Conversations and Tidbits

James: Will aphids bite?

Me: No, they're just irritating.

James: Oh. Ok-- uh, irritating, as in annoying? Or irritating as in, they will irritate your skin?

Me: Just annoying.

James: Well, that's good!

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We have decorative ivy climbing the new fence! It's pretty cool.
We have poison ivy climbing everything else. Not so cool.
We found earthworms.
We found fire ants.
We found a butterfly.
We found grubby, leggy, swarmy things. (I think it was a disturbed ant bed.)
So, in general, we're not making fantastic headway out there.
But it's not all bad, either.
But I am seriously done with the Mary Poppins attitude to landscaping today.

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James: I found a swarm of something in one of the bricks. They look like maggots, with legs. Like this. (Makes legs with his fingers sticking from his abdomen.) Can I touch it?

Me: (It's only 12:26, and I am SO done doing the yardwork-with-kids thing already.) Honey, if you find a brick swarming with anything, just leave it be.

James: (Not looking at me...) Like that?

Me: What?

James: Like that.

Me: Like... what?

James: Like that bee? (Points at a hovering bee on the porch.)

*sigh*

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EmBaby: Em 'a want 'a swing!

Me: (There's an empty swing right in front of her.) Well, ok, go swing.

EmBaby: Em 'a want 'a THAT swing. (The one her brother is in, of course.)

Me: Well, that one's in use, Baby. You can pick one of the other swings...

EmBaby: *bursts into tears*

Me: Well, Love, a fit won't get you what you want. If you need to throw this fit, you can do it in your room. If you want to swing, you need to stop with the fit.

EmBaby: *sniff* *sniff* OK. I all done. *sniff* Em 'a want 'a swing.

(What's the computer code for an endless loop? Yeah, insert that right about... here.)

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And the general MO of the day: don't think about what you do before you do it.

EmBaby comes to me, crying that John bonked her in the head with a dirt clod.

Gah. We have discussed this, I don't know how many times. We. Do. Not. Throw. Dirt. Period. (But particularly not at people.)

Me: JOHN! Did you throw dirt clods?

John: (in his most humble, I really don't want to be telling the truth right now, voice) Yes.

Me: Don't we have some kind of guideline about that?

John: Don't do it.

James: Um, Mom. I was part of that. You know how when you throw dirt clods and they come apart due to the... something-something... friction and gravity... mumble-something... time-space continuum... average PSI... inhalation... (OK, I wasn't paying attention - his explanations get overly involved and unnecessarily exhausting. I've taken to standing there, looking stern until his lips stop moving and he makes eye contact again. So shoot me. But I did give him immediate credit for 'fessing up to his part in it before I even had to ask.)

Basically, they were playing some kind of game wherein James rides his bike and John tries to hit him with dirt clods as he goes by. Aside from the fact that I think that's a weird thing to play, I have other problems with it. The thing about moving targets, of course, being that they often bring into the line of fire non-moving, non-targets. And when you're seven, it's not like your aim is the greatest.

So, I ran through my mental parenting rubric:

Told the truth the first time, +5 pts.
...without me reminding him of the importance of doing so. +10 pts.
Spotted the error in their thinking process, +3 pts.
...without me having to point it out. +10 pts.
Sibling coughed up a truthful inclusion confession on his own, +20 pts.
Both parties showed concern (ok, some awareness) that their actions, however unintentional, had negatively affected someone else. +50 pts. (been workin' on that one for a while!)

So it's not 100% (that would be reserved for "thought things through before doing them" - it will be a Very Happy Day when that happens!) But it's not bad for a 7yo and a 9yo. I couldn't really justify leaping into Lecture Land. They handled it well. I'm proud of them.

But I'm still done doing the yardwork-with-kids thing. :-P

That's why I'm in here, blogging, under the pretext of figuring out what to fix for lunch.

Why We Haven't Blogged...

We have Our Nice Lady!!

We've been busy taking walks, chatting, checking out the birds and foliage (she knows WAY more about both than we do - YAY!)...

...snuggling the baby...

...doing art... (I swear, my kids have done more art in the last three days than they've done, cumulatively, in the last nine years! They're in heaven!)

...doing more art... (told ya!)

...and staring at the baby... (who has begun to stare back, and smile, and even sing)...

LB is the most gracious guest. I hope we can make her feel at home here. The kids adore her, and so do Zorak and I. This is when I wish even more than usual that we all lived closer together. There are many other things to post, and I'll do that in bits and pieces tonight - a beautiful blanket (two, actually!), a box of goodies, and some really great artwork.

Zorak worked himself to the bone over the weekend, but still made time to come up and do some of his famous Company Cookin' - we're feeding her well! (I hope!) The balcony is coming together, bit-by-quirky-bit. But I couldn't post pictures of that when I had pictures like this...

(Um, ignore the fly strip in the corner, please. It's been a weird week for flies.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Trash Day & Life

The back of the Suburban is full-to-the-roof with cardboard for recycling. We've stopped by twice in the last week, only to find that the bin is completely jam-packed. I don't think you could fit a flattened shirt box in there. The boys and I talked about how this could be encouraging (SO many people are recycling their cardboard) or discouraging (the folks who look after the bins are not keeping up very well), and that often we can choose how we'll look at things. My knee-jerk reaction is the latter (the' slackin' dogs), but I make a conscientious decision to pick the former (how wonderful that it's not just us!) in order that the boys will learn to be more positive. It's either going to work like a charm, or they're going to decide their mother is a bi-polar hypocrite. Not sure which, but one can hope. Anyway, today was trash day, and I've *got* to get the Suburban cleaned out. So I really hope the recycle bins are empty today. :-S

The Big Boys returned from their Cub Adventure Weekend with Scouts. They had a good time, although all three of them (Zorak included) said it was a little over-regulated. Saturday's activities started at 6:30AM, and ran in one-hour blocks, back-to-back, until after 8PM, with the only free time being a small slot after lunch. If you had to pee, or wanted ice cream, you had to miss the opening portion of your next activity. From what they heard, last year's camp was badly under-planned, so this seems to have been a pendulum year, as the council tries to find the right blend. Next year's camp-out should be a happy medium. And, in the end, it was time well-spent for the guys. They had a good time, stuffed themselves silly at Huddle House (which Zorak describes as a "clean Waffle House," if you can imagine such a thing) on the way out, and were home before noon Sunday morning.

I forgot to remind James not to argue about government guidelines. Oops. So during the nutrition & cooking segment, he decided to die on the whole-milk vs. skim-milk hill. *sigh* It's hard to live in a grey world when you see things so very black-and-white. I forget how hard it is to grow up, to learn that keeping your philosophies to yourself doesn't mean you're compromising your principles, to realize that it's okay to quietly live your life while you smile and nod... and yet, in the process, still learn that it's important to stand up for what you know is right, that you have to speak up against abuse and manipulation, that you can't go with the flow (if everybody else jumped off a bridge... yeah, yeah, we know). Pick your battles. Stand firm. Be flexible. Gah! I forget what a tricky landmine maze Life is to maneuver! He's learning, though, and I really believe he'll be just fine in the end.

It was good to have them back. I'm not sure who was more excited: Smidge, who just about burst blood vessels in his head from squealing when they arrived (he did ten laps up and down the hallway, doing his Paul Revere impression, before the guys got to the front door); EmBaby, who had been looking for them all weekend; Me, who really missed them in so many ways I didn't expect to. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. Last night we had hot dogs and kielbasa on the grill, made s'mores, and told jokes all evening. It was wonderful to hear jokes that make sense again! I could even hang with the off-color bodily fluid humor... for a little while. ;-)

And today, we have much preparation to do! We have big plans for this weekend! But BabyJ is up, so that'll have to wait for a later post.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Busy Day!

Em wasn't so sure the day would go well. She did her hair and wanted to show James. I had to tell her James was in town. She grunted her disappointment. Then I gave her a bagel and she asked for one for Smidge. Had to admit that he, too, was not home. More grunting, accompanied by the furrowing of brows. When we finally got to the fact that John was also MIA, she lost it and stood in the living room crying, "Em a want her boys!" She finally accepted that it was just us three this morning, and curled up to eat her bagel all alone on the couch. I couldn't resist snapping a picture. This is Em, of the Wild Hair Clan.

Her prospects improved considerably when I told her we could go into town "to find the boys" and have a picnic. That was a great pick-me-up! And so, we cleaned up a bit and headed into town. The picnic was a blast. Me-Wa and Me-Tae were there. The weather was perfect. The other kids there were delightful. Just couldn't ask for a nicer day for an outing.

Smidge was walking ten feet tall, since he got to spend the day hanging with the guys. I think this helped him not feel quite so small today, and that was really good stuff!

And the wee bairn even emerged from his cocoon for a bit, to enjoy the sunshine and the lovin's.

Smidge's game was tonight. He had a wonderful time, and his team won. I'll blog about that in a separate post, since there are pictures to go with it, and Blogger limits the number of images per post.

For now, though, it's time for bed. I've got three guys to pack off to camp for the weekend, and a whole lot of cleaning to do in the meantime!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The Easter Baby

Welcome, Jason Thomas!! (Far better than Heinrich, I know. *grin*)

Just a short two hours after I posted this morning, our sweet Easter Baby joined the family. After such a long lead-in, he made a quick and easy (relatively speaking, of course) arrival. Zorak and I weren't remotely ready, thinking we still had several hours of labor ahead of us. He was making sausage and biscuits, and I was wondering if he'd put an egg on mine. But you will never, ever hear us complain!)

So here's the pertinent stuff:
* 21" long (which explains how one can bury his head and still have a foot stuffed up Mom's spleen)
* 7lbs. 4 oz. (we took bets on the weight, and we were all off, except Zorak - James swore he couldn't weigh more than three, maybe four pounds - they do look SO tiny!)
* APGARs, 9, 10 (the water was a little cool, so he got docked a point for his color at the start - you'll notice in the pool shots that he is a little blue - but he was not "purple", which is what James told Granny on the phone - I'm hoping Zorak corrected that and didn't leave her thinking we'd nearly lost the little guy.)
* And, of course, his name: Jason Thomas. Not Heinrich. (Sorry, Melora - I thought you knew we were joking!) The boys immediately took a poll, though, just in case, and were all quite relieved to hear the official verdict.He's alert, turns to the sounds of his siblings' voices, nurses like a champ, squeaks like a mouse, cries like a kitten, and does all the wonderful, endearing things newborns do. (Like sleep... he slept beautifully this afternoon, and let me crash like a flaming jumbo jet, as well.)Me-Wa and Me-Tae came down to help with the little ones and be here for the big arrival. Actually, just as Me-Wa walked in, I yelled to the boys, "He's here!" I could hear James ask John, "How did she know?" Well, *I* meant your brother! :-) They were so gracious and so sweet. Their presence really made the whole rest of the day much nicer and easier, both freeing up Zorak to take such good care of me, and letting the kids wallow in being loved. *happy sigh*

I'm sorry to have taken so long to get these posted. I couldn't leave the room without being swarmed (does four count as a "swarm"? Well, it feels like a swarm after the morning we had.) So I stayed holed up in bed, where they could swarm without knocking me over. It was really nice. And I slept. And Zorak made me sauteed shrimp with garlic, roasted turkey, baked potatoes and mixed veggies. You just can't get that anywhere but home. We didn't get a chance to make the chile rellenos, so we'll make those sometime this week, and on the upside, since I won't be, erm, otherwise engaged, I'll be able to take pictures and post the recipe.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

I think this is going to be another long one.

My initial post was that "nothing is happening," and that's how it feels. I slept a good part of the day. I wandered from room to room, looking for something to read, to eat, to do... nothing looks interesting. Very restless. But then Zorak asked me to let him know so we could time contractions.

Huh. Whaddya know? They're very regular, 7-10 minutes apart. They're just short in duration. This means two things: it's gonna be a while, and at least they're probably semi-productive. (Wee!) From what I can remember of EmBaby's birth, there was only about 30 minutes of active pushing (although I'd have sworn at the time that it was hours! LOL!)

So. I found a mystery plant and got pictures. I'm going to edit them and beg y'all to help us identify the mystery tree. :-) And then, perhaps we'll watch a movie. Zorak made cookie bars. I'll probably eat the rest of those.

Oh, funny. I just went back to read Em's story, and read this:

I'm anxious for things to pick up the pace a bit. Threw in some laundry, snacked on breakfast leftovers... roaming around looking for something to do. I might go down to the basement and see if I can find a book I haven't read yet (you'd think, considering 3/4 of what we own is books, that wouldn't be a difficult task, eh?)

Sound familiar? Heh. At least this time, all our books are upstairs and I don't have any walls to texture. Pretty cushy, if you ask me.

Thank you for your prayers and cheerleading and general sweet, encouraging words. I really do have the best blog community in the world, you know that?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

And So It Begins...

Well, folks, it looks like we'll have a new "finished project" to blog sometime this weekend. I was sure hoping to hold out 'til Friday, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. (Part of me thinks it would be really nice, because there is still SO MUCH TO DO, but the cramping and the ache in my back has me thinking we really need to hurry this up and get it over with! Yeouch, I. Am. Such. A. Wuss.)

Fortunately, we slogged through the Health Department's self-perpetuating onslaught and got our Verification of Pregnancy affidavit this afternoon (required to obtain a birth certificate in the State of Alabama). Hopefully, we won't have much trouble getting a birth certificate or SS# this time around! But man, oh, man, getting out of there without signing up for WIC, Medicaid, Food Stamps... I don't know how many times I had to repeat, "No, we just want a verification of pregnancy letter. That is all I want, and I only want that because of this state's legislation. We neither qualify for, nor desire, enrollment in any of these programs, thank you." James beat me to the punch and said it for me at one point. He was respectful to the nurse, but I think he was surprised by how incredibly pushy they were down there. (Although probably not as surprised as every employee there, who kept up the sales pitch and simply couldn't understand *why* we wouldn't want to sign up for their "free" services.) The funniest part was that they actually made me take a u/a to verify pregnancy. The most exhausting part was that it took an HOUR to get out of there.

We stopped at Sonic and bought three bags of ice. I don't have to leave the house for a week, now! WOOHOO!

We bought groceries for Easter supper (which, if you're planning to come, will be prepared entirely by Zorak this year - thankfully, he loves to cook, and he's good at it!) And my sweet Zorak asked me to pick up some Anaheim chiles and jack cheese. Guess who's gettin' rellenos again! SCORE! I feel so LOVED! (I am so loved.)

Meanwhile, Zorak's been doing a little nesting of his own. The fence pickets are all up now, and it looks spectacular. All we're missing is the front gate and the stain. Talk about exciting stuff!

I'm gonna go beg one last back rub and lay down for a bit. As much as I'd love to blog this, I'm really hoping and praying we aren't looking at another two and a half day labor! (Not that I don't love y'all, but a girl can only take so much of this stuff. *grin*) However, I'll check in later, anyway.

Can't wait to kiss my baby!
~Dy

Oh, we had fun!

Our Wonderful Neighbors arrived Wednesday night. The kids picked up like it hasn't actually been three years since they've seen one another. Erin came in. The kids disappeared on the property. We have no photos from Wed, other than this one, which Zorak couldn't resist taking at bedtime. That's a pile. of. children. Doesn't it look like fun?

 

Thursday morning, all the kids were up by SIX-THIRTY! ACK! No time to lose, right? They ate and headed out to play. They played all day. Erin and I spent most of the day standing at the window, oogling the children, ooohing and ahhhing over how much they've grown and how totally fantastic they are.

The boys had their first piano lessons Thursday, so I ran them in for that while Erin stayed with the littles. Then, due to the freakish weather we've been having, the coaches all decided to schedule impromptu practices Thursday evening. I ran John to practice, made several parts runs (the compressor on the Suburban died last week, so Zorak worked on that for us), and then Zorak tagged me out so I could stay and visit with Erin while he took James to his practice at six. I was exhausted. Erin and I sat and visited and had a really nice time. More child-watching, more oohing. Definitely more ahhing. We didn't realize until Friday morning that there are NO photos from Thursday, at all. We're losers.

Friday was also good. The weather turned cold-cold, but Zorak fired up the plough disk and a little fire so the kids could have a cook-out and play outside. HUGE hit with the kids.

 

I'll tell you, these kids make having seven look like a cake walk. They are all. such. great. kids. We tried to convince her to leave them here, but she didn't figure she'd get such a great reception with the Grandparents if she arrived without them.

And, here's a picture of the two preggo women after they lumbered down to the fire. Yes, it looks like we've been camping for a week straight. I love friends who don't care if you wear make up or do your hair. :-)

 

It's Feeling Like Springtime!

It was in the 70's today, and absolutely "glorious", as James put it. Zorak worked on the garden, the yard, and the fence. I worked on the house. We turned off the HVAC and flung wide the doors. (We also let in the spiders and moths. Oops.)

The children alternated between climbing trees to perch up there and read (which sounds infinitely more romantic than it is - they're all covered in scratches and bark-burn now, and we've yet to locate one of the books), and helping with the work. Emily free-ranged most of the day, buried a pair of shoes in a pile of leaves, rode her tricycle down the driveway, talked a brother into hauling it back up for her. All-in-all, a really great day.

Me-Wa and Me-Tae came out mid-afternoon and visited. The guys got a good portion of the fence panels put up. John learned how to mix concrete. EmBaby delighted in having her "Nice Terry" (her personal name for Me-Tae) to wallow in all afternoon. I didn't accomplish much at that point other than fetching the occasional beer, and enjoying a relaxing visit with friends. Good stuff, that.

Erin and her little brood of chicks (most of the familial unit of our Wonderful Neighbors from MD) will be here in just a few more days. We'll turn the whole flock loose to play in the mud while us preggo mamas sit on the porch and gestate in the lovely Spring Weather. The kids are stoked, but I think I'm actually more excited about this visit than they are.

Did you have a lovely weekend, too? I hope so!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

My Turn!

Mmm, Smidge woke me this morning.

- Where's my new school book?

- Mrph.

- Where?

- Urf, mumble, mumble. Banana?

- Noooo, not the bananas, my new school book.

(He was going to force me to open one eye, I could tell. And I did not want to because it was still dark out, and who in the world does school when it's dark out, except for people who live in the Arctic?)

I tried to nudge Zorak, but nearly fell off the bed. He wasn't there. That's when I glanced at the clock, thinking certainly he'd only just got up (and also hoping perhaps he could talk Smidge into a banana and give me a few more minutes of sleep).

- Honey, it's only... oh... is it really 8:30?!?!

(I did a double take out the window - it really is dark and grey and overcast - so in defense of my subconscious, it looks like it's maybe six, at the latest.)

Well where have I been for the last three hours? And where is everyone else? (Zorak, obviously, at work. The kids, still asleep. But Smidge had held out as long as he could. He was just too excited to try out a new book we'd bought for him to play with while the other boys did school.) It was nice, though, to have a turn to sleep in. I've been alternately staving off and succumbing to a cold, or mid-winter ick, or whatever it is that's going around, and this little reprieve was certainly appreciated. The kids are all getting over it, which is doubly nice, as hopefully we'll slip into March nice and healthy.

And so, we're up - albeit at the crack of mid-morning - ready to do school. Emily's up now, too, and so is John. James will stumble out shortly and we'll begin what promises to be a nice, slow morning (since, thankfully, we don't have to be anywhere today. It could have been a much worse start to the day!) I've held them off for a bit with animal crackers and peanut butter so I can have a cup of coffee and let the level in my brain catch up with my body.

In spite of the fact that I'm still a bit fuzzy, I am also thankful. Thankful the children haven't "missed" any of their education due to our need to recuperate. Thankful that we don't have to drag them to the pediatrician's office (thus subjecting ourselves to things far worse than the mid-winter ick) just to get a professional's letter exonerating me from negligence in allowing them to rest. Thankful that Zorak can be so sweetly quiet in the mornings, knowing I was almost down for the count. Thankful that, when we do all arise, our learning and exploring can begin and flow and move with us, rather than it being we who must try to catch up with it. Thankful that today is not a waste, no matter how it starts out.

I love this life. (And Smidge loves his new book, which it only took me a couple of minutes to locate.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Random Baseball Post

We've heard from two out of three of the coaches. So far, I'm tickled with one, a little nervous (or "cautiously optimistic", if you will) about the other.

John's coach is fantastic. I'm so excited! He coached John's team in the Summer League last year, and he is all about the boys and helping the boys learn new skills, learn to work together, learn to really enjoy the game. His whole family is so sweet, and so into just enjoying the kids. I couldn't have dreamed up a better coach for John. Plus, since we do know his wife and son, for those times when we have three kids at three different fields at the same time, we'd feel comfortable asking them to keep an eye on him for us. And they'd be glad to do it.

James' coach sounds enthusiastic and nice. They have only 11 kids on the team, and he has three others helping him coach, so there is a lot of potential for this to be a fantastic learning experience. He's also one of the football coaches, and after our football experience, I'm really hoping he's not all about getting into the Majors and making this Your Entire Existence At The Cost Of All Else. Because if he is, well, it's going to be a rough season for all of us - including him. I'm not going to be as quiet about abuses of power or neglectful coaching in baseball as I was in football. This isn't foreign turf to me this year, and I've been fortunate to see how it can be run, and run well. We'll see. I'm not going to pigeon hole him right off the bat, and he does sound very encouraging. I also really like his philosophy about the boys' attitudes and respectfulness - it's always nice to have similar standards with outside groups that you have at home. I'm just not all gushy and tickled like I am with John's coach. But it could be good. It could be very good.

Smidge's coach, we haven't heard from yet. He has, however, the ultimate faith that his coach will call soon and that he ("OR she," as Smidge reminds us) will be absolutely wonderful. The only thing Smidge is concerned about is whether we're going to make it into town before practice starts, to pick up "all the things I need to have, Mom!" Evidently, he's got a list made up and ready to go. Been saving up for this ALL YEAR, don't ya know?

And me? I've got my list of "travel supplies" and my "meals in minutes" stash ready to go. Just need to get to work on that foyer... :-S

But for now, I've got to get some rest. I'll post pictures of the latest in the Forever Home work tomorrow. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Well, that was a shocker!

We got a lot done!

Well, Zorak and the boys did. I, um, well, I got one curtain made. Heh. Yeah. (Mere, never did find the thread, but I did find the empty bag! I asked around, but nobody saw anything. Nobody knows anything. *snicker* Fortunately, I did find an old spool of white and made that work. I hope it holds!) The rest of my productivity was mostly the same productivity I have every week: made bread, did laundry, cleaned the kitchen. Nothing to blog about, really. So, um, I'll stop and talk about something else.

Zorak, however, really romped on the chores. He got four 6-foot fence panels built (this is for fencing in the back yard - it'll hold domestic critters, namely Balto and the children), plus three corner posts. Big old H-posts that'll hold up to the strain of children clamboring over them (because it's so much more fun to climb a fence than go through a gate when you're little). We figure if you're big enough to climb the fence, then you're big enough to be let out of the fenced yard without Mom having to worry. A premeditated rite-of-passage, if you will.

John learned how to make mortise and tenon joints. He would make a fantastic carpenter. The boy loves to channel his inner Pa Ingalls.

They worked more on their derby cars. The race is Saturday! Yikes, that came up quickly!

We had a bonfire Saturday evening. It was a gorgeous night, with a clear sky and no wind. The kids brought their chili down and ate around the fire. Zorak and I snuggled on a chunk of wood and basked in the warmth of it all - the fire, the children, the life we've built. That felt very good.

We did get a dumptruck of dirt delivered. Then it rained, and rained, and rained some more. Then it was cold and wet. So, we skipped the skid steer this weekend. No sense in using large machinery to rip up the land when we have four perfectly capable children who will do it for just the cost of food.

The children played quite happily in the rain, and the mud, and the cold. I wanted so badly to get a picture of it, but the camera was out in the Suburban, and I'm not a child who is willing to go out in the rain and the mud and the cold for something that doesn't involve my immediate survival (or comfort - I'd do it for comfort). So you'll just have to take my word for it that they were really quite adorable out there. The little drowned wharf-rats. :-)

The boys were so busy working and planning and playing that it took them until this afternoon to find the dirt pile. We may not even have to go down there to spread it all out, by the time they're done with it! They had a fantastic afternoon and only one of them made it more than three pages into tonight's story. That's a sign of a Very Good Day.

In all, it was a Very Good Weekend. More productive than most. Plenty of time to enjoy the little things. We ate like kings with fresh bread, venison steaks and saffron rice and steamed veggies. I made a dump cake, which didn't last much past supper. Little things. Good things. Can't complain.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Oh, they make me laugh.

The older two are working at the breakfast bar, finishing up their Latin. Smidge finished eating. He cleared his spot and ran down the hallway to finish getting dressed (why this is a two-part process, I do not know, but that's not the point of this post).

I heard John yell, "Walk!"

Now, the children tend to abuse any authority they might have over one another, so I try to discourage their desire to correct one another (even when they're right - yes, Smidge ought to have walked - John was just quicker on the draw than I). I'll allow it for life-endangering issues, but not for general purpose eye-poking. (There is a vain hope that if they know it's dangerous, then they'll be inclined to listen. This grand scheme, however, hinges on the others following that general pattern, which has yet to happen. And still, I persist. Go figure.)

So I said, in the same tone, "John!"

He replied, without skipping a beat, "Latin!"

Heh. Yeah. Latin.

They *know*. I know they know, because little exchanges like this tell me they've been listening. I have a choice: despair that they will never internalize and implement this knowledge; hope that eventually it will. sink. in.

I'm going for hope, today.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Pardon the glazed expression...

I'm digging out from beneath the stacks of Vicks-imbued Puffs tissues. That's some stout aromatherapy, there, folks! Sam's had them mixed in with their regular Puff's Plus, and I didn't realize it until we were loading things onto the conveyor at checkout. (If you haven't ever shopped in a warehouse with four children, it may not seem obvious that that's not the time to say, "Oh! I grabbed the wrong thing! I'll just go switch this out!" No, that's the time to say, "Uh... yeah, I, uh, thought we'd give that a try. Just stick it on the conveyor and let's go. *smile*" We do end up with some odd purchases, but I'm also not yet criminally insane, and that is a definite win-win, in my book.)

Zorak has been unconscious for the most part since Monday evening. He woke up and ate last night, then collapsed again. I don't know what he had, but if I get a choice, I'll take what the kids have, thanks. Eesh. He's tough! He is also feeling much better, now, and even braved into the Outside World today to do work and such. Good man, that Zorak.

I feel like 2008 is careening out of control right now. Not in a bad way, really. Just in a I-can't-quite-keep-up way. It's a wild kind of excitement, but... where'd January go? And where'd my matching ink pen for my planner go? The Christmas cards, I can find (they're still on the breakfast bar). But then, that's probably not a good sign, either, is it? When I start feeling a little panicky, I get to step back and think of Zorak, this March - two boys in a very active Cub Scout pack, three boys in some form of ball-playing activity (in three different leagues and schedules, no less), and a convalescing wife with the newborn and toddler at home. And I realize... I get to be the one at home! I am sympathetic to his pending plight. Really, I am. But that doesn't quell the little chirp of relief that escapes my lips every time I think about it. For now, we've got it easy. And quiet. And if I can just find that pen, I'll be all set.

And if we make it to the library tomorrow, that will be THREE - count 'em, 1, 2, 3 - trips without late fees! How cool is that? Very cool, indeed.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Project Blogging?

Well, it's a project of sorts. :-) Meet Heinrich*:

We ran the gauntlet (literally - I will never set foot in an OB's office again after that nightmare) in order to see his little spine (perfect!), the four chambers of his heart (beautiful!), his full little bladder (lookin' good!), and... F. Murray Abraham!Do you see him in there, lurking behind my child, in the upper left corner? Why is he in there? How did he get in there? Huh. You'd think I'd be bigger.

And this is about the only recognizable shot we got of wee little Heinrich. The OB did the ultrasound. After waiting two hours past our appointment time, and being treated like pariahs, the u/s tech walked out on us without a word before even starting the u/s. (And we hadn't even complained or whined! We were stoked to be there, in the actual room, to see the baby, and focused on being positive!) The OB didn't know what he was doing, and had a very difficult time of it. And he made it clear, too.

Like I said, not a pleasant experience. That wasn't the worst of it, by a long shot, though, and at least in the end, we saw the important things and feel comfortable that there'll be no need for a specialist on hand at the birth. So, all systems are a "Go" and we'll get better pictures when he arrives in March! What an amazing experience, no matter how many times you do it.

Kiss those babies!

~Dy

*No, we're not really calling him Heinrich. But until we land on a name, this will have to do.

Christmas Gatherings. Literally.

This sounds so trite, but we had the nicest Christmas. The children had a wonderful time. We had a wonderful time. The food was to-die-for and since we ditched the traditional menu, the time savings left us with oodles of time to just enjoy the days leading up to, and following, Christmas Day. Other than missing so many of our loved ones, and wishing we could have been together, this was, perhaps, the Best Christmas Ever, for us.

We took over 300 pictures that day. 98% of them are of the backs and sides of peoples' heads. This is not what I was shooting for. This would normally bother me (or cause me to lobby for a better camera... which isn't out of the question just yet), except that the reason for the poor pictorial performance is wonderful: everybody was wholeheartedly engaged with everyone else.

Pfft.

How can I knock that, even in the name of needing to get some good pictures?
See...

Isn't that fun? They were like this all day. The kids were all excited about their own gifts, but they were equally excited to share in their siblings' joy, too. That... that stuff doesn't just... well, that was the best thing I could have found beneath the tree this year, that's for sure.

And my gift? The final gluing and clamping is done. It dries tonight, and in the morning, we stain. I can hardly wait to show y'all!!

Did you have a good Christmas? Did you get a Favorite Shot sometime during the day? Want to post it? I'd love to see it!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A New Project

You can see, if you look closely at the picture below, there is a futon frame, belly-up in the basement. (OK, I tried to make it easy - the hot pink writing? Doesn't actually appear in the basement.)
That's the one we salvaged when we needed a couch for this place during its "construction phase", two years ago. We lived in/on/around it for about a year, thoroughly beat the tar out of it, and then, when it had finally given up all pretense of function, we laid it down in the basement. Presumably to die.

But that's the thing about metal. It just won't always up and decompose like you'd hope it would. And so, as you can see, the frame stayed. It gathered dust. It held my old lariat. It created a jarring visual. Particularly after the Great Basement Clean of '08 (which continued this last week, once I could again breathe and stand upright - but more on that later). I wanted to toss it. Zorak wanted to keep it. (Did you see all that metal? Metal is always useful. Honestly.) We went back and forth. Considering this photo was taken less than two weeks ago, I think it's obvious how I fared on those discussions. Fast forward to December 23rd. Decision-making time. There was only one way to handle this:

This basement's just not big enough... well, it's big enough, but I just don't want to look at this thing, anymore. Are you going to do something with it, or is this part of your overall plan to make me criminally insane?

Well, I guess I'd just never taken the blunt approach before. And the basement is all purtied up and ready to use. And, well, what the heck. Let's do it.

And so, what began as a Crusade to rid the basement of More Crap turned into the Plan to Make It All Come Together. Here's what we came up with:


You know, that was actually kind of fun! It fits two adults and one toddler quite comfortably. Or one adult, one bag of peanut butter cups, a coffee cup, and a good book. (Ask me where I spent the day after Christmas!) Plus, since we saved the hardware from the edges, it folds flat to make a splendid cushiony seating thing for, well, I can't think of a reason. But it'd be a great place to nap if you're small enough! It won't be pretty for a while, but now it's functional. And the view across the basement is improved already! And did ya see the joy on that little guy's face? Oh, he had so much fun helping to build it with us! That, alone, was worth all the waiting in the world.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Thanks!

Well, we got pictures to Target to print out as cards. Thank you for your input! (And Amy, thank you for reminding me of Shutterfly - and then, for walking me through it in my caffeine-deprived haze this morning!) Hopefully, Zorak will pick them up on his way home. If I have your address, you can expect a card from us by, um, Easter. And if you read the blog, you may not actually get the Christmas letter in with your card, because, well, because you know everything we've been doing this year!

And just when I was feeling quite together and such, Smidge brought me this lovely package of little gift bags and asked what they were for. "OH, those are for Daddy to take candies to his co-workers." Pause. Insert internal dialogue:

Uh... tomorrow's Friday. And then, it's Christmas. He won't see these people after tomorrow. I haven't made candy! When was I going to make candy? Why didn't I? Oh, yeah, I was sick. Nuts. Well, they'll probably appreciate that I didn't make candy *while* I was sick. Or, they would if they knew why there's no candy. Oh. Well.

There goes the General Sensation of Togetherness, as you can see. And so, that brings us up to date. :-) Yay. Putting Em down right now, and then I'm going to turn the boys loose to decorate the cupcake Christmas trees we attempted to make the other day.

What? I didn't mention those? Yeah. Probably because they didn't work so well. The cones we used collapsed. It'll take a month to burn off all the overspill in the oven. Then we tried making foil cones to hold the batter. Those weren't horribly stiff, and didn't want to hold your basic cone-shape. It was difficult to get the trees out from all the folds and creases. But they did come out. Mostly. We have a theme, at least: A Chernobyl Christmas.

Thankfully, the kids are all about the icing, which I'm not going to tell you about, either. So, thankfully-thankfully, the kids don't have terribly high standards and are just happy to be decorating what I claim are trees with what they know is a sugar-based substance. See? It's all good. No need for holiday stress, at all, if you're simply willing to lower your standards, mmm, "be flexible".

Yeah. Good stuff, really. Even when our tea cart is decorated with what looks suspiciously like an acid-rain forest, and Zorak has to hand out empty gift bags tomorrow. How did I get so lucky to have such an awesome family? Really. Good, good stuff.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Group Photos from Round 1

OK, just presume that I can edit out the marker (which I didn't see when I took the picture to begin with - you'd think I'd have fixed that by now, I know). And if there's anything else truly glaring, I probably can't fix it, but I have People Who Can. And they love me. Thankfully!

I really like this next one... except, is Smidge chewing or talking? I'm not sure.

This one makes me smile the most...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

They've Been Warned

Last night, I told each child that this morning is The Day. The Day we take pictures. The Day we pretend we're organized. Since I'm still without transportation, and it's kind of cold outside, we'll do it indoors. They have from the time we put the muffins IN the oven, until the time we take them OUT of the oven, to give me a good shot with most apendages intact, and eyeballs not doing things eyeballs ought not do. Period. It's happening, folks, and it's happening T-O-D-A-Y.

But... but what brought this on, you may ask? Traitors. That's what brought this on.

We got cards this year from not one, but TWO -- TWO -- friends I've always been able to count on for also Not Sending Cards. But noooooo, they had to go get on the ball this year. Then another friend called yesterday, "I got cards! I need your address!" Granted, after I gave it to her, she laughed and said, "OK, now I've got *one* address. This is such a good start." So, there may still be hope for her, but I doubt it. She sounded like she'd been stoking up on caffeine, and she just might pull this off. Well, I may be the last among my friends to be able to keep a plant alive. Or to stop giggling and hearing Beavis' voice in my head when I'm taking tours led by Park Rangers. Or to relegate an actual day to switching out the sheets. I'm okay with bringing up the rear on those things. But I cannot be the Very Last One to get around to the last of the Domestic Tasks That Makes People Smile.

How could I not want to make people smile? What kind of selfish, horrible, scatterbrained person wouldn't leap at the chance to spread a little happiness and help fund the USPS? What am I, a commie?

NO! No, I say! I am a red-blooded American Housewife, and by-golly, I have a heritage to uphold! *play inspiring music of your choice in your head, here - personally, I'm going with Eye of the Tiger this morning*

So, who wants to come back around lunch and help me pick photos? :-D And recover.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy