Who's In Charge Here, Anyway?

From the time our kids are about two years old, until they are about five, it seems, we spend a lot of time reinforcing who is (and who isn't) in charge.

When Jack was about three, we had been saying (a lot), "You are not in charge."

One day at the table, he said, "Grammy's in charge, and PawPaw's in charge, and Daddy's in charge, and Mommy's in charge. I ... am NOT in charge." We laughed and laughed and still say that to each other and to him.

So now Charlotte and Mitchell think that they are in charge all too often and we've taken to reinforcing with them that "You are not in charge".

The other day, Charlotte and John were sitting on the couch having some sort of serious discussion and he said to her, "You are not in charge." Without missing a beat, she fired right back, "You aw not in chodge, eedah." Oh dear, we still have some work to do. We had to hide our faces while we cracked up.

This morning, I went to turn on a show for her in my bedroom and we were laying on my bed "chatting". She started getting all bossy on me, so I reminded her, "You are not in charge." She quickly replied, "I not in chodge. I just tawkin'!"

What a mess.

First Day of School

Nothing says "first day of school" like new shoes!


The obligatory full-length body shot.


Head shots only


I think this one is my favorite.



Walking into school. They met up with their friends Sam and Ben in the parking lot and left us (the parents) in their dust.

Really? Why did we walk them in? This is the one and only time I do it. The rest of the year, I just slow down in the circle drive and push them out.

P.S. Scrapbookers - imagine how CUTE these pages are going to be. I get to work with GREEN and PINK! My two favs! Although Jack may not look on it too kindly.

My life in bullets

It seems like I just can't make the time to sit down and write a blog entry lately. (Or, really, for a long time.) Every time I think I want to say something, I can only come up with a "facebook-status-like" line for it. I remember when I was in high school, one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Noto, always complimented my friend, Stephanie, because she was so concise. I gotta admit, it always made me a little bit jealous! Well, I think I'm getting there. Look out, Stephanie!!!

• My mom is at the cabin this week. Alone. I'm a bit envious.
• I've spent the week doing all the last-minute prep stuff for school. The kids start on Monday. Ordered the brown uniform shoes from Land's End. Ordered the Grammar workbooks and hardback textbook for Holly to the tune of $60. Ouch. Ventured out to multiple stores to buy white tennis shoes for the kids (Converse leather at Dick's - $24.99!)
• Went to parent orientation yesterday for both kids. It's a long day, but I always come home excited to start the year. I really think Jack is going to thrive in fourth grade. He's reading some great literature this year, including The Witch of Blackbird Pond and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. We're going to breath a deep sigh of relief and hopefully have an easier year with Holly this year. It's funny - I should have sighed that sigh at the END of last school year, but I didn't. I was still all bunched up. Now I have, and it's nice.
• I think parent orientation may be my favorite day of the whole school year. There's a group of us that have 4th graders and younger siblings and we all get together for lunch in between our orientations. We've been together since our oldest kids were in Kindergarten. It makes me happy. Wendy, LaNita and I were there yesterday. We were sad that Kerry could not join us, they've moved schools and she couldn't make it work.
• I did NOT sign up to be room mom for either of the kids this year. When the teachers mentioned it, I got a couple of "nudges" and "looks", but I stayed strong. I promised John I would not do it again, since it just takes up too much time - time that I don't really have. (Time that I could be blogging!)
• I went to Gymboree to get school socks for the kids. They did not have Mitchell's size out on the rack, so I asked if the salesperson could go to the back and check for more. She said she couldn't because there was no one else there to watch the floor. But she could call next door and see if there were two people working. If so, one of them could come over and she could go to the back. Now, let me just say, the store next door is Janie and Jack. Janie and Jack is a Gymboree Corporation store. So that makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that I WORK AT JANIE AND JACK!!! And she knew it! I'm still a little baffled by it.
• John has been traveling this week. And I am thankful he has a job. That's all I'm going to say about that.
• John's trip to Toronto next week got canceled! YAY!!!
• The kids' last day of indoor soccer is Saturday. I'm kind of sad, because I really did enjoy watching them play. Holly Grace surprised us most of all. She has natural ability. (Thanks to John, because she most certainly did NOT get that from me.) All the kids have scored this season (Mitchell, Holly and Jack). We will be glad to get our Saturdays back, though. We've been committed to soccer from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Saturday for six weeks, now.
• I got popcorn ordered for our Cub Scout Pack. Come see us at WalMart on 407 the last weekend in August and the first weekend of September. We have $6500 worth of popcorn to get rid of!

That's all for now. I'm off to find a Sharpie and start labeling those school supplies.

Scrapbook Camp Update 6

Thursday 

Nani Dot, my grandmother, arrives at 9:15 bearing gifts! A Paula Deen cookbook for me and one for Christi! We are excited about our new cookbooks! There’s a recipe in it that I just happen to have the ingredients for, so I whip up a blueberry coffee cake right then and there. Nani Dot is thrilled. Also, I put some more chocolate chip oatmeal cookies in the oven because they are John’s favorite and he’ll be arriving home from his trip anytime. At this point I pat myself on the back. It’s really hard to reach your own back, but I am pretty flexible.

John arrives home, the cookies and coffee cake come out of the oven. And this is all before 11 a.m.! John eats a bit, changes clothes and heads to the office. Nani Dot gets ready to go and I decide to take a quick look at her computer. She shows me what’s going on, and she’s exactly right. IE has just quit working. Get a load of this: my grandmother pays her bills online. How awesome is that? Consequently, she is feeling a little lost with no internet and she is looking at two weeks without her computer. Bummer!!!

After she leaves, I start working on it in earnest. I am no computer whiz, especially when it comes to PCs, but I can sure google with the best of them. I google “internet explorer not working vista” and the first result is a blog that has a recommended fix. I try it. No good. I read in the comments about some of the other fixes that have worked for other people. And guess what? I get it to work. As soon as that computer has a working browser, I head over to mozilla.com and download Firefox for her. Ah, yes, much better.

I call her about 1 p.m. and tell her I think she’s all set – I’ve moved all her “favorites” over from IE to Firefox’s “bookmarks” and she’s thrilled. I offer to bring her computer over in the evening, but she’s so excited that she wants to come get it right now. Okey dokey! She arrives in fifteen minutes flat. And she says she’ll dogsit for us next week while John and I are both out of town because I fixed her computer. Yeah, baby. I’m wondering who got the better end of that deal and I’m thinking it’s not her. J Also, she says she’ll “dance at my wedding”, which I think is hilarious, because, even if I had another wedding, why would her dancing at it be any favor to me?

Christi and I have to run a few more errands in the afernoon. Pick up a few extra prints at Wolf, Target run, Belk’s and once more to Hobby Lobby. Then it’s to the scrapfreak’s house to pick up our orders. Fun!!!

We get home and I am seriously, frantically scrapbooking for just a few more hours before we have to pack up our stuff and head to Amarillo. We have a final Scrapbook Camp meal of Wingstop lemon pepper wings with their famous French fries and veggies. In true Lodmell fashion, we eat our wings in the media room. John and I really can’t imagine eating them anywhere else. We have Get Smart from Netflix and we watch that while we eat, and then while we fold laundry. It’s a really funny movie, even funnier if you watched Get Smart as a child.

We scrapbook a little bit more, then get busy packing up all our stuff. This is a huge task in itself. Christi will be taking her supplies with her to the cabin, where she will spend just one night, then head home with the boys and Cory, who is meeting us there. I am taking my supplies to the cabin to spend another week scrapbooking with my mom. We will have the added distraction of the kids … but no errands to run there!

Final page counts:

Christi: 25 completed pages! Amazing. And lots of supplies purchased for future pages.

Crissy: 20 competed pages and 54 page kits (power layouts) prepared for next week.

It’s been a great week!

BIG THANKS to Grammy and PawPaw who gave us the whole week. What a gift!!!

Scrapbook Camp Update 5

Wednesday

Wednesday morning we really sleep in. I’m talking about after 10 a.m. wake-up time. It’s so nice. And it’s just very rare that we get to sleep in that late without feeling guilty.

We think that maybe not leaving the house ALL DAY would be a great idea.

We get busy scrapping and watching the rest of the bonus materials from The Sound of Music.

Now, at this point, I should probably confess that I have not done a ton of actual scrapbooking. I’ve spent the week sorting photos, uploading photos, ordering photos, and shopping for scrapbooking supplies. And I’ve also been making page kits (also known as “power layouts” for your CM people out there).  So it doesn’t sound like I’ve accomplished a lot, but on Wednesday, I actually sat down and started putting photos on paper. Hooray! Remember, I have four children. And each of these children have their own [series of] albums. When I first started scrapbooking, I bought a Creative Memories Baby album for Jack. And I thought that I would fill up the baby pages and then stop. But then I couldn’t stop. And so then I thought I would take each kid’s album to age 5, or when they started elementary school, then stop. But that didn’t “take”, either. So here I am, with multiple albums for each child. And no end in sight!

We want to watch another movie, but not one with too much of a plot since we are trying not to get distracted from our “creating”. I pull up Netflix and find that we can watch Singin’ in the Rain online. Christi discovers that Good Mornin’, which her mom always used to sing to her in the mornings, was from Singin’ in the Rain. Later, we turn on Bedtime Stories for a little more entertainment.

We also discover scrapfreak.com. This is a website run by a super-nice lady in Highland Village. And guess what?!? You can place an order and then pick it up from her, thus saving on shipping costs! She has some really cute things (we love Cosmo Cricket) and so we place an order.

My grandma calls to see if I can take her computer to the mountains with me and have my brother work on it. It’s a PC running Vista (no wonder she’s having problems) and suddenly Internet Explorer won’t work anymore. Now, bear in mind that my grandmother is in her 80’s. I’m just proud that she knows what Internet Explorer is. She says that she will bring it over in the morning if that’s okay. Dangit. We’re going to have to get out of bed at a decent hour, because she gets her errands run before it gets too hot outside and her first stop is the pharmacy that opens at 9 a.m. I am the second stop on her list.

It’s another late night, but this time I set my alarm for 8:30 a.m.

Scrapbook Camp Update 4

Tuesday

We have a big day planned. Headed to the library to get the Sound of Music, to Dallas to the AAC to get our circus tickets (this is a great thing) and to do some shopping in Dallas.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Circus tickets, the good ones, are $30 each. That’s for lower level. The higher ones are $15 and $10 each. The kids each earned a FREE ticket to the circus. Now, you might be thinking, yeah, that’s probably the $10 nosebleed section tickets they earned, but no, they were the $30 tickets. There are more expensive tickets (“front row” and “VIP”), but free $30 tickets make us quite happy. The only caveat is, though, that you have to exchange your vouchers in person at the AAC box office. Which is not exactly convenient.

So, how exactly did the kids earn their tickets, you ask? SUMMER READING PROGRAM, I tell you. At the LIBRARY!!! And this is how easy it is: Read five books (or have your parents read them to you) and then have the library stamp your voucher. How easy is that? If you’re going to do it, though, you have to exchange those vouchers early. The good seats for the weekend shows were going quickly. However, we were able to get tickets for the Tuesday night show at (what would be) center court, about 1/3 of the way up on the lower level. $180 worth of tickets for the bargain price of $60 (one ticket for me and one for John!).

After the AAC, we go to the American Girl Store to get Charlotte’s Birthday present (a Bitty Baby). And this is where it gets a little cooky. We park in the parking garage and get out to walk in to the store. We get out and as we are walking away from the car, we realize that there is something underneath, right in front of the rear tire. It is a giant human turd. I don’t even know if I spelled that correctly, but that’s what it was. I can’t even believe it, it’s so disgusting. Really, I didn’t think that’s what it was because it was so large. It looked like that spray foam insulation stuff, but we're pretty sure that flies aren't that attracted to foam.

Another stop at the “Scrapbook Barn” and then we are on our way home. Oops, we are headed northbound on I-35 at 4:45 in the afternoon. Not the smartest move on my part. We divert onto 3040 and continue on what would be John’s commute if he were home. From the intersection of 3040 & 2499 we call and place an order for takeout from PeiWei. Oh, yes, this week just keeps getting better.  We make one last stop at Wolf Camera before picking up our food. And now, I’m going to let you in another little secret: $.06 photo prints. Here’s the deal: go to ritzpix.com and upload your photos. Be prepared. It takes FOREVER. You might want to start them uploading, then run a marathon, or you runners might want to go to bed and sleep, because when you finish the marathon, your photos will still be uploading. Anyway, don’t order your prints yet!!! Wait until the next Tuesday or Wednesday. Order 3.5” x 5” prints and they will only be $.06!!! What a screaming deal. Even when you can find them that cheap at York Photo, you still have to pay exorbitant shipping charges. The prints are small, but if you are scrapbooking with them, you’ll probably find that that’s okay, especially for the price. I almost ordered my prints through Shutterfly and picked them up at Target where I would have paid $40. Instead, I paid $15 at Wolf Camera. Yahoo!!!

We watched The Sound of Music and then watched a majority of the second disc's bonus materials. Wow, that Liesl (Charmian Carr) is still beautiful today. 

   

And don't even get me started on Captain von Trapp. 

So that’s Tuesday. I'm all about the great deals and handsome singing men. That's just how I roll.

Scrapbook Camp Update 3

Monday

We wake up late. I don’t even remember what time. It is sometime after 9 a.m. I have to work for a little while as soon as they receive the shipment of clothes for a floor set this evening. I’m just going to go in for a few hours and unpack, sort and hang the tiny childrens’ clothes I love so much. Christi’s twin sister is coming over for the day with her girls (who are 13 and 15) and one of their friends. I decide to mix up a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

I get the call that the boxes “have arrived” so I get ready to head over to Janie & Jack. Right as I’m leaving, Carrie and the girls arrive. I hate to leave because I know they are going to have so much fun, but the boxes await.

I’m gone for about three hours. When I arrive home, the swimming is in full swing. The girls are having a great time. I have some lunch and visit with Carrie. She is an amazing cook and has brought some yummy treats for us.  We have a birthday cake for Carrie’s oldest daughter. She is fifteen today.

A tour of the garden is given and oh, so sweetly complimented. We pick tomatoes, okra and cucumbers and we melt. Wow, it’s hot. We head inside. The girls want to watch a movie or play Wii, so I set them up upstairs with Guitar Hero. I don’t know who likes Guitar Hero more, the girls or Christi and Carrie.

When the foodfest ends and Carrie and her girls have to leave, we get busy scrapping again. Then, because we are SPONTANEOUS, we decide to go to Hobby Lobby. It’s 7:25, and they close at 8:00, so we have to hurry. We’re there by 7:35 and have only ten minutes before the Hobby Lobby employees begin their nightly countdown to “Quittin’ Time”. It makes those last precious minutes of child-free shopping so stressful to have them pressuring us: “ATTENTION Hobby Lobby shoppers!!! The time is now 7:45 (or 7:50 or 7:55) and Hobby Lobby will be closing in 15 (or 10 or 5) minutes. Please make your final selections and take them to the front where a Hobby Lobby associate will assist you.”

Later, while we are scrapping, we listen to the entire Sound of Music soundtrack about three times. It makes us happy. We sing loudly. We decide we need to watch the movie, so I check and (because I am a genius) find that it is in at the Lewisville Public Library.

Again, we stay up far too late. We have big plans for tomorrow (including a stop at the library), but we might have to get a late start …

Scrapbook Camp Update 2

Sunday

9:00
I roll out of bed bright and early. Christi is just coming downstairs. It's been years since either of us has slept in this late without feeling guilty. John is nowhere to be found. The lamp by my bed is still on.

9:05
We hear the media room door open. John comes downstairs looking sheepish (and still half asleep). Oops. He fell asleep on the couch in the media room watching "The Dark Knight".

10:30
My Aunt Debbie calls to say she dropping a breadmaker off at my house for my mom. I convince her to stop and chat, taking her on a tour of the garden. She is delightful and a wealth of information. She points out that I have basil growing among my cherry tomatoes (?!?). I should leave it there, apparently, because basil likes shade and the tomatoes are shading it. Incidentally, she is the one who told me I should put crushed up eggshells in the garden to keep the snakes out. It works.

12:00
Christi and I have finished an entire pitcher of iced tea. Every time we fill our glasses, we squeeze an orange wedge in it. YUM!

2:00
The scrapbooking, organizing, and photo uploading are in full swing.

5:00
I am freaking out a little bit because John has a flight to catch at 6:30 to Florida and he is not done packing. Wait, I forget who we are talking about.

5:05
He's done packing and I kiss him goodbye.

7:00
Christi and I decide to put a casserole she brought in the oven and go for a swim while it cooks. While we are in the pool, we decide to see a movie tonight. On the spur of the moment. JUST BECAUSE WE CAN! We will see "The Proposal" at 9:25.

9:15
We leave for the movie. We look cute.

9:20
We arrive at the movie theater. The parking gods are smiling on us because we are spontaneous! We park steps away from the theater - right in front.

9:21
The movie ticket gods are angry because the parking gods love us. We take out a loan for our movie tickets. Hi, I'm Crissy. I am a hundred years old and I think that movie tickets are overpriced.

9:22
We buy popcorn and a coke (to share because we are cheap ... also because we have very little money left after buying our tickets). The total comes to $11.50.

9:25
We walk into the theater. It's not full at all. We have great seats and the movie starts.

11:30
We leave the theater still laughing. The movie was Hi-Lar-Ious. We may see it again later in the week - it was that good.

11:45
You thought we were going to go to bed, didn't you? Nope, more scrapbooking...

Later
(Can't say how late - my mom's reading this!!!) We decide to call it a day.

Scrapbook Camp Update 1

Saturday

We all meet in Benjamin, Texas. Yes, it's the middle of nowhere. But it is almost perfectly equidistant from Amarillo (Grammy & PawPaw), Midland (Cory & Christi) and Flower Mound (John and me). The kids go nuts seeing each other, Charlotte almost darts out into traffic while we are unloading the cars (and loading them into Grammy & PawPaw's cars) and Cory and I die from the heat while installing carseats in Grammy's Land Cruiser. Literally. We are still laying in front of the courthouse in Benjamin dead.

It's 104 degrees.

1:30 p.m.
Christi and I start the drive to Dallas. There are no children in the car. It's really weird.

2:30 p.m.
We get to Olney and pull into Dairy Queen to grab a quick bite. Incidentally, they give us our Blizzards at the window, then have us pull around to wait for our food. You can imagine what we snack on while we wait for twenty minutes for our food.

2:50 p.m.
We receive our food. We are no longer hungry. Our Blizzards are mostly empty.

5:00 p.m.
We roll into Flower Mound. It's still 103 degrees. We need a few things from the store, so Christi suggests we "get it out of the way". We stop at Wal-Mart. I melt.

6:00 p.m.
We arrive at my house and unload Christi's things. She immediately wants to get started scrapbooking, so we get our stuff set up.

8:00 p.m.
We are living on the edge and just now decide to think about dinner. Can't do that with kids underfoot, for sure!!! We sit down to dinner with John (leftovers!). John starts a pickle-making project in the kitchen. Our nostrils are permanently damaged by the vinegar/dill odor.

Midnight
We head off to bed. John is upstairs watching a movie, so I leave a lamp on for him next to the bed.

Grandkids' Camp 2009

All my kids (and my brother's kids, too) are at my parents' cabin this week for Grandkids' Camp 2009. This is the first year that my parents have had all seven kids. I can only imagine how exhausted they are. Thank you, Grammy and PawPaw! They update their blog every night so that we can keep up with the happenings at GKC.

My sister-in-law, Christi, is here. We have spent every GKC together since 2001. It's the best time. Once she started scrapbooking, we decided to spend the 4-5 days working on our books. We have ALWAYS had at least one child with us and many years one or the other of us was pregnant. We decided to update my blog with our activities of the week so that Mom and Dad can see what we're doing this week. It's heaven. :)

The Plague you didn't hear about

This one didn't make it into the book of Exodus.

Holly Grace has to do a project on Egypt at school. She chose to make a "model" of Egypt. Into a large, shallow tub, we poured a bag of play sand. Then, we made a small "Nile River" down the middle, lined it with aluminum foil, and formed a delta at the low end. Then, we put a bit of potting soil down either side of the river and sprinkled rye grass seed down the riverbanks. Every couple of days, we "flood" the river and the grass has grown to be several inches tall. Later Holly Grace will add some small models of pyramids, etc.

So, after we put "Egypt" together, we left it on the bar in the kitchen. Soon we discovered that the potting soil and seeds had been disturbed and there were new topographic details emerging in the desert.

Charlotte.

She had to have been the culprit. I quickly let John know that we were going to have to move Egypt to a safer place, as it had been hit by the 11th plague - the plague of Charlotte. We had a good laugh over it, and then moved it into our bath tub. Our tub surround is so wide that she can't reach in and mess with it. (This is also where the baby chick lived, safely, for 2 1/2 weeks before she moved to the farm where she now resides.)

Later that day, John was sitting with Charlotte, having a conversation. He asked her, "What kind of plague are you?" She promptly replied, "A PINK one!" and giggled proudly. So we began referring to her as "the Pink Plague."

Anxious to see if she would "perform" for me, I asked her a couple of days later, "What kind of plague are you?"

She thought for a moment, then looked from me to John and said, "CHICKENS!"

Who knew?

In the Garden

Lots of people have been asking what's in our garden. Well, in our actual "garden", until yesterday, NOTHING! John and I cleaned it out (it was so overgrown after some neglect last year, ahem) and got it ready, but ran out of time to put anything IN. Besides, I raked and shoveled so much I developed a blister that's taken two weeks to heal! I was so traumatized, I had to take some time off from gardening.

We actually have two other "dedicated beds" for the things we love so much that we need MORE than we have room for in the garden. One is an approximately 50 square foot asparagus bed. Start your asparagus now and in three years you'll thank me! This is the first year we've harvested our asparagus and it's gone gangbusters! We eat asparagus every couple of nights with dinner. It grows SO FAST.

Our other bed is a dedicated strawberry bed. We started out with three little strawberry plants in our garden three years ago. Those multiplied and became 21 that year, then more than 50 after that! They are now in a 25 square foot bed on the south side of the house and, after a little trauma from transplanting them, recovering nicely. I walked by the other day and there were two little strawberries getting nice and ripe. I didn't share them. They were SWEET!

So, back to the actual "garden". Yesterday we put in 16 tomato plants - some Better Boys, some Early Girls, some cherry tomatoes, and something else (can't remember just now) and some "unknown" variety that my aunt dropped off (extras they couldn't plant in their HUGE garden). We also planted four bell pepper plants and two jalapeno plants. Those (the jalapenos) are solely for others, as I don't care for them. Leave a comment if you want some and I will save them for you when they start producing.

My "jack-of-all-trades" husband put a drip system in our garden last year, and it's sooooo very nice. Now if we could just keep the critters out. And I don't mean the kids. I mean, I do, but also the kind of critters that live down in the creek and come up to munch when we're not around.

Also, my uncle gave us some blackberry shoots when we were out at his farm last spring. We planted them on the fence behind our garden. One is doing GREAT and is blooming right now. The other, well, it kinda got mowed over sometime last summer because it wasn't well-marked. But, it seems to have recovered and is thriving! We probably won't get any fruit from it this summer, but next year we should! Also, plant #1 has sent up a shoot nearby, so we'll dig it up and put it on the fence as well.

There are lots of little seedlings in our garden right now. They look like they are either watermelons, cucumbers, yellow squash, or zucchini. That's what we had out there last year that may have re-seeded itself (which in itself seems miraculous to me). I tried to leave as many of them as I could and we'll see what we end up with!

I love gardening this time of year. It's so pleasant outside. Ask me again in July ... maybe not so much at that point. I hate going out there so much that our okra ends up 6-8 inches long and much too tough to eat by the time I go out to check on it.

And now, breaking the almost six-month silence ...

It was the Baby Jogger City Mini, or BJCM in stroller circles. There I've said it. It's overwith. And I am so glad because this post has had me stumped for this long. Here's the rub: She's ridden in it, like, twice. She's now "too big" for the stroller. She doesn't even call it her "Slow-der" anymore. And yet I can't get rid of it because what if?

What if we go to the State Fair and need a stroller because we stay all day and she's exhausted and almost thirty pounds and my arms can't take it anymore?

What if we go on vacation? Through an airport? And I don't want to lose her?

What if we go shopping? Oh, wait. *laughs maniacally* Like that's going to happen. That's what preschool days are for. And grocery carts. Wait a second. This might explain why just about everything in my house recently has been purchased at "The Wal-Marts".

Now, back to our regularly scheduled (or randomly posted) programming. Whew. It feels good to get that off my chest.

A Sordid Affair, part II

The saga continues...

So, I hated the tandem double. It was really massive and HEAVY!!! It was really hard to get in and out of the car and steering was a beating. But I'd gotten the stroller I wanted, so I had to suck it up and use it without complaining.

Then came Mitchell, baby #3. By the time he was born, Holly Grace was pretty much out of the stroller so I didn't need another double. I convinced John that we needed a new single stroller. I used re

straint, though, and bought this one. It was not an expensive stroller, but I loved it because I could just set my (new!) infant carrier right in it. Strangely enough, my infant carrier was a Baby Trend Latch-Loc. It was fabulous!!! I was so excited that my new infant carrier would work on my old [Baby Trend] Snap & Go ... but then I discovered the strangest thing: it didn't. How weird is that? I had a Baby Trend infant carrier and a Baby Trend stroller - and they didn't go together. I was irritated, but I decided I'd just have to get over it and get a new stroller! So we got this Graco Metrolite instead. Big basket! Two cupholders! Snack tray! Adjustable handle! Stands when folded! It has been a great stroller and served us well. But, I've moved on. I'm getting ready to post it on CraigList. Farewell, good stroller!

Then, Baby Charlotte was on her way and Mitchell would not even be two when she arrived. I needed a double stroller again. Arghhhh. I seriously considered this Phil & Ted's E3, but it wouldn't work with an infant carrier and toddler. Plus, it was HEAVY. Especially compared to the Metrolite. It was a single-to-double convertible stroller. I actually went to Right Start, picked it up, shook my head (too heavy!), then put it back down and left. 

I searched and searched and finally came up with this! A side-by-side (SBS) that would accommodate an infant carrier on one side. This is a Combi Twin Savvy EX. Three cupholders, fits through any standard doorway. But wow, it sure was plasticky. I mean really plasticky. And it wiggled from side to side so easily. I wasn't crazy about it, but I didn't have a whole lot of choice because I certainly was not going to do a tandem again. We used it for six months until Charlotte was out of the infant carrier and then I went shopping again.

At this point, we were getting ready to go one our big vacation to Vermont and needed a stroller that could do some serious all-terrain strolling. Which brought be back to Phil & Ted's. Only at this point, they'd upgraded it and it was now called the "Sport". It was going to be perfect for us. I spent an outrageous amount of money on it, and it really was the best money I've ever spent on a stroller. The best thing about it was the removable toddler seat on the bottom. People always stopped and asked me about it and if the one on bottom (usually Charlotte) hated it there. Actually, she didn't. She did great. And I bought it as they were just coming out with new colors and got this great blue camo. This stroller went to Vermont with us twice and Disney World once. When we went to Disney, we didn't even have Charlotte with us, but we took the doubles seat so that Holly Grace could ride if she wanted. And she did want to ride sometimes, even at five years old. This stroller is so maneuverable, it's amazing. It's the combination of the three-wheel design and the swivel front wheel that make it so easy to push. Oh, and the air tires. The lovely air tires. They were wonderful! 

I just sold this stroller to my friend Kim and I was sad to part with it. But, she is going to Disney World in a few short weeks and is going to get some great use out of the stroller, toddler seat, raincover, pannier bags, packing tray, parent console and travel bag. 

When Kim contacted me about buying my P&T, the wheels started spinning and light bulbs came on all over the place. I was about to fund a brand-new single stroller of my choosing! It doesn't get any better than this! Would it be a Quinny Zapp? a Mia Moda Cielo Evolution? a Bugaboo Bee? a Mutsy Spider? 

To be continued...

A Sordid Affair

I have a long history with Strollers. Yes, Strollers with a "capital S". I love them. I have since before I had babies. I can't help myself.

Hello, my name is Crissy and I'm a Strolleraholic.

Today I was prowling around on the net and I found a photo of my first stroller, the Chicco 2002. Then I thought about it and realized, no, it wasn't my first stroller. My first stroller was a Baby Trend Snap-N-Go. Oh, wait, nope that wasn't my first, either. Then I smiled and counted up how many strollers I've had over the years. The current count is eight. Eight strollers in almost nine years.

Here was my first stroller, an Emmaljunga Viking.

Actually, this isn't the actual stroller, but it looked a lot like this. And you could take the seat off the chassis and it had a bassinet that you could attach. Jack actually slept in that bassinet for the first eight weeks, or so. I bought the Viking before I was even pregnant. My neighbor was selling hers and approached me about buying it. I just knew I would feel like Mary Poppins if I could push that "old-fashioned perambulator" down the street. I wanted to have a baby just to have an excuse to take it for a spin.

I talked John into buying it, since we would use the bassinet portion in our room and the stroller would last well into the toddler years. Plus, I just didn't really like the look of the "travel system" back then. They were all cream or navy and there were lots of teddy bears and the like. Just not really my cup of tea.

When I did get pregnant, we made the pilgrimage to Babies'R'Us to register. Oh, to be shopping for the first baby again. We picked out the Evenflo "On My Way" infant carrier and John's grandmother generously bought it for us. I loved that infant carrier. It had a dark denim cover and the canopy was a really pretty dark blue and green plaid. That dang canopy never would stay up to block the sun, but that's another story. By the time we had Holly Grace, I just took the whole thing off. I remember that it was one of the only infant carriers at BRU that had a 5-point harness. Most of them just had a 3-point harness.

As luck would have it, while we were at BRU, we saw the Baby Trend Snap-n-Go Lite (I think it was the "Lite") and thought that it would be perfect for the short period of time the baby would be in the infant carrier. Ours looked way better than this one, though, because our carseat was navy blue and perfectly matched the Snap-n-Go. I always thought that white infant carrier with the blue Snap-n-Go looked tacky.

Very snobbish of me.

Well, we brought our precious bundle home from the hospital and five days later took him for a walk to the gazebo that was near our little four-plex. It overlooked the harbor in San Pedro and the weather was gorgeous. (It was December, you know, in LA.) My parents were with us and I was livin' the dream, pushing my baby in his Emmaljunga stroller.

Occasionally, we'd put him in that stroller, or "pram", and walk around the Base Housing area, which was really quite pretty, or we'd walk over to the "shopette", a little convenience store about 200 yards away, but the Snap-n-Go was what we kept in the car to use when we were out and about.

Well, he outgrew the infant carrier at four months. Back then, the height limit on infant carriers was only 26" (much smaller than today). And besides, he was a FAT little baby and I really couldn't carry that thing around much longer. So we moved up to the Britax Roundabout we had received as a shower gift from my coworkers and thus began the loading up of the Emmaljunga in the car. That lasted about a day before I declared I needed a real stroller for this kid.

Which is when we made another trip to BRU for this Chicco 2002:

Oh, I loved this stroller. I really wanted to get it, but it was about $160 on clearance at BRU, and I still felt like that was a lot to spend on a stroller (hah!). Really, though. I loved the colors, the seat was really cushy, the handles rotated 360 degrees (good for one-handed pushing). It had a five-point harness and a reclining seat. Strollers didn't really have cupholders then, so the lack of one wasn't really a hardship. Oh, and it was an umbrella fold and stood when folded. It was GREAT! I used and used it. Actually, my mom still has it at her house. I just couldn't bear to part with it. One of the best things about it was that we could sit our Britax Roundabout carseat in it, forward-facing, when we were going through the airport. And we traveled quite a bit when Jack was young. I never did understand why it was called the "2002", though. We bought it in 2000, and it was a 1999 model!

But then, little Holly Grace came along and it was time to upgrade (???) to a double stroller. I labored over this decision until after she was born. When she was two weeks old, I went to The Right Start in Plano and bought this monstrosity, the Baby Trend/Swan Caravan Lite:

Oh, how I came to hate this stroller. It seemed like such a good idea at the time because it could accomodate one infant carseat in the rear position, and Jack could ride as well. Plus, we'd had such a great experience with the Snap-N-Go. But it was so very, very heavy. Caravan Lite? Not so much. To lift it in and out of the car was just misery. I just didn't have many options, though. I wanted to get a Sit-N-Stand, but if you used it with an infant carrier, there was no place for the older child to sit or stand, which kind of defeats the purpose, right? So I dealt with it until I felt like Jack could just walk and I went back to my beloved Chicco for Holly Grace.

Also somewhere in there we acquired one of these. I believe that a friend of ours gave it to us when she made a $20 purchase at BRU and got it for free. That should say a bit about the quality. I have to say, however, we still have it and pull it out when the car is packed full and we still need a stroller (it fits between the seats, on the floor); we've also taken it through the airport when our nice big stroller is all packed away and checked through. It's a good stroller for going through security. Unfortunately, in order to steer it, you have to tilt it backward since the front wheels don't really roll very well. A disadvantage in a stroller, to be sure.

Well, that's only five, but the others will have to wait. To be continued...

Did They Eat It?

This week I decided I'm turning over a new leaf. Cooking EVERY night this week, for real. No running out for pizza at the last minute because I didn't have a plan. I'm serious.

Monday
Stopped in at Wal-Mart after I dropped the dog off at what Holly every-so-seriously calls "the broomer". Her mispronunciations could be a post of all their own. I picked up a few fresh items that will hopefully allow me to cook all week. I have about an hour and a half of "peace" in the afternoon, so I put together my mom's lasagna recipe. However, I have pork chops to cook Monday night, so I stick the completed lasagna in the outside fridge. Monday night we have grilled pork chops, salad and corn.

Jack - not crazy about them.
Holly Grace - Yes, please. And can I have Jack's leftovers, too?
Mitchell - uh, no thanks. But I would like some more salad dressing to dip my fingers in.
Charlotte - harrumph. I'll take some milk, though.

I'm really bummed - we ate pork chops a lot growing up and I loved them! We'll just have to keep trying.

Tuesday
Tacos. I've decided that one of the biggest deterrants to me actually cooking is having the meat out and thawed. We have lots of beef in the freezer from the side of beef we get every spring, but I'm just not good about bringing it in to thaw in a decent amount of time. So, this morning, I asked John to bring a package of beef in for tacos tonight. Everyone loves tacos, except Charlotte, who claims that they are "yucky" and proceeds to toss hers on the floor and ask for a "snack" instead.

Jack - 2 HARD SHELL tacos, let's be clear that they must be HARD SHELL.
Holly Grace - 2 SOFT tacos. Again, let's be clear that they must be SOFT tacos.
Mitchell - THREE! TACOS! I don't care - in any combination - I'm starving here. And after I'm done, can I have an extra hard taco shell to munch on?
Charlotte - "Yucky!" But now that you mention it, can I have a hard taco shell, too? Yum! It's like having chips for dinner!

Wednesday
Spaghetti? I have all the stuff and it's pretty quick if I use the canned sauce. Hmmmm. 

Yep, they ate it, and some of them (Holly Grace, I think) even requested sauce. Everyone, of course, loves Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread, but only John and I ate the Caesar salad. Of course, I put some on everyone's plate, but they complained about that "yucky sauce" until I gave in and said, "Fine, you don't have to eat it. But nothing else to eat until BREAKFAST, capice?" Okay, I didn't really say, "capice". Heck, I don't even know how to spell it. But I thought it.

Thursday
Roast? Heading out to the freezer after finishing the post.

Friday
Lasagna. Ah, the beginning of the weekend and I've already made dinner!

Live Blogging - Couch Pillows

Why bother having them when you have four kids? Let's just see what happens with the couch pillows over the course of a day. Maybe it's not as bad as I think.

11:00 a.m.-2 on the couch, 3 on the floor. Pick them all up and place them, nicely, back on the couch.

11:32 a.m.-all four kids are still outside for their morning "break" (my shower). Cushions still in place; I'm thinking about lunch...

10:25 a.m.-everyone's in bed, and guess what? the couch pillows are STILL on the couch, nice and neat. And tomorrow everyone's at school, so maybe it's just my imagination. To be continued...

7:48 p.m.-ALL FIVE pillows on the floor. I'm not sure how it happened, 'cause they were all on the couch when I last checked at 6:00 p.m. I know this, because five of the six of us played a rousing game of Ring-Around-The-Rosies in the living room at that time. WHO IS THE CULPRIT??? I shall begin the interrogations as soon as they are all out of the shower.

The new thing that I love

It's called Click-and-Pull. It's at Sam's Club. It helps me avoid the vortex at Sam's that sucks you in holds you hostage and makes you pay a ransom of at least $200 to leave the store. Every Sunday, I log onto samsclub.com and "do" my grocery shopping. It's great. I take John's laptop upstairs and sit with him while he watches football. Good wife, on two counts. She is grocery shopping and she is also watching football. I click "place order" and go about my business. Monday morning, I drop the two big kids off at school at 8, then Mitchell at 9. Then I cruise right on over to Sam's, go through the exit (since I am a big fancy "Business" member and can shop earlier than the lowly PUBLIC). I pull my order out of a binder at the membership desk, take it to a cashier, and pay for it. Then a person brings my cold stuff out of the back and I pick up my basket of everything else by the pharmacy. Then we leave. Ten minutes, tops. The End.

Warning: you cannot add stuff to your Sam's Club shopping cart over a period of a couple of days. It will not save. It makes me sad, but this is how it is. I know from experience, so trust me. All of your "clicking" will be for naught if you try to keep "adding" to the cart over time. You will log in and the cart will be empty. And there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. And someone might rend their garments. It's very upsetting, is what I'm saying, so use a 20th century notepad and pen to make your list until you are ready to shop.

Chicken Cacciataco

A new recipe for you! Six ingredients! And you probably already have (or should have!) them in your pantry/freezer. A side note: every time I try to type "pantry", I inadvertently type "panty". What does this mean???

2 tsp. seasoned salt

4 chicken breasts

1/4 c. (or less!) oil

1 pkg. taco seasoning

1/4 c. water

1 16-oz. can tomatoes

Leave the chicken breasts whole, or, if you really want to live a little - cut it up into bite-sized chunks. (Did you know that chicken is easier to cut up when it is still just a little bit frozen? Yes, I have time to hover all day until my chicken reaches the perfect state for cubing.) Heat the oil in a skillet. Toss the chicken and seasoned salt in a bowl until the chicken is coated. Brown the chicken on all sides. Drain. (If you don't use the full 1/4 cup of oil, there won't be much to drain! What a concept!)

Add everything else to the skillet. Cover and simmer 40 minutes (or less, if you're pressed for time). Serve over spaghetti, rice or on tortillas. John likes it on tortillas, with cheese and taco fixin's. I like it tossed in a big pot of spaghetti. The kids like to eat the tortillas and spaghetti plain while I sob quietly over why they won't eat what I cook unless it's meatloaf. 

I check my blog ...

frequently to see if I've posted anything new, yet.

I can't wait to read this entry next time I open all my bookmarked blogs "in tabs". 

Did you think I'd fallen off the face of the earth? I did, into the world of volunteerism. Argh. 

Disney World

We took the BEST trip to Disney World a couple of weeks ago! We were there for 11 days/10 nights and had an absolute blast. Here are our secrets:

We rented a condo at Mike Ditka's Lighthouse Key Resort and Spa. It was almost 2200 square feet and had four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a full kitchen, dining room, living room and laundry room. It was, in short, incredible. It was ONLY $129 per night. AMAZING. Especially when you consider that, on our last trip to Disney World (after which I swore I would never go again) we paid $99 per night for a "Disney Hotel" on property that was MAYBE 300 square feet (one room).

We bought a $30 crockpot when we got there and cooked most of our meals in the crockpot while we were in the park all day. What's that? Oh, you want the recipes? Of course. Yes, I will share those soon. :)

Each kid had a "pack" that they wore around their waist (I refuse to use the f-word ... as in "fanny-pack") (What f-word did you think I meant?) They carried their own snacks for the day, "Disney Dollars" that they had earned at home for their souvenirs, an i.d. card with their name, our names and our cell phone numbers, and pennies for pressing.

Mitchell didn't carry a pack - John carried his stuff for him. But, I wanted his name and our phone numbers on his person somewhere. I didn't want a place that was too obvious - like a nametag, yet I didn't want anything too hidden like a piece of paper in his shoe (who would look there at park security?). I finally came up with what I thought was the perfect solution. I went to PetSmart and bought a little round animal tag that said "Mitchell" and then listed John's cell number and my cell number. And then I bought the cutest little dog collar. Just kidding ... I attached it to his shoelaces ... it was noticeable if someone had found him, but not obvious to everyone walking down Main Street, USA.

We left Charlotte at home with my parents. It was really hard to say goodbye to her, especially because we knew that she didn't understand that we were leaving, and more importantly, that we were coming back. My mom told me when we got home that it seemed like she was a little depressed the first couple of days, but then she perked up and definitely began to "bask" in all the Grammy and PawPaw love she was getting. When we got back, she actually didn't want anything to do with me at the airport, though. She only wanted John (definitely a Daddy's Girl).

We took our Phil & Ted's stroller with the doubles kit so that Mitchell and Holly Grace could both ride if they wanted to. It was awesome. And a lot of moms pushing those tandem double stroller "limos" wanted to know where we got it after they saw the small footprint and maneuverability of it. It's camo blue, in case you were wondering. We also got the double rain cover, pannier bags, and packing tray to take with us, all three of which were invaluable.

Why did we stay so long? Well, consider this: an adult 4-day ticket to DisneyWorld (includes Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney's MGM Studios) costs $212. A 10-day ticket is only $13 more at $225. Yes, it's crazy, I know. So, we just figured we'd take our time in each of the parks and not try to "marathon" it by staying from opening until closing. We did not buy the "park hopper" option, but we did buy the Water Park Fun & More Option for an additional $50 per ticket. It allowed us ten (total) entries into the two Disney water parks (normally $39 per day), Disney Quest ($37) and Pleasure Island ($21.95). We went to the water parks three times and Disney Quest twice, so it was definitely worth it.

This year Disney's theme is "Year of a Million Dreams". Now I'm not really sure why they have to have a different theme each year. It seems to me that an appropriate theme that would always be fitting is "Disney - Where it's all about the movies and us cashing in on them". Anyway, on our first full day in Orlando, we went to the Magic Kingdom. Jack, Holly Grace and I rode Space Mountain (yes, she is too young to ride, but she is tall enough and she insisted that she wanted to and so we said, "okay" and yes, she was in tears at the end of it). Well, as we were getting off the ride (tears and all) there were these people at the "disembarking" area handing out free mouse ears as part of the "Year of a Million Dreams" celebration. Apparently, sometimes they just start handing out free "stuff" at random times in the park. So, I gave my mouse ears to Mitchell outside and all three kids then had a pair. So that was a great start to our day. Then, just a little while later, we were riding "Pooh" and there they were again - at the exit! Only this time, they were handing out "Dream Fastpasses". Basically, it was like a credit card on a lanyard. It had nine different break-off tabs for nine of the most popular attractions at the Magic Kingdom that were like Fastpasses (basically, you get to go to the front of the line when you use a fastpass. At least, you get to go in the Fastpass line, which is significantly shorter than the "standby" line). We actually saved most of those Fastpasses because the crowds were so light that day that we didn't need to use them. We did use them, however, when we went back to the Magic Kingdom another day and the lines were longer.

We spend three days at the Magic Kingdom, 1 1/2 days at Animal Kingdom, 1 day at Disney MGM, and one full day and two half days at Epcot. We worked in Water Parks and Disney Quest in the other half days. And the afternoon we arrived in Florida was spent at Cocoa Beach. Until Holly Grace got too much sand in the nether regions of her bathing suit and begged to leave so that she could take a bath. :)

Someday I'll get around to getting the photos off my camera and onto my computer. And then maybe I'll upload them and share. We'll see ...

Charlotte at 15 months

My friend Lindsay posts monthly updates about her little guy - and I love it! I've never really done that with Charlotte, but I thought it might be nice to let everyone in on what she's up to at fifteen months:

Height: 31" (75th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs, 3 oz (25th percentile)
Head circumference: 18" (50th percentile)

Words: "Dad-dee", "Mama", "Jack", "PawPaw", "Uh-oh", "Puppy", "Kitty", "Moon"
Signs: More, milk, please, thank-you, yes, no

Loves: dancing, the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider", when Mommy sings "Moon, moon, moon" at bedtime, swimming, milk, Dad-dee, toilet paper, sneaking into Mommy and Daddy's room when the door is left open, going outside, grabbing her girly-parts during a diaper change, eating crayons

Hates: diaper changes, when Holly Grace tries to pick her up and carry her around, when we run out of milk, getting awakened from a nap to take someone to an after-school activity, staying up late, hairbows/ponytails

She's still a delightful child who LOVES HER SLEEP. She still naps twice a day, although we're starting to push toward one early (about noon) nap. It's hard unless we are out and about and staying busy. She is starting to be interested in climbing the stairs (ack) and she gets really upset when the other three kids go trooping outside to play and leave her standing at the door.

Meatloaf - the sequel

I have been honored recently on two other blogs. Go check it out here and here. And all because of a meatloaf recipe I posted over a year ago! :)

Thanks, guys!
*wipes a little tear away*

The Word Art Below

Here's the link to the program that I used to make the Word Art below. Why did I select "Jack" as my example? Because it's only four letters long. Anything longer than four letters wraps around the page because it's too wide.

Word Art

If you have a blog...

would you let me know so that I can keep up with your family? This is you:

Cathy M.
Angie B.
Kay L.
Carrie S.
Jorie G.
Kim W.
Carrie H.
Debbie N.
Kelly E.
Candice D.
Stacy M.
Tara H.
all of John's siblings (except David and Beth since you already complied with my request)

And anyone else who's lurking around. I woud love to know what you're up to!

I guess I'm "tagging" you to get a blog.

Double Feature

Last night John and I got a babysitter and had a real date. Our baby sitter showed up a few minutes early and took the kids upstairs while I finished cleaning up the kitchen and getting ready. I could hear her upstairs playing "Blue's Clues" with the kids. Not watching ... playing. They were having a blast. With the kids in good hands, we left right on time for a local theater where you eat dinner and watch the movie at the same time. We arrived 30 minutes early, like you're supposed to, were seated and ordered our dinner, and were eating by the time the lights dimmed for the movie. It was great! I mean, the food wasn't all that, but it's a real time saver to eat while you watch the movie. And The Bourne Ultimatum was excellent. Just our kind of movie.

The movie let out at about 9:10, which is still pretty early for us. We walked out to the car and were talking about what to do next, when I said, "Hey, I wonder if Ocean's 13 is playing over at the $1 movie."

"Do you wanna go see?" asks John.

"Really?"

"Sure, why not?"

So we hopped in the car and drove over to the $1 theater (about 5 minutes away) and, sure enough, it was playing at 9:45. So, for another $3.50, we saw another movie before we got home at midnight. Ocean's 13 was also fabulous, although I think I would need to see it about 3 more times to really get it.

The whole time we were waiting for the second movie to start, I was thinking to myself, "Look at us! We're so spontaneous! We never do things like this!"

The First Day of School

Jack went back to school yesterday. Holly Grace started Kindergarten yesterday. Whew. What a summer. I'm so glad that they are back in school!!!! Here are some pics:


Holly Grace picked her own shirt out of the catalog, we ordered it, and she wanted to wear it the first day. I was really pulling for the sweet petal-pink shirt that I picked out, but nope, she wasn't having it. The purple bow has little sparkles all over it, too. Notice that the backpack is practically as big as she is. She chose it, too. She has to take a beach towel and a pillow every day for "quiet time" so it really is stuffed full.


Oops!


I always like to get their shoes in the picture. I love the blinding whiteness of those brand spanking new back-to-school shoes. Although I do wish that Jack didn't have to wear all white tennis shoes.


This picture I just loved. My firstborn is getting so big and serious.

And what, exactly, did I do with myself all day on Wednesday? Well, Mitchell and I had a nice morning while Charlotte took a short nap. We played "Mark, Seck, GOOOO!" with matchbox cars on the wood floors. Wow, they go a long way if you really fling them hard. Also, I have not yet fished out the ones that went under the buffet in the dining room.

Then, everyone had an early lunch and I put them both down for afternoon naps at 12:45. Then I had TWO WHOLE HOURS to myself before we had to leave to pick up the big kids. Did you hear me? TWO WHOLE HOURS. So what did I do?


Made cookies, of course! Hoping to be back in the running for mom of the year by having warm cookies for the kids when they got home from the first day of school.

When John got home from work, he promptly plucked the top cookie off the pyramid of tastiness and ate it. After which I fussed at him for ruining the perfect display. Then he rearranged the cookies to look as if he hadn't eaten anything. He might just be in the running for husband of the year.

The best school supply yet

Every year I struggle with this school supply: the water bottle. Some teachers want sport-top, some don't care, some sport tops my kids can't even get open without using their molars to pop the thingy up. A couple of weeks ago, we were at REI and I found these:

CamelBak Water Bottle - 25 oz.
*CamelBak® convenience comes to popular water bottles for the benefit of anyone in need of quick hydration.
*Durable Lexan® polycarbonate construction now benefits from easy-to-use, no-drip bite valve system; simply flip up the valve, bite and drink
*Wide-mouth bottle fills easily and holds 25 fl. oz.; dishwasher safe in the top rack
*Standard cap size fits most wide-mouth bottles; bottle fits many water filters
*Easily attached to a pack or belt using a small, lightweight carabiner; handles warm liquids as easily as cold
*Lists approximate volumes in ounces and milliliters

Did you see that part about the "bite-valve"? It's awesome. The kids just bite on the blue part and the slit opens up; then it works just like a regular straw. As soon as they release their bite, the slit closes again and prevents leaks. It's polycarbonate, so it doesn't absorb odors and make the water taste funny. Holly Grace (a.k.a. the "midnight waker") likes to keep one on her nightstand and sometimes sleeps with it in the bed with her. It never leaks. And that blue thingy can be replaced if need be.

Grandkids' Camp Day 6

Our day started with cranberry orange scones, oranges and a smorgasbord of meats. A Bible story about pouty children followed - I promise that was not planned! God gave it to us on just the right day, though.

An attempt at the hot tub was more successful today - no flies.

Dressed and ready for the day, the rock shop opened briefly. We are concerned about the fate of the business. A better offer came along and the choice was made to go crawdad fishing. Everyone caught at least one, but we employed the catch and release program, thankfully.

Lunch was sandwiches at the picnic table on the deck. A squirrel wanted to join us when he found a few goldfish crumbs. We wouldn't let him, though. He was very entertaining!

Some free time outside allowed the kids to fight off the Japanese (?) bad guys before quiet time. Everyone was in separate rooms with books chosen just for them at the library. Jack was thrilled to have time to read in Grammy and PawPaw's room. Holly Grace was singing in her room. We heard Will reading in the attic room. He also had a perfect view of the new culvert being installed on the driveway above us. Of course, Grant was the last one up and he made a surprise appearance at the top of the stairs with, "What's up, Doc?"

It was then time to complete the camp project - a new bridge across the ditch. It is beautiful and sturdy! We have pictures to prove it!

Now we decided to play a new game - Hide and Seek with Walkie Talkies (Rocky Talkies according to Grant). It didn't go over so well at first. It is a difficult concept to embrace - being quiet with a communication device in hand! So Grammy and PawPaw hid (without walkie talkies) while the kids counted under the deck. The kids are not so quiet or sneaky and Grammy and PawPaw are. After an extensive search, they finally found the old folks waiting where the kids had been counting. hmmmmm.....

PawPaw had a good time with Jack and Will by giving them directions via walkie talkie. Jack was the communications officer and Will was the navigation officer. They followed directions very well as PawPaw sent them to the gate, up to the cul-de-sac, across the water and the new bridge to the deck and around to the hot tub. Very impressive! Grant and Holly helped Grammy with supper.

Supper was Chicken Stir Fry filled with veggies - yummy and everyone ate very well. Showered and jammied, ice cream was served with a movie and then, popcorn.

We are headed home tomorrow!
Grammy and PawPaw

They will change your life

I recently took a big leap. With the prodding of my husband. And it's phenomenal - the difference.

I invested in 800-threadcount sheets. I LOVE getting into my bed every night. The sheets are so thick and heavy. They aren't as soft as I thought they might be, but they are NOT scratchy like the 6-thread count sheets on Jack's bunk beds (kidding - they are at least 10-thread count).

I have often thought that nicer sheets would be a luxury I would like to have, but have held back because I thought we would be getting a king-size bed soon and didn't want to invest in nice sheets that we would be getting rid of. But, John's been traveling and sleeping on quality sheets in some hotels that are really proud of their beds. So, he urged me, when he saw a sale ad for 50% off to take the plunge. We are in love. With the sheets, I mean. And each other, lest you should wonder.

We got them two days before my surgery. That afternoon, when I got home from the hospital, it was so wonderful to crawl into my freshly made bed with nice cool sheets. I slept for four hours straight. Okay it might have had something to with the fabulous drugs I had. But still.

So having a fabulous bed (I got new bedding, too - nothing expensive, but new to us) has inspired me to clean out the master bedroom. Get rid of all those kids' toys lurking in there. Institute a new rule: No Kids Playing in My Room or Watching TV in My Room That's Why There's A TV in the Gameroom Full of TiVoed Kids' Shows. Donate the old bedding already. Figure out a better laundry system that will actually get the clean clothes put away instead of sitting in laundry baskets until the kids need them. I feel like I'm "nesting" only I am most certainly not pregnant! :) I am feeling SOOO liberated now that Charlotte is one. I am getting rid of pesky things like: bottles, the breast pump, the boppy, the bouncy seat, the infant carrier, the pregnancy/nursing/childbirth books, the burp cloths, etc. etc. Whew. Apparently we needed a separate storage unit for all that baby paraphernalia. Who knew?

Today I went through all of Holly Grace's clothes and boxed up all the too-small things, labeled with sizes on the outside of the tubs, and put them in Charlotte's closet. I helped the kids clean their rooms and the gameroom and get school uniforms ready and accessible.

All because of new sheets? Can you say "obsessive"?

Grandkids' Camp Day 5

GKC 2007
Day 5
Date: July 11, 2007 10:20:02 PM CDT

Pancakes and bacon got the day off to a good start! A Bible Story and morning activity included coloring pages. PawPaw found a space program on the Science channel and the kids decided that the cabin would be a great space shuttle with booster rockets and we would all wear space suits. Holly Grace would have a purple one. The most important thing is to look good!

Grammy and PawPaw put together a fun obstacle course on the driveway that included hurdles, cones, loops, balls, frisbee, start and finish lines and a stop watch! Everyone handled the course very well. A game of washers followed.









Off to the creek on the 4 wheelers with fishing poles! Grant and Jack almost caught minnows and crawdads, but they would not hang on to the salmon eggs. We had only one serious fisherman, Jack kept his bait and hook until something took both from his line. Everyone else traded them early in for a little yellow fish to cast.

Back to the cabin for lunch - hot ham and cheese sandwiches with pickles and carrots, then ice cream cones! It seems that everyone looks forward to quiet time each day with no complaints. It is such a good break in the day for one hour! PawPaw and Grant usually make the most of it.

The campers have struck gold! It was found in the fire pit where PawPaw had been burning scrap lumber. You won't believe how many nails and screws are there! Everyone will be rich!

Will has moved the little orange trailer about 10 miles on the driveway. A little trailer is always useful, especially when there is a rock shop that needs inventory. Speaking of which, the Rock Shop opened again late this afternoon. There are many helpers and they are always busy. Grant was trying to shoo away the humming birds today because Holly Grace does not want birds in her store. They might eat the food if there was any. She is definitely in charge and is good shop keeper. However, we are unsure of how profitable this business will be. There is no business plan and no set hours but lots of fun and she is generous!

The zip line has been in use and probably needs to be raised because these kids are getting so big! A big campfire was just the ticket tonight for cooking supper. It was cool with a little wind, but no rain. So, hot dogs and beans and marshmallows were cooked over the fire. More sticks have been cooked this week than any food. They are all getting really good at firebuilding with great respect for the fire and the fire pit.

Inside, there were showers and a game of Old Maid. Then, we had to make a decision - another game or ice cream? Grant was so excited that he said, "Ice cream? - I don't know how to play that!" The vote went to ice cream.

Dental hygiene, Bible story and bedtime story relaxed everyone and caused some heads to nod. So, off to bed...
Grammy and PawPaw

Grandkids' Camp Day 4

We knew it would be a good day when there was ice cream in the honey nut cheerios for breakfast!

After the Bible story, an activity book for Smokey's Friends kept everyone busy for a while. PawPaw discovered a show on the Science channel about dinosaurs while we made dinosaur posters. We found the flag and said the pledge as we put it up.

The rock shop opened early with expanding inventory. Rocks have started appearing in the bathroom, livingroom, dryer and elsewhere! Jack has found a piece of obsidian and is very excited about it. Geology is a wonderful hobby.

We started the camp project which is cleaning out the drainage ditch on the north side of the cabin that has been filled in with rocks and limbs and wood. Maybe we will build a new bridge across it! Taking a hike to check on Grammy's blackberry plants, we found a huge, new climbing rock. A long 4 wheeler ride completed the morning. We stopped to talk to the neighbors and their "giant dog, Ziggy". Holly Grace thought that Ziggy wanted to snuggle with her.

We had a great lunch - turkey sandwiches and a wonderful quiet time - one hour of total peace! Letters home were painfully written and you will find them in the duffle bags upon return. This brought a need to get outside. So, a hike along the game trail took us to the old castle rock. There was a big fight with bad guy indians, but good prevailed and we are all safe.

When we returned, we started a freezer of ice cream and tried out the hot tub. Unfortunately, horse flies chased out all hot tubbers. So, back to the rock shop when rain began and then hail! Talk about exciting! Glad we weren't trying to cook outside today! All camp cooks got the day off andGrammy and PawPaw cooked tacos and beans. Hopefully, we will have a campfire again tomorrow. We had a diverse group of ice cream sundaes - chocolate, strawberry, and banana and all mixtures!

We discovered Jack reading Calvin and Hobbs to all the other kids after supper.

A short ride took us to the meadow to watch for the bats - and we saw three, though Grant got a little "freaked out"! PawPaw had left a fire going and it sure felt good when we returned to prepare for bedtime. First, we had to receive stickers for today. Teeth, meds and jammies readied everyone for the bedtime story. Will and Grant fell asleep and Holly Grace was almost there when we made our way to the attic room.

Today, Will asked, "When does the next Grandkids Camp start?"

Yesterday, the birds were fed and everyone tasted the hummingbird food. The general consensus is that it tastes like marshmallows.

Grammy has received fresh flowers everyday.

More tomorrow!
Grammy and PawPaw

I did it! All by myself!!!

I finally figured out how to get video off my new (since Mother's Day) digital video camera and onto my computer. I swear, I was trying to use the PC instructions, but my Mac made it so simple. All I had to do was buy a firewire cable, connect the camera and turn it on. Have I mentioned my new love, iMac?

Anyway, here's the inaugural video ...

When all else fails, Baby Girl, just kiss your daddy.

Grandkids' Camp Day 3

GKC 2007
Day 3
Date: July 9, 2007 11:19:53 PM CDT

What a great day at GKC in the mountains! Grant was the first up, but came downstairs and into Grammy and PawPaw's room very quietly. Holly Grace followed later, then Will and Jack was last. We had eggs with bacon and cheese, hash browns, toast, pears and peaches and apple juice for breakfast. A Bible story every morning helps us through the day. We had a Smokey the Bear Fire Safety Fun lesson, too.

Outside, the boys gathered rocks for collections and Holly Grace opened a Rock Store. Rocks were free and cleaning the rocks was free, too! So, the rock cleaning began. They all used water and "toulet" (Holly's pronunciation) paper leaves (a nice soft and rather large leafy plant that they all agreed would be perfect for an outdoor toilet!). We have a fine rock shop on the deck, now.

A ride on the 4 wheelers took us to the creek and back before lunch. Lunch was individual make your own pizzas - yummy and creative. Everyone had 2 english muffins. Toppings included marinara sauce, mozzarella, canadian bacon, jalapenos, capers and olives. Some toppings never made it to the pizzas. :)

Quiet time was wonderful for everyone. Holly Grace listened to Amelia Bedelia in the east bedroom, Grant read 2 books and slept in the west bedroom and Jack and Will listened to Hank the Cowdog in the attic room. PawPaw and Grammy rested in the bedroom. This all lasted one perfect hour! After helping Paw Paw with new water hoses for the trees, it was off again to the creek on the 4 wheelers.

Everyone made and cooked their own supper tonight. We had yummy chicken trail burgers. Eating on the deck was a treat. We are so proud of all the participation of all the campers!

The boys were playing out back and Jack accidentally hit Will in the back with a big stick. We knew that it was serious when Will cried. Apparently, it knocked Will's breath out. Jack was horrified! We are unsure who cried more - Will or Jack. All was immediately forgiven. Ice cream saved the day!

Throughout the day, there was the zip line and exploring and rock climbing. No bears are coming around here, but Grant discovered a big, huge pile of bear poop just south of the cabin. He thinks we should clean it up tomorrow - maybe he will forget.

A quick game with the Woodsy the Owl team kept some busy while others showered. Then, a Bible story and we started reading a book. We hope to complete it this week. Sleepy kids brought bedtime and good rest.

We have found that camp is so easy with older kids! We are getting spoiled!
Grammy and PawPaw

Don't get too spoiled, Grammy and PawPaw ... Mitchell is pooping in the potty these days. I have a feeling he'll be joining you next year.

Grandkids' Camp Day 2

GKC 2007
Day 2
Date: July 8, 2007 11:06:17 PM CDT

Well, let's see - where to begin. Perhaps at 4:30 this morning with coughing and crying. Holly Grace needed more meds, then right back to sleep on the floor beside Grammy. At 6:30, Jack and Will appeared at Grammy's side, dressed and ready for the day! hey did not see Holly, but avoided stepping on her, so she slept a little later. Grant was soon behind them.

So, off to Capulin early, had breakfast on the way (yogurt, oatmeal to go bars, pinapple juice and yogurt covered raisins). There was a feed lot on the way and Will told us that he saw two cows wrestling. One of them "got bucked up". Hmmmmm.

Capulin Mountain finally appeared and we were so excited! Stopping at the information center, we watched a short video (Grant was looking for the video games). We drove up to the crater to hear the ranger talk. Jack was really in to her talk and interacted with her. We had picnic sack lunches of string cheese, peanut butter crackers, goldfish, teddy grahams and capri sun - eaten not necessarily in that order. We hiked down to the center of the crater and completed the lady bug hike forms. Everyone received their lady bug buttons. Jack and Will received the junior ranger badges - oath and all after completing the requirements! We even saw a lady bug this time. Will spotted her first! Of course we stopped for a group picture at the entrance sign.

A movie kept everyone occupied while we drove to the cabin and finished the lunch bags. Grant slept. It was not a long trip and we arrived at the cabin a little after 4 pm. So, we unloaded, poured wine (adults only) and built a campfire. Hot dogs and s'mores were a big hit. We are glad to report that there are no burns on any bodies.

We took the 4 wheelers to the cafe for our daily dose of ice cream and rode back little way in the rain. Hot showers, meds, teeth brushed and story time completed the evening. All four campers are asleep in the attic room.

Everyone is playing nicely and earning stickers for the name tags. Jack is all about that!

Holly Grace is better today, but her energy level seems to fluctuate. We keep ibuprofen, cough drops and cough syrup handy, but she is improving. Tonight, she started coughing and Will said, "Bless your heart" as he put his arms around her. It was really sweet.

We are all happy to be at the cabin and off the road. Everyone is looking forward to coffee with PawPaw in the morning.

More tomorrow!
Grammy and PawPaw

PS - Will had a red tiger blood snow cone last night.

Charlotte's First Birthday Party Slide Show

This is a digital scrapbook I made yesterday in about 3 hours with software from Topline Creations (TLC). I LOVE this software. This template was pre-designed, so I just dropped in my photos and adjusted sizes, etc., when needed. I went to see a demo of this software and fell in love - so much so that I signed up to sell it. If you are interested in a copy of it, let me know! I am having a hard-bound copy of the book printed by TLC and I've burned an interactive CD with music for my mom. You can mouse over the slide show to stop on a page at any time. I made the slide show with the hi-res images of each scrapbook page on slide.com ... super-easy!

Funny things Mitchell says

"Mom, Mom, I want some this cumcumber in my salyad."

"You want some of this cucumber?"

"No, it's too strangerous."

Grandkids' Camp

Every summer, my parents take all the grandkids who are potty-trained with them for a period of time and give us moms and dads a break. The first year, it was just Jack and Will. And actually, they weren't potty trained. Either of them. They were 21 months and 12 months, respectively. After the first two years of "Grandkids' Camp" (or GKC, as they call it), when they pretty much changed diapers and put babies down for naps all day, they instituted the "must be potty-trained" rule. They have seven grandkids now, but only four are potty-trained. The cast of characters: Jack (7), Will (6), Holly Grace (5) and Grant (4). And of course, Grammy and PawPaw. This year, GKC was a WEEK LONG. One week of heaven.

Several years ago, Christi (my SIL) and I decided that it would be fun for the two of us to get together and scrapbook while the kids were away. So we meet up either at her house or mine (we live about 5 hours apart) and work as fast and furiously as possible. The highlights of our time together are: eating, scrapbooking, and getting the daily email update on how camp is going from my mom. After all the kids are in bed each night, she writes us an email that highlights the day. So, I thought I would share the highlights of GKC with you! This year's theme (EVERY year has a theme!) was Ice Cream Every Day.

Grammy and PawPaw came into town for Charlotte's birthday and picked up all four kids. They left at 9 a.m. Saturday morning ...

GKC 2007
Day 1
July 8, 2007 12:08:44 AM CDT

Oh yes, it is very late! We had a good, but long day. Leaving a little late was just the beginning! Will shared his Spiderman comic books that Nani Dot gave him and everyone was busy for a while. Then, the movie was good.

At Sonic, we ordered a dozen corny dogs, tater tots and slushies. As Grammy remembered to get Grant's patch and closed the back of the Land Cruiser, there were four little heads popping up through the sunroof! We got everyone back inside along with lunch and went on down the road to the rest area for lunch and playing.

Holly coughed a lot, but it did not slow her down much until later. There were lots of trains today, mostly stopped and very long. Everyone has been kind and generous!

When we talked about stopping at the local water park, Holly Grace said that she loves water parks! As we turned in, Will said that he had always dreamed about going to this place! So, about 5 pm, we arrived there, got changed and lockered and in the water. It really felt good! The wave pool was fun and the lazy river was nice, but Holly barely made it around two times. She must have gotten water in her mouth and started coughing again. It did not stop and she was exhausted. She and Grammy sat in the lounge chairs and she went to sleep wrapped in towels! Grammy was so worried about her, thinking that there could be a trip to the emergency room or at least some phone calls this evening. PawPaw and the boys went off to ride the big slides. Jack was a little apprehensive, but he was glad that he went. When they returned, Holly Grace woke up happy and refreshed and walked to the car! Miraculous recovery!

At home, we showered, had Meatloaf for dinner and went to get snow cones for our ice cream of the day. Jack had cinnamon, Will had toasted red something (can I get back to you with that?), Grant had spiderman, Holly Grace had blue coconut, Grammy had strawberry daiquiri and PawPaw had butterscotch.
Jammies, meds, tooth brushing and off to bed for all!

Tomorrow will bring adventures at the volcano!
Love from GKC~
Grammy and PawPaw

Charlotte is One!

Here are the promised photos from Charlotte's first birthday. We started a James Avery Charm bracelet for her. John and I gave her the bracelet and the girl baby shoes charm. My mom gave her a 2006 charm for the year she was born. My brother and sister-in-law gave her the ladybug charm. Jack and Holly Grace picked out a whole slew of play wooden food from Target to get for her (i.e. themselves ... it was all for ages 3 and up). She also got some great books and a few electronic toys from Grandma. We had a swim party and it was oh so much fun. Just family was there, which was great. Unfortunately, I didn't get to swim ... too busy taking about 150+ photos. It was only 14 pages worth in her scrapbook.

Shake Your Groove Thang


My nephew Brock


My newphew Will


Jack and Will enjoying cake


Uncle Cory and Charlotte

I have been shamed

Okay, so I have been shamed into posting (see Lindsay's blog at crawfordhouse.blogspot.com. Scroll down to the part where it says I update "rarely"). What's going on in our lives? Let's see...

Since my last post I have:
*Watched Charlotte take her first steps. Captured it on film - video and still! Still don't know how to get digital video off my camera and onto my Mac. Help, Bre!
*Celebrated Charlotte's birthday with grandparents, great-grandma (NaniDot) and my brother, Cory, and his kids. What's that? You want to see photos? Okay... coming soon.
*Spent a week with my brother's wife and their littlest while her older two and my older two went to "Grandkids' Camp". Yes, it's awesome. I shall blog on that, as well.
*Spent two weeks with my parents in New Mexico at their cabin. Mom and I scrapbooked like crazy and I got SIXTY pages done. And the weather was gorgeous. And the food was amazing.
*Had a minor day surgery. I'm fine. Don't worry. I suppose I could blog on that if you want gory details.
*Watched the first three episodes of the first season of the BBC's "Coupling". John and I laughed out loud several times. Although it was odd watching a show with canned laughter again. We don't watch many sitcoms ... actually "The Office" is the only one we watch, and there's no canned laughter, so it took us a while to get used to it again. But, it's hilarious.
*Been to the library twice with four kids (glutton for punishment).
*Been to the Honda dealership to replace the rear entertainment system remote that we can only assume was inadvertantly thrown away after our spring break trip to the mountains. It was $238 to replace. I said, "No thanks". Update: John found one on a Honda Accessories website for a mere $168. I guess I'll have to suck it up and pay it.

Alright, everybody happy? More coming...

My dad reminded me

of something I forgot to put in the last post. (Hi, Dad!) That day I spent with my Grandmother? She told him about one thing that I omitted.

While we were at the library we decided to ride the elevator on our way out. Because it's one of Mitchell's favorite things to do and it's free. :)

We always let Mitchell push the buttons because, well, he's two. That's what two-year-olds do. So, we got on and let him push the button for the second floor. Then he looks at me and says "I push this one?"

"No," I respond as the elevator door opens. It was like slow-motion. He never took his eyes off of me and pressed the button anyway. I couldn't reach him to stop him because the stroller was between us. In the blink of an eye, he'd pushed the "HELP" button and called 911!!! Meanwhile, the older two kids had gotten off the elevator on the second floor (which is the ADULT/QUIET area of the library) and were calling to me "We're going to go down the stairs, Mommy!" Mitchell ran out after them, screaming, "I go too!"

Back at the ranch (in the elevator) I heard, "911, what's your emergency?"

Um, hello, I have a two-year-old who likes to push the buttons in the elevator ... that's my emergency!

The elevator doors were open. My grandma was trying to corral the three older kids. I hade Charlotte in the stroller half-way out of the elevator and I was leaning down to talk into the built-in speaker on the wall.

"There's no emergency," I hissed, but I was interrupted by an automatic recording that comes on to respond to the operator:

"Please send help to ..." and proceeded to give the address of the library to the 911 operator. I was pretty sure I was going to die of embarrassment. I wanted to strangle robot-man talking to the operator and tell him that there was, in fact, NO EMERGENCY and to quit talking for me.

Finally, the librarian sitting nearby hung up her phone and said, "I've already let them know it was a false alarm ... it's okay". Meaning, I could now leave the elevator and not try to talk to an operator who couldn't hear me. I just didn't think it was right to leave the operator hanging, you know?

So, I retrieved Mitchell, we had a talk about being quiet in the library and obeying Mommy, and I made him apologize to the librarian. Then we got the heck out of dodge before he could find a fire alarm to pull.

Lovely Saturday

John's Grandfather died on Thursday. He was 95 years old. Wow. He was a lovely man - I wish I'd picked his brain about gardening, but the last time I spent any time with him was before I knew I enjoyed gardening!

John flew home to be with his family this morning and after the kids an I dropped him off at the airport, we decided to go by my Grandma's house to visit. So we called when we were about five minutes away and said, "Can we come by?" Of course, the answer was, "Of course!" She only lives about 15 minutes from us, but we don't seem to be in her neck of the woods too terribly often. We got there and piled out of the car. The kids played (and fought over) her mega blocks and Barbie car for a while, then they headed out to the HUGE backyard where they played until their faces were pink and they had little beads of sweat all over their foreheads.

So, then we invited Nani Dot (that's what we call her) to lunch with us. We picked up tacos at Taco Bell and brought them to our house to eat. Again, the kids played outside and she and I walked through our garden. After that, we packed up the kids again and went to the library. I hadn't been to the newly remodeled library in her town, and it was GREAT! We got lots of books, DVDs and books with tapes/CDs for Holly Grace to listen to. She can't read yet, but enjoys those, "When you hear this sound {DING}, turn the page" books. It was interesting that Nani Dot (80 years old) showed US how to use the self-checkout computer. What a lady! We had a great time with her and we were thankful to get to spend part of the day with her.

The whole reason for our trip to the library was Jack's current obsession with geology. We got five juvenile non-fiction books on geology. We worked on his geology beltloop for Cub Scouts a while back and he took quite an interest in it. Then, this week at Cub Scout Twilight Camp, they had a geologist come and talk to the boys. They earned their geology pin and got samples of all different kinds of rocks. So Jack officially has a rock collection now. Before it was just an unofficial rock collection - two gallon-sized ziploc bags that he had collected on his last trip to Grammy and PawPaw's house. John's excited because the geologist at Twilight Camp said that Geologists are in the 4th highest-paid profession in the U.S. (behind doctors, lawyers, and something else that John couldn't remember).

Anyway, after the library, I thought about how this is how learning should be! Jack is fascinated with Geology right now. Well, we'll go to the library and help him pick out some books and then we'll capitalize on that interest. Even if it's just a passing interest, that's fine. This is why I love [partially] homeschooling our kids. Summer seems so much more "doable" now.

Party till 2 a.m.

Last night we partied till 2 a.m. With all four kids. In our downstairs hall bathroom. It was quite crowded, really too crowded to even dance but the music was great. It went something like this ... "Woooooooooahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, woooooooooahhhhhhhhhhhh."

The party started at 1:40 a.m. when the tornado sirens sounded. I was actually awake watching the lightning flashes all around, which I love, but I do NOT love dragging my husband and four kids out of bed to join me in the smallest room in our house for a late-night soiree.

Of course, Holly Grace complained that Jack was touching her and making her "itchy". It's hard not to touch you, sweetheart, when you've staked your claim on the entire floor so you can lay down. Jack had some real fear in his eyes; I assured him that this was just like the tornado drills they had at school. (Only this time, there really was a tornado, which I omitted.) He wanted to know why we had to have a tornado drill in the middle of the night. I sat on the floor with the kids, while lucky John got the potty. But, both Mitchell and Charlotte wanted me to hold them; Daddy just wouldn't suffice; and then Charlotte was grabbing Mitchell's hair and he was crying about that and the fact that Jack was trying to lay his head on my knee, which was clearly Mitchell's territory. Ugh.

Miraculously, all four kids went RIGHT BACK to sleep when we closed the party down. With no complaints.

Although, today Jack stated that he hopes we don't have another "tornado drill" tonight.

Oh, and I couldn't even find anything on the news this morning about this alleged tornado.

Augmentin = Chocolate!

Really, it's true! Augmentin tends to give kids diarrhea, so our doctor recommends a Hershey's kiss after every dose. It works! Even Charlotte gets 3.5 mL of chocolate syrup after every 3.5 mL dose of augmentin. Genius! And the kids NEVER complain about taking their medicine.

Speaking of which, have you ever tasted this medicine? It's nasty, really. When Jack was about three years old, he was taking augmentin (and complaining about it - I didn't know the chocolate trick at the time). My parents were in town and my dad was really talking it up: "Jack, you're really going to like it; it's yummy white medicine!" (Jack called it "white medicine"). Jack looked at him with a really straight face and out of the mouth of my babe came, "PawPaw, have you ever HAD white medicine?"

My dad, realizing that he really couldn't actually attest to the tastiness of augmentin, wisely said, "Well, you know, Jack, I haven't ever had white medicine. But you still have to take it."