Hubs and I have gotten some heat over the years since we decided to stay with the 1 1/2 child count. (Bailey, bless her, was a half baked baby.) There are folks who just don't go there because they know the details of what happened with Bailey. There are folks who frankly, just don't consider that.
K- came to us as an incredible blessing. My friend, Holly (the reason for K-'s existence in our family) sent me a link to a blog today. She said that she knew that we were a more than one child family, but thought the posting to be appropriate.
How right she was.
Days before Aunt Donna's death, she told me that, "You could have had more kids, you know." :tip of the head: "I talked with someone about it and they said that you could have had more, you just chose not to have more." :deep breath to contain anger at someone who didn't know me or the circumstances: "Well, we chose to stick with what the doctors and specialists in charge of my care told us to do. When asking the OB in charge of my care at that point what we would do if, God forbid, I would become pregnant again, she said, 'We'd do the best we could and pray.'" Really, there was someone out there telling my aunt that I could have more kids? I understand that my aunt wanted us to adopt more, but it didn't happen. We kept our foster parenting/adoptive license open for 4 years. At the 4 year point, we opted not to renew. That was a choice that took many months and piles of tears to make. It was a choice that we made for us-- for our family. We considered ourselves so blessed. We still do.
So there you have it. In regard to the number of children you have, you need to pray about it and do what is best for you.
To that I say, Amen.
Smiles in my day:
- Being involved in VBS. Though we are at a new church and have decided to go forward for membership, I felt my summer lacking without the hustle and bustle of being deeply entrenched in VBS. I helped to decorate today and have been put in charge of the missions project. My sister will be bringing her kids a few days this week and staying since she lives a ways out, and I am excited for her to check out a new church that may be a good fit for her and her family. We'll be working together as a team (as we normally do) and gathering/counting missions donations together. :)
- Rachael went to the doctor today and found out that her ankle required quite a bit of hardware. She'll be unstapled and casted next week. By my understanding, her healing seems to be on target, though her leg is a bit unsightly at this moment. (By what she says.) That goodness for good insurance and for folks talented enough to fix that stuff.
Have a great weekend!
Showing posts with label Bamily. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bamily. Show all posts
Friday, July 20, 2012
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Color me cautious and other bits of whatnot.
I've still been scanning the computer like a mad woman, because the wound is still a little raw from all of the uglies that I had to extract from my computer's interiors. Funny thing is that Avast popped up a virus update report today and had a survey for me to fill out. Gee, what do you think I did? Well golly, I told them exactly how much I loved their software not blocking potentially harmful things that nearly disabled our whole system. (I was nice and didn't swear, I promise.) I'm wondering what their response will be.
I still say that Ad-aware is my hero.
Onward! We're spending day with family today. My husband's sister and her family are in town, so we're going to go to an indoor exhibit that Hubs helped to put together, we'll cruise past his "home base" for work, then toodle on back to my in-law's. Then, we'll cruise on down the road to K-'s sib's house, hang with them for a while and go back to my MIL's for dinner. It's good for K- to be able to spend time with both hunks of family, as she doesn't get to see them often at all.
Tomorrow, we have a play date with friends and lunch, followed by a run past my cousin's house to drop K-'s little kid kitchen off (she is happy to donate it to E-, who will be one very soon), then onward to my sister's house for a tea party to make up for the cancellation of K-'s original family cake and ice cream fest.
Between both, my house will get a cleaning, not that it is really that out of sorts other than some gifts in weird places, as we haven't been her this week to mess it up. The bathroom, as always, needs a bit of love.
We're being an old couple and we're locking ourselves in for the weekend. They'll be lots of fat pants worn (AKA elastic waistband yoga or jogging pants) with games and movies and delicious something-or-anothers for eating. Hubs' only request when he found that we weren't otherwise obligated was, "Can we just stay home?" Absolutely!
So here's to hoping that all of you have a wonderful weekend and a grand new year!
I still say that Ad-aware is my hero.
Onward! We're spending day with family today. My husband's sister and her family are in town, so we're going to go to an indoor exhibit that Hubs helped to put together, we'll cruise past his "home base" for work, then toodle on back to my in-law's. Then, we'll cruise on down the road to K-'s sib's house, hang with them for a while and go back to my MIL's for dinner. It's good for K- to be able to spend time with both hunks of family, as she doesn't get to see them often at all.
Tomorrow, we have a play date with friends and lunch, followed by a run past my cousin's house to drop K-'s little kid kitchen off (she is happy to donate it to E-, who will be one very soon), then onward to my sister's house for a tea party to make up for the cancellation of K-'s original family cake and ice cream fest.
Between both, my house will get a cleaning, not that it is really that out of sorts other than some gifts in weird places, as we haven't been her this week to mess it up. The bathroom, as always, needs a bit of love.
We're being an old couple and we're locking ourselves in for the weekend. They'll be lots of fat pants worn (AKA elastic waistband yoga or jogging pants) with games and movies and delicious something-or-anothers for eating. Hubs' only request when he found that we weren't otherwise obligated was, "Can we just stay home?" Absolutely!
So here's to hoping that all of you have a wonderful weekend and a grand new year!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Family time and my friend that won a car.
I surprised K- this evening with a McD's play date with her family. We exchanged gifts for birthday or Christmas, the kids played for a couple of hours and we enjoyed hearing about how H-
WON A CAR FROM OPRAH!
Yes, she won a car from Oprah on one of the Favorite Things show this past fall. Can I tell you how extremely thrilled we are for her? H- was nominated as a hometown hero for her work with adoption. She's great at what she does. We have K- because of her and her husband. That alone deserves a car as a reward!
She scored some pretty fancy earrings, sparkly Ugg boots that make her giggle every time she wears them, an iPad (I played with it a little, but McD's had no WiFi!), a $500.00 gift card to Nordstrom's, a Coach bag, something about pot pie but I didn't get details. How can you really go wrong with pot pie, though? There's a set of brand new pans. A good set of brand new pans. I've seen H-'s pans. I may very well have helped to cook with them. Girlfriend needs a new set-- bad. She's been sharing a $150.00 tin of popcorn. K- has a very expensive snack awaiting her tomorrow.
H- deserves it. She deserves all of it.
The new car? Her current car has the window duct taped because the motor is broken and it is a $700.00 repair. She has a 22 mile drive to work. The little VW bug that she'll be getting will get great gas mileage.
K-? Her prize was her family. To her, that was worth more than the gifties that H- scored from Oprah.
Smiles in my day:
- Surprising K-.
- My work week is done. I'm not a fan of working sale. People have been very well behaved this year, though.
- Getting a resolution to the Saga of the Sauce (post below.) Though I'll be pitching the jar, perhaps the e-mail discussion that I had opened the owner's eyes to being a little kinder next time.
Have a great day!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The "dids" and the "learns" of NYC.
What we did:
Landed at LaGuardia at 8 AM Friday morning. Pilot said that we "got out by the skin of our teeth." Snow moved in and we accumulated a quickly melting inch here at the home front.
Took a cab to 49th Street and 5th Avenue. This is what is there. They didn't open until 10 AM and we still had about an hour.
We cruised on over to the Today Show. They were finished with their outdoor taping "on the plaza," but we were able to watch Al Roker and Ann Curry through the window as they recorded live. Kind of cool.
We were going to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. If K- would ice skate for more than 10 minutes, I would have found it to be a must-do.
We walked around in circles while looking for Dean and Deluca for breakfast and couldn't seem to find them. We stopped by the Magnolia Bakery at Rockefeller Center. K- had two delightful chocolate chip cookies for breakfast and I had a fantastic lemon bar. "Mommy, we normally don't have cookies for breakfast. This is just a special special for New York."
We walked to Nintendo World where I thought that my husband nearly died and went to heaven right at that spot. K- and I stood outside the door to eat our bakery before we went in. The guard kind of giggled when we came in and I asked if it was okay for us to walk around with our back packs. "Ma'am, there aren't any homeless people in here so I think you'll be okay." Of course, I was meaning that I didn't want him to think that I was going to haul out with half of the store, but he understood. He chuckled and appreciated my asking.
Finally, the time had come that AG was open. We walked up there, dropped our bags off at their coat check (thank you AG for such a kind service) and Hubs announced that he was going back to Nintendo World. AG isn't his thing. We split for an hour. He was able to have some time to really look and it gave K- ample time to choose her purchases. I can't find them on the website and I wonder if they were a New York thing only, but for her doll she got a coat, a set with a beret, scarf and mittens, a pair of ice skates (they are like wrestling a toddler into a newborn onesie) and a two piece bathing suit. By the time we got to the entrance door and I was dialing Hubs, he came on through.
We visited the Lego Store at Rockefeller Center. It was very neat and extremely crowded.
We decided to take a walk towards our hotel. We were all so hungry that we couldn't see straight. Hubs suggested that we stop here, as he saw a Starbuck's through the window glass. It was marked "Open to the public" so in we went. We had a lovely lunch downstairs. While we ate, they had belly dancers. It was a great teaching moment for me to share with K-, as she has occasionally asked if she was fat. I told her no, then seeing the belly dancers, it gave me an opportunity to point out that they looked like K-. They have a little bit of a Buddha baby belly just like she has but, "Look at them K-. Aren't they just beautiful? They are just a little squishy around the middle and look at their beautiful costumes and dancing. I think that they are wonderful. See, not everyone is teeny tiny but everyone has a beautiful body." She agreed and was pretty excited to see that.
We went for a long walk through Central Park. Just an absolutely delightful time. We cruised past the zoo on our way through. We enjoyed the drum guy, climbed rocks, saw Balto's statue, and since we have the stuffed Balto at the Cleveland Natural History Museum, it really meant something to K-. Hubs got himself a little turned around and we ended up right back where we started. I admit that I got slightly bent that we made a full loop and I was telling him that. (I have no sense of direction, so give me a little clap for realizing that we were going the opposite direction.) We had 45 minutes to make it to our hotel, but we counted the blocks and knew that we could make it.
We got to our hotel, dropped our bags and hauled off to our next destination. Friday nights are free nights from Target, but you have to stand in line. Y'all, the line was half way around an entire city block. The line went fast and they do allow everyone to get in. You have to get a ticket, though.
The art was wonderful. I had to laugh that my nieces who attend rather conservative Catholic school may be scarred. I believe that this art museum was their first experience in frontal nudity at all. There was much giggling going on with them. There was much horror on the face of my sister and brother-in-law. I shuttled the children on to the next thing. When discussing it with Hubs, he told his sister, "Well, what did you expect? You brought them to the Museum of MODERN Art." I kind of chuckled.
:insert note: K- is the daughter of an artist. She has been to many art museums and has seen many works involving nudity that have been done through the ages. Please don't think that is something that she encounters at home. She's just kind of used to that in a museum setting.
After, we moved on to some lights and glory of NYC. As crowded as it was, the people do keep a pretty good pace. My nieces stopped in at the Disney Store to purchase their souvenirs.
We hailed some cabs and Kristin called to order pizza on the way back to the hotel. It was funny that she dialed as we were driving, then neither one of us could recall the exact location. Hubs and Tom found it and the pizza was great!
Saturday took us to Battery Park where we waited for this. We had to go through an airport security style screening before entering the ferry. When we arrived, we had to go through another airport security style screening to enter the statue. We had pedestal tickets and we were quite thrilled. We were able to catch a ranger tour which taught us so many fascinating things.
Of course, everything in NYC generally takes a touch longer than what you'd imagine. We had tickets to a show and we had to get a move on. Kristin had plans for us to haul back to the room, get changed and cruise on down. We had to do it a bit faster than we had originally thought. It was all good.
On the way back to the room, we passed by this. There were no signs and nothing significant to mark the importance of the site. I admit, we missed it when we drove past the first time. I did catch some fly-by in a cab photos. While driving past, Kristin told us the story of how their friend Todd Weaver died in the south tower. He last spoke to his friend Andy and told him that the alarms had gone off, but they told them to stay.
I must tell you about the show. Oh. my. goodness. I admit that I'm not a musical kind of girl. Mary Poppins is one that I do love, though. It was so wonderful that I was in tears in the beginning. To be in a place to and have the opportunity to see such a production was just an experience that I'm glad that K- and I could share. My favorite part? Where Burt was suspended from upside down on a platform above the center of the stage singing, tap dancing with arms flipping around and everything while probably about 40 - 50 feet up. Wow. That is some talent.
After the show, we cruised back to the room. I changed back into my tennis shoes and we walked our route to see Kristin run the marathon. We made our plans and headed off to have dinner together. We went here. Everything is family style, so we shared meatballs, penne with a creamy tomato sauce, chicken parmesan, steamed broccoli and a mixed salad with a basket of mixed bread. We all left rather stuffed.
Sunday was race day. It was great that the clock went back to standard time. It gave Kristin an extra hour of sleep. Following someone running a marathon is no easy task. Somehow, 3 adults managed to miss her run past at mile 18. After a while, we realized that we had to have missed her. We cruised on and set off for mile 23. Hubs ran to catch up with her. Tom and the girls busted it to get there. K- was busy vomiting next to a fence in Harlem and we just missed her. She looked good, was running well and finished the race with a time of 4:08. K- and I took the long route back through Central Park and met up with Hubs and the family at the hotel. We ate some lunch, spent about an hour together and it was back to the airport for us.
After being seated in the second to last row in the bitty back of the plane with a continual buzz and my claustrophobic nerves completely shot, we arrived home at 9:30 PM to our little regional airport. Our wonderful neighbor Mike scooped us back up and deposited us back home at 10:00 PM.
Things we learned:
- You want to take the yellow cab only. The others are privately owned, not regulated and they can jack up the prices.
- Cab drivers will sometimes refuse to take you if you have children.
- Cab drivers will sometimes refuse to drive you to the airport.
- I watched the Jimmy Kimmel Trick or Treat with Cousin Sal so many times on taxi TV that I could probably recite it from memory.
- If you don't sit back in a cab and the cab driver must slam on his brakes (which they do often), you may smack your head into the plexi divider. My niece is okay.
- People are kind in the city.
- It is not a smoke-free city. Someone stood right behind K- while we were watching seals at the Central Park Zoo and light their cigarette. They were speaking a different language. My guess is that smoking right on top of small children in their country isn't frowned upon.
- People don't always wear sensible shoes in NYC.
- The subway was too confusing.
- NYC is a completely walkable town.
- Skating at Rockefeller Center would have been $50.00 for just me and K-. No thank you.
- We walked probably no less than 20 miles during our entire weekend. No kidding.
- I heard more languages than I've ever heard in my entire life.
- When the bike courier crashed on the road, the cab showed no mercy. He laid on his horn for the courier to get up.
- Pedicabs are $150.00 an hour.
- Carriage rides start at $50.00, I believe. We just kept thinking of the handsome cab on Seinfeld. RUSTY! We always yelled it and it never got old.
- I found that I could quickly hail a cab all by myself.
We learned much more than this, but I must go deal with the laundry that was generated from said trip.
Have a great day!
Landed at LaGuardia at 8 AM Friday morning. Pilot said that we "got out by the skin of our teeth." Snow moved in and we accumulated a quickly melting inch here at the home front.
Took a cab to 49th Street and 5th Avenue. This is what is there. They didn't open until 10 AM and we still had about an hour.
We cruised on over to the Today Show. They were finished with their outdoor taping "on the plaza," but we were able to watch Al Roker and Ann Curry through the window as they recorded live. Kind of cool.
We were going to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center. If K- would ice skate for more than 10 minutes, I would have found it to be a must-do.
We walked around in circles while looking for Dean and Deluca for breakfast and couldn't seem to find them. We stopped by the Magnolia Bakery at Rockefeller Center. K- had two delightful chocolate chip cookies for breakfast and I had a fantastic lemon bar. "Mommy, we normally don't have cookies for breakfast. This is just a special special for New York."
We walked to Nintendo World where I thought that my husband nearly died and went to heaven right at that spot. K- and I stood outside the door to eat our bakery before we went in. The guard kind of giggled when we came in and I asked if it was okay for us to walk around with our back packs. "Ma'am, there aren't any homeless people in here so I think you'll be okay." Of course, I was meaning that I didn't want him to think that I was going to haul out with half of the store, but he understood. He chuckled and appreciated my asking.
Finally, the time had come that AG was open. We walked up there, dropped our bags off at their coat check (thank you AG for such a kind service) and Hubs announced that he was going back to Nintendo World. AG isn't his thing. We split for an hour. He was able to have some time to really look and it gave K- ample time to choose her purchases. I can't find them on the website and I wonder if they were a New York thing only, but for her doll she got a coat, a set with a beret, scarf and mittens, a pair of ice skates (they are like wrestling a toddler into a newborn onesie) and a two piece bathing suit. By the time we got to the entrance door and I was dialing Hubs, he came on through.
We visited the Lego Store at Rockefeller Center. It was very neat and extremely crowded.
We decided to take a walk towards our hotel. We were all so hungry that we couldn't see straight. Hubs suggested that we stop here, as he saw a Starbuck's through the window glass. It was marked "Open to the public" so in we went. We had a lovely lunch downstairs. While we ate, they had belly dancers. It was a great teaching moment for me to share with K-, as she has occasionally asked if she was fat. I told her no, then seeing the belly dancers, it gave me an opportunity to point out that they looked like K-. They have a little bit of a Buddha baby belly just like she has but, "Look at them K-. Aren't they just beautiful? They are just a little squishy around the middle and look at their beautiful costumes and dancing. I think that they are wonderful. See, not everyone is teeny tiny but everyone has a beautiful body." She agreed and was pretty excited to see that.
We went for a long walk through Central Park. Just an absolutely delightful time. We cruised past the zoo on our way through. We enjoyed the drum guy, climbed rocks, saw Balto's statue, and since we have the stuffed Balto at the Cleveland Natural History Museum, it really meant something to K-. Hubs got himself a little turned around and we ended up right back where we started. I admit that I got slightly bent that we made a full loop and I was telling him that. (I have no sense of direction, so give me a little clap for realizing that we were going the opposite direction.) We had 45 minutes to make it to our hotel, but we counted the blocks and knew that we could make it.
We got to our hotel, dropped our bags and hauled off to our next destination. Friday nights are free nights from Target, but you have to stand in line. Y'all, the line was half way around an entire city block. The line went fast and they do allow everyone to get in. You have to get a ticket, though.
The art was wonderful. I had to laugh that my nieces who attend rather conservative Catholic school may be scarred. I believe that this art museum was their first experience in frontal nudity at all. There was much giggling going on with them. There was much horror on the face of my sister and brother-in-law. I shuttled the children on to the next thing. When discussing it with Hubs, he told his sister, "Well, what did you expect? You brought them to the Museum of MODERN Art." I kind of chuckled.
:insert note: K- is the daughter of an artist. She has been to many art museums and has seen many works involving nudity that have been done through the ages. Please don't think that is something that she encounters at home. She's just kind of used to that in a museum setting.
After, we moved on to some lights and glory of NYC. As crowded as it was, the people do keep a pretty good pace. My nieces stopped in at the Disney Store to purchase their souvenirs.
We hailed some cabs and Kristin called to order pizza on the way back to the hotel. It was funny that she dialed as we were driving, then neither one of us could recall the exact location. Hubs and Tom found it and the pizza was great!
Saturday took us to Battery Park where we waited for this. We had to go through an airport security style screening before entering the ferry. When we arrived, we had to go through another airport security style screening to enter the statue. We had pedestal tickets and we were quite thrilled. We were able to catch a ranger tour which taught us so many fascinating things.
Of course, everything in NYC generally takes a touch longer than what you'd imagine. We had tickets to a show and we had to get a move on. Kristin had plans for us to haul back to the room, get changed and cruise on down. We had to do it a bit faster than we had originally thought. It was all good.
On the way back to the room, we passed by this. There were no signs and nothing significant to mark the importance of the site. I admit, we missed it when we drove past the first time. I did catch some fly-by in a cab photos. While driving past, Kristin told us the story of how their friend Todd Weaver died in the south tower. He last spoke to his friend Andy and told him that the alarms had gone off, but they told them to stay.
I must tell you about the show. Oh. my. goodness. I admit that I'm not a musical kind of girl. Mary Poppins is one that I do love, though. It was so wonderful that I was in tears in the beginning. To be in a place to and have the opportunity to see such a production was just an experience that I'm glad that K- and I could share. My favorite part? Where Burt was suspended from upside down on a platform above the center of the stage singing, tap dancing with arms flipping around and everything while probably about 40 - 50 feet up. Wow. That is some talent.
After the show, we cruised back to the room. I changed back into my tennis shoes and we walked our route to see Kristin run the marathon. We made our plans and headed off to have dinner together. We went here. Everything is family style, so we shared meatballs, penne with a creamy tomato sauce, chicken parmesan, steamed broccoli and a mixed salad with a basket of mixed bread. We all left rather stuffed.
Sunday was race day. It was great that the clock went back to standard time. It gave Kristin an extra hour of sleep. Following someone running a marathon is no easy task. Somehow, 3 adults managed to miss her run past at mile 18. After a while, we realized that we had to have missed her. We cruised on and set off for mile 23. Hubs ran to catch up with her. Tom and the girls busted it to get there. K- was busy vomiting next to a fence in Harlem and we just missed her. She looked good, was running well and finished the race with a time of 4:08. K- and I took the long route back through Central Park and met up with Hubs and the family at the hotel. We ate some lunch, spent about an hour together and it was back to the airport for us.
After being seated in the second to last row in the bitty back of the plane with a continual buzz and my claustrophobic nerves completely shot, we arrived home at 9:30 PM to our little regional airport. Our wonderful neighbor Mike scooped us back up and deposited us back home at 10:00 PM.
Things we learned:
- You want to take the yellow cab only. The others are privately owned, not regulated and they can jack up the prices.
- Cab drivers will sometimes refuse to take you if you have children.
- Cab drivers will sometimes refuse to drive you to the airport.
- I watched the Jimmy Kimmel Trick or Treat with Cousin Sal so many times on taxi TV that I could probably recite it from memory.
- If you don't sit back in a cab and the cab driver must slam on his brakes (which they do often), you may smack your head into the plexi divider. My niece is okay.
- People are kind in the city.
- It is not a smoke-free city. Someone stood right behind K- while we were watching seals at the Central Park Zoo and light their cigarette. They were speaking a different language. My guess is that smoking right on top of small children in their country isn't frowned upon.
- People don't always wear sensible shoes in NYC.
- The subway was too confusing.
- NYC is a completely walkable town.
- Skating at Rockefeller Center would have been $50.00 for just me and K-. No thank you.
- We walked probably no less than 20 miles during our entire weekend. No kidding.
- I heard more languages than I've ever heard in my entire life.
- When the bike courier crashed on the road, the cab showed no mercy. He laid on his horn for the courier to get up.
- Pedicabs are $150.00 an hour.
- Carriage rides start at $50.00, I believe. We just kept thinking of the handsome cab on Seinfeld. RUSTY! We always yelled it and it never got old.
- I found that I could quickly hail a cab all by myself.
We learned much more than this, but I must go deal with the laundry that was generated from said trip.
Have a great day!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Bailey's Leaf does NYC
We've been.
We're back.
We're tired.
We are in love.
NYC was that and more. Truly, tales that will take many posts to tell. Right now, I'm transferring 459 photos.
Why were we in NYC? My sister-in-law is a marathon runner. She has run Chicago twice, Boston once and now NYC. She and my brother-in-law were kind enough to haul us along on their adventure.
The important stuff to know is that she finished with a time of 4:08. She would have finished sooner, but she had to make a bathroom stop. We missed her at mile 18, but the family hoofed it, Hubs was able to catch up with her and Tom and the girls were able to see them both run by. Where were K- and I? Well, my daughter was having a reflux moment against a fence in Harlem. Ah, yes. Fine moments in life. Though she grossed some people out, she did what she needed to do and bounced right back with running. We made it just after Kristin ran past.
Drat.
Truly though, the vital people got there.
Hubs was pulled a quarter mile away from the finish. He called me. We had broken away from Tom and the girls and K- and I were on a leisurely hike through Central Park on our own. We hiked over rocks, around fences and through the Central Park Zoo. It took us several blocks, but I was able to hail a cab and get back to the hotel.
Here? It snowed while I was gone. I am sad that I missed our very first snowfall.
With that, I promise that there are lots and many of pictures. I also promise that this is the week that my 12 hour days start until Christmas is fully displayed at work. Once again, I will be a little scarce, but I promise, me and my tired body are around.
But hey, what do I have to complain about? I didn't just run 26.2 miles.
Have a great week!
We're back.
We're tired.
We are in love.
NYC was that and more. Truly, tales that will take many posts to tell. Right now, I'm transferring 459 photos.
Why were we in NYC? My sister-in-law is a marathon runner. She has run Chicago twice, Boston once and now NYC. She and my brother-in-law were kind enough to haul us along on their adventure.
The important stuff to know is that she finished with a time of 4:08. She would have finished sooner, but she had to make a bathroom stop. We missed her at mile 18, but the family hoofed it, Hubs was able to catch up with her and Tom and the girls were able to see them both run by. Where were K- and I? Well, my daughter was having a reflux moment against a fence in Harlem. Ah, yes. Fine moments in life. Though she grossed some people out, she did what she needed to do and bounced right back with running. We made it just after Kristin ran past.
Drat.
Truly though, the vital people got there.
Hubs was pulled a quarter mile away from the finish. He called me. We had broken away from Tom and the girls and K- and I were on a leisurely hike through Central Park on our own. We hiked over rocks, around fences and through the Central Park Zoo. It took us several blocks, but I was able to hail a cab and get back to the hotel.
Here? It snowed while I was gone. I am sad that I missed our very first snowfall.
With that, I promise that there are lots and many of pictures. I also promise that this is the week that my 12 hour days start until Christmas is fully displayed at work. Once again, I will be a little scarce, but I promise, me and my tired body are around.
But hey, what do I have to complain about? I didn't just run 26.2 miles.
Have a great week!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tales from the Trenches: A good lesson in a sparsely populated public pool.
We had a really great weekend. Much time was spent involving sprinklers, swimming pools, bottles of water and a lot of sun exposure.
Folks, SPF 45 tamed it, but didn't completely keep from sun tan.
Anyhow, we were able to spend Sunday with my husband's family. My sister-in-law was in town to run the local 5.25 run (Hey, Janeen! We looked for you!). The run was in the AM, after which we went to a local diner for breakfast.
I've never sat at the counter. It was a great FRESH food diner and the food was wonderful. K- had a pancake the size of her plate.
At any rate, after the run and breakfast, we took the girls to swim for a while. They had a great time playing together. It was a small housing development public pool, so it wasn't overrun by folks. It is where my brother-in-law's parents live, and they even came down to visit, and brought snacks and towels.
We were all sitting talking about this and that and I was keeping my eye on K- and the girls. The girls have a bit more swimming experience than K-, but with 3 seasons of the local university's swimming lessons under her belt, she does just fine.
Still . . .
They ended up with floatie raft thing. It was inflated around the outside rings, but the inside rings weren't inflated. K- was on it. They were laughing and having a great time. They ended up at our end of the pool, about 8 feet from the edge and I noticed my niece putting the float over K-'s head. I could tell that she wasn't doing anything maliciously and clearly, she was just playing.
K- yelled. She went down. Arms were flailing. The float got moved and K- was okay.
Rinse and repeat a time again.
I could tell that it was exhausting K-.
I could see her face. She was getting terrified. I knew that my niece couldn't see it, though. Again, she was just playing. My daughter wasn't.
I don't even know what we were talking about, but I got up and stepped onto the top step of the pool. I didn't yell. It didn't even occur to me to yell. I think that my starting to come into the pool fully clothed made my niece stop and look strange at me long enough for me to ask K- if she was okay.
Y'all, two more seconds and I was diving in. I didn't care about the clothes.
I brought K- over to the steps. "Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Were you scared?"
"Yes."
"You were yelling. Were you yelling Mom?"
"No, I was yelling no. She didn't listen to me!" (My niece was giggling so much that I don't think that she actually heard K-.)
I praised K-. I told her that she did exactly everything right. I told her that all of her swimming lessons really helped her. Still, the incident scared her and will be with her forever.
Still, can I tell you how badly I wanted to have her sit in my lap and how much I wanted to cry right then and there? Family was there and would have thought I was a nut. We sat on a lounge chair and talked some more. She snuggled up next to me. I hugged her. I kissed her head. It still brings me to tears, though.
A similar incident happened to me when Hubs and I were dating. We were at a local water park. We had these thick foamy floats to slide down from one "puddle" to the other. The last one, big enough for 3 people, was a bit deeper than the rest. Hubs went down, then I came down after him. I got caught up under his float. He knew I came down. So did the "puddle guard," but they didn't see me. The more I pushed up to get out from under the float, the more he pushed it down. He thought it was the flow of water, not me. With one last push, I gave everything I had and flipped the float from out from under his arm. "Where have you been?" "Stuck under your float!"
It sounds like an old story we've all heard this time of year. It happened so fast. It really did. There was no life guard, so it was up the the parents on the perimeter of the pool to keep track. My niece truly meant no harm at all.
We've been gifted a public pool pass. This incident just confirms that I will not be sitting pool side leisurely reading. I will not be paying attention to others and chatting it up while my child is playing in the pool with others. Oh, I'll be talking to people, I'm sure. I will keep a constant eye on K-, though. I've decided to make an unwritten list of rules. Feel free to add to them.
1. Life guards are NOT babysitters. I understand that life guards are there for safety, but it is YOUR responsibility to be watching your child/ren. They are your back-up, not your primary. It is up to you to tend to their needs, be mindful that what they are doing is safe and to keep tabs on them.
If you need to go to the bathroom, pull the kids from the pool and take them with you. They probably need the break anyhow. None of us want them depositing waste (liquid or otherwise) in the pool anyhow.
Need a snack from the pool side snack bar? Take the kids out and have them sit in the chairs. Seem unreasonable? Too bad. Your sight won't be 100% on them and it is up to you to monitor them.
Need something from the car? Don't send the kids (the younger, though you can figure who is old enough in your crowd). Weird folks like to watch lovely young children, and not in a babysitting kind of way. Pull the kids from the pool and have them come with you. Is it a bother? Maybe. Are they safe? Absolutely.
2. Floaties in public pools are dangerous. I know that the kids are sometimes irritated that they can't bring their favorite floaties to the pool. I now understand why. First, it can give a false sense of security to a swimmer that may not be that good. It may give the parent/s a false sense of security as well. Secondly, someone can get caught up underneath in just a millisecond and no one would know. You cannot see them. The noise of a public pool setting would make it so that you couldn't hear them. Keep the floaties at home.
3. Don't run around the pool for a reason. Bare feet, flip flops, Croc's or otherwise. It isn't a good idea. Kids and people alike can slip and crack their head. They can knock an unsuspecting person in. It isn't good and not safe.
4. No food in the pool. That's just plain gross. Believe me, I saw kids eating while at K-'s swimming lessons. Going in with a pretzel in hand may not seem like a big deal, but they lose track of what they are doing and can choke. (Not to mention mooshy food floating by.)
5. If your kid is sick, stay home. None of us want it. Sadly, the public pool is basically like a giant petri dish with a little bit of chlorine added. Keep that in mind.
6. Don't take more children than you feel you can reasonably handle. Each child does not need to take a buddy along. There will be plenty of kids at the pool to play with.
I'm sure I missed a lot. Feel free to add. Any public pool pet peeves that you would like people to discontinue?
Smiles in my long weekend:
- Spending a lovely day with Hubs' family.
- Working on the yard with Hubs and getting him in at the first crack of lightning. Sure, he had decided to ditch our boating plans for Memorial Day, but that wasn't such a bad thing. Turned out that it came in a lot sooner than we thought. The dust from the ball fields left us in a haze of dirt. It was bizarre.
- Weeding today, though it feels as though it will never ever end. Well, it will when the snow flies. (I'm not completely complaining, but I guess I am.)
- The last week of school.
- Simple, summer food meals.
- K- making a car out of a box from a case of Sam's Club toilet paper. She put her stool on the inside, taped cups on for lights, plates on for wheels and buttons and had herself a grand ole time.
- I managed to get K-'s Kindergarten binder done, though I confess the need to purchase a larger binder. When she was in preschool, they gave a binder every year of all kinds of things that they had done and papers she had. I want to continue that through the years. I had kept a basket of papers on the end of the kitchen table. I went through it periodically, though not as often as I would have liked, to weed out the non-keepers. In her binder, I always begin with the class picture that year. I have all of her interim reports and the matching report cards. She has certificates in there, too. I put a select number of art projects throughout the year (folded, but still . . .), as well as a number of papers. I'm not a scrap booker. Sorry, but it bores me to tears. The binder with plastic sheets may not be as fancy, but it does what I need it to. I left a few pages blank so that I can add in the last few days of her year. I can't believe I actually got it done! I didn't think I had the plastic sheets for it, but I found them squirreled away in an awaiting binder.
Have a wonderful day!
Folks, SPF 45 tamed it, but didn't completely keep from sun tan.
Anyhow, we were able to spend Sunday with my husband's family. My sister-in-law was in town to run the local 5.25 run (Hey, Janeen! We looked for you!). The run was in the AM, after which we went to a local diner for breakfast.
I've never sat at the counter. It was a great FRESH food diner and the food was wonderful. K- had a pancake the size of her plate.
At any rate, after the run and breakfast, we took the girls to swim for a while. They had a great time playing together. It was a small housing development public pool, so it wasn't overrun by folks. It is where my brother-in-law's parents live, and they even came down to visit, and brought snacks and towels.
We were all sitting talking about this and that and I was keeping my eye on K- and the girls. The girls have a bit more swimming experience than K-, but with 3 seasons of the local university's swimming lessons under her belt, she does just fine.
Still . . .
They ended up with floatie raft thing. It was inflated around the outside rings, but the inside rings weren't inflated. K- was on it. They were laughing and having a great time. They ended up at our end of the pool, about 8 feet from the edge and I noticed my niece putting the float over K-'s head. I could tell that she wasn't doing anything maliciously and clearly, she was just playing.
K- yelled. She went down. Arms were flailing. The float got moved and K- was okay.
Rinse and repeat a time again.
I could tell that it was exhausting K-.
I could see her face. She was getting terrified. I knew that my niece couldn't see it, though. Again, she was just playing. My daughter wasn't.
I don't even know what we were talking about, but I got up and stepped onto the top step of the pool. I didn't yell. It didn't even occur to me to yell. I think that my starting to come into the pool fully clothed made my niece stop and look strange at me long enough for me to ask K- if she was okay.
Y'all, two more seconds and I was diving in. I didn't care about the clothes.
I brought K- over to the steps. "Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Were you scared?"
"Yes."
"You were yelling. Were you yelling Mom?"
"No, I was yelling no. She didn't listen to me!" (My niece was giggling so much that I don't think that she actually heard K-.)
I praised K-. I told her that she did exactly everything right. I told her that all of her swimming lessons really helped her. Still, the incident scared her and will be with her forever.
Still, can I tell you how badly I wanted to have her sit in my lap and how much I wanted to cry right then and there? Family was there and would have thought I was a nut. We sat on a lounge chair and talked some more. She snuggled up next to me. I hugged her. I kissed her head. It still brings me to tears, though.
A similar incident happened to me when Hubs and I were dating. We were at a local water park. We had these thick foamy floats to slide down from one "puddle" to the other. The last one, big enough for 3 people, was a bit deeper than the rest. Hubs went down, then I came down after him. I got caught up under his float. He knew I came down. So did the "puddle guard," but they didn't see me. The more I pushed up to get out from under the float, the more he pushed it down. He thought it was the flow of water, not me. With one last push, I gave everything I had and flipped the float from out from under his arm. "Where have you been?" "Stuck under your float!"
It sounds like an old story we've all heard this time of year. It happened so fast. It really did. There was no life guard, so it was up the the parents on the perimeter of the pool to keep track. My niece truly meant no harm at all.
We've been gifted a public pool pass. This incident just confirms that I will not be sitting pool side leisurely reading. I will not be paying attention to others and chatting it up while my child is playing in the pool with others. Oh, I'll be talking to people, I'm sure. I will keep a constant eye on K-, though. I've decided to make an unwritten list of rules. Feel free to add to them.
1. Life guards are NOT babysitters. I understand that life guards are there for safety, but it is YOUR responsibility to be watching your child/ren. They are your back-up, not your primary. It is up to you to tend to their needs, be mindful that what they are doing is safe and to keep tabs on them.
If you need to go to the bathroom, pull the kids from the pool and take them with you. They probably need the break anyhow. None of us want them depositing waste (liquid or otherwise) in the pool anyhow.
Need a snack from the pool side snack bar? Take the kids out and have them sit in the chairs. Seem unreasonable? Too bad. Your sight won't be 100% on them and it is up to you to monitor them.
Need something from the car? Don't send the kids (the younger, though you can figure who is old enough in your crowd). Weird folks like to watch lovely young children, and not in a babysitting kind of way. Pull the kids from the pool and have them come with you. Is it a bother? Maybe. Are they safe? Absolutely.
2. Floaties in public pools are dangerous. I know that the kids are sometimes irritated that they can't bring their favorite floaties to the pool. I now understand why. First, it can give a false sense of security to a swimmer that may not be that good. It may give the parent/s a false sense of security as well. Secondly, someone can get caught up underneath in just a millisecond and no one would know. You cannot see them. The noise of a public pool setting would make it so that you couldn't hear them. Keep the floaties at home.
3. Don't run around the pool for a reason. Bare feet, flip flops, Croc's or otherwise. It isn't a good idea. Kids and people alike can slip and crack their head. They can knock an unsuspecting person in. It isn't good and not safe.
4. No food in the pool. That's just plain gross. Believe me, I saw kids eating while at K-'s swimming lessons. Going in with a pretzel in hand may not seem like a big deal, but they lose track of what they are doing and can choke. (Not to mention mooshy food floating by.)
5. If your kid is sick, stay home. None of us want it. Sadly, the public pool is basically like a giant petri dish with a little bit of chlorine added. Keep that in mind.
6. Don't take more children than you feel you can reasonably handle. Each child does not need to take a buddy along. There will be plenty of kids at the pool to play with.
I'm sure I missed a lot. Feel free to add. Any public pool pet peeves that you would like people to discontinue?
Smiles in my long weekend:
- Spending a lovely day with Hubs' family.
- Working on the yard with Hubs and getting him in at the first crack of lightning. Sure, he had decided to ditch our boating plans for Memorial Day, but that wasn't such a bad thing. Turned out that it came in a lot sooner than we thought. The dust from the ball fields left us in a haze of dirt. It was bizarre.
- Weeding today, though it feels as though it will never ever end. Well, it will when the snow flies. (I'm not completely complaining, but I guess I am.)
- The last week of school.
- Simple, summer food meals.
- K- making a car out of a box from a case of Sam's Club toilet paper. She put her stool on the inside, taped cups on for lights, plates on for wheels and buttons and had herself a grand ole time.
- I managed to get K-'s Kindergarten binder done, though I confess the need to purchase a larger binder. When she was in preschool, they gave a binder every year of all kinds of things that they had done and papers she had. I want to continue that through the years. I had kept a basket of papers on the end of the kitchen table. I went through it periodically, though not as often as I would have liked, to weed out the non-keepers. In her binder, I always begin with the class picture that year. I have all of her interim reports and the matching report cards. She has certificates in there, too. I put a select number of art projects throughout the year (folded, but still . . .), as well as a number of papers. I'm not a scrap booker. Sorry, but it bores me to tears. The binder with plastic sheets may not be as fancy, but it does what I need it to. I left a few pages blank so that I can add in the last few days of her year. I can't believe I actually got it done! I didn't think I had the plastic sheets for it, but I found them squirreled away in an awaiting binder.
Have a wonderful day!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Family first.
On the Biggest Loser, Sam and Koli always said, "Family first." You know, they are right.
When I was growing up, we were always with our cousins. We went back and forth, spending the night, having birthday parties, the big 4th of July blow-out, Memorial Day picnic and so forth.
A couple of weeks ago, we went to my cousin's daughters birthday. While I was there, my cousin Jenny asked, "So, when is K-'s birthday?"
"December 20."
"Make sure you let us know when her party is. We want to be certain to bring our kids up with the same cousin relationship that we had."
Boy, I felt bad. She didn't mean it that way, though. I explained that we didn't invite for a few reasons, but mainly because of K-'s birthday being December 20, I didn't want them to think that I was a present hog. Presents aren't necessary. She understood completely, but I appreciate her bringing it up.
LeAnne, my sister, has had a festival of birthday parties going on. My nephew's birthday is May 16. My niece laid birth claim to May 20. For the last two weekends, we've been partying on Sundays at my sister's house. This weekend we get a break (my SIL is in town, so we'll be with her), then we have two more. Her partner's daughter has a birthday June 9. My other niece is June 10. Each child is getting their own special birthday weekend. Why? Because my sister and I have birthdays three days apart. One year was one kid, the next year was the other. What did we get? School clothes in boxes. Everyone got what we got, but we got them wrapped up.
It kind of bummed us out. We were poor, though. Mom did the best that she could. Still, that is the main reason why my husband has declared gift giving holidays in our home to be frivilous items only. "If you want underwear, go buy them." Now, he has bought me jammies, a fleece sweat shirt and a nice sweater (because they were on my list), but he really only buys what could be termed as optional items.
Because of our birthdays, we are very birthday particular.
My point is, it's a lot of time to set aside every weekend. It is a chunk of at least 4 hours dedicated to just partyness.
Hubs and I talked last night at length. At first he thought it was a bit overkill, but I explained to him that if I had an opportunity to have K- spend some time with her cousins, I go out of my way to try to make it happen. I wouldn't consider otherwise. We want the kids to grow up together and not just in passing.
This weekend, my sister-in-law will be in town to run a 5k or 10k. (She's a marathon runner.) She'll be bringing her girls along. Where I admit that watching someone run is sometimes not the most exciting activity, we wouldn't consider not going. They all live in Chicago, so K- doesn't get the time with them that she does with her other cousins. We try to make the most that we can with the time that we get with them.
Hubs was close to his cousins. I was and am still very close to mine.
Family is a blessing that we believe she absolutely be cherished. We don't stand on formality. On my side of the family, we divide and conquer when it comes to the kids. We put kids in time-out if needed (if you were the one to see it, just deal with it), we bandage boo-boo's, issue hugs and referee. (Though that is an extremely rare occurrence.) We're not physical punishment people and know that each of us isn't going to go overboard.
I love that we co-parent when we're together.
So, we look toward a long weekend of family time together. May you be blessed with the same.
Smiles in my day:
- Figuring out the cause of the apparent humming migraine that I have. Now, if I can continue to keep it under control instead of having it roll back and forth, I'd be in business.
- Comfy summer dresses and being thankful enough that the weather is nice enough to enjoy them.
- A beautifully sunny day and sheets on the line.
- My sister and I working in force at the grocery to get her list handled.
- Hubs actually continuing to feel better after his funk last week.
- K- walking to school, holding my hand.
- My brother, Dumpy, has an extra 3/4 yard of black mulch and offered it to us. How wonderful! He doesn't even want anything for it. We needed some, but hadn't been able to get any delivered yet. So thoughtful!
Taking a bloggy break 'til Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
When I was growing up, we were always with our cousins. We went back and forth, spending the night, having birthday parties, the big 4th of July blow-out, Memorial Day picnic and so forth.
A couple of weeks ago, we went to my cousin's daughters birthday. While I was there, my cousin Jenny asked, "So, when is K-'s birthday?"
"December 20."
"Make sure you let us know when her party is. We want to be certain to bring our kids up with the same cousin relationship that we had."
Boy, I felt bad. She didn't mean it that way, though. I explained that we didn't invite for a few reasons, but mainly because of K-'s birthday being December 20, I didn't want them to think that I was a present hog. Presents aren't necessary. She understood completely, but I appreciate her bringing it up.
LeAnne, my sister, has had a festival of birthday parties going on. My nephew's birthday is May 16. My niece laid birth claim to May 20. For the last two weekends, we've been partying on Sundays at my sister's house. This weekend we get a break (my SIL is in town, so we'll be with her), then we have two more. Her partner's daughter has a birthday June 9. My other niece is June 10. Each child is getting their own special birthday weekend. Why? Because my sister and I have birthdays three days apart. One year was one kid, the next year was the other. What did we get? School clothes in boxes. Everyone got what we got, but we got them wrapped up.
It kind of bummed us out. We were poor, though. Mom did the best that she could. Still, that is the main reason why my husband has declared gift giving holidays in our home to be frivilous items only. "If you want underwear, go buy them." Now, he has bought me jammies, a fleece sweat shirt and a nice sweater (because they were on my list), but he really only buys what could be termed as optional items.
Because of our birthdays, we are very birthday particular.
My point is, it's a lot of time to set aside every weekend. It is a chunk of at least 4 hours dedicated to just partyness.
Hubs and I talked last night at length. At first he thought it was a bit overkill, but I explained to him that if I had an opportunity to have K- spend some time with her cousins, I go out of my way to try to make it happen. I wouldn't consider otherwise. We want the kids to grow up together and not just in passing.
This weekend, my sister-in-law will be in town to run a 5k or 10k. (She's a marathon runner.) She'll be bringing her girls along. Where I admit that watching someone run is sometimes not the most exciting activity, we wouldn't consider not going. They all live in Chicago, so K- doesn't get the time with them that she does with her other cousins. We try to make the most that we can with the time that we get with them.
Hubs was close to his cousins. I was and am still very close to mine.
Family is a blessing that we believe she absolutely be cherished. We don't stand on formality. On my side of the family, we divide and conquer when it comes to the kids. We put kids in time-out if needed (if you were the one to see it, just deal with it), we bandage boo-boo's, issue hugs and referee. (Though that is an extremely rare occurrence.) We're not physical punishment people and know that each of us isn't going to go overboard.
I love that we co-parent when we're together.
So, we look toward a long weekend of family time together. May you be blessed with the same.
Smiles in my day:
- Figuring out the cause of the apparent humming migraine that I have. Now, if I can continue to keep it under control instead of having it roll back and forth, I'd be in business.
- Comfy summer dresses and being thankful enough that the weather is nice enough to enjoy them.
- A beautifully sunny day and sheets on the line.
- My sister and I working in force at the grocery to get her list handled.
- Hubs actually continuing to feel better after his funk last week.
- K- walking to school, holding my hand.
- My brother, Dumpy, has an extra 3/4 yard of black mulch and offered it to us. How wonderful! He doesn't even want anything for it. We needed some, but hadn't been able to get any delivered yet. So thoughtful!
Taking a bloggy break 'til Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
Monday, January 4, 2010
And on the 8th day, God made cannoli.
"Cannoli filled fresh while you wait."
I admit that K- was the one that spotted them. Deliciously crisp shells with chocolate dipped ends wrapped around the most delightful filling and dipped in chocolate chips.
Angels sang Hallelujah!
God smiled. His work was good.
I admit that the only knowledge that K- and I about cannoli was that Curious George would do just about anything for Chef Piscetti's cannoli. In fact, there was an episode where Chef Piscetti was so upset about his damaged restaurant booths that he just couldn't bring himself to make cannoli. Curious George solved the mystery and the Chef rewarded him with cannoli.
Getting back to the real cannoli, my mother grew up in an Italian neighborhood and she said that the cannoli I bought from the West Side Market in Cleveland were the absolute best cannoli she had ever had.
Yum.
And yes, the cannoli were that good that they deserved an entire post.
Smiles in my weekend:
- Taking my parents to A Christmas Story House, the West Side Market, The Avenue at Tower City Center, The Hard Rock Cafe (Cleveland), Public Square, a driving tour of the lake shore, past the Rock Hall, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Rockefeller Park, University Circle and the Cleveland Museum of Art. My parents are kind of bumpkins that don't travel north, so all these places were new to them. We took them to celebrate my father's upcoming leap year (no, it isn't a leap year) birthday. My dad is a mechanic, so I have a hard time thinking of gifts to give to him.
- Going with K- to play with a few of her siblings today. She had so much fun!
- Hubs dismantled Christmas today. While K- and I went to church, Hubs stayed home and freed the house from our Christmas lights in the 7 degree heat. While we were gone visiting with K-'s family, Hubs took the Christmas tree down, as well as all of the miscellaneous bits of Christmas we had everywhere. I love Christmas, but I admit that this year we were all ready to see it get stowed away.
- Hubs, K- and me working together on New Year's Day to organize Barbie paraphernalia into containers and so forth. We all worked together to reorganize the play area. Hubs was even able to run a refurb on the Barbie party bus (or whatever the thing is called) so now it doesn't just fall apart when you open it. (My advice, never buy it. Mattel cut major corners and it is just not a quality item.) He screwed the shower head in, velcro'd tables up, glued side mirrors on and put batteries in so that the party bus plays the Barbie party music.
- Ironing all of the clean uniform parts that I had for K-. All of the ironing is done for the week.
- Over break, K- and I reached the 300 mark on the 100 book challenge list and we are on our way to 350. I would like to reach 400 before the end of the grading period, which is January 15. Yes, I realize that I have a week and a half, but I have a goal of 200 book lines (15 minutes per line) per grading period. Though the school only requires 100 book lines per grading period, we love reading together and K- likes to earn the prizes offered. Not a bad kid goal to have!
I must shove off. 6:45 AM comes early and we've been slackers at getting up early. We've been sleeping in and I'm certain that the morning will be a bit of a tussle to get up and going.
Have a great week!
I admit that K- was the one that spotted them. Deliciously crisp shells with chocolate dipped ends wrapped around the most delightful filling and dipped in chocolate chips.
Angels sang Hallelujah!
God smiled. His work was good.
I admit that the only knowledge that K- and I about cannoli was that Curious George would do just about anything for Chef Piscetti's cannoli. In fact, there was an episode where Chef Piscetti was so upset about his damaged restaurant booths that he just couldn't bring himself to make cannoli. Curious George solved the mystery and the Chef rewarded him with cannoli.
Getting back to the real cannoli, my mother grew up in an Italian neighborhood and she said that the cannoli I bought from the West Side Market in Cleveland were the absolute best cannoli she had ever had.
Yum.
And yes, the cannoli were that good that they deserved an entire post.
Smiles in my weekend:
- Taking my parents to A Christmas Story House, the West Side Market, The Avenue at Tower City Center, The Hard Rock Cafe (Cleveland), Public Square, a driving tour of the lake shore, past the Rock Hall, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Rockefeller Park, University Circle and the Cleveland Museum of Art. My parents are kind of bumpkins that don't travel north, so all these places were new to them. We took them to celebrate my father's upcoming leap year (no, it isn't a leap year) birthday. My dad is a mechanic, so I have a hard time thinking of gifts to give to him.
- Going with K- to play with a few of her siblings today. She had so much fun!
- Hubs dismantled Christmas today. While K- and I went to church, Hubs stayed home and freed the house from our Christmas lights in the 7 degree heat. While we were gone visiting with K-'s family, Hubs took the Christmas tree down, as well as all of the miscellaneous bits of Christmas we had everywhere. I love Christmas, but I admit that this year we were all ready to see it get stowed away.
- Hubs, K- and me working together on New Year's Day to organize Barbie paraphernalia into containers and so forth. We all worked together to reorganize the play area. Hubs was even able to run a refurb on the Barbie party bus (or whatever the thing is called) so now it doesn't just fall apart when you open it. (My advice, never buy it. Mattel cut major corners and it is just not a quality item.) He screwed the shower head in, velcro'd tables up, glued side mirrors on and put batteries in so that the party bus plays the Barbie party music.
- Ironing all of the clean uniform parts that I had for K-. All of the ironing is done for the week.
- Over break, K- and I reached the 300 mark on the 100 book challenge list and we are on our way to 350. I would like to reach 400 before the end of the grading period, which is January 15. Yes, I realize that I have a week and a half, but I have a goal of 200 book lines (15 minutes per line) per grading period. Though the school only requires 100 book lines per grading period, we love reading together and K- likes to earn the prizes offered. Not a bad kid goal to have!
I must shove off. 6:45 AM comes early and we've been slackers at getting up early. We've been sleeping in and I'm certain that the morning will be a bit of a tussle to get up and going.
Have a great week!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Things I've learned not to tell my kid.
Through the years, we've learned different ways that K- copes with things. If she knows something is coming up like a doctor's appointment, she'll get very anxious and obnoxious. That is why though we signed K- up for speech therapy (to ditch the cute "bamily" thing among other mispronunciations), we chose not to tell her. Why do I tell you this? Because my mom did the same thing to me when I was in the 7th grade and I was so mad! Here I was in the same situation as my mom. That same situation that I was mad at her for so long for. As for me, I was put into a remedial math class. Oh, I could spell the pants off anyone. I just couldn't do the math on the way there. I was going into 7th grade though. I'd had enough time with kids making fun of me. I'm sure mom made the choice regarding the math class for the same reason we did with K-'s speech therapy. She knew that I wouldn't want to go to school.
So, the speech therapy came up. We had been talking with the pediatrician about it, and had a long discussion about it at her last well check. The pediatrician stated that she could see where K-'s speech was improving and she suggested that we wait for speech therapy in school. She said that way, she could continue to improve on her own and she didn't see it as bad enough to need supplemental speech therapy. The paper came home, as we expected, I signed it and got the call from the speech therapist. She said that she'd be taking K- once a week for a type of group therapy. She asked if I had any questions. The one I could think of was, "I just don't want her to feel like she is missing out on anything." She explained that she takes the kids out when it is the least impacting time.
So K- got in the car yesterday and showed me her new folder from Mrs. D-. "So K-, what does Mrs. D- do with you?" "Mommy, she helps me with my sounds." "Is this the first day that you've gone to see Mrs. D-?" "No. I've seen her three times now! Last week, we played BINGO!" Now mind you, I had been asking her in a not specific way about whether she had gone or not. We didn't want to stress her out if she hadn't, because then she wouldn't want to go to school. m0m0m0m0m0 (K- has been typing for me a minute.) At any rate, yes, she goes, she likes it and all is well. She didn't see it as a big enough change to mention. That's a good thing. We have more homework now, though. I'm not complaining, but add more time onto the already 45 minutes worth. It's good. We're getting a rhythm.
So, another thing that I've learned not to tell my kid is about upcoming events. My sister taught me this. I learned a big lesson this summer when I made a stupid assumption that we were being invited to something. It was a family thing for K- and she was very sad. So I learned this time not to mention family birthdays to K- anymore. Turns out that it was a good move. There is another birthday coming up. In discussing things a few months ago, K- was asking about a family birthday. Her question? "Mommy, do you think that I'll be invited this time?" All I could say was, "Baby, I don't know." It puts us in a weird place. K-'s family is not a typical family structure. When the kids were younger, we could get together more often. Now we can rely on K-'s Birthday/Family Christmas celebration in December and our annual "Bamily" Easter egg hunt in the spring. Kids are growing up. Finances are tanked. My kid doesn't understand this, though. All she knows is that she wants to love on her siblings. It doesn't matter whether it is rolling around in the mud, or taking a hike through the woods. For this, I'm exceedingly sad for her. She doesn't need to walk away being a part of a themed party. She'd just enjoy kicking back and playing with Ninja Turtles and Barbies. (Probably all in the same play house, knowing K-.) I feel bad for her, but I remain silent. She needn't know. All she'd do is cry for days. Argh.
So, the speech therapy came up. We had been talking with the pediatrician about it, and had a long discussion about it at her last well check. The pediatrician stated that she could see where K-'s speech was improving and she suggested that we wait for speech therapy in school. She said that way, she could continue to improve on her own and she didn't see it as bad enough to need supplemental speech therapy. The paper came home, as we expected, I signed it and got the call from the speech therapist. She said that she'd be taking K- once a week for a type of group therapy. She asked if I had any questions. The one I could think of was, "I just don't want her to feel like she is missing out on anything." She explained that she takes the kids out when it is the least impacting time.
So K- got in the car yesterday and showed me her new folder from Mrs. D-. "So K-, what does Mrs. D- do with you?" "Mommy, she helps me with my sounds." "Is this the first day that you've gone to see Mrs. D-?" "No. I've seen her three times now! Last week, we played BINGO!" Now mind you, I had been asking her in a not specific way about whether she had gone or not. We didn't want to stress her out if she hadn't, because then she wouldn't want to go to school. m0m0m0m0m0 (K- has been typing for me a minute.) At any rate, yes, she goes, she likes it and all is well. She didn't see it as a big enough change to mention. That's a good thing. We have more homework now, though. I'm not complaining, but add more time onto the already 45 minutes worth. It's good. We're getting a rhythm.
So, another thing that I've learned not to tell my kid is about upcoming events. My sister taught me this. I learned a big lesson this summer when I made a stupid assumption that we were being invited to something. It was a family thing for K- and she was very sad. So I learned this time not to mention family birthdays to K- anymore. Turns out that it was a good move. There is another birthday coming up. In discussing things a few months ago, K- was asking about a family birthday. Her question? "Mommy, do you think that I'll be invited this time?" All I could say was, "Baby, I don't know." It puts us in a weird place. K-'s family is not a typical family structure. When the kids were younger, we could get together more often. Now we can rely on K-'s Birthday/Family Christmas celebration in December and our annual "Bamily" Easter egg hunt in the spring. Kids are growing up. Finances are tanked. My kid doesn't understand this, though. All she knows is that she wants to love on her siblings. It doesn't matter whether it is rolling around in the mud, or taking a hike through the woods. For this, I'm exceedingly sad for her. She doesn't need to walk away being a part of a themed party. She'd just enjoy kicking back and playing with Ninja Turtles and Barbies. (Probably all in the same play house, knowing K-.) I feel bad for her, but I remain silent. She needn't know. All she'd do is cry for days. Argh.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Things I learned this weekend.
1. Bugs aren't the only things you need to watch out for when you line dry your laundry outside. K-'s flat sheet got splatted by a bird. Yes, I found it as I was folding it and laundered it again.
2. If you are suffering from a hormonal migraine and your five year old over indulges in chocolately chocolate brownies, she will vomit later. Then she will play "let me identify the foodstuffs" while you are attempting to clean it up as your husband stands in the background laughing. I did not find it quite as entertaining.
3. K- is looking more and more like her sister J- every day.
4. When you buy something from the store and lose the receipt, chances are that it will be defective in some way.
5. Remember the house rule of add a zero when you approximate the time to do a job. Instead of 30 minutes, it took 300 minutes or 5 hours, to install a new ceiling fan with botched up blades.
2. If you are suffering from a hormonal migraine and your five year old over indulges in chocolately chocolate brownies, she will vomit later. Then she will play "let me identify the foodstuffs" while you are attempting to clean it up as your husband stands in the background laughing. I did not find it quite as entertaining.
3. K- is looking more and more like her sister J- every day.
4. When you buy something from the store and lose the receipt, chances are that it will be defective in some way.
5. Remember the house rule of add a zero when you approximate the time to do a job. Instead of 30 minutes, it took 300 minutes or 5 hours, to install a new ceiling fan with botched up blades.
6. The crows found my non-genetically modified green beans quite delicious. I had to pick up a spare pack of seeds in case I need to re-seed. They aren't runners like I wanted though. Bummer.
7. You can park your car out in Timbuktu, but there is still going to be some idiot that will park next to you and scratch your car.
8. K- and I have been doing the computer game Hooked on Spanish by the Hooked on Phonics people and I can now tell you the Spanish words for blue, yellow, red, black and green.
9. I don't love all Anita Shreve books. I thought I did, but I started a book the other day (The Last Time They Met) and I just could not get into it. It was putting me to sleep. So, I put it to the side and started Eat, Pray, Love instead.
10. When you are a naturalist's kid, people understand your love for hauling around a big, juicy, squirmy worm and showing it to everyone.
11. I was bummed that I had to pay $1.99 for a tomato cage and I only needed one. (In my mind, I thought that I could get one for less than a dollar. What did I know?) Then when my mom was talking to me later, she said that they were swimming in tomato cages and I should have let her know. It's not that $1.99 is going to break the bank, but it's always a bummer when it costs more than you thought.
12. While in search of the fan receipt, I kept finding dollars in my pockets. To start, I had two dollars. In the end, I have $9.00. See, that darned tomato cage wasn't that big of a deal after all!
13. K- is so excited to start her reading class at the university this next week that she made sure that she had her pencils sharpened and ready a week in advance. Bless her heart! She does take after me!
14. Despite my initial issues with it, I like our new desk arrangement, even though my husband has some sort of illusion that he'll be making a Star Wars figure display on top of the book case that we will eventually have in the old desk spot. Uh, no. He has 1/2 of the basement downstairs to guyify.
15. I need to get used to the birds beginning to chatter at 4 AM. Leaving the windows open is generally a good thing. Those birds just get so blasted loud, though! I'll get used to it soon enough.
16. Our youth pastor did a rockin' sermon today on something LIFE APPLICABLE! Oh thank you, Pastor Craig, for breaking away and doing something new!
17. My transplanted Hollyhock is beginning to perk up.
18. I think that I planted way too many onions and that I will be donating some to the local homeless shelter at the end of the season.
19. As a result of the kids park program that K- and I attended at the end of the week, I learned that Hummingbirds make their nests out of spider webs with lichen stuck to the outside. (Because she knew me, I asked the naturalist if she would consider asking the parents to refrain from having their loud conversations. Last program I couldn't even hear because of Chatty and Patty talking it up in full voice the entire time.) Everyone cooperated! Everyone learned! We all had great fun!
20. I'm still impatiently waiting for my Sunflower and Hollyhock seeds to sprout. It rained so much that I thought that they would be up. Everything else grew, even the weeds!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Picture Monday: The Easter Egg Hunt
If you look really close, our front yard is dotted in colorful Easter eggs. I hid the eggs, a little harder than usual, but when your yard is 40' x 120', your house and driveway are plunked in the middle, it doesn't leave a whole lot of extra room. After a while, you give up on hiding places (because frankly, there aren't anymore) and you do the creative flip the eggs through the air and they land where they land.
Oh look! I "hid" them in the tree!
I hid them in the daffodils.
The backyard is dotted in Easter eggs, as well. Have I mentioned that the kids never find all the eggs and I usually find them through August?
Then there's K-. The girl managed to get 2 full buckets of eggs. I don't know how she did it! She is the youngest and I think that she got the most. She was a girl on a mission, though. She was out for eggs. She didn't care what anyone else was doing. That's the key!Our day was beautiful! We were able to send the kids out to play in the backyard, which was great. Our house is little, the kids aren't getting any littler and they are all fairly high energy. We let them go and burn some energy together. We did have a chili lunch and decorated cupcakes in between time. Here's to hoping that I sent the kids home tired.
We had a really great day! It was in the 60's Sunday. We're under a snow watch today. Eeek!
Day 17: Love promotes intimacy. He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. -- Proverbs 17:9 NIV
Determine to guard your mate's secrets (unless they are dangerous to them or to you) and to pray for them. Talk with your spouse, and resolve to demonstrate love in spite of these issues. Really listen to them when they share personal thoughts and struggles with you. Make them feel safe.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
K-'s Annual Bamily Easter Egg Hunt
No, it isn't a typo. My child replaces her "f" sound with "b." She has always done that and the title has just kind of stuck.
Anyway. K-'s siblings are coming over today! They are! We are having the annual Easter Egg hunt. I filled the eggs, and admit that it took me about 3 hours to do. There are 375 of them. I counted. So what's in them? Oh, things I've picked up over the last few months. Little kaleidoscopes, bouncy balls, stickers, tattoos, rings, maze games, pop-up flowers, rings with lip gloss in them, hair ties, army men, sets of jacks, spinny tops, erasers, little pastel colored binder clips, Sixlets (a favorite of mine!), Sponge Bob Easter crabby patties, gum balls (individually wrapped), Starburst, and Cry Baby Sour Gum Balls.
We all get together, have a good hunt (but they always miss some, so I usually find them through August!), go in and shell the eggs for loot (yes, I save the eggs and reuse them), then have a nice lunch together. What am I making? My Sweet Kielbasa Chili. I picked the ingredients up for it on Friday, have pre-cooked some things and have it cooking now. It's good stuff. Since I end up making a vat of it (or at least my largest crockpot full), I really need to make it for a lot of people. I can't eat that much of it on my own in just a few days time. My heartburn alone would beg to differ. Besides, Hubs can't eat it. So sad. He'll have a soy burger.
We'll be watching the movie "Easter Bunny is Coming To Town," as well as decorating their own cupcakes and having a bunny building Play Doh contest.
So, think of me on Sunday afternoon as I have 5 extra kids with their egg collecting buckets excitedly descending upon our home. Remember, I'm used to only one.
It'll be so much fun. We can't wait! K- has been jumping up and down for days in eager anticipation. She loves her BAMILY!
** I forgot to add-- family you ask? K- has a sibling relationship with 3 of her older siblings. J- is 9, L- is 7 and D- is 6. We consider the sibs of J-, L- and D- siblings as well, so we have R- who is 9- and Z- who I believe is 8. Yes, the branches on K-'s family tree definitely branch out a little farther than the general most, but we're good with that! :)
Day 16: Love intercedes. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. -- 3 John 2
Begin praying today for your spouse's heart. Pray for three specific areas where you desire for God to work in your spouse's life and in your marriage.
Anyway. K-'s siblings are coming over today! They are! We are having the annual Easter Egg hunt. I filled the eggs, and admit that it took me about 3 hours to do. There are 375 of them. I counted. So what's in them? Oh, things I've picked up over the last few months. Little kaleidoscopes, bouncy balls, stickers, tattoos, rings, maze games, pop-up flowers, rings with lip gloss in them, hair ties, army men, sets of jacks, spinny tops, erasers, little pastel colored binder clips, Sixlets (a favorite of mine!), Sponge Bob Easter crabby patties, gum balls (individually wrapped), Starburst, and Cry Baby Sour Gum Balls.
We all get together, have a good hunt (but they always miss some, so I usually find them through August!), go in and shell the eggs for loot (yes, I save the eggs and reuse them), then have a nice lunch together. What am I making? My Sweet Kielbasa Chili. I picked the ingredients up for it on Friday, have pre-cooked some things and have it cooking now. It's good stuff. Since I end up making a vat of it (or at least my largest crockpot full), I really need to make it for a lot of people. I can't eat that much of it on my own in just a few days time. My heartburn alone would beg to differ. Besides, Hubs can't eat it. So sad. He'll have a soy burger.
We'll be watching the movie "Easter Bunny is Coming To Town," as well as decorating their own cupcakes and having a bunny building Play Doh contest.
So, think of me on Sunday afternoon as I have 5 extra kids with their egg collecting buckets excitedly descending upon our home. Remember, I'm used to only one.
It'll be so much fun. We can't wait! K- has been jumping up and down for days in eager anticipation. She loves her BAMILY!
** I forgot to add-- family you ask? K- has a sibling relationship with 3 of her older siblings. J- is 9, L- is 7 and D- is 6. We consider the sibs of J-, L- and D- siblings as well, so we have R- who is 9- and Z- who I believe is 8. Yes, the branches on K-'s family tree definitely branch out a little farther than the general most, but we're good with that! :)
Day 16: Love intercedes. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. -- 3 John 2
Begin praying today for your spouse's heart. Pray for three specific areas where you desire for God to work in your spouse's life and in your marriage.
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