighed 25.5 pounds. She was really sick one evening and I think she puked up every bit of food she's eaten in her short time on Earth. Poor baby! She was fine the next day and I let her little tummy rest a bit but she's back to eating her normal 5 cups of food a day. sigh, the little Pandasaurus as we have sometimes called her will probably eat us into major debt!

She does have a thing for Noodle. (those pictures were taken on Valentine's Day) Poor Noodle!

This week at 14 weeks, she weighs 28 pounds. I don't think the little illness stopped her growth in any way. In fact, I think we could visibly measure growth in her as she naps! This picture was taken today in the kitchen. She has lost some of her puppy look but is still very much a baby.I try to take her for walks every other day (I'd like it to be more but time is busy!) and she's good a running with me. She will sit, shake, lie down, let go of thing she brings to me (like toys and socks and clothes), roll to her back, stay (sort of), and come to her name. She's completely adorable.

Bashed

2012-02-11T08:44:00.006-07:00

Last weekend was a busy one. Saturday morning we had a basketball game and then Saturday evening we had a "bash" at the kids' school. The classes compete against each other in two events, one of which is tug-o-war and the winning team takes "home" the trophy. The other event has varied over the years and this year it was scooter races. Here's the pictures of the kids in their events.
Grade 2 (Elias was the orange team "randomly" for the third year in a row - third year! really? I'm going to make a note of it to the school to please not give the 3rd grade an orange color next year.)

He told us he was fast and yes, he was very fast.

Phin's group was the last to go (as they are the youngest) and he told us while all the other kids were going that he was going to go on his bewwy (belly). Indeed, he did and he was so proud of himself.

Phin went twice because there were so few of his classmates present at the bash. He had a ball doing it and he was pretty fast that way - dare I say faster than if he had gone on his bootie. He's one of the littler kids in his class an the proportions were just right for him to sail along the floor in the prone position!

Up next was the tug-o-war. No contest in the pre-k - you just can't pit 5 children 5 and younger against 20 kids - but they all had fun trying!

Elias' group won their war and took home the trophy!

Sunday we went to Mass at the old church that's the closest church to us. I had never been there but it was gorgeous inside. There was gold trim and paint and faces carved into stone. The stained glass window was beautiful and everything was made of wood. We were there for Scout Sunday and went to the Blue and Gold Banquet after. Something about the food in the "south" - which we aren't but may as well be - everything has meat in it. They had made fried chicken (with the skin on which was a bit of a shock to me), mashed potatoes with bacon, and green beans with bacon. They also served rolls. Now, why would you ruin perfectly good vegetables my putting a mammal in them? Not everyone wants a meal full of meat. In recent years I've been happy to eat a bird or a fish but definitely not a mammal. It's a difficult concept for some to wrap their minds around.

Of course Sunday night was the Superbowl and that didn't exactly go our way. Sadly the Patriots lost to the Giants - again. We didn't show the gnome much love, I guess. We ate plenty of food though and it was gooooood.

Panda had her weekly weigh in - 22 pounds at 11.5 weeks old. She is also around 17 inches tall when measured at the shoulders. She eats 4-5 cups of food a day and has grown some whiskers. The whiskers crack me up. She looks like an old oriental man - the whiskers are white.

It has been a cold week so she hasn't gone on many walks and I was sick with a cold so it was a double whammy.

Loss

2012-02-04T11:13:00.004-07:00

Last Sunday night/Monday morning was rough. We let the kids watch Dawn Trader and Elias was freaked out by the green fog. We put the kids to bed at 8pm. We went to bed at 9pm. Elias was in our room at 10pm. I don't remember if C went up with him or if we just sent him back up to his room but at any rate, he was back in our room at 11pm. This time he got in bed with us. C enjoyed the cuddling, but E kept sitting up to turn over. At midnight I kicked him out of bed. Sometime after 2 am Esau started crying downstairs. He wanted to stand up and couldn't. He had fallen in the yard earlier in the evening and had the same problem - he just couldn't get back up. So, C helped him get outside and the girls went out, too. We sat outside with them in the damp early, early morning hours until they had enough time to do take care of some business. We got back into bed but neither of us could sleep at this point. Sometime after 4 am we fell back to sleep only to have to wake up at 6 am. Normal wake up time is 5 am but there was no way that was going to happen!

Esau was still having trouble getting up from a laying down position. It had become typical for us to find him someplace uncomfortable, like the cold bare hardwood floors, and covered in urine. He had trouble with controlling his bowels for awhile, too. So, with a very heavy heart, C made the call to the vet. The girls already had an appointment for puppy shots and a yearly check-up. We added Esau to the mix.

Monday evening C made him a nice bunch of beef for dinner, took him on one last walk, and we all had our pictures taken with him.

Tuesday morning, January 31, I was still in a state of disbelief. A woman at the vet's office complimented Esau on how beautiful he was. Noodle and Panda were looked at and stuck with needles and then we said good-bye to Esau. It happened much quicker than with Bailey - it was almost shocking how quick it was over. And, now when we come home there is no dog laying in front of the door; when you go out there is no face looking at you through the window...

RIP old friend - you are still loved and greatly missed.

Reconciled

2012-02-04T10:56:00.007-07:00

Last weekend was a busy one. We had the basketball game on Saturday and then E's first Reconciliation. The kids all painted ceramic lambs and took them to a table on the alter when they were done. E's lamb is blue. :)

I think Elias counted and said there were around 50 kids in the ceremony. Afterwards there were cookies and punch. One of the chocolate chip cookies I had was still warm!
And, last weekend at 10 weeks old, Panda weighed 20 pounds! She went to the park on Sunday and played with another dog. The other dog was a little spastic and couldn't be let off his leash but Panda did really well coming when called and staying close by. We took all the dogs to the park with us. Noodle was limping along but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her - the vet gave her some anti-inflammatory and she's better now.

Panda thinks that sticks are a good thing!

We got some books from the library last weekend on puppy training. We have our ups and downs but are working very hard to help Panda get past some of the typical puppy bad behavior things - like picking on Noodle, biting our hands and clothes, etc.

Panda Poo

2012-01-24T20:55:00.004-07:00

So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. C has returned temporarily to the newspaper and may have sold his long cherished truck. E lost his 3rd basketball game, got only one B on his report card (all others As), and has been reading book after book. P had 2 solid weeks of green cards before coming home today with a red card, signed up for spring soccer, and is growing like a weed (doesn't look as much like a baby anymore). I have started classes again, miss running but ran over the bridge last weekend, and am totally wiped out. And Panda is now 10 weeks old, weighs 17 pounds, and is totally cute.

The other dogs say, "Panda Poo, grow up already!"

Pinewood Derby - The RESULTS are in!

2012-01-15T18:17:00.008-07:00

This evening we took Elias to his 2nd ever Pinewood Derby. The boys all arrived and checked their cars in. Then sat in the stands to watch the race.

And, while our racer was not exactly fast (okay, he came in last in every race)

He did win

He won Best in Show for the overall best looking/designed car

Omitted from previous posts, Phin accidentally flushed his beloved toy turtle, Okoboji, down the toilet at school last week. There were many tears and Mommay spent an afternoon scouring the Internet for a replacement. It arrived today. While he doesn't look it, he is very happay.

And, the update on Panda's 8 week weight - she now weighs 15 pounds. In addition, she has gotten big enough to go up and down the stairs. She seems to grow larger over night. She's adorable, still.

B-Baller and the second game

2012-01-15T10:24:00.004-07:00

After last week's game, we stopped by the library and Elias picked up 3 books on playing basketball. He went to practice early with Dadday on Tuesday and this week he played a better game. He still does not have his head in the game but he went for the ball, blocked, and attempted to rebound. Unfortunately, he was up against some bigger boys. One player was a foot taller and 30-40 pounds heavier - their team also had a player that was much smaller than all the other boys. It was quite the spectrum! But, the boys had fun. I didn't get as many pictures because we started off in the wrong place (we were following the schedule) and the whole team had to move. For this game we were at the same level as the boys...so...here's what we have

At least he had his shirt this week. He's lucky number 12 in 2012.
Team pictures are next week!

The kids still had energy after the game (imagine that?) so we fed them some food and walked down to the park. Unfortunately, the Panda was mostly interested in trying to get into a pile of poo we found in the park ewww so we high tailed it out of there!

Celebrating our marriage

2012-01-15T10:05:00.002-07:00

On the 11th, we celebrated 9 years of marriage. We've been together for over 11 years now and are still learning more about each other everyday. I still enjoy spending time with C. We didn't have time to do much together on the 11th but on the 12th we headed to the St. Louis Blues game. We had a nice drive up and a nice dinner and the game was fun. I bought the tickets as part of C's Christmas present - and they were worth every penny.

We sat 5th row, just off center ice, closer to the goal that the Blues attacked during the 1st and 3rd period. Here's the view we enjoyed.

The Blues did really well with more shots on goal but the game went into overtime and they lost there. Wayne Gretzky was in the stands at the game, too. How exciting!

We enjoyed a nice drive back with lots of conversation. It had stopped snowing and blowing so much so that made it easier on us, too. Special thanks to J for watching the kids and S for watching the Panda!

BBall Gamer

2012-01-08T11:23:00.007-07:00

Yesterday was Elias' first basketball game. I'll throw all the pictures up here but first I have some things to say.
1. I love my son
2. I am proud of my son for going out there and trying so hard
3. My son is not very good at sports
4. My son is very smart
5. My son needs to learn to stop with the fidgeting of the hands

We arrived at the game a little late and some dumbass ordered the wrong shirt size and E ended up not having a shirt. I am upset for him. I would have cried over it and I think he better have a shirt for next week. He's gone to all the practices and it's not fair. He was okay with playing in his turtle shirt (because he's my child and yes, he's odd, like me.) because he's so easy going and as Dadday said, he handled it just fine. But, I am still not okay with it. I might stress all week - that's just how I am. And, we don't have a schedule for the rest of the games but hopefully he can get one at practice on Tuesday.

At least it is easy to pick out the kid in the not quite the right color of green shirt. BTW, his favorite color is green.

Half time, the team did pretty well the first half - not so well the second half.

Here it comes, the only time Elias had his hands on the ball
They didn't stay there long.The boy in orange on the right (Elias') left ended up with the ball....palm to forehead.
He spent alot of time doing this (the arm thing, not the waiting to go in) He isn't one of the starters. He played some of the first half and nearly a full quarter in the second half. He said he had fun. His team lost 4 to 12 to the other team at his school. (this is not his school, this is another school where the gym is in the middle of some classrooms and the viewing area is from above.)
In the end, he was a good sport. He's a good kid and I love him and his drive very much. We stopped by the library after the game to get some books on basketball. Can you believe the kid has never watched a basketball game? Truth is, I dislike basketball and so it is never on at our house. We are not sure where this interest comes from or how long he will stick with it.

7 Weeks Old

2012-01-08T11:08:00.006-07:00

Panda is now 7 weeks old. She was born on November 16, 2011. She has gained 2 pounds to weigh 13.5 pounds now and has also gained some height this past week. I should get her measurements just for giggles later. She's learned to come and sit. She still struggles a bit with getting outside for potty and has had some accidents. But, yesterday for the first time she went to the door and whined to go out. Of course it was during dinner but that's okay. I'd do anything for her, I love her so much all ready.

I have also been working with her on the leash and she's done pretty well on her 4 times out so far.
Here are pictures from yesterday's adventure down the street to the park.

We took the old man out with us and Esau, too. ;) He is getting less and less stable on his feet and it makes me so sad.

Someone is getting her feet under her and loves to run
She's a baby though and wears out quickly. I think she's asking if Dadday will take her hunting. Isn't this an adorable picture?
No, wait, I think this might be more adorable
What could be more adorable than little boys with a puppy?

Panda is just the most cuddly little ball of fur. She's had 2 baths and her toenails cut twice. I'm going to do my best to keep on top of things with her. Had her out for a walk at 6:30 this morning before I went running and after a romp with the boys, she's been sacked out pretty much the rest of the day. This was yesterday but this is her favorite spot.

Ok, there or just wherever my feet are. I am so in love with her. It's like I never knew how much I wanted her. I can't wait for her to get big and I'm excited to watch her grow.

December Ending with Cute Overload

2011-12-31T11:22:00.008-07:00

And December 31 chased 2011 away
To chase the end of the year blues away we picked up our puppy last night.

Her name is Panda
The kids were dying to get her home last night to cuddle her and play with her.

She was pretty mellow. She peed and poo'd outside for us, took some small naps on our laps, cried in her bed when we went upstairs to put the kids to bed, sat under the chairs in the kitchen while we ate, refused food or water, and weighed 11.5 pounds.
11.5 pounds is large for a 6 week old golden retriever. Someone in the house thought he wouldn't like her. I see evidence otherwise.
The kids love her but have no idea how to play with a puppy. They are puppy illiterate. She scampered after them in the yard, got a little frisky inside and let out a few woofs at them while playing, and played with the soccer ball.

She played with them outside for a little over an hour and has been napping for about another hour. She's has only had one little accident inside and she did finally drink a bunch of water. So that's what the water in that dish is for...

Everyone in the family loves her

She spent her first night sleeping in her bed with the other cuddle dog (the former baby of the house)

Well, okay, the old man of the house isn't all that thrilled with her. She likes to walk under him but soon won't be able to and soon, she'll be too big to care that Esau is the king of the house!

Happy New Year everyone - don't overdo it tonight unless you are overdoing it on cuteness!

December Daily 29

2011-12-29T18:19:00.004-07:00

Today I started taking down all of the Christmas decorations from in the house. I miss them. Usually they are up long enough to get sick of them. Not this year. The puppy comes home tomorrow and we don't want her to get into the decorations. The boys played outside for a little bit today because the weather was nice.

I also got in my first run since I started getting sick. It was very, very short - 1.6 miles because C had to get out to work and I didn't get up early enough.

I did some more laundry but between packing away all the decorations, watching after the kids, okay, and some knitting plus everything that needed to be added to the blogs, I didn't get all the laundry put away.

No pictures again today but soon, very soon. Tomorrow will be a big day!

December Daily 28

2011-12-29T18:16:00.002-07:00

I finally started feeling better. It's been a rough couple of weeks. I feel like Christmas flew by. I was so excited for it to be here and now it's already gone. Mom and Dad vacated the house and not 5 minutes after they were gone the kids were looking for them and saying they missed them.

I spent the day cleaning the guest room and my craft room. Why do I let it get so messy? I should put my stuff away when I'm done with it. I know where the kids get it. sigh. Their room is a disaster again. I cleaned it really well before Christmas so there would be room for new toys after Santa came. The new toys have exploded all over the room.

I also worked on some knitting for me and finished up a page that had been sitting on my table forever. I hope to have pictures of both in the next couple of days.

No pictures today. I still need one of the house lights and of the cleaner craft room :)

December 27

2011-12-29T18:02:00.005-07:00

We woke up to snow! The kids went sledding on the new sleds they got for Christmas

It didn't stick around long though- the high for the day was 45! The boys were soaked and cold after about 30 minutes. I fell down the hill on my bootie and was sore yesterday from hitting the ground and catching myself with my left arm. uhg, I'm sure it was pretty. My bootie was soaked!

December Daily 26

2011-12-29T17:58:00.003-07:00

The traditional shopping didn't begin until later in the day. We went to Kohl's where I got 2 shirts, 2 shorts, a skort, dog toys, a bra, and a leash and saved over $200! Target was next and I got some batteries (we were woefully short on them Christmas morning), wrapping paper, collar for the puppy, placemats, and some other little Christmas goodies. We went to JC Penney and I got a Nativity scene that was regularly $140 for $25 and I got some pants for E. Overall, it was an excellent shopping day. Mom and I went to the local fabric manufacturers and looked around for a bit, too. We were going to work on the cushion for the Bishop's bench but didn't get around to it. I spent most of the time they were here very tired, working on Christmas projects, or sleeping, or coughing, or blowing my nose. It wasn't all that fun. Talking was work. I couldn't sing at Christmas Mass and that always bothers me. No pictures were taken on this day.

The newest addition coming Friday

2011-12-29T17:37:00.004-07:00

Last Friday C and I stopped in to visit someone who will be living with us starting tomorrow.
Here she is (well one of these two girls anyway) - the newest addition to the family

A pure bred Golden Retriever baby born the week before Thanksgiving.

There are two girls in the litter and someone else gets first pick of them, so we don't know which one will come home but both seem sweet and cuddly. One is the biggest and the other is the smallest - leave it to us to end up with an extreme!

Their dadday is huge! and mommay is medium sized so it's hard to tell what we will have living with us come tomorrow. We have a kennel that we had to put Esau in while we were showing the house in Tucson so she will sleep in there. At the day after Christmas sales I bought some puppy toys, a new leash, a collar, and some treats. She still needs a bowl and some food but we have time tomorrow morning to pick those up. I have been taking all of the Christmas decorations down so that they won't be tempting to a curious new puppy when she arrives. It does make Christmas seem very short since we are used to leaving the tree up until well into the new year. I'm sure we'll be distracted enough with our new little addition to the family that we won't notice the shortened season.

New pictures tomorrow, I'm sure!!!

Christmas on December 25

2011-12-29T16:59:00.008-07:00

That's the normal day for Christmas - right? Heehee. This year we will only have one Christmas. We've become so used to having multiple Christmases and a New Year's party that this year, since all of the decorations are down, Christmas feels short.

Here's our Christmas day recap
Santa left the boys an air hockey table, camping chairs, and a Bakugan for Elias and a Lightning McQueen backpack with wheels and a handle for Phin (he was very specific)

Grandma and C got things for their feet

Grandma in her slippers I knit for her

C with his now Patriots slippers

Phin had fun opening presents this year and helped just about everyone open theirs when his were done

My Mommay made me a hat with a little feather on it, very stylish!

Grandpa liked the mugs the kids bought and wrapped for him. Once he retires he will have plenty of time to drink tea and coffee!
I spoiled Dadday this year and gave him tickets to see a Blues game - sitting in the 5th row! Of course, he needs to take his best friend with him ;)

Phin was worn out from opening all those presents and making such a mess!

So, here's what else we all got (as far as I know/remember)
Grandpa: a MO Dept. Conservation calendar, a tomato knife, a cap light, mugs, and some stuff from Mom.
Grandma: slippers, hat, jewelry box, snowflake ornaments, and stuff from Dad.
Dadday: tickets to hockey, jeans, books about Mo plants, cap light, book about cooking game, knife sharpener, grinder, filet knives for fishing, avocado slicer, slippers, and a placemat.
Mommay: tea set and teas, party lite stinky pot (smells nice), 1 piece to start off my Christmas village (a church), calendar, knit hat, shopping bag, and a Solomon running jacket (that C forgot at work and finally brought home to me yesterday).
Elias: Bakugan, Dragon, clothes, Yatzee game, DS game (that was counterfeit and had to be replaced on the 26th), Wii fishing game, Kung Fu Panda 2, cap light, flashlight, pocket knife, Bakugan battle arena, turtle pillow pet, turtle hat, art supplies, book
Phin: turtle pillow pet, share of Wii game and movie, books, art supplies, Spiderman shirt, pants, knitted mittens, Geotrax train, rc 4 wheeler, games, flashlight, Spiderman soap, and probably more that I am forgetting!

We spent the rest of the day resting, eating, and playing. Those cookies were good! And, the best present comes tomorrow. One more post to talk about that and then its time for me to have some dinner.

The Catch Up Post

2011-12-29T16:34:00.007-07:00

I might not put it all out here in this post because so much has happened since the 19th. Obviously Christmas is one of those things, but I also have been very sick, we had visitors, Christmas happened, and we are about to become parents again. I'll share it all... just hold your horses!

December 20
The kids' last day of school for 2011. They both had parties and I only made it to P's because I was busy blowing my nose and wrapping Christmas presents. They had a half day of school and a short prayer service after. Phin fell asleep on my lap. It will be interesting when he starts going to Mass with the rest of the school after the first of the year. He regularly falls asleep on me during Mass.
(picture: Phin eating his healthy snacks at his school party)

December 21
Elias had his scout Christmas party. It was fun! There were games and a visit from Santa. We ate alot of junk food! I felt terrible though. I wore a stocking hat the entire party.

I also spent time finishing the painting in the guest room.

December 22
I didn't take any pictures that I can find. My parents came for the holiday and I spent the day cleaning before they got there. I baked some peanut butter cookies with kisses on top.

December 23
There was some cookie decorating and some cookie baking
Phin ate these like crazy as soon as we turned him loose! That night, despite being very tired, C and I went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We've read the books and we had baby sitters. So, night at the movies it was! We also made a little stop in to visit someone but I'll put that in another post.

December 24
We got all dressed up and went to Mass
and then Santa came!

More on Christmas Day in the next post!

December Daily 19

2011-12-19T16:40:00.007-07:00

Today was a busy one with many things crossed off the list and many more to go. I got the presents to my in-laws out the door after C wrapped them this morning and I made them a card (see it on the other blog). Then I headed into work for a little bit to report grades. I went to Target to pick up some stuff to make my legs stop itching

it really is unbearable and its turning ugly

and I got a few last minute gifts that the kids are really going to love

what kid doesn't love a bottle of soap

I went to the video rental place and picked up some gift cards for the teachers and got Bad Teacher for myself to watch while I wrapped presents. Unfortunately, Bad Teacher would not play in our DVD player - don't know what was up with that. I took the video back and tried again - that didn't work either. So I watched it on my computer while I wrapped. I tried out the teacher gifts (still need need to make them up tonight) and the teachers are going to love them.

After I picked up the boys, they wrapped their presents (I still have more to wrap - ugh!).

Spent the rest of the day scrubbing the shower. C is coming home late so I need to get some dinner going now. Tonight - teachers' gifts and wrapping presents and bed. I hope to run in the morning but I think a cold might be coming on.

December Daily 18

2011-12-19T16:37:00.003-07:00

Whooohooo, what a doozy of a day. C replaced the ceiling fan, I finished painting the trim and the ceiling (except the bad spot that is still not fixed) and then taped all around the room.

The Chiefs beat the formerly undefeated Green Bay Packers. I didn't get to watch the game but I got regular updates from ESPN and from my parents who did get to watch the game.

Also winners were the Patriots - we did get to see that game. I really wanted to see halftime highlights so I could hear all the bragging about the Chiefs but I missed it because I had to get ready to take the kids to a birthday party at the bouncy place.

I stayed up Saturday night knitting a hat for a co-worker who had a baby girl. It was fun knitting the hat. I finished it during the day on Sunday and I just realized that I should have taken a picture of it but I forgot and already delivered the hat.

Sunday night I stayed up late knitting a hat for Elias. He picked a color work hat not knowing it was for him. Phin had commented on the baby hat and how small it was. So, we started measuring heads - Phin 20 inches, Elias 21 inches, Mommay 22 inches.

December Daily 17

2011-12-19T16:29:00.004-07:00

Saturday we got up and started tearing apart the guest room. I made the boys some pancakes and tried to replicate the Spartan mix that we really love. It didn't quite work out but it was tastier than our normal homemade mix.

Anyway, after 4.5 years of living year, and that long of owning the paint to redo the guest room, I decided that this weekend was the time to get started. C moved a bunch of stuff out of the room and I started with peeling paint off the walls. Not fun. So much of it was loose and it made a huge mess.

This is befor-ish

It was warm and there were ladybugs in the room - on December 17 - ladybugs...

One flew off the blinds and landed on the sill that I had just painted. I scraped it off there and found it the next day stuck to the door frame by it's back. It's legs were wiggling around all over the place. I flicked it off there and it crawled away.

I didn't quite finish - there were problems with the ceiling that are still not quite repaired. C also bought a new ceiling fan for in there.

December Daily 16

2011-12-19T16:26:00.002-07:00

I know things had to have happened on Friday. It was the last day of the semester. I talked about football at lunch. I picked up the boys after school instead of them going to after school care. We stopped in at the running store and they got on the treadmill together - it wasn't moving. I needed socks to cushion Elvis. I thought I might run on Sunday. I think I went to bed at 8pm. I didn't take any pictures and I don't recall doing anything interesting at all.

December Daily 15

2011-12-15T17:07:00.007-07:00

10 days till Christmas and I did a bad, bad thing. After years and years of not doing it, today I fell for a scam and they got my cell phone number and my work number and my e-mail and my address. I don't mind so much about the address because junk mail is junk mail but I've gotten text messages, phone calls, and e-mails all day. I feel pretty dumb. I know I am smarter than that. pooh...It's impossible to undo, too. Once it's done - that's it, there's no getting out. I'll have to grin and live with the consequences of my stupid, stupid actions.

Phin made a little bit of a mistake today, too.

It's so hard not to laugh when we see these things. He wouldn't admit at first that he had been mooning his classmates. I guess they were mooning him, too. We had a talk about when it is okay to take your pants down. Phin suggested it was not okay to do it during reading time. LOL!

Tonight we asked Phin how Santa was going to get into the house. He said through the front door. I asked where Santa lives and Phin says at the store. He knows more about the sleigh and the reindeer. He showed us with his hands how the sleigh lands.

Elias made these magnets for us at school. Phin can read them. He walked right up to it and read it. He turns 5 in March and we are very proud of him showing this off, not so much the butt thing.

Really, I could write forever on the things that Phin does. I think I'll make it a new tag. The rest of this will be about Elias today.

He is very ... independent.
He has something to say about everything.
And, he really does know alot.
I think he was born 30 years old.
My mother says he's just like I was - ugh, I was a challenge, I'm sure!
He has a great imagination.
He works hard, but slowly on his homework.
He's very tall.
His stomach is a bottomless pit - he's always been a very good eater.
He's getting better at video games and getting more coordination.

It's about time for some chicken and dumplings. Be back tomorrow.

December Daily 14

2011-12-14T17:06:00.004-07:00

This child

He's the younger brother.
He wants to do all that his older brother does
and he wants to do it better.
He writes his name, recognizes the words God, love, yes, no, you, Phin, our last name, and more every day.
He can count to 100 and knows how to write all the numbers.
He likes to carry note pads around with him and color in the lines.
He's in love with flashlights.
He plays well on his own.
He demanded shoes with laces but refuses to try to tie them.
He keeps track of the daily calendar for the Christmas countdown.
He pretends to be his teachers and read the morning announcements to the family.
He refuses to eat his dinner or drink his milk about 50% of the time.
He woke up with a dry pull-up the other morning but that was really rare.

Today he brought home his art project.

And a note from his teacher. He was really proud of that note.

December Daily 13

2011-12-14T16:59:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I didn't really take any pictures to add here. Elias had basketball practice and I hear that many of the boys have dropped out. That leaves E as one of the bottom players. He has lots of heart that makes up for it. He really loves playing.

Phin and I read books, Phin took a bath, and Phin played trains - sort of. He's got quite an imagination.

I hit a wall with pictures and with everything. I'm bummed out and over whelmed. I always hope to avoid this sort of thing but it's difficult. Elvis is making it harder to run. I ran on the treadmill for 3 miles and the blister really puffed up. I may be out of running for another week. That's really hard to take. I know I'm just sort of bummed out. I have quite a bit to do and sleep is difficult to come by when I'm overwhelmed.

December Daily 12

2011-12-12T18:44:00.004-07:00

Yes, that is a bowl full of tomatoes. In November, when the weather started getting colder and we'd had one small frost, I took the kids outside and had them help me pick every reasonably sized tomato in the garden. This amounted to probably 1000 tomatoes. Some of them ripened rather quickly and others have taken longer. We still have a bag full of green tomatoes but these beauties were waiting for C when he looked in the bag yesterday. Since it is Monday today, we were gone all day but when he got home, C made delicious fresh tomato soup. I said, "it doesn't get fresher than that." And C said, "it's so fresh we should slap it."

It's a true riot around here.

December Daily 11

2011-12-12T18:28:00.003-07:00

Sunday the 11th was a nice day. I spent a good portion of the day knitting. We went to Mass - Elias went to Children's Mass but Phin wouldn't go. He sat on my lap and cuddled. We don't have much of that time left so I enjoyed it. The Chiefs game started at noon and we ate left over lasagne while watching them get creamed. I met with someone new to go running at 1pm. I planned on 6 miles but stopped short at 4.5 and walked out to 5. Elvis was bothering me. I took a look at him around 2.5 miles and again around 3.5 miles until I couldn't take it anymore. Here's what he looks like now.

For dinner we tried green tomato casserole. Hmmm, may not try that one again. It was made properly but just odd tasting.

December Daily 10

2011-12-10T12:49:00.008-07:00

This morning I got up, not early, I've not been wanting to get up early, but I got up and started figuring out the family portrait situation. We've been here 4.5 years and not hung up any family portraits. After a few calls to relatives, I discovered that I also had not sent them the latest of the family portraits or school pictures. I'm not sure what is wrong with me - I think about sending them, I plan to send them, I purchase them, I just don't ever get out to do it. I find myself not wanting to leave the house a lot in the evenings. I get home and I just want to sit. Must be the aging of my genes...They have no time for things like shopping or socializing or trips to the post office.

But, I was motivated this morning. I had a plan. Plans help. Everyday should have a plan and the less of the plan that I have to make up that coincides with lots of time for me to craft, the better the plan. ;) Once a plan was in place for the pictures and pictures were sliced apart and sorted into piles, we ate. I helped C move the trailer back into the driveway - he's very good at manipulating it into a spot that's one of the tightest things around this joint - tighter even than his Christmas budget. Then I showered and took the kids to a Christmas Concert put on by the Percussion group. I have a long love affair with percussion - ok, with music. Music makes me happy - but then, it doesn't take much to make me happy. We'll talk about that more in a minute.

Here's some pictures from the Christmas Concert -

The percussion group played alone first but they were way back on the stage so the pictures aren't that interesting. They then brought out a group of singers and finally the high school orchestra. The last song they played was by Trans Siberian Orchestra and the kids were very excited. We came home and had hot chocolate and listened to the two cd's I have of that group. I told the kids that Grandma pays alot of money to see that group every year and we got to go for free ;)

The next item on the day's agenda was to hang up the pictures. While we were at the concert, C bought us some new frames. He needed the Hobby Lobby coupon but he doesn't get his new iPhone until Tuesday - sucker. He doesn't think he's going to like it - the phone, the frames look fine. I know he's wrong. Anyway, this is what it looks like in the foyer nowWe can use the two hooks to put things the kids bring home from school on and we can add more portraits as we get them. That just leaves the guest room for a wall-o-photos once I get it painted!

Speaking of the wall-o-photos, the boxes of photos had some older photos that were kicked out of their frames just hanging around in the box. Some, ehem, items of interest that might be good for awkward family photos...

I have no idea what exact year this was - I'd say some time around 1990. Notice the awning hairstyle that my father was sporting and the dead caterpillar on his lip. Should have posted this one for Movember. I also notice that I am the only one smiling. But, if this wallet sized version of the photo doesn't tickle your fancy - how about the 5x7 mirror image?

That's right folks, we can be tortured from both sides of the looking glass. It appears that we all were rearranged but the differences are every so slight...freaky.

I also found something from when my ~~jackass (this is a family place)~~ brother was a cool, decent human being that knew what it was like to be part of a family, aka my high school graduation photo.
I had this puppy hanging out on my walls for a long time and am not sure when it moved into a box - probably around the same time my brother took a shower in shame on you, you cussed your mother out, refused to be remorseful or apologetic, and hooked up with a less than worthless excuse for - oh yeah... family blog... anywho, it's been hiding for a few years. But also hiding in the photo are lovely paneling walls of the living room pre-extreme home makeover, another shameless family portrait (check out my mom's hair and my big bangs), and a little something that neither my father nor I will admit we want - that damn steering wheel cover. This photo really is priceless.

I can only image that the rest of the day will bring cuddle time with the pug, getting after the kids for sliding around the house in their slippers, knitting, and lots more quality family time during the Holidays. We've made it to day 10 folks, 15 to go

Finishing The Show

2011-12-10T12:39:00.005-07:00

Elias didn't sing all that much with his group at the show.
But he did better than last year where he almost cried in the middle of the show.
Here's his whole grade level. His class is on the right and the other class is on the left. They just wore nice clothes - and broke his tie in the show...

He did do okay while sitting in the stands waiting for his group to go up
You can see he does well with the ladies...
And, before the show was over, Elvis (not on my foot), made and appearance and left the building.

Congrats to all the kids and to the school for putting together another year with a wonderful program. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait for next year ;)

December Daily 9

2011-12-09T20:18:00.005-07:00

Tonight was the Christmas pageant at the school. Just like last year, it was cuter than you can imagine. I have discovered there might be a teensy little talent void in Elias' grade, but its not statistically significant as it is only based on 2 years worth of observations. But, the kids are adorable and the music teacher is a saint as the principal stated tonight at the show! Here's the pictures of the event.

The beautiful background

Elias carrying out the manger

and, now I need some bed. I'll finish this in the morning. I can't sit still I'm so tired and I keep yawning. I don't know why I am so tired since I have not been running but bed is really calling my name right now.

December Daily 8

2011-12-08T15:30:00.004-07:00

A couple of nights ago C bought Noodle a new sweater/jacket. She looks like a candy cane. She's the most forgiving dog I've ever seen. On Tuesday, Phin didn't want her to sit next to him on the couch so he pushed her over and then threw his blankie on her head. I thought she would shake it off and we went back to watching our movie. About 30 minutes later I looked at her and she was still sitting there with the blanket on her head. Poor sweetie!

She sits by me constantly and she make make noises and stinky toots but I still love her. We had Esau at the vet on Monday to check over his general health. He's got a little time left and the vet suggested that we feed him twice a day. Noodle has also been being fed twice a day. We've noticed an improvement in the number of times they crap on the floor. Noodle also makes more toots. Ahh, the smells of the season!

December Daily 7

2011-12-08T15:26:00.002-07:00

I love moments like this when the boys are sweet to each other and cooperative for the camera. I took this picture before we left for school on Wednesday morning. We had pizza for dinner and rushed back out the door after school for Elias to go to a Religion Award meeting that he's trying to earn for cub scouts.

We went to bed early - I know why mother in her kerchief and dadday in his cap need to settle down for long winter's naps. Winter makes me tired - cold and cloudy days make me tired.

December Daily 6

2011-12-08T15:15:00.002-07:00

On Tuesdays I spend 6 hours in the lab teaching. It's a long day made longer usually by a meeting between my lab sessions. It looks like I forgot to take a picture that day.

E had basketball practice on Tuesday and P and I watched a Christmas movie. I heard that E is getting much better at dribbling. He absolutely loves the sport.

December Daily 5

2011-12-08T14:54:00.007-07:00

On Sunday evening we all played Wii fit. Elias has grown so much that adding weight to his shorter height put him into the overweight category. We fixed the height error and that put him back to mostly underweight. He grows so tall so fast! Already his pajamas that I bought for him when the weather turned colder are getting short.

Elias is playing a racing game right now and talking about "killing" the other guy. That disturbs me. I know I talked this way about video games when I was a kid but they seem too innocent to be talking about killing things. sigh

We had stromboli for dinner that night, it was yummy - I had the left overs for lunch on Monday (the 5th)

I totally love the look of everything you take pictures of in the late evening during the winter months - not. They all get a sickly yellow color on them. I want to play around some more to figure out how to rid myself of this tasty color.

My picture for Monday (the 5th) is this one of my medal from the half marathon

isn't it a great medal? It has stained glass in it - that is super cool!

I also decided that my next race will be Rock the Parkway in April. I just need to get myself signed up before the end of the month. Very excited for that - it look like tons of fun and there's some super awesome bling ;)

December Daily 4 - it's gross, it's great

2011-12-04T09:11:00.008-07:00

(Warning, nasty picture at the bottom)
I've been out of town. I left on Friday afternoon to go to Memphis and run in the benefit race for St. Jude Children's Hospital. Thanks to the generosity of family and friends, I raised $525. I went to the Hero's dinner and met some really great people. Tears were shed and that was actually helpful for my running on Saturday. I was really afraid I would break down during the race but I didn't.

Saturday morning I woke up at 4 am on my own. I managed to stay in bed until 4:30 and then got up to get ready. I stayed with the SIL of C's cousin - they were so generous to let me stay there. I could not have been nearly so successful or rested without their help. I left their house at 6am to make the drive into downtown Memphis. I found parking very close, so close it turned out to be on the marathon route! I checked my bag and went to the start line - I was about 90 minutes early and other than getting good parking, I could have gotten there quite a bit later.

The really awesome part about the start was the porta potties all along the corral start areas. I went 4 times! They also had water for us there - I drank one cup after having 2 big glasses before leaving for the race! So, no wonder I hit it 4 times. My friends started showing up and we all started together.
That's Stacie on the left and Shannon on the right. We started out together but Stacie and Shannon quickly pulled ahead of me. I let them, I really had no intention of finishing by a certain time. Stacie was shooting for 2:15 and Shannon wanted to finish. I was with Shannon on that one! My time on the road over the past couple of months was seriously diminished. I spent time on the treadmill working on speed and come to find out, that would help me greatly.

I had been shivering so much at the start line that my right foot actually felt cold for the first 1.5 miles or so of the race. I thought I had to pee again but I didn't stop and I blew through the first few water stops. I saw Shannon again about mile 2. Stacie wasn't with her. We exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes but I had decided to never let my GPS go below 10:00 minutes per mile unless I was walking through a water stop. I took off.

I decided at mile 5 that I needed to remove my long sleeved shirt. It was very comfy to race in because it has long sleeves that cover my hands and have a thumb hole. It is cotton but I find cotton to be not so bad in the cold. I could do better with wool, but yikes, that's really expensive. This shirt cost me $5 at after Thanksgiving sales!

Along the route there were bands that played and I was running with a pretty good group - all around the same pace, some weaving through people but not, too bad. It really kept me going. I did see some poor person who was laying on the ground. Shannon later told me that she saw them doing CPR on the guy and another runner in our group saw the ambulance with him. I haven't heard how he was doing but I said a little prayer as I ran by.

I started getting really excited when I hit mile 12 and was feeling really good. I kicked it into high gear and ran out the rest of the distance. I entered the stadium at the end and they read my name out on the speakers. I ran through the finish and was so excited to realize that my time was around 2:13. Officially, it was 2:13:38 - a 7 minute improvement over the last half I ran in September! And a 27 minute improvement over my first half that I ran in April! It makes me wonder what I could really do and I have some ideas that I'd like to try out.

I found the other women that I normally run with and many of us had new personal records. Stacie had slowed down after twisting her knee and she visited the medical area. The rest of us watched the marathon runners come in after getting our food. I had a slice of pizza, a cup of soup, and a beer (pictured). The medals are really nice, they have stained glass in them and I will get a better picture of that sometime today. I plan on wearing it tomorrow with my race t-shirt!

I was the only one of the group who did not stay downtown. So, after we had our group all together, I took off to get cleaned up. I had planned to use the shower there, but they were open facilities - as in super open and everyone could see you...yeah...There was a ton of traffic and some confusion getting to the interstate because of the race. Construction had the interstate closed down to 1 lane and this girl had to pee. I got off in a very shady part of town but at that point, I would have peed on the side of the road if necessary.

When I got back to K and S's house, I finally got to take my shoes off and found this

My shoe had been keeping the swelling down and after my shower and a nap, I could no longer get a shoe onto my foot. We opted not to go back downtown and ate dinner locally (mmmm, turkey burger and fried pickles) and watched My Idiot Brother. I then went to bed.

Got up early this morning for the long drive back in the rain and am so glad to be back home. I may have to call the doctor about my foot. At the very least, it will be a week until I will be able to run again. I will likely take more pictures of it as it's the nastiest thing that I've ever seen and it keeps getting worse!

December Daily 1

2011-12-01T15:27:00.003-07:00

December 1
wow
The end of 2011
wow
We've already had snow. It was wet and slushy and didn't stick around.
wow

Today I skipped out of work early to go to the running store. I needed bloks to eat on my run on Saturday. And I found this

Saturday makes number 3
wow
I never thought I would do that
Here's some things I think about number 3
I proved I could do it with number 1 (I also proved I could do it on hills and in the heat)
I proved I could do it faster with number 2 (almost 20 minutes faster)
with number 3, I want to prove I can do it and have fun. I'm not so certain I care about the time. I just want to have fun.

Tonight we're having dinner out with some of the other runners from the area. It's going to be fantastic.

December is starting off great!

Family Thankscation

2011-11-28T20:53:00.003-07:00

The days from the start of school until Thanksgiving are my favorites. Since the Halloween event is over, I've taken some time to get things done at home and to plan Christmas. The house isn't quite done but we try to get it ready before we go out of town each year. It was another enjoyable Thanksgiving. All of the people that are good and right with the world were there to share it with our family.

After an interesting week with P and, well, peeing (in trouble for crawling under stall doors with his pants down to join friends, in trouble for peeing on a tree at recess, in trouble for going into the potty with friends, and having an accident at school), P finished the time before Thanksgiving with green cards. He is constantly reciting the alphabet, counting to 100 (yes, 100 or higher), reading letters on buildings, carrying around a pad of paper to write letters and numbers, and asking how to spell words. He's a little smartie!

E has been doing well in school, too. He's reading a higher level books than most of his peers and he scored well on his Iowa Basic tests - above average in most areas. He still claims that science and religion are his favorite subjects. He's started doing homework at after school care. And, he is now playing basketball! It's actually really fun to watch even though I don't personally like the sport.

C is happier at work and has been working hard on his story. He probably doesn't want me to say too much more about him ;)

We left Wednesday on our trip and arrived late in the evening. Thursday we had a leisure morning spent watching the parade, knitting, checking out sales ads, and preparing to eat a yummy meal. After we ate, I took a walk with Mom and Dad. It wasn't a run, but it was a warm day and it was enjoyable.

Friday we met with A and M (my adorable niece who the boys adore and we don't get to see enough) for a fun day of play, shopping, Santa, games, and more shopping! I got most of my Christmas shopping done and bought probably way too much for myself. E is out of jeans and shirts so he got a new pair of pants and a shirt. I bought yarn (blushing) for projects that I have been planning and to make something special for A for Christmas. A has been super wonderful and I'm so grateful to have her in my life. She deserves so much better than she has been getting and I want to do whatever I can to make that up to her and to make every moment M spends with us special, fun, wonderful, and full of love.

Saturday we went to the ice rink with the kids. Skating was a breeze but the shoes squeezed my foot a bit and it was cold! P wasn't liking it much at first but before we left, he was all over the place on that rink! M was very brave from the start. E mostly clung to the wall! lol. Only C and I of the adults skated this year. After skating we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and attempted to see the trains like we do every year. However, the trains closed earlier this year and we were very disappointed to miss them! So, we drove around looking at the Plaza lights. I have pictures that I'll post of this day later. I wanted to update now so I didn't forget anything.

I have a goal for December - a daily photo. Sure, it's going to be work, but anything worthwhile is work.

I will be running the St. Jude Half Marathon in Memphis this weekend. A relative of a relative has offered to let me stay with them while I am there. I am very thankful for them doing that for me. I'm also thankful to everyone who donated time to listening to me talk about running or money to the children of St. Jude's. I'm going to enjoy every second of the race. I've given up any notion of completing the race in a certain time. I really just want to have fun and enjoy the sights, the people, the experience, the exercise, and the feeling.

here's to another year of thanks and giving!

its been some time

2011-11-06T04:34:00.006-07:00

I'd like to write some thoughts but it's 5:30 in the morning and I am getting ready to go out for a run. Grandma wanted to see the kids on Halloween. So, I'm going to post those pictures and then literally run.
P was Iron Man and E was a ninja.

We did our standard meet-up with another professor's family and went around their neighborhood. It had been months since we had seen them. Also standard. We always say we will get together but then it doesn't happen.

Since Halloween was on a Monday, we had a busy weekend the Saturday and Sunday before. Saturday was the annual science event that a very small group I am part of puts on at the university. We had around 800 people this year and I had a bunch more fun. I arranged everything I was doing so well that I even had time to walk around with my kids for a little bit.

The stress of putting on the event does cause me to have a rash on my legs and I try to back off alot of other things I am doing so that I don't become overly stressed. But, it seems to happen anyway. I wrote a show for the event, that's my kid in the middle there. The students are actors and do demonstrations. We get the kids involved in the demonstrations and they act out some of the explanations for the demonstrations. The show was phenomenal this year. It was about 30 minutes (perfect time) and the students were funny and educational. I couldn't have asked for it to be better.
The slimy area was a big hit and E was able to make a super huge bubble. It was too windy to put kids in a bubble like we wanted to. I think everyone had fun anyway ;)
A wildlife refuge close by brought us a coyote. They came last year with a bald eagle. I organized this area so I helped carry the coyote into the building. Obviously she was okay with humans and this is why she can never go back into the wild. The owners of the refuge have never had this happen before but they use her as an educational animal now. They have raised bears, deer, fox, birds of prey, and many other animals. When they left, they were excited about what they can bring to the event next year. I need to get a card out to them.
There are so many things to do and see at the event that it's not possible to do them all. Kids have fun and go home exhausted. We start early setting up, run around like crazy while kids are there, and then clean up before going home to collapse. It is totally worth it to see your 4 year old listen to his heart, look at a bug under a microscope, and tell you that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up.

Sunday I took the kids for a drive and we carved pumpkins. No way was I working after Saturday. I didn't even run the big group run because my legs were so sore and I was just so worn out!

Yesterday morning there was the densest fog that I have ever seen. (I feel like a little kid saying something is the densest). But it was dense. For about an hour after sunrise it was nearly black outside because of the fog. Visibility was very low but it did fantastic things to the spider webs.

We stayed huddled up inside the house until the sun came out. Deep fall is upon us and I am loving it. We broke out the flannel sheets for last night. Ahhhhh...

This morning the wind is really blowing. I'm dressed for a run. I'll run 2. 5 miles to the park to meet everyone, run an 8 mile loop, and then run 2.5 miles back home. This is more than I thought I'd be running but it is a leisure pace and I'll be fine. Tonight it is back to grading and knitting!

What's Been Up

2011-10-15T14:07:00.006-07:00

October kicks my ass every year now. It's probably my favorite month. I get so excited for it to get here but lately there's just been so much for me to do in October that I get overwhelmed and don't enjoy it at all. I've struggled the last two weeks emotionally. Running has been hard, crafting has been hard, sleeping has even been hard. It's fall break this weekend and I'm on my own with the kids. This next week will be very rough - there's something going on every evening. I'm trying to take it one hour at a time (one minute sometimes) but there seems to be so much to do that I just spin my wheels and get distracted from what I'm doing by what needs to be done next. So, I've given myself 10 minutes to write this up. Then it's off to the shower to get ready for Mass.

Today was the last soccer game

What I've learned from Phin playing soccer - be positive and supportive, always, no matter what. He wants to play but is very fragile emotionally so if he feels like he's not doing well, he just won't do it. He needs lots of attention, hugs, kisses, water, and snacks during the game. He likes to hear us cheer and yell, "way to go, Phin!" and he'll do just about anything. It also doesn't matter which goal you score on as long as someone scores. And, today, Phin scored his first goal - in his own goal but that's okay. It was a good kick and he loves the game.

After today's game we headed out to the pumpkin patch. They were all huge this year and I was sure they were brought in from somewhere else but I was told they grew there. I didn't see vines to support pumpkins this big so I'm still skeptical. We purchased 75 pounds worth of pumpkins though.

And I'm out of money now. I'm also out of time. That's it for now.

September Past

2011-10-01T15:41:00.008-07:00

The last time I posted, you saw some of the first 17 days of September and we've now gone into October. On the 18th I ran my second half marathon. My mom took pictures of me before, during, and after the race.

I was ditching my water bottle in my front yard. It was banging around on my hips a little too much. And, would you look at those legs!
That smile is because I saw I made my goal time - 2 hours, 20 minutes (the seconds didn't matter to me). My official time was 2:20:35. I was quite pleased. I will be doing it all over again in December. Be sure to click on the link over there---> to donate to help the sick kids - you know, the ones that have cancer and other terrible diseases. The hospital never turns a child away, even if their family can't pay. So, do it for the kids, donate to help fund research that will end childhood diseases and that will help treat children who would otherwise not have treatment.

After the disaster we had with soccer on the 17th, P shaped up quite well to play the next weekend, the 24th(?). We did have quite a rough week though, with children spending time in the corner for not doing their school work or not listening to their teachers. But, after that and alot of talking about appropriate behavior, the kids have improved greatly.

Phin and his soccer team "DC UNITED"

Phin came out of the goalie position a few times to run with his team at that game. We got him some frozen custard later and let him play in the park.

I spent the rest of the day painting the foyer - too bad, C didn't like the color! So, I repeated on Sunday. We picked the color together and it looks very nice! I had seen a picture I posted to Facebook of the boys in the corner and the paint looked terrible, we've always hated our yellow foyer so I decided it was time to paint.

This week was a busy one, Phin did get one red card and Elias had some trouble remembering to bring his folder home, but we managed to get through it all. There was a cub scout den meeting last night and after we had a nice dinner out. It had been awhile since we did that.

Today I finished removing tape from the foyer walls, took Phin shopping for the soccer snacks and drinks, bought mums from the campus greenhouse, cleaned out the pots and put the mums on the front porch, took Phin to his soccer game, climbed the ladder to the roof of the porch and painted the windows, took the boys to the firetruck rally and now am fighting a bit with the computer. But, here's the pictures from today's game Phin fully participated. Though, because he wasn't in the goal (he's actually quite good at goalie) the other team scored alot of goals. But, P did what the coach said, ran after the ball, and had relatively little pouting. At the end he was even a good sport and was first in line to congratulate the other team. That is a huge improvement since he wouldn't even line up a few weeks ago. He's quite worn out and is now sleeping on the futon in his room after a nice long bath. It's only 6pm but we skipped any nap. I'll wake him up in a bit. I've also noticed that when I don't post alot to this blog, I type out of sequence, jump around alot, and really shorten my stories. I have been thinking about trying to post more often - I'm just stupid busy. and when I'm not busy, I'm running or sleeping or eating and C frowns on using the computer (or my phone) at the dinner table.

The firetruck rally seems earlier this year. I'm used to having the trees changed colors. But the cool air and blue skies made for a beautiful day to look at firetrucks.

Smells like we'll have yummy pizza for dinner tonight and I had better get off this thing. :)

what a week

2011-09-17T16:47:00.005-07:00

Phin (picture from last week's game, though this week was actually worse)
is having a rough adjustment period right now. He isn't interacting with adults all that well. Right now he's sitting in a chair that faces a wall. Tears are streaming down his face and he's upset that a deflated balloon from the parade on Monday was thrown in the trash. At his soccer game this morning he threw himself to the ground and pouted whenever anything didn't go his way. He hit his coach when he got hurt and he knocked his treat out of the hands of the boy who was kind enough to give it to him. He didn't listen to his teachers at all this week. He came home with red, orange, and yellow cards most of the week. One evening Grandpa and Grandma saw the teachers prying his hands off the door so that he could leave school. We're at a loss.

Elias

has been struggling to get with the program at school. We spent some time on school work over the summer but it's not stuck with him. He can't do simple addition. He forgets to bring home homework, he doesn't do his work with the class (daydreaming?), he doesn't turn homework in - he's overall not doing well in his classes. He's smart but he's not engaged - at all. I never struggled with school work, and neither did C, so this is also something new for us. Last weekend E was "grounded" from his game and had to spend all spare time practicing math and spelling. This week he has made some better choices and has been reading. But, he did forget the homework at least once. Still some improvement is better than none and better than the backward spiral that Phin is going through.

C
(can't remember when the last time I took a good picture of C was)
Has been very busy with work. Has been great around the house and dealing with the boys. Is making me a wonderful chicken and pasta dinner so I can carbo load for tomorrow.

I

have been catching up after a trip to Denver for a chemistry conference. I was so happy to run with K, have a reunion of sorts of our grad school research group, visit Wyoming for the first time (have to find the state spoon, I was out of luck on the trip). I run my 2nd half marathon in the morning. I'm prepared (or so all the training programs tell me), nervous, excited, and a little worried. I want to do better than my first race. I have been very focused on writing research papers and getting ready for our fall science event. I take cuddles and kisses from the boys any chance I can get because time is passing too quickly and they are growing up way too fast. I have a renewed interest in trying to post pictures and thoughts on this blog so that the memories last.

Life Unedited

2011-08-26T18:34:00.002-07:00

The first day of school was Wednesday (thank goodness). The boys spent Monday and Tuesday with a sitter. They watched as many movies there as they went to the theater to see. Oh well. I needed the sitter so I could go to work and teach my classes. I didn't put much prep into my classes this year. It's a good thing that they are all classes that I've taught before. It's the first year that the school for the boys started after the University. I hope the schedule get back to normal for next year.

Elias seems happy in his class. Phin is adjusting to the new school but is in better shape than other kids who obviously have not spent time away from their mothers.

I gotta go shower Phin, be back later.

interesting

2011-08-11T13:02:00.004-07:00

This summer I've been tasked with doing a little cooking. Some of the things I have made have been pretty good. I'm the new Queen of Hashbrowns at home now. Some of the things I have made have been okay. The truth of it is, I don't cook much, I've said so before. And, I make mistakes. One time I couldn't find chicken at the grocery store and when I did, I got some really thinly sliced breast parts or something because I didn't know what I was doing. My latest oops was with the lentils. I made a recipe that called for lentils and C had bought me a bag of them from the store. I didn't read the recipe, I just read how to cook them and proceeded to cook the whole bag of lentils. Unfortunately, I only needed 1 cup of lentils... so now I get to make a few more lentil recipes! haha

Today is a beautiful day. This is the kind of day that you reflect on when you are an adult. It's the perfect summer day. The temps are warm but not scorching hot, the sun is shining without a cloud in the sky, and there is a small breeze. Given this lovely day, what do my children want to do? They want to play inside, sit next to me, bother the dog, or fight with each other. Ugh! It's so frustrating. I told them they were not allowed on the porch where I am sitting because yes, it is so freaking nice out here that I don't care what needs to be done in the house, I'm sitting on the porch and enjoying it! I also gave them the "summer speech". You know, "in less than 2 weeks you will be stuck inside all day at school for the rest of the year and then the weather will be crappy and you will still be stuck inside for another 5 months after that. play outside and enjoy today! you don't get many days like today!" E got a funny look on his face like, mom, have you taken your sanity pills today, and then he said, "okay." in a way that is so like a whiny teenaged Luke Skywalker. But, the kids are now playing together nicely and I had a few minutes to pull weeds in the front yard. Once I got the teensy bit sweaty, I quit!

Another miracle thing happened today - Phin put himself down for a nap. He didn't stay there long though - only about 90 minutes. He wouldn't eat his lunch and I told him that if he ate it he could skip nap and play outside. It didn't work. Instead, he went potty, put on his pull-up, and got into my bed. I went in a few minutes later (I'm telling, you, I am not leaving this porch and the beautiful weather unless you drag me off here) to tuck him in and sit for a minute until he went to sleep. The little turkey was already asleep! I was shocked. That's never ever happened before. Doubt it will again. This day truly is a blessing! Beautiful weather and a child that willingly and easily puts himself down for a nap.

Yesterday we went to the school meeting and E and P got their room assignments. P is in Mrs. McDonald's class. That's the closest the kid is getting to McDonald's - heehee. I immediately started singing him the song and he picked a cow. Cute kid. Of course later in the day when we were driving down the road and came across a Burger King P said that McDonald's was his favorite place to eat (he's never been there) and he really wanted to go there. I, of course, argued with him and told him it wasn't and besides, that wasn't a McDonald's. The things kids learn from tv and/or other kids! E is in the class with the woman teacher and he wanted the man teacher. Honestly, it would have been good for him to have the man teacher. His best friend wanted the woman teacher and got the man teacher. It doesn't look like anyone got what they wanted yesterday.

At the meeting yesterday I also got the fundraising pep talk. We just don't have the kind of money that other families at the school/parish have so we haven't been able to do much. I mean, 7k for lunch with the principal is nice if you have that kind of money. But, I did come up with an idea of something to make and donate to the auction. The dinner is too expensive to go to so I'll hopefully get a report on how much my item makes - I'm knitting it. And, it's really tedious knitting. I started today in order to have enough time.

This week my thoughts had been on taking the kids fishing in the late afternoons. So far we haven't made it out. I'm not sure where to take them. But after coming back from camping on Sunday (it wasn't long enough and E has cried about missing his family since we've been back) I left the fishing gear in the car. Maybe I can work something out for Saturday morning if it's not raining. It appears that I will be out running on Sunday morning so that I can start meeting up with some of the other local runners. I learned of a new to me 8 mile loop that will be fun to try but not alone. Some asshole shot a runner on the trail where I run when visiting my parents and it's got me a little spooked. They are stupid assholes at that since they stole his camelpack - uhm, really, stealing someone's water bottle. how lame. They might want to rethink where they commit their crimes. So, I'm a little freaked about running in certain areas around here alone. I am comforted by having my phone with me but it could be stolen, too.

Before I leave this, I'll share a couple of pictures from our most recent camping trip. I drove to the campsite on my own towing the trailer. My dad helped me back the trailer in (I'm not so good with going backwards) and level the trailer (I'm not so good with jacks) but otherwise, I set up the trailer. And, then I took the trailer down and drove it home. At home, I put it up and aired it out, then I put it down with a little help from C. I feel very grown up about having done this on my won. C stayed home to work and can tomatoes. We're really successful with the tomatoes again this year. We've already had more than all of last year with the same number of plants. I'm actually avoiding going out there to pick more because there are still about 100 waiting to be canned.

So, here's those pictures...

We camped right in the trees to the right of that sign. It was perfect. Few bugs, nice shade, and breezes. Perfect.

Wish we never had to leave.

Making Due

2011-07-20T17:13:00.008-07:00

Today, much like the last few weeks, we have just been making due with what we have. The weather has been less than ideal, my time has been over committed, and my patience has worn thing on more than one occasion. I obviously have not made time to come by here to post anything in far too long. I've been seeing posts on other long-time bloggers blogs that they are considering shutting down their blogs. Rest assured, I have never considered that. I'm not sure who comes here to read this and honestly - no offense - I don't care. I blog when I have time and I blog for me. It was fun last summer to put a picture on here everyday and I've thought about doing that again this summer. Early on, I attempted to do just that but it felt like pressure. I do want to go through my pictures and put some fun stuff up. I do want to remember the times we are living right now but this blog and these memories, they are for me and my family and we will all have to live with me posting when I am able or when I feel like it. Summers are rough for me. I feel pulled in so many directions and like there's just not enough time in the day for me to get it all done. That makes me just want to sit - and just sitting to work on crafts or something is on my list of things to do in the summer. Sitting is also the easiest thing to do in the summer. I see other mothers planning all kinds of activities for their kids and taking pictures of them. It doesn't work for me. The ideas are there, the energy or motivation are not. I don't want to lose this time with my kids but I'm not all that excited to plan an activity, monitor the activity, and clean up the activity. The boys can play in the yard or ride their bikes or build with LEGOs or color or swim in the pool. I'll be right by and those activities will have to be memories enough for them and me.

So, here's a picture or two ;)
4th of July

Elias' best friend came over to swim, eat, and watch fire works

We made S'mores in the fire pit in the back yard. Killed the grass under the pit, too. Good, die you nasty, weedy grass.
Our favorite firework was Razzle Dazzle and some flying bats. It was a good evening - the mosquitoes got really bad later on but most of the day it was nice.

July 8 I spent the morning watching the final launch of Shuttle Atlantis on the Internet with the boys. It was so exciting to see it with them. If such technology had existed when I was a child I would have ended up a bigger geek than I already am. E really enjoyed it.

We watched the live feed and followed the shuttle on Google Earth.
July 9 I pulled a carrot to see how big they were. The tops are much bigger than the root! We also left for KC to meet up with Grandpa and Grandma for an Iowa vacation. You read that right, Iowa.
July 10 we arrived in Spirit Lake, Iowa for a very soggy week of camping. I found this frog when we were setting up the camper.
July 11, Monday, we did some swimming - the weather was cool but the kids had fun. I don't have any pictures from this day. That night it rained over 6 inches and it was still raining in the morning.
July 12, Tuesday, we went shopping - I finally spent some birthday money on some yarn and Grandpa had to buy a new bike rack since his completely broke apart on the road. The road on the way to Iowa was terrible and very bouncy. It even made P puke. So, P is for Phin and puke. nasty. After shopping we drove to LeMars to the ice cream capital of the world
On the way home we took pictures of the barn quilts of Iowa. We saw a bunch in Sac county on the way up but didn't take pictures. We went home a different way to avoid the bumpy road and didn't see anymore after these.

July 13, Wednesday, the weather was decent. I went for a run and C went fishing

He had some luck ;) and we had 2 days of food!
We also celebrated E's birthday because we were not going to be at camp the next day when he really turned 7.

July 14, Thursday, we went to Sioux Falls, SD. I now have only 13 states left to visit to hit all 50 states. I loved SD. I thought Sioux Falls was gorgeous and fun. What a great downtown. We saw the falls

We saw the USS SD museum

We went to the science center

Phin and I laid on the bed of nails, E started to but chickened out. I think he had a good birthday anyway. How many kids get to do all this on their birthday and get presents, too!
and, we had a lovely dinner with a colleague of mine at a Japanese restaurant.

July 15, Friday, we spent with nature. The kids swam again and we went to the fish hatchery. We spent the next two days driving back home.

Along the way, we've also been battling a little pest around here. It's not quite under control and it's too gross to talk about. Hopefully soon we will be pest free!

That's it for now. Hopefully things won't be as quiet around here again.

Summer 11 Day 15, really bad day number 1

2011-06-08T03:20:00.004-07:00

This is not the day that I would want to have to repeat over and over if life were to be stuck on one day. June 7, 2011 - it sucked.

It started fine, I went for a 3 mile run. I worked hard and ran on hills. I came home and wrote Day 14's blog post. I went up to help the kids get ready for the day and that's when it started to come undone. I sat on the white futon and left a "mark". Phin noticed it first. So, I went down to the first floor, stripped off my sweaty running clothes and cleaned myself up. Back to the second floor I got dressed and then returned my towels to the first floor. I grabbed the carpet cleaner and headed back to the third floor and this is when it hit me; the flashing lights on the left side of my vision. I get it sometimes when I look at something too bright, like the sun glaring off of a car window as I'm driving down the road. I thought it would go away.

As I cleaned the futon the flashing grew into a large circle, tracing it's way through my vision until it was hard to see much. I finished cleaning the futon and headed back down stairs. This is when the pain above my left eye started. I made my way to the kitchen where everyone was enjoying breakfast. I grabbed some Advil and got myself down on the couch in the living room. C sent the boys upstairs and headed out to work. In about 15 minutes I could move again and see normal. I hate those headaches.

I got some breakfast into myself and got the boys off to camp about 30 minutes later than I wanted but they were there. I made it to my office and got started on my work. A little after 9 my phone rings. Phin is not wanting to participate in camp activities. He's sitting in the front asking for Mommy, could I come and get him? I drive to the school and first I see E at the windows, smiling and pounding on them. His group is in snack and off to the side is P, sitting on the 2nd grade teacher's lap. He comes running to me and I talk to him about what he's going to do. He has a choice, sit in Mommay's boring office and do nothing or stay at camp with his new friends and have fun. He stands and pouts, a face I've seen before at the start of soccer. He says he wants to stay with Elias and the second graders - not happening. He says he wants to go back with his group so I make my way down to the music class where his group was. We get in the door but he's clinging to me. One of the girls working with his class comes over to talk to him and he finally decides to join them.

I think there's something strange about my kids. Neither of them can do the little dance moves that come with singing a song with their class. Elias looks like he has major stage fright and tries to do his own thing or stands there and cries. Phin just stands there like a bump on a pickle, looking at something else. After talking to his teacher, I leave. He seems like he's going to stay. I don't know how the rest of his day goes but when I come to pick him up he had made the craft for the day and lost it and is now playing keep the pink ball away from the other kids. He throws himself on the floor in a fit when I tell him we have to leave the ball and go home. Just like the day before, we're one of the last ones to leave. How does that happen? I get there on time!

Lunch was tuna sandwiches. Nap was 2 hours long - I set an alarm. And, we had a find time swimming. I watered the garden. Everything seemed a little better. But, Dadday came home in a less than happy mood. We bashed over dinner. Then Phin split his milk. of course.

After dinner we took a walk to the fire station. P loves the firetrucks (but not as much as trains). We watched a PBS program on a cardboard recreation of a 50s diner, how to make a salt and pepper shrimp, and how to take care of tomato plants. Back up on the 3rd floor it was time to get in bed. The bedroom is a mess. Any progress I had made in cleaning it up that morning was totally wasted. The kids are yelled at, it's discussed that the room needs to be cleaned, teeth are brushed, and then Phin slams the bathroom door causing the container of red smelling beads to hit the ceramic tile breaking the tile and sending red goop everywhere. It takes me and Dadday 15 minutes to get it mostly cleaned up. There is red in the grout that will never come out.

I spend another 30 minutes griping and picking up the boys' room while they lay in bed and watch. It's now 9pm. C wants to move them to a different room so the messes will stop. I threaten P that if he destroys another toy he'll have the beating of a lifetime (it's just a threat, but maybe he knows that, too). E has problems with the desk and little shittin pieces of paper.

Down on the first floor after I have left the boys, we work to get the table straightened out. Messes will stop.

I spend a few minutes in the craft room before going to bed. It was a fitful night of sleep. But here's the new day and I'm going for a run.

Summer 11 Day 14

2011-06-07T05:20:00.005-07:00

It was quite a day. I had the morning off of running and slept in - only by a little bit. We got the boys up and dressed and ready to go but C wasn't feeling well. He didn't eat breakfast and had a little bit of a fever so he called into work. But, he didn't want miss the steam engine pulling out of town. Luckily it was leaving in the morning so it wasn't too hot yet.

We said our good-byes and then it chuffed out of town.

The local television crew was there for the event, too, and Elias was a little star in their production Phin was too shy to talk but he's on the video walking on the rails.

It was also the first day of vacation bible school. This is the first time that the boys have been able to go. Phin was not happy to be left there but later in the day he kept calling it his new school. I think he had fun even if he didn't want to admit it. I know they made ships and talked about seals, sang songs and discussed bible stories.

While the boys were at VBS, I went to work. I'm in the of the last minute preparations for the summer camp that I will run over the next two weeks. And, Dadday sunk further into sickness. He spent the rest of the day puking on and off.

Not much else happened with the day because P took an extra long nap and E read his books and colored. I went back to work during naptime.

Summer 11 Day 13

2011-06-05T18:40:00.003-07:00

Today started like yesterday only I ran twice as far starting at 6 am but it wasn't long until the temperatures soared. C finished working on the camper and got it back in the driveway. We made a trip out for a pool vacuum and some groceries. I spent quite a bit of time knitting on the foot of a sock that was supposed to have some stripes. I think I will take it out of that challenge at Ravelry but I will make the socks.

Phin took a really long nap today so he didn't make it into the pool. He has started carrying around his blankie and sucking his thumb. He looks like Linus.

Elias is reading everything he can get his eyes on and telling us all about it. He likes to say things like, "do you think this animal can breathe underwater?", when he already knows the answer. It's like he's testing us. Has to have the last word. Has something to say about everything. It's very tedious. Today at nap time I told him even adults need some quiet time.

We had E's favorite dinner - "tuna/crab melt"

and, that's pretty much it. Wow, what a hot, boring day - guess we should have stood in the heat and misery to look inside the train. Hopefully we'll make it to the tracks in time to see it leave.

Summer 11 Day 12 - the arrival

2011-06-05T17:47:00.007-07:00

I met with a friend at 7 for a short 3 mile run. It was 80 degrees when we started and miserably hot. When it's hot, I usually end up having to walk for a little bit. This day was no exception.

C spent some time working out in the camper and the yard and then he and the boys got into the pool. Elias found a full body snake skin in the yard
It's pretty cool, you can see the stripes and where the eyes and mouth were.

After lunch, we went down to the railroad tracks by the river wall to wait for the train to come in.Unfortunately, after waiting an hour this is all that we saw
because we were in the wrong place!
crash and burn in the near 100 degree heat.

Back at home there was more swimming, dinner, and then a trip out for frozen custard. On the way out we stopped by and saw the trainThe train is part of a promotion done by Union PacificPeople from all across the country voted on-line to have the steam engine come to their town. Missouri was a winner and the train started in KC and will make its way through Missouri into Arkansas before returning to KC. After frozen custard Phin and I went back, just the two of us and he got a closer look at the train

(Today we could have gone back and peeked inside but it was really hot so we did not)

Summer 11 Day 9 Friday!!!!

2011-06-05T17:40:00.004-07:00

It seems like we were busy on Friday but I don't know with what!
I did spend some time in the garden and here are the pictures from this year's garden

I've moved the cucumbers to the other side of the fence
and I've separated the tomatoes into varieties and surrounded them by their own cages

I made my first harvest of green beans and the boys and I ate them for lunch

I've taken very good care of my zucchini plant this year. I did kill a squash beetle that I found on the leaf. I need to get back out there and spray this precious plant again. I'm determined to have zucchini this year!

Because it was so cold and gloomy and wet for the first part of the spring, I didn't get out the lettuce. Most of what I was able to put out early drown. The carrots are making a good recovery but the lettuce seems a little limp.

Phin slept extra long during his nap so we didn't go out to the pool. We watched some So You Think You Can Dance and then I really don't remember what else happened with the day. I need to do a better job of getting these post up on the day they happen so I don't forget again.

Summer 11 Daycap 7-8

2011-06-02T17:03:00.003-07:00

Pretty soon my brain will rot from one of several things
a. the sheer number of passwords that I have to keep track of - why do they all have to be so "different"
b. the sound of Elias' voice - he really is quite the curious one but he doesn't ask only questions, he also tells stories. Just today in the car he told me that one of his stories about dragons was going to be made into a movie and by the end of the third movie a bad dragon will have been turned into a turtleback dragon. I heard alot about the plot development on the way to the movies today.
or
c. I will worry myself to death with all of the things I'm supposed to be keeping track of - I can't seem to remember them all. We've needed dryer sheets for awhile and I have been to Target twice in the last 2 days spending, spending, spending. I'm sure now it was a good idea to take Phin out of daycare so I can bankrupt us at Target. I forgot to get the pool vacuum today though... see - rot

Yesterday was Wednesday. This week is all messed up. I was certain that Tuesday was Monday and that today was Friday but alas, yesterday was Wednesday and today is Thursday; days 7 and 8 of Summer '11. What an adventure. The boys played outside in the yard all morning. I worked diligently on choosing and uploading pictures to have printed. Elias took his notebook into the yard with him and he wrote the word "Nature" at the top of one page. He then proceeded to write the names of all the possible animals and reptiles that could be in our yard including a bald eagle - hey! we have seen one about a mile from here. He drew pictures in his field book of the animals that he saw. And, then he went on a clover hunt - he's trying to be like Mommy.

Turns out he is just like Mommy and he found 4 of these 4 leafed clovers in our yard. He did better than me, I've never found one in the yard before.

Phin played in the dirt.

We ate lunch, the boys had leftovers and I had a sandwich and then Phin and I took a nap.During the nap I heard the pug make her way up the stairs. On Tuesday the boys knocked down the gate the prevented the dogs from coming up the stairs. C decided to leave it down because one of the dogs is dead, one is practically crippled with age, and Noodle had been ignoring the stairs or going right back down as soon as she was told to. When I heard her during naptime, I chased her back down the stairs. I found out later that Elias had also chased her down the stairs. So, she was upstairs at least 2 times during nap. E was reading a book and has finished 3 so far this summer. He's got a really big one to read now so that will take longer.

When P woke up, I took the boys out to the pool to swim while I worked on uploading the pictures. Dadday came home, we had dinner, and the boys watched some new Dinosaur Train episodes. A DVR is a wonderful thing.

After the boys went to bed, I holed myself up in my craft room. I was happily working away when I decided I needed some cardstock...it's on the other side of the room because I don't use it much. I was watching So You Think You Can Dance - yea! - and turned to bring the cardstock container back to where I was sitting when I felt it - an unnatural squish under my right foot. Luckily (?) I had on my $5 Old Navy flip flops in teal and lime green with a lovely white flower on the insole and I did not get poo all over my foot, but because I had stepped and then spun I smeared that poo right into the cracks of the original flooring in my craft room.

gag

That was a fun mess to clean up. While my shoe was drying, I went back to work but I still smelled poo the rest of the night and the gate went back up on the staircase. Sorry Noodle. I also ended up with a splinter in my toe because I didn't have my flops on - not exactly a 10 of a night. The dancing was good, though

Today I went for a run again. I wanted to see if I could break my record on a mile. I had not tried for quite some time and I was successful. I even ran it on the hills around the neighborhood. My new fastest mile is 8:16. Under 8 would be *awesome* and I'll try again in a few weeks. I ran a second mile to cool down and came in to sweat for a little bit before eating breakfast with the kids. Bran, breakfast of champions who can run an 8:16 mile.

Garden work was on the agenda today. I had 12 cages to put on 13 tomato plants and it's been dry so it was time to water. I eliminated weeds and carried 6 buckets of water to the garden. It's time to install the hose. I harvested green beans - yes! and monitored the leaves of the zucchini plant for squash beetles that destroyed them last year. So far, I've only found one of the foul little creatures. I yelled at it and squashed it's little brains out with my size 9 running shoe. I felt powerful.... there are several zucchini growing and cucumber and some of the tomato plants have blossoms.

After gardening and getting showered, we had to rush out the door for Kung Fu Panda 2. It was delightful! Phin was absolutely adorable sitting in his chair all on his own, munching his popcorn, and laughing his little head off at Po's antics. Toward the end of the movie he got tired and wanted my ring to play with while he sucked his thumb. After his very nutritious lunch of popcorn, pretzel M&Ms, and Sprite, he went right down for his nap. E laid down, too. I'm sure the food was just what he needed to keep his energy up. *rolls eyes*

I worked on a scrapbook page until P got up and then today I went in the pool with the boys. P is getting really good in the water. He can float, and kick, and paddle his way around. He has no fear of putting his face in the water (unlike his brother). I get tired of the pool quickly, though, and got out to work on knitting Juliana's socks which are now really late for her birthday. The boys stay in the pool for as long as they can but tonight E wanted to watch SYTYCD so we got out and came inside.

I think it will be early to bed for me and C. Our new rising time is 5 am. Me to run, and him to...whatever him does! Tomorrow is day 9, on day 12 I start training for my next half marathon. I should just go ahead and sign up ;)

Summer 11 Daycap - 3-6

2011-06-01T05:50:00.010-07:00

Saturday morning we packed up our stuff and headed out to Tennessee to Meeman-Shelby State park for a camping trip with our cousins!

We arrived and set up camp. There was a play ground our site so the kids were happily playing. We cooked burgers and dogs the first night and then all rolled into bed. I made the mistake of having a teensy bit of wine that made me have to pee 4 times during the night/early morning. I didn't get much sleep and decided to bag the running plans I had. (ok, I was also reading a book late into the night that I'll talk about in a little bit)

Saturday was busy. C made pancakes and then we went to the pool. The place we camped didn't have other swimming. After swimming we went to the nature center and took a pontoon boat tour of Poplar Lake.

We saw very little animal life but the ride was nice and the views very prettyParts of the movie Walk the Line were filmed here. I haven't seen it but if they were at a lake, this is the lake.
While we didn't have much luck seeing wildlife in the wild, I had plenty of luck finding these
I found five. And Elias was lucky enough to get to hold a 6 foot king snake later in the day at the nature center. No pictures though because I was laying down with Phin.
We finished off the evening with another cookout including s'mores and kebabs. C's cousin built an awesome fire and the kids helped put sticks on it. E really enjoyed his cousin S and wanted to sit or play with her the entire trip. We also took our dogs this time. They did well hanging out in the camper, but I don't know if we'll take them every time.

Monday we had to part ways

While the cousins packed up, we went to the pool.
Phin was very brave. He would jump in the pool and even left the side a little bit. The kids did not want to leave. But, we had to get going.

Now's the time that I complain just a little bit. There were bugs this weekend - lots of bugs. The mosquitoes would bite even right after putting on bug spray. And, the bathrooms were horrible. The company was great and the trees beautiful, so there was some balance.

Over the weekend and yesterday I spent some time reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It was good but sometimes books mess me up a bit and these have been no exception. I think I was depressed for weeks after reading Harry Potter books. I hope I can knock this one out before it gets worse. Today is National Running Day (June 1) and I went running to Lady Gaga's new album. So many of the songs would be perfect for a movie about The Hunger Games. It was creepy.

Yesterday I took the boys out to buy itch ointment (ours expired 2 and 6 years ago so it was time). Phin got some new crocs and the kids played in the pool for the first time this year. I let them get new water shooters and they had fun.

Days of Summer 11 - number 2

2011-05-27T13:51:00.006-07:00

And, today was mostly about child number 2. Today is his last day of pre-school. He's been going to this school since he was 8 weeks old. He's become a little boy there - a smart, funny, courageous little boy. For his last day I took treats and snacks that he picked to his class. And, he had his picture taken with those he loves and those who love him.
This is Mrs. Kim, the infant room teacher.

And this is Mrs. Holly, the 2's room teacher (Mrs. Amanda was gone but we took a picture yesterday and just have to get it from the school)
This is Mrs. Kacie and Mrs. Megan - the preschool teachers

This is the preschool class that P showed his new underwear to today, while he was wearing them.
And, this is Phin's best friend. They have been together since day 1 and it will be hard for both of them to be apart. They were going to have to separate for Kindergarten anyway but that is a year off and we considered W when deciding to send P to pre-K at the same school where E goes. In the end, practicality, convenience, and easing P into the school where he will go won out.

We will really miss this school.

While P was spending his last few hours with the kids at pre-school, E and I took off for the mall. We had a mission - new pillows so we have pillows for the camper and new shorts for me so I don't look like a street walker or white trash during summer camp. E also bought a new book about dragons. I can't remember the name but it's at least 3 times longer than the rest of his books and it's the first of a series. He's going to do alot of reading this summer.

E also went for his summer hairstyle...

We've been down this road before. And I think the little one wants his hair like his brother, too. Heaven help me!

Summer '11 Initiated

2011-05-26T15:18:00.004-07:00

Today started summer vacation for Elias. We dropped Phin off at school. Tomorrow is Phin's last day at the pre-school. He has requested cereal bars and candy bars to celebrate. That and new black crocs.

E and I headed into my work to pick up my stuff that I'll need this summer. E has a problem with verbal diarrhea - he never stops talking. If he thinks it, it falls out of his mouth. I told him he had to take things with him that he could do quietly so I could get what I needed to do done. He took his DSi and a book but what he ended up doing was drawing pictures of red blood cells. They were...interesting. So, I gave him my college biology book and opened it to pictures of blood cells. He read about them and the nervous system. He was happy as a clam - and he was finally quiet.

It would not surprise me if he became a professor so fond he is of explaining everything and he truly love science.

When we got home I was so wiped out that I crawled into bed and read. Elias played a bit and cuddled a bit. It was a nice morning, just what I needed after an exhausting semester. We had lunch with Dadday again - a real treat and then spent the afternoon watching American Idol. We had an errand to run at Target and picked up Gnomeo and Juliet to watch tonight before picking up P.

P is such a little entertainer - he tried blowing up this balloon for about 30 minutes. He says he wants to be a big brother when he grows up but I have no doubt he will be athletic and charismatic.

C is home so it's time for pizza and that movie. Great way to start the summer. Even better if I could get out for a run - I've been dying to try out my new phone app.

And just like that

2011-05-25T18:03:00.005-07:00

Summer season begins.
We've had a crazy spring full of storms. It's raining as I type this and an eerie color fills the sky as the sun sets through the clouds. And, Elias had his last day of school today.
Taken before he headed out to the car. I tried getting some nice shots of him in front of the bushes but he couldn't stop squinting even when I stood in front of him to block the sun. Sigh...he's a handful. The other day he asked me why there was a yellow push pin in the bulletin board if it wasn't holding anything up. yeah... we get those kinds of questions alot.
I picked him up from school at 11 and got this picture of him with his teacher. I forgot about pictures with his friends - he seemed excited to go out to eat lunch.
We ate at My Daddy's CheesecakeBut Elias ate a Peanut butter and chocolate tart for dessert. I had chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake for dessert - I'm no fool! Dadday joined us and then we came home. Some of the churches in the area are collecting supplies for the people of Joplin, MO, who lost everything in a tornado a few days ago. We dropped off some socks for them and Dadday did some lawn work. There are hundreds of lilies planted in the yard and I wanted them all gone. They get infested with weeds and are impossible to maintain. I can't wait to have an actual lawn.

We've just spent the evening checking on storms in the area and now I'm pretty tired. It's the start of my summer, too. I've worked everyday as long as I could and played with paper in the evenings. I have a few goals this summer and hope to fill in some of the gaps on the blog. Summer Day 1 starts tomorrow!

Evening Sunshine

2011-04-12T16:57:00.008-07:00

I get home from work at around 5:30PM and that's only because I have to pick the boys up from their schools at that time. Otherwise, I'd work way too long. Tonight I got home in a pretty foul mood. I went up to my craft room because I wanted to put my latest run on the Nike+ site so it would also post to the challenges there and facebook. I was struck by just how wonderful the light is at this time of the evening. I'm sitting in it now, after dinner while all of the boys are watching a National Geographic on the raising of K139. Submarines are okay if I'm getting cuddles but I'm not in the mood tonight.

I am going to share some pictures of the weekend and then hopefully bask in what's left of the compliments I get from them. You see, like you didn't hear, I ran my first half marathon over the weekend. Most of the planet has heard about it and I can't stop talking about it so I'm sure most people are really sick of it by now. But, it did make big news for several reasons - though none of them really has to do with me. It was really hot on Sunday when I ran and that caused people to become quite ill during the race and for race officials to shut down the marathon. I ran the half marathon 20 minutes slower than I had anticipated. I trained for something like 6 months. I was planning to run for at least 7 miles before walking - I only made it to just short of 3 before I was taken out by the heat and a hill. But, I don't regret walking and I don't feel bad in any way with how I did in the race. It was my first time. It was a learning experience. And, it was something that I once said I would never do again. Instead, I find myself planning for the next big race and thinking about long, difficult, hilly runs...and, I want to do better the next time. So, here's the pictures I have from this time. You can expect that I will share more half marathon pictures in the future.

The race took place in St. Louis

We stayed the night with my cousin and I took these in the bathroom before heading out at 5:10am to the race start - 14th and Market - overlooking the arch

The race started just after sunrise. The course was crowded - 13,000 participants in the half and 3,000 in the full, plus hundreds of relay teams. All started at the same time, a sea of bobbing heads in front of me and behind me as far as I could see.
I started the race with my friend, Jason. We've known each other for 13 years and it still amazes us that we've known each other for that long. We both took up running, independent of each other, at around the same time. We've run a 5K together before and we started the race together.

But, I finished alone. No one on the course was cheering for me. No one greeted me at the end. I did this for me. Along the way, I would get choked up when I realized I was going to make it to the end. It seemed so amazing - I did this. I trained for this. All of those hours alone, sweating, getting out of breath, sore calves and feet, going to bed early, fighting with and stressing about colitis, - it was paying off. Geez, I'm teary now! I cried like a baby at the end. I almost walked off with out getting a picture of myself at the end. I'm so glad I remembered. I carried that camera for 13.1 miles just so I could have this picture.

I am really proud of myself. I'm more proud of myself now than I have ever been for any physical feat I've accomplished in the past - more than hiking the Grand Canyon all in one day, more than lead climbing my first 5.10, more than bouldering my first V2 or V3, more than running my first 5K without walking any, more than hiking to the top of a 12,000 foot tall mountain. And, as the sun sets of the second day since my first half marathon I am still basking in the joy of having completed it. I don't know when it will go away.

God Knows When You Are Lying

2011-04-04T15:57:00.002-07:00

Yep, I used this line today. It seems so easy for the boys to just lie.

"Did you hang up the towel in the bathroom?"
"Yes."
And, yet the towel is in the basket when I go into the bathroom 15 minutes later.

"Did you make your bed this morning?"
"Yes."
And, yet the bed is a mess when we go up for bedtime.

"Did you turn off all the lights upstairs?"
"Yes."
And, yet the lights are all on when I go up there - all of them. sometimes all day. way to be little environmentalists.

I suppose the blame falls on me for not getting up immediately and checking on the towel, the lights, the bed; but usually these questions are asked just as we are running out the door or when my lap is full of pug and work or some other major distraction.

And, just what punishment would I hand out anyway? Beat the child? Time out when there's already so little time. Another thing - how can they look so cute while boldly lying to you?

Sometimes they'll tell the truth but it's like the truth hurts. For instance, we were talking about sign language over the weekend. The boys know the sign for "I love you". Grandma taught it to them. Elias said he knew one other sign but it was bad. When C insisted that he tell us what the sign was Elias indicated o|o, you know the middle finger but that it was bad. Really, really bad. Then he started crying. C told him that he wasn't in trouble and there was nothing to cry about but we just wanted to know what he thought it meant. (really we needed to know if it was discussion time) E refused to say it so he asked if he could spell it. We said sure and he said, "I-H-A-T-E-G-O-D" and then burst into a fit of tears.

I have to tell you, that was the most adorable bad thing that any kid could say. We reinforced the idea that the middle finger is bad and the he shouldn't use it but told him that the kid at school who shared this nice bit of knowledge with him was incorrect - that it in fact means something much worse and he should never, ever do it.

I'm off to class tonight. The week has not settled into anything less hectic than last week was.

Small Weekend

2011-04-03T18:55:00.010-07:00

He may be the smallest guy on his team, but he's large on love for soccer!

It was a rough day on the field. There were multiple collisions and benching over injuries. But, we toughed it through. P likes to play goalie so well that once he even kicked the ball out of the other team's goal. Nice save! haha. His team scored most of the goals but neither team keeps points :)

I have to take a break here to tell you a funny story. Over spring break, P went to the baseball game. When I picked him up, he told me he'd been to the SEMEN baseball game. Rather than MEN at the end of that word, it should be MO and when I corrected me, he told me that no, he was right, it was the SEMEN baseball game. The talk of the game continued when I arrived home from my trip. Kids are cute.

Anyway, after the game on Saturday, I painted the railing on the back porch and then sat out on the front porch and enjoyed the nice weather while I knitted a little bit. I also cleaned out the mulch beds. Did a bit of work last night because I wanted to take Sunday off.

Sunday, that would be today. I'm 37 years old today. Unlike Jacob in Water for Elephants, I know how old I am. Could be because I'm only about 1/3 of the way through my life. DH took us out for breakfast and then we bought some mulch and flowers for the front porch. I went for a run - it was just a short 8.5 miles. I do some strange math/numbers games in my head most of the time. I would have run 7 miles but that seemed short so I thought about 10 miles (3+7) but that seemed long so I split the difference. My legs were tired after but I still managed to put the mulch in the beds and plant up the flowers. We also mulched around a tree that DH moved from the wall into the yard a few weeks ago. It looks like it's going to live.

I also spent some time with nature in the yard. Since these pictures rarely do anything else, I'm going to share my favorites here.

It seems that plants here are very hard to kill. In the case of this particular plant, I'm glad. We accidentally cut it down every year but it comes back - a magnolia

The exotic pug flower, she follows me where ever I go
her tail wags so hard when she sees me it shakes her whole body. I missed her tons last week.

The tree we moved is showing signs of leafing out

There's a twin narcissus in the yard

and another I had some fun with

The neighbors have some of these pretty purple beauties.

I forgot that yesterday C bought the boys a soccer goal and I played soccer with P in the backyard while E and Dadday threw the baseball a little bit.

The day ended with chicken fajitas and a little birthday cheesecake

the one is for the number 1 mom. ;) I'm okay with my age.

Next weekend is the big weekend. I run my first half marathon and am just hoping to finish.

California Adventure

2011-04-03T17:50:00.013-07:00

This year the "little" spring professional meeting I go to was in California (again, it was there last year and there again next year). I was very excited to meet up with a friend for a little sight seeing and lunch at San Clemente Pier.

And the two of us were very lucky to see two dolphins swimming off the pier.

We had the best fish tacos and shrimp tacos and yummy mimosa - but I think I only have cell phone pictures of that! It was fun watching the surfers and just enjoying the sea air, sights, and smells.

Saturday afternoon I went to an orientation session. It was a 35 minute walk from my hotel! I had to book it. Sunday talks started at 8 am, there was a professional social at 5, and then a poster session at 7. It was a very full day. The undergrads won an award and went to their own social event.

Monday started with more talks, an evening poster session that ran very late and then some time in bed.

Tuesday I worked on my talk in the morning but it was Phin's birthday so I also had some fun!
Lunch at Cheesecake Factory (DH discussed marriage with my father for the first time at a Cheesecake Factory in KC, just a little FYI.)
Dinner at...

We first rode the Matterhorn

A trip through Pixie Hollow lead us to Space Mountain

We let the spirit of Disney over take us.

And, then we got a little stuck while trying to partay with Indiana Jones

When we finally got out, it was dark

We took a visit to the castle and the Princess

Before leaving for the night, I had some ears made for Phin. Now he and Elias have something with their names on them.
I did call P at his school that morning and was very happy to talk to him. He was so excited about it, he even told Dadday about it before going out to dinner at the "peanut restaurant".

Wednesday I started the day off at the same hotel as the far away meeting as before, only this time I had to make my way back to the hotel across the street from mine where I was giving a talk. The shuttle got me half way there but the next shuttle would have made me late. So, I used some of my half-marathon training and ran just over a mile to make it to my talk on time. Later, I had a run in with my hotel about my credit card and a run in with the credit card company over my limit. I doubt I will keep my current credit card long. It all made me late for dinner in the other theme park. Then, the park closed at 9 and I didn't get to ride the roller coaster - what a rip off!

Thursday, I came home - finally, I was so over the mouse and being out of town. I only found time to run 2 times (that doesn't include the run to my talk). The traffic was terrible and of course I had one of those "I have to pee so bad it's going to come out of my eyeballs" experiences on the interstate while my co-worker was driving. Yeah, nice.

And, that was some of my California Adventure.

The Missing

2011-04-03T16:12:00.009-07:00

It appears that I've gone missing from this blog. I've also missed out on a few things around the house. One thing I have not missed is opportunities to take pictures. Here's the recap from the past few weeks.

The missing Soccer Monster appeared on March 19 for game 2 France v. Spain. I don't know if it was Grandma and Grandpa that brought him back or the fruit snack and drink bribes I had waiting on the side of the field for him after each good play. Either way, he was in the game!
He blew kisses
And shouted, "I love you, Mommy!" as he ran by.He got his drinks
And got right back into the game. He ran with the others and the ball all the way down the field.At breaks in the game, Phin would sign that he loved us. He even showed some of his team mates what he was doing!
The boys took turns kicking the ball in. Phin played along this week.He listened to his coach.
And dog piled the opposing team's coach.And, he led the charge on holding down his own coach.

It was an awesome game. I had so much fun watching him have fun. It makes me happy now, to even think of it. Parenting takes alot of patience.

Because I was to go missing in a week, we celebrated Phin's birthday on the 20th while I was still home.

He got this cool ride on toy from Grandma and Grandpa. A Toy Story LEGO set from us along with some puzzles and cars. Great Grandma sent him a really big truck full of smaller cars and trucks. He also got books and clothes. His friend came over for cake and to play a little bit and Dadday made pizza!

He picked his cake from Culvers - brownie something chocolate overload. It was GOOD.

And, with that, I need to get some little boys into bed.

Trouble in Monsterland

2011-03-12T19:43:00.007-07:00

The soccer monster had his first game today but the monster in him seemed to be missing. It started from the first seconds that we got there. P would not talk to the coach or the other players on the team.

The game went on around him.
He also spent time crying on the field. The grandparents of one of the other boys thought it was really cute. It was a little frustrating. I kept yelling words of encouragement. If he moved on the field I gave him a high five. If I ran down the side, he ran down the side, not after the ball, but he ran at least toward the goal. He kicked it once off the side and then stood in the goal for a little while as the other team kicked a couple of goals. He almost looked at the ball. And, then he listened to me once when I said to go talk to the coach with the rest of the team.And, he got to kick the ball to start off the game after a goal.
There's always next week - when Grandpa and Grandma are here and he's bringing the snacks. And, after a week of me taking him into the yard every night to kick the ball and run.
The little turkey actually told me after the game that he was tired from all of the running.
Really?
Really? I don't think so kid, you only payed attention to the game for about 4 minutes of the 32 played and then you still didn't run after the ball like everyone was yelling for you to. aaaah, children are so fun. You could say that he was just holding still for the camera...

1st Soccer Practice

2011-02-26T13:35:00.005-07:00

Today was the first time that either of our boys have started participation in a team sport. It was P's first soccer practice. I think Mommay and Dadday were more excited than he was. But, he did yell, "Soccer Monster!" in the car all the way to the field. P really likes to kick the ball and run but I don't think he has any idea what it means to play with a team or to have a coach. I explained later that the coach is like one of his teachers and he needs to listen to the coach. Mostly during the practice he ran over to us and clung to our legs, ran off the field, or refused to run. He also got very frustrated when he could not get the ball in the goal by going around E. It was cute, and exciting, and I can't wait for March 12 for the first game.

And 5 became 3 at the end when he said he didn't want 5 - that's fine, there were 2 number 5 shirts! I told P that 3 was my favorite number and he told me that my favorite number was 8 because his was 3! Stinker.

The question now is how to explain the M on his shirt. He's never been to McDonalds and has been asking to go only because he hears commercials or other kids talking about it.

February, February

2011-02-20T08:51:00.010-07:00

Oh what an interesting month this has been. Phin sick, me sick, Bailey's passing, and then Friday Elias woke with a fever. He has strep throat and influenza B (Phin had A - so, uhm, yeah). Elias is on antibiotic and tamiflu. I'm on tamiflu because the last thing I need right now with all that has been going on is to end up with the flu.

Last night we patched Elias up enough to take him to the St. Louis Blues game for Sticks 'N Stitches. I bought the tickets forever ago for C's birthday (it was last Thursday) and Elias would have been very disappointed to not go. I think the tamiflu is helping because he wasn't too bad the entire day. We caught the flu really early. Anyway, I knit a little hat for charityand I knit on socks for my dad while at the game

We had dinner at an awesome little restaurant in University City called Cheeseology that a friend of mine owns. The kids totally chowed on their mac and cheese - Elias with hot dog and Phin with chicken

We met some friends for dinner, too and her little guy fell asleep before we even got there! It was really cute.
We had a print out from the Internet on how to get to the stadium and when we got close to the exit we noticed a long line of cars on the Interstate. We didn't know it was for the exit to the game. But it was. And, no one would let us in. So, we went to the next exit and got right off and then right into a parking garage. I have no idea why everyone was waiting forever for the first exit. Dummies.
We walked the short distance to the Scottrade Center and our section was right inside the doors! I dropped my little hat off at the knitting table and picked up our goodie bags. It was stuffed with all kinds of fun things - magazines, stitch markers, yarn samples, and Blues stuff - posters, license plate cover. Awesome!
Our seats were also awesome - Section 104 row S - just high enough above the glass to see over!

There was a little battle of the mascots before the game started - of course the duck was defeated.

The mascot came by to see us

The Blues scored some goals

As I said, I knit on my dad's sock

And, the blues scored some more goals

In the end the Blues won 9 to 3. The Ducks were ahead of them - not sure what this did for their standings but it was an exciting game. There were a couple of fights.

I was a little shocked that most of the time the refs just stood back and watched the fights until someone fell down or the dudes using their fists on each other's face got too tired to swing any more. It seemed a little dumb to me.

C wants to go back for his birthday again next year.

That can probably be arranged.

Mermaid

2011-02-12T17:40:00.005-07:00

Yesterday C decided to schedule an appointment at the JCPenney studio for this morning (Saturday). He did this without having much of a plan for what we would wear. In all fairness, I've said many times that we needed to have a new family portrait taken since the last one was taken when Phin was in infant. He's almost 4 now, it was time. But, I knew I needed a trim on my hair. I've been trying out new shampoo for a few weeks now and it's nicer but my ends were really split and breaking all over the place. Given that I now only had a few hours to get ready for a family photo, I asked C to trim my hair.

Was that ever a mistake! OMG, at least 4 inches were chopped off my hair. I was growing what the stylist called "mermaid hair". It came down in the front over my breasts and hung in the back to just 3-2 inches above my waist. I was liking it that long and wanting it to grow even longer. I felt like a female with my hair that long; something that is hard to accomplish when you work in an all male department in the sciences. I'm not about to wear heels to work - so long hair it was.

On top if it, the hair was cut straight across the back so that when the front part fell forward, it hung longer. I kept it together pretty well but as soon as the kids went to bed, I started calling the salons looking to see who was open and could fit me in. Of course I got a big fat no every where I called. In the meantime, we settled on wearing maroon shirts because the boys had one from taking pictures with grandma and grandpa and because C had one. I ran out to the store to buy one. My main objective, though I didn't say it, was to stop in at JCPenney to see if the salon was still open and then beg them to cut my hair. I would have stuck around all night if it meant someone would cut my hair.

Two stylists were asked to fit me in and one of them gratefully said she would but that it would be a dry cut. I went for it, I didn't care, it just needed to be fixed. She trimmed up the hair and I went shopping for the maroon shirt. There was not a single one in JCPenneys or the mall. I headed to Kohl's and lucky for me, they were having a sale! Yeah, it's always a sale....but, even luckier, they had quite a few maroon shirts to choose from. I picked a cute sweater that buttons at the top but needed a shirt to go under it. I found some cute t-shirts that I could wear and even one that matched the color perfectly. I didn't get that one though. I got the one that was pink because I'm a girl, darn it, and I deserve a little pink in my life. At one point before I made the pink decision, I asked a woman in the store if she had any fashion sense and if it would be okay for me to have a touch of pink in the family photo. She said she couldn't believe someone dressed as stylish as me was asking here that. I glowed inside because I was wearing this

and, you know, I made that sweater. I did have on gray pants though. I picked out two of those t-shirts, one pink and one blue for another time and went home happy.

This morning we all needed to get cleaned up before we went out to have our family pictures taken. C said he was going to have coffee and then get in the shower. We have a ridiculously old water heater in our even older old house. The pipes are bad and the hot water runs out quickly so only one water consuming thing can be done at a time. Well, an hour after we got up, he still had not gotten into the shower so I got on him to get it done so the rest of us could get in.

C shaved and took his shower on the first floor where the sink stopper works; I waited 20 minutes and then I went to take my shower while DH was feeding the kids breakfast. When I got to the 3rd floor for my shower where the water pressure is really bad but that drags out the amount of time that you have hot water, I found out that one of the boys had left the hot water running in their sink all morning. Grrr.... I also noticed that the toilet had not been flushed. I flushed the toilet, waited for the water to quit running and got in the shower. I didn't quite finish all of my business (shaving legs) because I ran out of hot water (thanks boys). I rushed downstairs to help with breakfast and eat.

Phin refused to drink his milk. He kept saying he doesn't like milk; which is not true. Any other time he drinks it just fine. He cried about it for 15 minutes and I kept having to wipe all the snot off his nose or it would have strung into the glass of milk. When he FINALLY finished drinking I took him upstairs. Elias was already in the shower and I noticed the lid of the toilet was up again. He'd gone but no flushed before getting into the shower. He was standing in the shower rubbing on his feet aka wasting time in the shower. I flushed the toilet to drop the pressure and force him out of the shower and closed the lid on the toilet. Phin got himself ready for his shower all the while screaming that he doesn't like showers. Do we see a trend here? He got on the toilet, peed and got into the shower. I noticed that the toilet wasn't flushed. I flushed it before turning on the water but it didn't go down. I'm not sure it went down any of the 3 times I tried to flush it this morning. Great, the boys clogged the toilet. I call for DH to fix the toilet while I shower Phin. Phin screams the entire shower.

Everyone gets dressed pretty well and we head out the door. At the studio Elias sits down to read a book and Phin had a little computer game he calls his Blackberry. We asked Phin to sit with Elias and to play his Blackberry while we wait. This is one of his favorite toys but now he decides that he doesn't like and is going to throw a fit. C tells him to sit down next to his brother and gives him a little shove in the direction of the chair but Phin trips over his feet and falls into the wall - hard. Now he's screaming, snot is running down his nose, C is comforting him and promising him puzzles and toys and all kinds of things to stop crying. A giant red and purple welt appears on the side of Phin's face. This is going well.

When Phin stops crying we go into the area where they will take the pictures. Phin won't smile for anything. Then he decides that he'll make these faces where he looks like some horrible rodent with is nose all scrunched up and his teeth sticking out. His brother keeps trying to get him to smile like it's his job and we're paying him a million dollars but that means that he's not paying attention either. Oh, it was just great. :? I don't know how many pictures were taken but in the end we picked 3 mostly decent ones that included one of all the family, one of the boys, and one of us. Elias and C take off while I'm paying and they went to buy something that must be for me because I wasn't allowed to see. I gathered up all of our stuff and they come back just as I'm leaving. We get to the door of the store and realize that Elias does not have his book. He and I have to go running back through the store to get the book - it's a library book so not one we really want to walk off.

We spent the rest of the morning running errands since we were out. Phin got a puzzle, though I'm not sure he was all that well behaved, and Elias got a hex bug. I got dressed and ready for a run. I might try to take some pictures of the new hairdo tomorrow. I ran 3 miles today after 11 days off. I was so happy to run. My hair ws in a pony tail but it started falling out just up the street. I tried putting it back up but the rubber band broke so I ran with my hair flying out behind me. I don't recommend it all the time but since it's so much shorter now, it worked okay for today. I was not going home to get a new rubber band or I might not have made it back out the door!

This afternoon I sat down to knit on the hat that I will donate to charity at the St. Louis Blues game next weekend. I turned on the tv - Phin was sleeping and Elias and C were out at the store - Splash was on. I haven't seen it in awhile but I watched it repeatedly as a kid. C has never seen it and when he and E came home they watched a little bit. Lucky for me Elias had lots of questions about mermaids and yeast infections since CMT showed commercials for that about every other commercial break. I decided 6 years old is too young to know what a yeast infection is. I reassured him that boys don't usually get them and he would not have to worry about them. Thank you CMT and gynelotremin or monestat or wtf?

After the movie I learned something about men that I never wanted to know. Men pee down the drain in the basement and the garage when they don't want to be bothered with going to the bathroom or they're too dirty (I think this is crap) to go in the house to go. This is truly disgusting. And as I learned in Finding Nemo - all drains lead to the ocean. I feel very sorry for the mermaids.

Sickville

2011-02-09T14:21:00.004-07:00

It's been snowing all day. It's a Wednesday. I made it through work last week even though I was sick. Saturday morning Phin appeared beside the bed at 4 am. I pulled him into bed and fell back asleep until 6 am when I realized he was very hot. Poor guy had a fever. We got up to snow and E and Dadday went out to play in it but P had to stay inside with me.

Saturday night I took E to the bash at school while Dadday stayed home with P. Sunday Dadday took E to Mass and the boyscout banquet while I stayed home with P. Monday I stayed home from work and made different arrangements for my class. P went to the doctor and was diagnosed with the influenza A. He didn't have a fever all day though so off to school he went on Tuesday. I taught class Tuesday morning only to have to pick him up and miss all of my afternoon meetings. Today with the snow and a feverish flu boy, I had to cancel my class again. All classes are canceled this evening anyway.

Tomorrow will be a sad day. We will be taking Bailey into the vet. She's been declining in health for quite sometime and it's gotten to the point where I think it's time to put her out of her misery. Or, rather, I go back and forth on whether it's time. We had to make an appointment and Elias has no school tomorrow so I decided to do it then. It gives plenty of time in case I am not strong enough to do it yet, but also for us to be sure. There are so many signs that she's ready but it's still hard. I'd like to post some pictures here of our beloved Bailey Boo aka Princess la Boo Boo
The oldest picture of Bailey on the blog is from November 2004 with Elias

September 2008 after and before a haircut

Spring 2010

Fall 2010

New Year's Day 2011

I'll have to go through the prints and scrapbook pages that are older than this to post any other pictures. My sweet, sweet Boo Boo... I will miss you.

not trying to be a bad mommay

2011-02-01T21:50:00.008-07:00

I've actually been trying to be a much better Mommay. I take pictures but haven't spent the time on the computer to edit them or to post them. Not here, not facebook. We did have some big fun in January. We played in the snow. We visited cousins for a birthday party and we had the pinewood derby. Take a look.

Elias got fourth in his den and was looked at for a good design but his car looked a little too much like a car...

Thinking about everyone that got all that snow and sort of feeling jealous. I hate just cold, nasty, rainy winter weather. Bring on the snow and bring on the snow days. Says she who would rather be out running (I'm up to 9 miles at once in my training) and wants sunnier, warmer weather to hit the trail.

Christmas -2 New Year's Day

2011-01-02T15:53:00.004-07:00

This year we were thrilled to have a couple of days with C's parents all the way from New England.

We opened presents and feasted yet again!

The family got headlamps from Grammy and Grampy for our camping trips in '11. I hope there are alot of them. We discussed some options with Grandma and Grandpa when they were here plus with friends on New Year's Eve.

We had such a short time with Grammy and Grampy but spent the afternoon today (Sunday) together watching the Chiefs game together. Too bad they didn't win. C and I have a bet on who will go further in the playoffs - the Patriots or the Chiefs. The winner will buy the loser a team shirt for the loser to wear. After today's game, I'm sure I'll be wearing a Patriots shirt in no time. It had better be cute!

Happay-est Time of the Year

2011-01-02T15:46:00.005-07:00

We had our traditional New Year's Eve Party on Friday. It was a smaller crowd than normal this year, we believe because of the rain. But, they were a festive crowd and even the kids managed to stay up until midnight this year.
Phin was thrilled to have his best friend over for the night. And, the two of them were adorable together as you will see below.
Elias was the sole 6 year old to manage the midnight celebration but he still had plenty of fun!
We all had something sparkly to celebrate the change and went outside in the blustery 60 degree winter weather to shoot off some fireworks. The big bangs were a new addition this year but one that we intend to keep.
We'll just have to buy some extra at the 4th (well, actually buy some this year because I hope we can afford it this year! yay!) Some of these pictures are really blurry but that's what alcohol, low light, and too much energy will do for you. The energy was in the boys, not me. I ran 5 miles earlier in the day and my legs were a little tired.

I also think that I drank out of the same bottle I used when I had strep throat last month so that might be coming back now. Joy. I'll be back with pictures from the rest of our weekend.

8 mile

2010-12-31T10:13:00.005-07:00

Break does a number of things for me.
1. It allows me time to see my children everyday and to appreciate why I send them to school. For instance, Elias is doing very well with his reading. We bought him a book and he spent parts of 3 days reading it. It was his first chapter book called Summer of the Sea Serpent
He's quiet when he's reading. I have to sort of push him into it though. "Elias, please sit quietly and read your book." Otherwise, you can hardly get a moment of quiet around here. His little brother is learning well but he's very good at playing by himself. His favorite toys from Christmas are the iXL we go him and Alphie - especially when Alphie plays loud skat to which Phin runs around the room like crazy. They are adorable boys though and have been coming into our room most mornings to wake us up and crawl into our bed. They wiggle and squirm and hug and kiss and are just generally delightful. I will miss these days.
2. I catch up on all that eating I didn't do the rest of the year. Yah...combined with the inability to get out of the house for exercise, I've gained 4 pounds this break. I can hardly wait for Monday when I can work out again. It's 66 today and C is home but it's also rainy, we're preparing for our New Year's Party, and waiting for the arrival of Grammy and Grampy. No running for me today. May crank out a few hundred crunches to make sure that I look nice in my New Year's Outfit.
3. Shopping, sales, and the time to shop. Hence the new outfit. This is about the only time of year I get a new outfit.
4. Crafting time. I've knit so much that I think my right wrist has developed carpel tunnel syndrome again. I've started a sweater, a shawl (long and scarf like), and a lacy scarf. I've finished tons of Christmas presents, have two more to start, and I have a sweater and socks to finish from before the Christmas rush. I'll work these out a little bit over the next month or so. All are beautiful and will be worth the wait. Here's the scarf, I'm calling it 8 mile because by the time it is done, I will have run 8 miles all at once - and we watched 8 mile on tv last night while I was casting on and knitting this portion. Gonna be some Eminem on the iPod for this run, yah, yah...I'm knitting it with the first sock yarn I ever bought (a whole year ago). I didn't finish the pair of socks because - well- , I sucked at the knitting part. I think it'll make a cute scarf. If it's cold and I run outside, I might even wear the scarf on the run. I am thinking a matching hat would be nice.

The new year starts tomorrow.
I've asked C what his resolutions are and I've thought about mine.
I don't think I made one last year.
uno: For 2011 - run that half marathon which means a couple of things - cut out eating all this holiday crap (again) and train. Training will hopefully be easier than it has in the past few months for a couple of reasons. A: I have a fairly open morning schedule for the entire semester and B: medical issues have been identified and are on remission for the moment. I didn't share that I was having bowel issues because I was forbidden at one point to discuss such things with the blog-o-world. Just yesterday I was diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis, which can be looked up on the Mayo Clinic website if you are interested. I suffered from all of the symptoms and underwent a colonoscopy as part of the diagnostic procedure. Not fun. December has been rough. But, I think I'm on the mend and if problems arise again, I've been cleared to swallow Imodium like candy.

dos: Socks - 11 pairs in 11 you think? I have the yarn, I have the needles, I have the patterns. I'm excited to do it

tres: tenure - this means write a paper, you idiot (me, not you, get it?)

quatro: blog more, take the pictures and put them on the blog. Really, it's laziness and interest in knitting that are preventing me from visiting the blogger dashboard more often

cinco: scrapbooking under control. If you read the other blog, you know what I mean

and, with that, I give a shout out to all the other mother, scientist, crafter, athlete wannabes in the world. Peace in the new year.

Christmas 1 Recap

2010-12-28T10:23:00.009-07:00

We had expected Grandma and Grandpa to come on Tuesday but they were not able to make it because Grandpa was very sick. Instead they came on Thursday so Christmas seemed a bit short this year. But, Grandpa is finally feeling better which we are very grateful for. I could picture bomb the blog, but I'd rather summarize and put in some of my favorite pictures.

On Christmas Eve we decorated the sugar cookies

And, I baked the only cookies I made this year, the peanut butter ones with kisses on top. We are all watching our weight and exercising more around here ;)

We went to 5pm Christmas Eve Mass, which we should have gotten to at 4:15 because when we arrived at 4:30 there were not enough seats for us to all sit together. It was beautiful anyway. We had a little trouble with the pre-Mass group photo and Mass went long, dinner went late, so no one opened presents the night before as has been a tradition in past years.

We put out the cookies for Santa and oats and carrots for the reindeer before heading off for the long winter's nap.

Around 3am, everyone heard Santa's arrival (or so the kids say). Grandpa was up, Dadday was up, and Mommay was up - so we must have heard something. The kids slept through despite what they say. ;)
Anyway, the kids were very happy with what Santa brought them. Elias got his long asked for Nintendo DSi and Phin had asked for a garbage truck. It's really a recycling truck but it's exactly what he wanted and he's about rolled a track in the floor with how much he's pushed it around.

We have almost 300 pictures from the day so I'm just going to post one more because it says so much.

This picture is of P helping Dadday to open a present. It is a present that P bought and wrapped for Dadday. I took the boys to the store so that they could shop for everyone on our list and then we spent Tuesday before Christmas wrapping their presents. They were very excited about them. Dadday got a new wire whisk and a model of the solar system, Grandpa and Grandpa got a candle, a soccer game, and snow globes; I got a water bottle and some pretty stuff to put in a bowl; and the boys got each other a coloring book and playdough. Everyone was very happay. In addition, you can see in the photo that Bailey was included in the festivities. She had a rough week. We took the dogs to the vet on Wednesday and the vet decided not to do anything else for Bailey. She is 3 months short of 16 years old and doesn't do much. She had sores on her skin that were treated and we mostly try to keep her warm and comfortable now. The other two dogs are headed in to have their teeth cleaned this week. They are each a joy to have around.

We ate a late breakfast of biscuits and gravy and then played with our toys until dinner of hens. It was a beautiful, fun, and relaxing day. I felt so blessed to be surrounded by family.

really, a month?

2010-12-22T05:57:00.005-07:00

Dear friends, I hate to say it because it sounds so cliche but it's true, I have been sooooo busy! This time of year is normally pretty rough and now that E is older, we've thrown his busy schedule in with mine. I've stayed away from the computer, had a couple of medical procedures done, attended events, and worked on Christmas presents. Running has even fallen to the side in this busy time of year. I can't wait to get back to my normal routine. I also wish this post were funny or witty or entertaining - but it's not. I had quite a few planned in my head I just refused to take the time to write them out. We'll call it discipline, discipline for getting all the other things done first rather than eating up time on the computer.

But, we're having a small turn around here. E is on vacation now, and so am I. Today we are expecting the arrival of the grandparents. I've finished crafting most of the Christmas presents - or all that are going to get done before Christmas! Monday I took the boys Christmas shopping and then yesterday they spent the morning wrapping their presents. These are the most seasonally appropriate pictures I have so I'm going to share them. Then, that will be the end of this boring post. Perhaps in 2011 I will get back to my habit of documenting life better. So much is changing and so much is special. P is as such a wonderful age - the one where he runs around naked half of the time. I don't want to ever forget.

That Santa is still my favorite Christmas decoration. I think maybe I should do a scrapbook page dedicated entirely to my love for it with a small mention of how little C likes it!
Merry Christmas! (in case this is the last I post before the big celebration)

Thanksgiving feasting

2010-11-25T17:20:00.009-07:00

As is our tradition, we have made our way to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving. My mother cooks the meal, we provide the company! When we are all together, there are as many dogs as people!
We started the morning with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I can hardly believe it has been 8 years since I was there with C to see it in person. I sat on the couch loading pictures of crafty projects and then went for a 5K run before eating our feast.

My dad had an interesting technique for loading his plate as full of food as possible.

Phin was not in the mood to eat but his brother was. I've never seen E put away so much food!

I wore the sweater vest I knit this summer:
Phin suddenly became interested in his food when the pies came out

My mom made the day awesome!

And, she looked stylish and beautiful doing it!

Tomorrow is the big shopping day. I'm done with Christmas shopping but E could use 2 pairs of jeans, the boys need Christmas outfits, and I'd like some new running shoes. The boys will also talk to Santa tomorrow. It'll be fun!

Tuckered out

2010-11-14T14:15:00.003-07:00

Lots of things around here are tuckered out. The most recent is P.
He must have been really excited about getting new shoes and a Star Wars mask at the shoe store.
That leads me to another thing that is tuckered out - our wallets! Shoes are expensive. E has had his only 2 months and has outgrown then and his toes are popping out the end! P had his for much longer 6 months or so but they are just worn out. We got them these: Austin and they better last a sight longer than the shoes we have been getting them since they cost twice as much!

The garden is also on it's last gasp. I can hardly believe it has lasted as long as it has. I picked 25 tomatoes, 2 yellow peppers, and 1 green pepper today. We are supposed to get some more hard frosts this week so whatever is left of the green tomatoes will be gone, I'm sure.

Off to work on knitting Christmas presents some more!

Thee(all) 30 second recap

2010-11-13T12:51:00.007-07:00

The leaves outside are turning and we finally have time to do things outside!
This is going to be very picture heavy!
Went camping November 6 in our trailer!

The boys played near a pond behind our campsite.

We went on a couple of hikes

And enjoyed each other
The weekend before that, was went around begging for candy with a fireman and a turtle

But, prior to that on the weekend before, we carved our pumpkins!

That's what you've missed from the Thee(all)s!

what a weekend

2010-10-24T14:38:00.007-07:00

yesterday was one of those days that you prepare for for months and that exhausts you to the bone when it's over.
We started the morning with the firetruck rally.

The parade starts right by our house so we walk to the start and watch things get going. If I had been sleeping well and did not have a big evening ahead of me, we might have walked the parade again this year. Instead we came home and ate some lunch.
The boys dropped me off at work so I could prepare for our science night. I'm one of the three planners for our science night at the university. Our event is unique so I don't want to give away too much about it. Yesterday our registration numbers jumped to 310, that's almost double what we had last year. It gives me great pleasure to see children that I know there with their parents, to watch the students at the university helping children to discovery something new, and to know that my own kids have had a great time. But, the evening is thoroughly exhausting, fraught with complications, and a little overwhelming. This year was no exception. I have two more years guaranteed of this.
I came home late last night. I did not sleep well yet again. I thought that when the event was over I'd be feeling much less pressure. Instead, I dreamed about the event all night long. I eventually got out of bed at around 3:30 and played on a knitting website for over an hour. I got back into bed around 5am and then the boys woke up. I dozed through the sound of their play until Phin started crying. I got him and he came to bed with me for an hour. When he decided to go downstairs with his Dadday and brother, I stayed in bed still. When I stumbled out of bed the boys cuddled with me and told me about their day. They have been missing their Mommy. The cuddles were wonderful. We had breakfast out and then carved our pumpkins.

I'll let you decide which pumpkin was carved by whom. But, this is what the front of our house looks like right now.

and, one of our mums up close. The university greenhouse gets test varieties of flowers and sells them cheap. This one is supposed to be pink.

I spent the afternoon knitting and watching the Chiefs game (yay for the win). I am reluctant to pull out the vacuum even though I know the floor needs it badly. And, as I have vowed not to do any work today at all, I am planning on spending some time in the craft room tonight.

Lose yourself

2010-10-17T05:06:00.011-07:00

I had a special title for this post but I don't remember what it was. It is what woke me up this morning. I was awake until midnight last night working on things for our science night. I've been allowing myself to only work on it or other things until 10pm up until now. Time is running short. All the major deadlines in my life are approaching and I foresee a few completely sleepless nights in my future if I am to get it all done. It's difficult when what I really want to do is hang with the kids, enjoy the awesome weather we have here in October, and do some crafts. I keep telling myself that I will have time for those things in November but it is hard to give up that much time.
Here's what I've been up to in the minutes that I have not spent working
Picking pumpkins (we now have 9 in the house and one more to come in this week. When will we ever find the time to carve these?)

Elias joined the Cub Scouts this fall and C is the den leader. He enjoys wearing his uniform. This picture was taken before he headed out for his first Go See It at the printing presses.
The boys were waiting for the printing plate to come out of the machine. It will be used to print the newspaper.
The boys were impressed by the size of the roll of paper used to print the newspaper.
The presses get pretty messy with the ink used to print the paper. Three colors and black are used.

Yesterday we went to the Cub-O-Ree and the boys had a blast!
Phin was a master at the Monkey Bridge
Elias shot his first bb gun.
They played on the Humvee. Elias launched the trebuchet. He wants to build one now. I told him about the ones that the high school students used to make this time of year to launch pumpkins.
Phin played on a hill with the leaves while his brother waited in line for archery.
Elias shot his first bow and arrow. He's thinking of changing his request to Santa for a NintendoDS to an archery set.
There was a camping demonstration that Elias didn't look at but Phin and I did when he sneezed and created an unsuccessful snot rocket. Elias was waiting in line for the tall monkey bridge. He did better than older kids at getting onto the bridge and showed no fear as he walked across.

While we were there, we discovered all sorts of interesting parenting styles. Some of the scouts were more dedicated than others. And, I remembered the days when my dad was in charge of my brother's scouting and they would make very large rappelling towers in the mall. They really could have used a rappelling tower at this event.
The next little bit of our lives will be filled with preparations for science night, a trip to a conference and KC and then Halloween! Yesterday Phin settled on being a fireman this year. He's really excited about the hat. Elias is set on being a turtle. That means that C has some work to do because I don't feel that I have the time for an elaborate costume this year.

Pumpkin Patch Survivors

2010-10-03T05:05:00.003-07:00

Yesterday was a very busy day around here. Actually, in case it was impossible to tell, the last couple of months have been very busy around here.

The tires on the car needed to be replaced so the morning started off with a trip to the tire store. The tires were replaced and the wheels aligned. It drives like a new car.

Elias has joined the Cub Scouts. He is to be selling popcorn and so far he's sold none. I think we're really bad at this aspect of raising our child under the normal guidelines for children. We don't require any effort at making a sale in any fundraiser. That aside, yesterday was the first time that E went on a campout with his pack. We had decided that maybe P was too little to go this time and that I would stay home with him.

It just so happened that yesterday was also the opening of the local pumpkin farm that has all kinds of silly things to attract children - like wooden cutouts of animals, lots of animals, a giant slide, mazes, and gokart races to name a few. They charge $10 to each person to get in so, in the past we have not gone. But, they got me there this year with one little word - Survivor.

I have never made a secret of my passion for Survivor. In three separate seasons I have missed one episode each. I spent a hour of time on my honeymoon conversing with a former Survivor contestant. And, during this year's season opening show, I saw flashed before my eyes an advertisement that the pumpkin patch was going to have two time (and most recent) winner, Sandra Diaz-Twine on the premises. A quick search of the Internet showed this to be true and that she was bringing Todd Herzog, winner of Survivor China, and Spencer Duhm, contestant at Survivor Tocantins with her. I had to be there.

Many years ago, my mother bought me a buff from Survivor Amazon when the all female alliance went on to win Survivor for the first time. The teams that year were men versus women and woman proved to be strong enough to dominate. I've worn the buff on many camping/climbing trips but in recent years, it has found it's way to the bottom of my drawer and not been though of. It seems perfect with it's new additions.

And, since it was chilly, I didn't hesitate to wear it for the rest of the day while we picked out our pumpkins.The patch this year didn't have pumpkins that were grown on the spot. If I had not come there with the real purpose of meeting the former Survivor contestants (who were just about the nicest people you could ever meet. I wish I could hand with them all the time!), I would have felt duped. As it was, Phin didn't notice!

And he picked out the biggest pumpkin he could find.

It weighed 22 pounds but I didn't feel ripped off in how much I paid for it at $0.30 per pound. So, that was good. We took the pumpkin to the car and then came back so Phin could play on all the 'attractions'. This was his favorite.
I'm really surprised he was brave enough to go down it. And, he wanted to go down over and over. I went once and was rattled to pieces. I did not want to go again. He was, however, not brave enough to ride the camel. He was convinced he was going to do it, right up to the point where he was to get on the camel, then he ran away!

We had to cut our time at the pumpkin patch a little short because we had students and faculty coming over for a bbq to use up the rest of the picnic food. Several stuck around after for some games. I was thoroughly happy!

I finished the evening by reading the last little bit of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and have discovered it's a trilogy. I'll pick up book two today and hope to watch the movie tonight or tomorrow night.

School Started

2010-09-11T08:56:00.004-07:00

and I have been busy.
Now, the free time I have is spent sleeping, eating, with children...you get the idea. I haven't even been scrapbooking very much. The end of the summer came with alot of new responsibilities and I'm writing this from work only because I found the pictures on this laptop. I didn't want to lose track of them.

Meeting his teacher, seeing his classroom.

Back to school picnic
First day of school walking into the building

Saying good-bye to Mommy
E's wonderful teacher. He loves her so much. His first day was great and everyday since then has been just as wonderful.Standing with Dadday outside of school after the first day. We took E out to lunch.

Now, we've started boy scouts! I have some pictures from last weekend that I want to share and from the lake when I have the chance. I'm still around, just not on the computer as much. It's really been quite nice.

Did somebody say tomato?

2010-08-11T07:14:00.004-07:00

Last year I got one tomato
one
and this year I picked 85 in one day
85
that's nuts!
But, C has been making the best spaghetti sauce ever! So, I can't wait for the yumminess he'll whip up with this.That and this kid loves tomatoes. He might eat them all if we don't boil them up fast enough.