2 Kids+1 Cat+1 Husband=Complete Chaos

Winter

2010-01-07T08:53:00.003-05:00

The girls are finally off to school without a two-hour delay. Yippee! School was cancelled Monday, with delays both Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully we'll all be able to get back into a routine. I am not convinced that they will be in school all day, however. It's snowing/freezing rain right now, and there's nothing on the radar within a hundred miles of us. (?) There's a huge patch of snow moving through Ohio right now. That should make getting the kids home safely a challenge. It's so frustrating for me; in Fort there would not have even been a question of delay or closing. An inch of snow? Big deal. There ought to be a law that all PennDot employees have to train in WI or MN for a winter. That'll teach 'em.

(I do have to be grateful that I'm not in the Wheeling area. They haven't been back to school AT ALL. Apparently all the back-country windy cow-path roads are nasty, nasty, nasty and haven't been treated or plowed. Yikes.)

Time to go make a mocha cappucino and watch the snow fall for a bit. I ♥ winter.

Mom's To Do List

2009-10-21T08:57:00.003-04:00

Julianna left me this list this morning. I had to make her add #7, which is what I REALLY need to do today. She makes me laugh.

In The Fall!

2009-10-14T08:10:00.003-04:00

In The Fall!

A Poem by Julianna

The leaves chage color

and fall off the trees.

Pumkins start to grow.

You can rake up the leaves

and jump in.

Fall is, fun

Fall

2009-10-14T08:07:00.002-04:00

Fall

A Poem by Bethany

Fall is here,

when Fall is here I take a rake

and pile leaves up,

and jump in them becaus it is fun

to see the leaves change colors

red, yellow, ogrge,

something is haping in Fall

the wather is geting cooler

and leaves fall down on the growd.

Fall is a fun seosn to play in,

becaus leaves do many things

Back again!

2009-10-13T17:38:00.002-04:00

Our flock of turkeys was back again this morning; we counted 16. Julianna commented that they wouldn't be around long, since Thanksgiving was coming and they'd all be shot and eaten. Bethany got a very panicked look on her face and screeched, "WHAT????" She may now be a vegetarian.

Sleeping Beauties

2009-10-07T22:55:00.003-04:00

I found two Sleeping Beauties when I got home from Symphony tonight. Here's Julianna, with Love-a-Lot Bear, Edmonton Bear, and Laa Laa.

And Bethany's cuddling with Cuddly Bear, Maria Sparkle, Red Octopus, Hello Kitty, and Pink Care Bear.

I love you both to where the numbers end and back. Sweet dreams!

Two Cuties

2009-09-28T19:16:00.003-04:00

I have two favorite bookmarks. One has Julianna's picture on it; the other has Bethany's. Whenever Julianna finds my book with her bookmark in it, she 'fixes' the bookmark for me. This is the 'fixed' bookmark. She pulls it out so that I can see her whole picture. Sometimes she even leaves the bookmark marking the page I was really on!

And here's Bethany. Grandma sent this outfit a while ago. Bethany decided that she REALLY REALLY LIKES IT because it was Aunt Jeannine's. Awww.....

Yes, Virginia, there really IS a tabletop...

2009-08-31T23:25:00.002-04:00

This evening has been rather productive. I started with a pile next to the monitor that was nearly 2 feet tall. It is now......(drum roll, please......) GONE! Sorry if that's anti-climactic for you. Next time I'll be sure to take pictures. I think I'll celebrate with another Fat Squirrel. And just in case anyone is coming from dat dere nort contry...I could use another case. (BTW, the spell checker DOES NOT LIKE dat dere nort contry. Obviously, it isn't from Wisconsin.)

Cheers!

Turkeys

2009-08-27T19:56:00.001-04:00

Just about every day we have a flock of turkeys that ambles through our yard. There are two adults and about 14 young'uns. Last year, we only had 6 or 7. Does that mean that next year we'll have 30 turkeys in our yard????

Julianna Can Tie

2009-08-25T08:08:00.003-04:00

Big news! Julianna has learned to tie her own shoes! Yippee! She's been doing it for a week already. (I'm slow.) She will even tie Bethany's shoes for her, and she doesn't spontaneously do nice things for B that often.

J was so excited, she had to make some phone calls!

Bethany has now decided that she doesn't need to learn to tie, since J will do it for her. Hmmm...

Child Labor

2009-08-23T22:39:00.003-04:00

Julianna's new thing is to go to work with Curt. It starts out the same. She's all pumped up about it; she's going to stay ALL DAY and not whine and want me to come pick her up. Yeah, right. Both yesterday and today she lasted about 90 minutes. She wants to help so much! She's a very good barcode scanner, and is working on swiping credit cards. However, the cash register area at KoSports is very tiny and cramped. One person doesn't have much room to move around, much less two. (God bless Ellen for putting up with Julianna for a while both days!) What we really need is a 10,000 sq. ft. building, and then she could have her own cashwrap area (out of everyone else's way). I'll keep dreaming. At least Julianna's not asking for a raise!

Still kicking

2009-08-13T17:23:00.005-04:00

Yes, I am still alive and kicking. Just under siege, with jerseys, wind suits, shells, bags, and other hockey paraphernalia. I was in a major panic last night and this morning about front logos and how I was going to get them onto the jerseys. I am very excited to say that I FIGURED IT OUT ALL BY MY LITTLE OLE SELF! Isn't it wonderful when something works the way it's supposed to? Check it out:
Ginormous thanks to Jen, Elyse, and LaVerne for keeping up with all the tackle twill lettering, and for Bill, Norma, and Ed for entertaining the girls while I worked. You guys are AWESOME!

Waiting...

2009-06-22T22:27:00.003-04:00

Bethany and Julianna wanted SO BADLY to stay awake until Curt got home. They didn't make it.

Neither did Bucky.

We had such a busy day: Little Gym this morning, lunch and playdate with Emma, hockey camp, and 3 on 3. Whew! and Phew! They're going to need two sets of equipment pretty soon; their stuff is starting to make my eyes water. Anyway...we made it home, had a quick shower and a bite of ice cream, brushed teeth, turned on an old Penguins game, and they were out. They wanted me to leave them out here until Curt got home so he could wake them up and say goodnight. I doubt that they'll remember one way or the other.

In other news, Bethany has said goodbye to Purple Baby and stopped sucking her fingers. YIPPEE! I am so proud of her. She's such a sweetheart. Julianna's still working on it. Hopefully soon!

Just a few more days

2009-06-02T08:50:00.002-04:00

There are 3 1/2 days left of school, counting today. The girls are super-excited for vacation, but at the same time super-sad to be leaving Kindergarten and Mrs. Inghram. They have learned so much! They are counting money, telling time, reading words with blends at the beginning and end, doing double-digit addition, simple subtraction, and a bit of multiplication (thanks to Tessa). I remember when I was in Kindergarten it was a big deal to write all the numbers to 100 and spell your name correctly. No more. They'll be ready for advanced calculus by the time they're freshmen.

Bethany announced yesterday, "I know what we can do this summer! We can go to Miss Lisa's house about 12 or 1 o'clock and play for a few hours...or maybe more...we could stay for supper or something." I asked how often she was planning on doing this and she emphatically informed me that it would be EVERY DAY and that we would not be hosting the Ellis kids over here at all. WRONG-O! They are, however, planning several sleepovers...Dorothy and Spencer, Emma, and the Ellis kids. Oooh boy!

The most anticipated event planned thus far is our trip to WI. (YEAH!) The girls can't wait to see Grandma and Grandpa. As a matter of fact, neither can I.

What a weekend

2009-05-04T08:50:00.003-04:00

Itinerary 5/2/09 & 5/3/09

Saturday

10:30 am - Soccer

Fields muddy, Mommy cold, girls scored lots of goals

1:30 pm - Icers

Worked on shooting from outside the circles. Both girls working on a harder wrist shot. Accuracy GREATLY improving.

4:30 - Dinner

The girls went out for dinner with Nanny and Pap Pap while Mommy went to Symphony rehearsal

8:00 pm - Symphony Concert

We performed "Won't You Be My Neighbor" from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, and Mr. McFeely sang. The girls were SO excited. He brought along Daniel Striped Tiger and King Friday. Too cool. We got to meet him afterwards. Another favorite was "Kennywood's Open". We've been listening to that one a lot in the truck these past few weeks, so the girls knew it as well as I did. They can name the rides that each section of the piece is about.

Favorite quote: Bethany: This part is the Tilt-a-Whirl

Julianna: Which ride is the Tilt-a-Whirl again?

Bethany: It's the one that goes around and around and then you throw up. (Because doesn't everyone throw up when they're on the Tilt-a-Whirl?)

10:30 pm - After Party

Nanny prepared some wonderful snacks for us to enjoy. The girls may have enjoyed them more than the actual concert.

Sunday

9:43 - Church and Children in Worship

My girls and Lisa's kids were the only ones at Children in Worship. Amy was the leader, so it may have been a "Church Playdate". That's okay.

11:30 - Lunch

We went out for brunch with the Ellises (minus the adult males). It was all good until the food came. Then the meltdowns began. I think Lisa had a loooonnnnnggggg afternoon.

1:30 - Movie

We watched "Cinderella". Always a favorite.

6:00 - Trinity Skate

Trinity Hockey sponsored a free skate for all residents of the district. The girls were so excited that they made personalized invitations for all the kids in their class. Two of them showed up! Thanks, Evan and Skyler. You made my girls' day!

7:00 - Supper

We went up to Jay's with the Romaneks to watch Dave's draft league game. I couldn't tell you the final score, but the kids have formed the Dave Fan Club.

8:30 - Hockey & Bed

We watched Boston and Carolina battle. When we finally got Julianna to stay in bed, she wanted us to turn up the tv so she could listen to the game while she laid there. No dice, Sweetheart.

I'm so glad it's Monday and the girls are at school. Life is controllable again, at least for a few hours. :)

Now don't get the wrong idea...

2009-03-24T08:37:00.002-04:00

It's 8:38 am. And I am NOT a morning person. However...

1. The dishwasher is running.
2. A load of laundry is washing. And all the rest of the laundry is sorted.
3. The living room has been vacuumed.
4. The girls had breakfast, got dressed, and are off to school.
5. Curt's at the Men's Breakfast (thanks, Jefferson, for calling TWICE before 7 am, btw)
6. I'm halfway through a mug of yummy coffee.
7. I'm getting on the treadmill now while watching "West Wing" reruns.

I'm sure I'll need a nap before the girls get home from school, but I must make hay while the sun shines.

Later.

Miscellany

2009-03-19T21:24:00.001-04:00

J's library book. (She took pictures of all 4, but you get the idea.)

J's socks are finished. Yippee!

The girls went skating after a recent Nailer game.

Bucky enjoys his bee.

B plays Charades

Signs of Spring

2009-03-18T21:20:00.003-04:00

Finally! The forsythia is starting to open...

Daffodils are blooming...

And lots more will be opening in a day or two!

My sick little girls

2009-03-08T20:42:00.003-04:00

Poor B. She didn't feel like going to the Nailers game last night, and spent a couple hours sleeping on Nanny's couch. I thought J was finally doing better, as she's been sickly all week. She and I drove to Wheeling, and almost immediately she began complaining. She made it to the beginning of the second period; we left, picked up B, and went home.

B was up sick all night. A little while ago, she mused, "I don't like how my life is going this week." I can't say that I blame her. She only went about 10 minutes between bouts of vomiting all night. This flu is brutal. J and I had it last week, and she'd feel better all day and go to school, but at night her temp would spike again and knock her out. Same thing the next day.

B is NOT a good patient. Lots of moaning and groaning and whining about how she doesn't feel well. And she will hardly let me out of her reach. Right now she's laid out on the couch and I'm sitting on the floor next to the couch.

I wish the girls could have experienced some of Grandma Strunk's TLC. That lady sure knew how to make toast and chicken noodle soup. To this day, when I'm sick, I wish she were here to take care of me.

So much for no more vomiting. Gotta run.

Amazing Again!

2009-02-24T21:19:00.006-05:00

B has caught the knitting bug, too!
She even learned how to pick up dropped stitches already.

I love how knitting is a whole-body experience for her.

I am so proud of you sweetie! You're doing great!

Amazing!

2009-02-22T14:38:00.005-05:00

The girls have been asking to learn how to knit for a couple years now. Every once in a while I'll get out their needles and we'll sit down and work a few stitches. Up until now, that's all their attention span would allow. Today, however, J stuck with it through a whole row. Then she came back 10 minutes later to do another. She's making a doll blanket.

I showed her how to do 3 stitches, and then she was demanding to do it herself. I had to help her hold the needles for a couple stitches, but then she was doing it on her own!

Here's her knitting so far: 36 stitches down, a zillion to go. Way to go, sweetheart!

My daughters, the artists

2009-02-15T10:13:00.001-05:00

B drew this yesterday. She's amazing. Not afraid to try to draw anything. She always draws SOMETHING. A bee, a tape dispenser, a doughnut on a plate, herself singing onstage. She always has a plan.

This one is by J. She's amazing. Not afraid to draw anything. She almost always draws hearts, flowers, and rainbows. If she has to, she'll draw a specific object, but she always goes back to her own zone.

I love their differences. Both unique, and both wonderful girls.

A Very Productive Winter

2009-02-13T17:34:00.013-05:00

As a general rule, I have Startitis. I am very good at starting projects, but not so great at finishing them. This winter I have started AND COMPLETED the following:

Prayer Shawl for Monica's grandma

Afghan for B based on Fibonacci's number sequence

Socks for Jeannine

Prayer Shawl for my dad

Socks for B (modeled by J, so they're a bit big)

A sock and a half (so far) for J

And a neck gaiter for my mom, for which I have no photo. Sorry about that.

And I almost forgot about this one -- a baby afghan, recipient unknown, but I liked the pattern.

I am so totally proud of myself!

It was a cold and rainy night. No, seriously.

2009-01-06T22:44:00.002-05:00

I'm having one of those evenings where there are a million things I could and/or should be doing, but none of them are very enticing. Not even knitting, which has been my big thing lately. And it's raining and miserable outside, and the drain on the driveway is clogged, but I just don't feel like unclogging it. (Sorry, Curt. You'll have to slosh through the water when you get home later.) And the Christmas tree needs to be taken down, but that's just depressing. I suppose I could fold and put away laundry, but then that takes away from my exercise regime of hurdling over the laundry baskets that are scattered around the house. Or maybe I should just go to bed and hopefully wake up motivated and raring to go. Here's hoping. :)

Christmas Pics

2008-12-30T14:34:00.004-05:00

Enjoy our December and Christmas pictures here:

Jackie's Webshots Page

Too cute!

2008-12-09T21:41:00.004-05:00

The girls have a boy in their class who's just moved here from Germany. They're fascinated. Every once in a while they'll ask how to say something in German. Well, today I remembered that 'elf' is eleven. They were tickled! Something they could actually pronounce. We laughed so hard, and I got it on video. Enjoy!

FIVE MORE DAYS!

2008-11-06T09:01:00.002-05:00

Remember how much fun we had last year with Elf Yourself? Well hold onto your elf hat. It's baa-aack!

Fall Pics

2008-11-01T18:48:00.008-04:00

Halloween Parade

J ready to trick or treat

B the Princess ... with lots of missing teeth

Superman helping with the yardwork

LEAF FIGHT! (Seriously. They screamed it over and over and over.)

Ladybug had a blast. She LOVED throwing the leaves at me while I was taking pictures.

Playdate

2008-11-01T14:08:00.002-04:00

Superman and Ladybug are over visiting for the afternoon. A HUGE thank you to Lisa, for not feeling well, and letting me borrow her kids for a while. And yes, you are correct; that makes four kids. And they get along SO MUCH better than when it's just my two. When all four of them are together, there's no pushing, poking, shoving, screaming, and so on. It's nice. Right now J is getting water for everyone. I think it's her third trip. And earlier, we were out in the backyard and B told me that I should go inside and she would watch the kids. We compromised. I went and picked up leaves on the side of the house so it just seemed like they were alone. They're having a little snack break, allowing me time to blog my little heart out. I wonder what they'll want to do next?

Neighbors

2008-10-22T09:30:00.002-04:00

Do you have one of THOSE neighbors? The kind, who, no matter what, just are always nasty and bring out the worst in you? I do. He's just......nasty. I can honestly say that I have tried my very hardest to forgive and forget and act nicely toward him even when he's not acting nicely, and it JUST DOESN'T WORK. He would actually make me consider moving to a different house just to get away from him. But the rest of the neighbors are so WONDERFUL that the fleeing instinct only lasts a few minutes (or days). Is it awful of me to wish he would have a heart attack or something?

One of my very best wonderful neighbors let the girls come over to rake up her leaves just to jump in them, since we didn't have enough down yet for a ginormous pile. We had to spread the leaves back out again when we were done, since her yard is huge and she has a gazillion trees, so I wasn't able to actually help her, but still....she's wonderful like that. I love having her nearby; she reminds me of my grandma, and takes away a bit of the heartache that I can't see her as often as I'd like to.

Gotta run....need to call Grandma for a bit of a pick-me-up.

What a weekend!

2008-10-19T22:29:00.004-04:00

Enjoying the first leaf pile of the season
J's cast -- there's not much room left to autograph!

J's adapted well to her cast....finally!
B had a loose tooth on top that made her look like a hillbilly the way it was hanging there all by itself
She pulled it out the next day at soccer. Thank goodness we didn't have to scour the field for it!
Me and the girls

A fun afternoon ?!

2008-10-13T08:45:00.002-04:00

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful....sunny, 82°...so the girls and I went to the park. We were there about 10 minutes when J decided to try the monkey bars. She was hanging and swinging, trying to get enough momentum to reach for the next bar, when she dropped, and landed on her arms instead of her legs. She now has two compression fractures in her left arm. Curt took her to Med Express last night and they splinted it, and I'm still waiting for the orthopedic doctor's office to open so I can get her scheduled there.

She is all worked up; she DID NOT want to go to school until she was healed up (3 weeks). "B can bring home all my work," she sobbed last night. This morning, though, she had a new plan. "I'm starting half days. You pick me up at lunchtime." B is all excited to be her helper, so I'm hoping that all goes well today. I'll keep you posted.

SOSDD

2008-10-06T09:39:00.002-04:00

There hasn't been anything too exciting to blog about recently. Which I guess can be construed as a good thing. No major catastrophes, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Just your everyday girls going to school, me heat-pressing like crazy, and Curt working long hours. Except that he was working long hours in Florida this past week. Bauer Hockey does this dealer spiel at a posh resort each year, and shows off their new product and schmoozes the guys.

So the girls and I were on our own. And they behaved FABULOUSLY. No tantrums, no outbursts, they helped without being nagged. It was generally a very nice week, except at bedtime, when they'd cry for Daddy. That part was heartbreaking. They even took to calling him at 7:30 am. Which I considered a very good thing, since Curt is generally not a morning person, and what better way to wake up than to hear a perky little girl's voice in your ear?

So, today's agenda: Girls to school? Check. Heat press warming up? Check. Curt lollygagging in bed? Check. Time for a Great Big Belly Boom.

As overheard this evening....

2008-09-09T20:54:00.002-04:00

B's on the phone with my dad, and he's telling her about why Grandma's not home. She's working the election. Dad's going on and on about how Grandma's counting votes and how the people are choosing new people to help run the government, and B says, "Do you think Grandma will get enough votes?" I didn't know Mom was interested in a political career.

About 30 minutes later....
B's sitting in the big blue chair pretending to be the librarian reading a book to the class. "This is Little Cats by John McCain." She had the title right, but I can't tell you where the John McCain came from. That little girl hears and remembers EVERYTHING.

Home again!

2008-08-27T16:36:00.001-04:00

First Day of School

2008-08-27T08:50:00.003-04:00

They're gone.

More pics: http://family.webshots.com/album/565643272DrDJtf?vhost=family

Remember when?

2008-08-26T13:42:00.002-04:00

Remember when you were a little kid and you played Pretend? And you didn't actually DO anything, you just kept saying to those playing with you, "Pretend I'm a seal in the circus." And they'd respond, "Pretend I just knocked you off the balance beam." And so on, and on, and on, ad infinitum.

Or when you were a little kid and performed Shows which you made your parents and others sit through? (Lisa and I actually charged admission to ours!)

Let me tell you, being on the receiving end is a whole new ballgame. Watching the girls play Pretend and do Shows is exhausting. The way a bad movie just seems to never end.

But it'll all be okay....school starts tomorrow! I'm so excited by this, but just today I've been feeling a bit melancholy about it. I'm sure I'll miss them....maybe sometime in October. No, seriously. To have been with them every single day for the last (almost) six years and now they'll be going away. I'm going to miss them terribly.

Avoidance

2008-08-24T14:25:00.002-04:00

I will be the first to admit that I avoid doing certain things with the girls. Like cooking. The massive clean-up at the end is (to my mind) way too much work to justify the means. But today I relented. We made chocolate chip cookies. With my new oven (okay, well, it's almost a year old) and my new mega mixer that DOES NOT dance across the countertop. (Yay!) (And, btw, this new mixer ROCKS!)

And why today, boys and girls? Because I've been having a craving for chocolate chip cookie dough without the chocolate chips. I know it sounds odd, but it's been an ongoing thing since college. My roommates and I would occasionally (daily) whip up a batch to eat while watching "Santa Barbara".

The girls were all about helping me. And really, they were quite helpful. Just overlook the cracked egg that landed on the counter and floor instead of the bowl, the sugar that landed in the egg, and the crisco that got smeared around. The cookies are AWESOME. (Yes, I actually baked most of the dough.) The girls took some over to Grammy Gay's a while ago. They went over by themselves, and I told them they could stay for a few minutes. They've been there a half hour. It's kinda nice. I'm watching HGTV and baking cookies.

So, to Amy, Jen, Sara, Susan, and Laura....hope all is well with youse guys. I'm having some cookie dough for you.

Home Again

2008-08-21T09:24:00.002-04:00

After a whirlwind tour of southern Wisconsin, we are back in PA and trying to recover. Although, if yesterday is any indication, the marathon will be continuing: Kindercamp, playdate at the park with Emma, grocery store, piano lessons, swimming, pick up jerseys at KoSports, stop by Pap Pap's to drop off beer, bedtime for the girls, heat press the jerseys picked up earlier. I slept like a rock.

Pictures of our WI trip will be coming shortly. Stay tuned.

Erie Beach

2008-07-27T12:37:00.034-04:00

We took a much needed mini-vacation to Erie this week. We met Amy and Lisa and their families, and much fun was had by all at Waldameer Park and Presque Isle. 'Nuf said. I'll let the pics tell the rest of the story.

Now I Can Die Happy

2008-07-18T21:52:00.003-04:00

Last Sunday, there was a very nice article in the Observer about the Jacktown Fair. http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/07-13-jacktown-fair Sounded great. I'm thinking.....smaller....not real crowded....the kids are free to ride....it'll be a blast. So on Wednesday, Lisa and I packed up the kiddos and went. We started making fun of the fair almost immediately. Here's why:

The parking area was at the bottom of a really steep hill. The entrance was at the top of this very steep hill. Unfortunately, this was not incredibly obvious. We started walking on the main path, only to be turned around AT THE END OF THE PATH because the entrance was up on top. Like the lady in the official neon orange vest sitting at the beginning of this path couldn't have told us when we first walked past.
We paid at the admissions booth, where the nice lady handed us our tickets. Not 18" away from her stood another guy who TOOK THE TICKETS. He wasn't even through the gate. He was standing RIGHT NEXT TO THE WINDOW. She could have handed him the tickets herself, but no. It took two. Must have been municipal employees.
We were in Greene County, where the people are just downright scary. (For those of you in WI, I can't even think of a good comparison for you. Maybe like how you've always imagined West Virginia to be? This is really close to that.) Makes WashPA seem like a teeming metropolis.
The kids couldn't ride the same ride twice in a row even though there was NO ONE ELSE waiting for a turn. And they were the only four on the ride in the first place. It could've held about 30 kids.
The rides were homemade. Seriously. Someone took those plastic kiddie chairs from school, detached the legs, and used rusty chain and duct tape to make a ride. The guy had to give the thing a push to get it going. And the fence around it was held together with string. And the fence wasn't far enough away from the ride, because the girls kept banging their feet against it as they twirled around.
The bathroom was the best thing this fair had going for it. It was beautiful. Immaculate, even. (And Lisa didn't even have to steam clean it.)
We were too scared to eat at the fair, so we went back to civilization (Waynesburg) for supper.

And, according to the powers that be who run the Jacktown Fair, NOW I can die happy. Amen.

Trauma Update

2008-07-15T16:01:00.004-04:00

I left off that last post rather hastily, sorry about that .... B was formally diagnosed with a grade 2 concussion. She never lost consciousness, but was severely disoriented for 7 hours.

B was discharged Thursday morning, about 6 hours earlier than anyone expected, so we packed up and got the heck out of Dodge. She's doing SO much better. She had a doctor's appoinment on Friday just to follow up, and the only advice was to have her play quietly for a week or so, and no hockey for a couple weeks. Oh, and to get a new bath mat. Since, in case you haven't heard the whole story yet, was why B slipped in the first place. I scrubbed the heck out of the tub on Tuesday, and it was clean. Not a speck of scum anywhere to hold you upright. And I had thrown out the old bathmat because it was grossly disgusting.

Normally keeping B quiet wouldn't be too much of an issue, because she's quite a couch potato (just like her mom). She's usually content to watch tv, interspersed with a computer game or two. No way. Not this time. She wanted to go swimming, and to Little Gym, and have a dance show with the neighbor girls. She seems totally better.

And I must send out a ginormous THANK YOU to everyone who called, stopped by, sent cards, and prayed that B would be okay. Especially Jefferson; you are an amazing friend to my whole family. Thank you.

B's Big Adventure

2008-07-10T07:56:00.003-04:00

B gave us quite a scare yesterday. She was in the shower getting cleaned up for Daddy's birthday party when she slipped and clunked her head on the floor of the tub. She complained that she couldn't see, and she was really out of it. I'd ask her to look at something, and it was like I was speaking Chinese...she just didn't get it. Then she said she just wanted to sleep, and it was getting harder and harder to keep her awake. We took J over to Gay's house, and took B to the ER. Curt took her in, and was trying to get her seen quickly, to no avail. B took charge and started vomiting. She got right in.

She was taken for a CT scan, and everything was normal. Since she was continuing to vomit and be confused, she was admitted overnight for observation. The nurses came in every hour to check her vitals and lucidity, which meant they had to wake her up first. Now this is no small feat on a good day. B is very much like me....a reluctant morning person. It took painful stimulation to get her to wake up, and even then she didn't want to answer questions. "That's enough questions. I just want to sleep." When she was sleeping, it wasn't soundly, and she was mumbling something about how she couldn't sleep with a piano on her head.

After the 1:00 am nurse check, B was AWAKE. And lucid. It was like a fever had broken; the worst was over, and our B was back. Thank God. We were awake until almost 3:00, and then we finally slept. The 7:00 shift woke us up and B's been exploring the buttons on her bed, and having a good ole time. She had a scrambled egg and toast for breakfast, washed up, changed her gown, brushed her teeth, and is now saying she's bored.

Knee High by the 4th of July

2008-07-04T16:18:00.012-04:00

For all you non-farm types out there....the corn should be knee high by today. And ours is....if we use B's knee. I've thinned it out once already, and should probably do it again, but it would be just my luck to pull out all the female plants and then we'd get no corn. All our veggies are growing like crazy....carrots, cukes, zucchini, peas, and beans. It's been raining and raining and raining and raining here. We'd like it to stop for a couple days....so we can go swimming or play in the sprinkler. Speaking of sprinklers: yesterday B and I made a made dash for the truck at Sam's Club in the middle of a downpour. We went left, but our truck was right, and B lost a flip-flop and it went floating down a channel in the parking lot and we had to retrieve it. We got soaked. J stayed dry with the cart. Good thinking.

And I can't forget to mention the flamingos. We have missed the Ellises like CRAZY this week, so as a big welcome home, the girls and I flamingoed their house. That'll teach 'em. NEVER leave home again.

Craigslist

2008-06-24T14:07:00.002-04:00

So have you used craigslist? It seems like a wonderful idea. I know Lisa's gotten some great stuff through it, and I figured I'd give it a shot. I have some things that didn't sell at the garage sale, and I'd like to try and sell them myself rather than give them to Goodwill. So I listed them. Easy peasy. Almost immediately, the inquiries started coming in. Have you still got this? Do you have more pictures? Can I come and look? And my favorite: YES! I'm interested. I'll come by tonight. My friends, I still have the goods. So what exactly are you to tell the other people who have asked about stuff, I told them someone was already interested, and now the first people are p***ing me off. I just know that as soon as I tell the second person she can have it, the first one will show up and give me a piece of her mind. Folks, I'm having some serious misgivings about this whole deal. I know, I know.....it's free....what should I expect?

So, my last resort: Pick up your stuff before Friday or I'm taking it to church for their yard sale on Saturday. (And folks, there is a TON of stuff at Covenant already. It should be a fun time for all.)

Happy Trails.

Procrastination 101

2008-06-10T21:31:00.004-04:00

For those of you who are always prepared, plan ahead to the nth detail, and always have all the laundry washed, dried, and put away, I ask you: WHY? I tell you in no uncertain terms that Procrastination is the way to go. With a capital P.

For example, let's say that you have a certain team's jerseys that need to be delivered tomorrow. And a garage sale in 3 days. What would YOU be doing, you well-prepared lot? Working on the jerseys, you say? Pricing and organizing the garage sale merchandise? No, my foolish friends, no. First of all, you must blog about the impending events. Second, start a new knitting project. (Preemie baby hats. Thanks, Elsie!) Start a new book (Joey Green's Magic Brands: Brand New Uses for Brand Name Products. I know it's tempting fate, but I really can't wait to try using Spray n Wash to get gum out of the girls' hair.) A tiny tangent here....while I was double-checking the title, this caught my eye. It's on Amazon.com's homepage: Toilet Tattoos. I kid you not. For only $9.95 you can put this on your toilet seat lid. Change the decor of your commode weekly. OMG.

Anyhoo.....See what I mean about this Procrastination thing? It's a goldmine. Also, don't forget to check The Weather Channel to find out what the heck happened to our severe storms that were supposed to hit this afternoon. It sprinkled about 14 drops, and that's it. Big whoop. And read Lisa's blog and find out how she's faring on this hot, hot day. I can easily think of at least 47 things I would rather do than heatpress jerseys. And the garage sale......well, that's still 3 days away. I really don't have to worry about that until Thursday night. And if you're one of those people who pores over the classifieds on Thursday and then goes to scope out the Friday garage sales on Thursday...I'm warning you....don't come here. People who do that really tick me off. I won't sell you anything and I may cause you bodily harm. So there. You've been warned. As for everybody else....see you Friday at 9 am sharp.

Signing off!

Rainy Day in P A

2008-06-04T20:28:00.008-04:00

I've been saying that I'd take the girls to the Recreation Station on the next rainy/yucky day for months. Today, I was all out of excuses. We went. Now, don't get me wrong, the Recreation Station is a really cool place. It's just, to my mind, an expensive place to go and play, considering that we already have most of the stuff there at our house, and I have to mind my children and clean up after them, not the staff. My girls love it there. Especially the art room. We currently have a dozen pictures drying in the truck (remember that it's rainy outside....no sense in getting them more wet than they already are). We had paint everywhere: shirts, shorts, legs, toes, hair (!), shoes, EVERYWHERE. The purple paint was quite interesting. We were making hand prints, and all the other colors washed off cleanly and easily, but the purple left our hands stained pink. Dark pink. Hmmmm.... The girls had a bath, and I washed my hands a zillion times, and they're back to normal now. Thank goodness.

The girls took turns choosing which room to play in. The art room was first (of course!), then the train, then blocks, music (where they played the organ like pros!), and back to the art room, then I got to pick the Lego room while we waited for the final pictures to dry. We made this Lego picture: Concentric Squares.

J & B do love big long grown-up words. They both worked so hard and so well together to make this. I was fishing out the pieces, but they did all the hard work. The director was so excited; she said she was going to put their picture up on the Rec Station's website.

DH took the girls to his parents' house to watch the Pens game. I'm supposed to be finishing up some jerseys for tomorrow. I'll get to them soon, I promise. They'll be ready.

And one last thing, because I'm feeling lucky today......http://www.wowonline.com/

A New Day, A New Attitude

2008-06-04T11:25:00.008-04:00

Yesterday Lisa and I conspired to create a fun and busy summer for the kids. We've scoped out all the VBS programs in the area, and have signed up the kiddos for several. We've worked out a schedule to watch each other's kids and get some time to ourselves, and we've picked out a date to go to the beach. All is good.

When we got home, there was a momma and baby deer in our yard. They hung around for a couple hours, and the baby came up by the neighbor's swingset by herself and then found a cozy spot by the tree to nap. She was there by herself for several hours. Momma must have come back after dark. This fawn was TINY. She was all legs; her body was no bigger than Bucky's. J and I got within 2 feet of her when she was resting. She just watched us. I haven't seen them yet today. There have been a couple adult deer here, so there's hope!

Yesterday I presented my girls with a weekly chore schedule. This morning, B remembered right away that she wasn't allowed tv or computer until her jobs were done. She was to tidy the pink bathroom today. It is so clean now! Granted, she used an entire container of wipes to do it, but it sure looks great! She even climbed up on the countertop to wipe the mirror. She loved it! Hopefully the excitement will continue, at least through the week, so the whole house will get cleaned. J was excited to hear about the reward: $2.00 at the end of the week if all her chores were done, helpfully. Her eyes got HUGE. "Dollar bills?" she wanted to know. "WOW!" She's hooked. Hopefully this will also teach them about saving money as well. They're famous for getting a dollar and wanting to go immediately to the dollar store. And the stuff they choose! Junk! Barbie dolls whose legs fall out, purses that won't snap closed. Yikes.

And finally, best wishes to the Pens. And to all you Red Wing fans in WI.....raspberries to you. We'll be watching....and don't be surprised if your phones ring at 1:00 in the morning again!

This is BORING!

2008-05-31T11:23:00.004-04:00

Summer vacation is a week old, and already the girls are complaining of boredom. Their demands:

They will play outside, but only if the neighbor girls play with them.
Or invite other friends over for a playdate
They must have snacks hourly.
They want to play on the computer (Wow Wow Wubbzy has a bolt-collecting game that they are into lately).
They need new toys, because they don't like any of their old ones anymore.

My alternatives:

Swing
Ride bikes
Do a puzzle
Color
Practice piano
Play a game
Practice soccer

Of course they are not at all interested in my suggestions. Therefore I am looking into VBS schedules at all the local churches. 3 hours of fun each day? Yessireebob! Does this make me a bad parent? Or just realistic?

I took the girls with me this morning to help setup for 943. B likes to push a cart and help me drag the drum set into the gym. J will only help if she gets to ride on the cart, which doesn't help at all because then there's no room for the drums. Gretchen is so great about stepping in and entertaining the girls. She has a wonderful Grandma-ness about her. She got J to help put the chairs out...counting the chairs in each row, etc. B named a stuffed animal after her a couple years ago. This is Purple Gretchen, who is soft and snuggly, and given by Aunt Jeannine.

We also have Bucky this morning, who is being quite entertaining. He's camped out by the front door, all set to pounce on the crow in the yard. You can just see the crow to the left of the brick wall, above the glider. He just went to go take a nap, but I'm sure he'll be back to check out the proceedings shortly.

I must run now. The girls are demanding cookies, which means I really should make their lunch (no, not cookies). And B really wants to play on the computer. THIS computer, not the other one, where Wubbzy is too slow. She is certainly a child of the 21st century. Good thing she has a cable modem instead of dial-up.

A New Venture

2008-05-21T18:11:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking about starting this blog for a loooooonnnnnnnggggg time. A year ago, I signed up for an account. Six months ago, I set up the layout. And today, I'm adding the first post. Why today? Lisa gave me the best reason to do this: so I'll have a record of my life with my young children. Too bad it took me a year to get it going.

Aside from my sore throat which will not go away, today has been a good day. The girls had their preschool picnic this morning. It was cold and rainy, so we didn't stay long, but they had a chance to say goodbye to Miss Michele (Miss JoAnn wasn't there). J is upset about finishing preschool. She doesn't want to go to a new school, have a new teacher, and make new friends. B, on the other hand, is very excited to move on. I'm surprised by this, because it's usually the other way around: J adapts better to new situations, while B likes to scope it out and learn all the angles first. They'll be in the same class next year, and going all day. It will be quite a change for all of us.

Anyhow....we picked up a few items at the grocery while waiting for my prescription. The girls were such good helpers. They unloaded the cart for me, and carried all the stuff into the house and put it away. It's a good thing J has a sharp memory. She remembers exactly where she's put everything. It's not where I usually keep things, which will be making life interesting for the next week or so. B will come and give me big hugs and kisses and ask if I need anything.

2 Kids+1 Cat+1 Husband=Complete Chaos

Winter

Mom's To Do List

In The Fall!

Fall

Back again!

Sleeping Beauties

Two Cuties

Yes, Virginia, there really IS a tabletop...

Turkeys

Julianna Can Tie

Child Labor

Still kicking

Waiting...

Just a few more days

Top 10 Bedtime Stories

What a weekend

Now don't get the wrong idea...

Miscellany

Signs of Spring

My sick little girls

Amazing Again!

Amazing!

My daughters, the artists

A Very Productive Winter

It was a cold and rainy night. No, seriously.

Christmas Pics

Too cute!

FIVE MORE DAYS!

Fall Pics

Playdate

Neighbors

What a weekend!

A fun afternoon ?!

SOSDD

As overheard this evening....

Home again!

First Day of School

Remember when?

Avoidance

Home Again

Erie Beach

Now I Can Die Happy

Trauma Update

B's Big Adventure

Knee High by the 4th of July

Craigslist

Procrastination 101

Rainy Day in P A

A New Day, A New Attitude

This is BORING!

A New Venture