It's Not The Rubicon

But we're headed in a good direction, overall. We have the Bigs home. The house is once again noisy and messy. It's wonderful.

They are both smack in the middle of a transitional phase, though, and I've got to say, it's a weird one. They're big, funny mancubs right now. Sometimes more man, sometimes more cub. For example, they came home, brought in their trunks, got a load of camp clothes going (even managed to get the washing machine to start on the first try!), showered and got in a round of music practice -- all without nudging from the Parental end.

And yet, they both lost their water bottles, forgot to get a few merit badge accomplishments signed off, and one lost his wallet and his pouch with his epi pen in it. Neither of them has any clue how any of that happened. Yep. Same kids who hit the ground running. It's weird, but I get it. It's a challenge to grow up. Just when you get the hang of one thing, Life throws a new package of things to master your way. There's really very little time to sit back and just wallow in your achievements (at least, until you get old enough to insist on sitting back now and then).

So we sat back and enjoyed their accomplishments. One boy has rappelled, and taken part in a rescue search. How cool. One boy has used a forge, and made tools. How fantastic. Then they wrestled with their siblings, and helped in the kitchen. They told stories on each other, and on themselves. They switched out their wash and watched Doctor Who for a bit.

They didn't want to get up this morning, but they did it on their own. They don't particularly want to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow, either, but they're going to. And then they'll spend the bulk of the day (actually, all week) volunteering at the District Cub Scout Day Camp. That was their own call - they got the training and paperwork squared away. I paid for the shirts, and offered up transportation - that's it. The rest is on them, and they're doing it.

So, yeah. Sit back, wallow in it for a while. There is time to learn to keep track of things and to remember to get paperwork signed off. But there's a lot to be said about tapping your internal motivation and doing Good Things on your own. Even if it means getting up way too early to do them. And there is more wonder and joy in seeing them master the every day things - tending to their relationships, managing their time, working together, encouraging one another - than I could ever put in words. That's where they are right now, these mancubs. There will be another packet of things to master winging their way in no time at all. Today, we sat back and took in the breadth of the things they have learned so well. This is the stuff that will help them make the right choices when they do come to the big crossings, and I'm okay with that.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

That Was... Exhausting!

The Cub camp-in at the McWane Science Center, in Birmingham, was an absolute blast. My "brilliant" plan to let the kids sleep on the air mattress and take a cot for me to sleep on - alone - turned out to be not so brilliant. Jase thought I looked lonely, so he slept with me. Or, on me. Those cots are not built to sleep two. Everything else, though, went off nicely. The facilities were clean, orderly, and well-maintained. The staff was helpful. The IMAX was fun-fun-fun. The Science Beltloop program they offer is pretty fantastic!

 

The food is just a little below standard industrial food. And I probably wouldn't have minded an earlier-than-midnight lights-out, but the kids were nowhere near ready to stop moving, even then, so I understand. *yawn-stretch-yawn*

 

I didn't see much of our Cubs - they were officially The Big Kids on this outing, and they enjoyed the freedom to roam and explore on their own. We saw proof of their presence, though...

 

What I did see of Jacob, he looked thrilled, busy, and happy. And he did pose for a few obligatory shots here and there before taking off again for more exploring. 

 

Em moved too quickly to capture often in the low-light setting. Jase proved to be pretty pliable and willing, though. He was all over the idea of getting a shot of him being nipped on the head by a Pteranodon, for example.

 

We did learn quite a bit. Mostly, though, we just had fun. It was good for all the people. I'm so glad the poison didn't work. ;-)

Then we came home and slept -- for the rest of Sunday, all of Sunday night, and most of Monday morning! I'm still a little sleepy, truth be told. But yes, it was good.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Nooooooo!

I wasn't going to blow off blogging this year! But really, I need a room where nobody can find me. It needs wi-fi and hot coffee. This is when it would be nice to live just a little closer to town, I imagine. I do have a little netbook, but most of the action it sees is Backyardigans with the Littles in the nursery so the Bigs can watch Doctor Who on the living room TV.

Anyway, we're keeping busy, and having fun. I am in way over my head, but so far the real grown up has failed to arrive and take over. I should have gauged my responsibilities as if I were going to have to be the one in charge, huh? Eh. So far, nobody seems to Suspect much (well, one lady at Scouts is pretty sure I have no idea what I'm doing, but she's right, so that's fair), but maybe I can keep winging it until... the kids grow up and run off?

John's ankle is healing nicely. He walked down the hallway the other night, absolutely beaming that he can walk and not be in pain. I freaked (on the inside), and asked him to please put the boot back on (NOW!) He has an x-ray next Friday, and I'm sure he'll be out of the boot, then. But it's going to be a while before I trust his ankle not to ambush him out of nowhere. He, however, has the next bike trip planned, and has Swim Day circled on the calendar.

James is officially the Webmaster for his Troop. Kid in a candy shop, folks. He is so happy, wielding control over security features and code. Some of it's fun, showy stuff, but he put a lot of thought into protecting the boys in his troop - both privacy and general predator concerns - as well. And best of all, it was all on his own. I'm proud of him. And then, because he was SO happy and filled with joy, he promptly outgrew absolutely everything he owns. :-)

I've got to pick up photos today, and then run some errands. Big thrills. The Scrapbooking project (for Scouts) will be fun, though. I got a little sniffly last night, looking through photos from last March... how do they grow so much in just a year? But it's been a good year, and it's been good growth. For that, I'm thankful.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A Different Plan

The bed risers came today. We got them installed. (Or, put in. "Installed" seems a bit heavy on the pretense, doesn't it? All we had to do was lift the bed and slide the feet under each corner.) It's pretty neat, except Jase seemed to think we did it just so he can't get in the bed. (He figured it out, and all is well in his world, once again.) However, we didn't do much with the room, because we ended up with a different plan:

Yay for picking the Sports Medicine doctor as our regular doc! 

John took a tumble playing (ironically) Wipeout at the skating rink today. I have NO CLUE how to tell if an ankle is broken. It seemed broken - my gut said it was broken - but everyone around us seemed to think it was just a nasty sprain. And honestly, I couldn't have given one good reason to think it was more. Barring actual bone protruding through the skin, I'm not sure I could spot a broken ankle vs. a sprain on any given case. So we called our doc, explained the situation and John's condition, and they got us in this afternoon to give it a look. Three cheers for in-house x-ray, and immediate diagnoses without having to go to the ER! (We are all about the bright side, here.) He did break his ankle, right by the growth plates. Doc has made it clear he will be very aggressive with keeping an eye on how things heal up, and we'll adjust The Plan as we need to. In the meantime, John's got a boot, and he's to live in the boot and love the boot and use the boot to garner sympathy and milkshakes. Well, I'm paraphrasing, really. But yes, the boot stays put. The boy stays still. We'll check in on Monday, then again in two weeks.

John's so good-natured about the whole thing. He'll be fine and right as rain in no time. I really wonder where these kids came from, but wherever it is, I'm keeping them. They're awesome.

And yes, we stopped for an ICEE on the way home. (I offered a milkshake, from Zaxby's, even - actually, I kind of begged, because that did sound really, really good - but he had his heart set on a squishee from the gas station, and who was the stop for, anyway?)

Bedskirts and sheets can wait for another day. I'm just very glad we could get him taken care of - and that we have such a fantastic doctor (and ALL his staff - really, the whole practice is superb) to help us put them back together when they start to fray at the seams a bit.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Bring Out Your Dead!

I tossed Monty Python and the Holy Grail into our Netflix queue for this weekend. The Boy Scout Camporee this fall is going to be Holy Grail themed.



I'm torn between feeling this is a *wildly* inappropriate theme for Boy Scouts, and being really, really excited, because the itinerary sounds like a total blast. (There will be a killer rabbit!) It's hard to balance reverence/irreverence, sometimes.

Anyway, the boys haven't seen more than a few clips here and there, and the weekend will be significantly more fun if they've seen the movie. (I knew this would be an issue as the Scoutmaster mentioned the activities, and others in the room promptly chimed in with pertinent quotes from the movie. The boys looked most confused when somebody asked if they'll have a duck for the weighing of the witch. So, ok, yeah, that makes zero sense if you haven't seen the movie.)

I suspect Zorak will take the three littles fishing, if only to get out of having to sit through an entire Monty Python movie. (I know! The poor man. I can barely remember plot lines from important movies we've actually seen together. You would not believe how often he'll quote a line and I'll tell him, "Hey, that sounds like an interesting movie. We should watch it." And yet, I can still quote entire swaths of Monty Python, which I haven't watched to any extent in 25+ years. I don't know why he loves me, but I'm glad he does!) Also, I'm looking forward to sharing something with the boys that *I* remember first discovering in my youth. I hope they enjoy it as much as I did.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Color us contented!

We are notoriously non-crafty people, Zorak and I. As such, we tend to forget (or blow off) the craftier aspects of holidays. Paper chains, doily hearts, and even, I'm sorry to say, Easter eggs. Every year we insist to one another that we'll do better. Every year, we experience some kind of neurological twitch that blows the whole thing, and the kids end up bringing us unearthed boxes of egg dye in September, asking if we can use them now. Well, not this year!

This year, we dyed those eggs. There were rainbows, and layers, and wax. (And plenty of supplies, from prior years' boxes...) The kids really got into it, and just did a fantastic job. As a matter of fact, we're so flush with the joy of pulling it off that I'm thinking next year we'll go Big Time and try Pysanky. (That gives me a year to remember to buy/build/borrow the pens... someone remind me of that in a couple of months?)

I think a few factors really came into play. One, the balcony. There's room, there's light, and there's absolutely no worry about messes. It's like having an actual studio right off the school room, but one I don't have to *clean*. Another is the round yard sale table Zorak picked up last year. It's a fantastic table for doing crafty things - sturdy enough to handle Jase clambering about on it, large enough to fit everybody comfortably working around it, and at $10, I don't feel compelled to worry if it gets stained. Actually, between the Christmas cookies, the gingerbread houses, the kite-making, and now the eggs, it's starting to look quite colorful and festive.

The kids and their attitudes make the whole process infinitely more enjoyable than we are prone to expect it to be. I love them for that. And finally, I think we're just wrapping our minds around how much these things can mean to the little guys when we can relax and let it be about what it ought to be about: spending time together, doing something delightful, learning something new, and enjoying the whole thing. So, that's what we're doing. Pretty crafty!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

I think I broke something

Sunday, we had friends over after church. I wasn't expecting that they'd come. We'd missed phone calls, and hadn't touched base, so I was in no way prepared. However, when we got to church and they asked what they could bring... I didn't panic.

It's not that the house was clean (it wasn't).

It's not that we had something ready to serve (we didn't).

It's not anything I can really figure out, other than that I must've broken a switch somewhere. The one that flips on (it's not a dimmer switch - it's completely binary) when company is coming and endows me with the power to push through and figure out a way to make it at least look like we could possibly maybe sort of (with a little effort, you know, because this is supposed to be "how we always live") have a Really Magazine Quality Home.

But it broke, and I was able to tell my friend honestly and upfront, "Well, you might as well know now, you will never see my home truly clean. I love you, and you're welcome any time, but this is as good as it gets."

She laughed and promised to return the favor one day. Bless her. I knew she was a good 'un.

And then, when scheduling James' chiropractic consultation, the office offers only two times: 9AM, and 1PM. I always want to take the nine o'clock appointment. That's so easy, in theory. We'd be up and at it early, out the door, and home again before Second Breakfast, and oh what a fine day would still stretch before us. But. That's not how it plays out. (Ever.) And so, I laughed and told her that while nine sounds delightful, one would be far more realistic.

And she laughed. It was a good-natured laugh, but still... I suspect she laughs quite a bit as we trundle in and out, sometimes with shoes (sometimes not - the littles still shed clothing in the car - if it weren't for car seat straps, we might arrive mostly naked from time to time), sometimes all brushed and coifed (again, sometimes not - I'm not sure what's in carseat fabric, but it can turn the cutest little hairdo into a Kramer-esque conflagration in the 40-mile drive). It used to be that queries of "how are you today *smile*" were met with an exhausted chuckle and a weakly muttered, "we're here". Now, meh, we're here and it's great and, um, yeah, I'm not even going to pretend that little one had shoes, anymore.

That switch seems to have controlled a number of exhausting functions in my brain: company clean panic switch; we're-really-more-organized-than-it-looks justification loop; oh-my-but-HOW-did-we-leave-the-piano-book-here-and-not-realize-it-all-week-*glares at guilty suspect* query. What's worse, it also seems to have triggered the Stressful Exoneration Speeches. I hate those. The kids hate those. All they do is make us all feel haggard and worn out. Why do we even come equipped with that feature?

But now, it just doesn't work. And you know what? I'm glad it doesn't.

My home will not be clean enough for the Queen, but that doesn't matter because I don't have a Queen and if a foreign Queen does come to visit, her security staff can either pass or fail the house on inspection. I don't care. The cookies will be good, at least. But the rest of you are more than welcome, any time, any day.

My children will not ever look upon exiting the vehicle the way the did upon exiting the house. I know this. If you've had children, you know this. If you don't get it, well, that's okay, they aren't your children, and I don't have to explain it anymore.

No, we are not more organized than we appear. It's actually probably worse than it seems. Just go with it. We do. And we're happier for it. (In a "Death By Irony" moment, we're also on time significantly more often now that the switch has broken! Love it!)

And yes, I feel like a complete dork for taking over a decade to find that switch and snap it off, entirely. But now it's done, and it feels great!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Busy, Busy Autumn!

Ish. Busy Autumnish. But close. We've had two days in a row with temps below 90. I'm wallowing in it. Of course, I'm also sweating my arse off because I keep insisting on wearing a hooded sweatshirt in honor of Fall! Yeah, I know. If I'd had this little self-restraint in the 1800's, they'd have shot me on the starting line for the homesteading race.

The home computer got kneecapped by a cranky motherboard. Uncle Wil said he will help us fix it. In the meantime, we're on a replacement placeholder thing that has no pictures, and I haven't figured out how to get the software we might need switched over. It's bare bones, this. But we have email, we can pay bills, and I figured out how to lock down the connection, so it's all good.

School is going well, aside from the tarbaby routine the kids seem to have going. Slow.er. than. molasses. (Then Zorak went and told them the joke about how to make molasses, and now I cannot say that they are slow as molasses, because they all start laughing and Jake Rabbit laughs so hard he cries, and then for the rest of the day he starts chortling and choking at random intervals, eventually emitting the punchline to the joke. I never know when it will strike. So, I've got to come up with another colloquialism to use to describe how freakishly slowly they accomplish their morning routines.)

And then there is the tendency to get sidetracked, which they come by honestly. *aherm* (looks around, whistles a tune, wanders off...)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Laughter is love

The kids were squirrelling around the other day, laughing and playing and generally doing their thing, when suddenly I heard, "MOM! You've gotta come SEE this!" So I peeked around the corner, and this is what I saw...

"Aww, that's sweet," I told them. "He's playing peek-a-boo!" The looked at each other, clearly thinking, "What?" No, no. Turns out, Jason was laughing so hard, he drooled. And this is what he drooled. All over my pillow. It must be love, right? The boys thought it was hilarious, and just had to be caught on film.

We should all laugh that hard, eh? (Well, maybe not in public. But he's little. He can get away with it.) And wouldn't it be great if everybody had at least one person in his life to make him laugh that hard? What a lucky life, to have such a happy home! I'm thankful, soggy pillows and all.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

New Uses

Jase likes to get his own cup. Lately, he wants to use cups the older kids use. In our case, jelly jars - they're more resilient than regular juice glasses, look fine if they're mis-matched, and, hey what do you know...



They'll take the lid to a sippy cup! (He brought us the cup and the lid. We tried it, not expecting it to work, but to show him it wouldn't work. Boy, were we surprised!)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Wow, You Worked A Lot!

James came home from Scout camp on Saturday. It was hard to have him gone, and wonderful to have him back. (Yes, we're working toward them being okay leaving home, and us being okay with it, too. Still, that first time is a kicker!) I was anxious to hear about his week. For him, it was good, but the stories need to percolate a bit before they come to the surface. What he did say, however, was, "Wow, you worked a lot! It's like the house went on a changing binge as soon as I left!"

*blink* What?!? It was a quiet week. John and Jacob went to Day Camp. Jason napped in the car. Emily and I had tea parties. Not a particularly productive week, I thought.

Not really, Mom. The chickens got big enough to move. And now they're at the barn.

The garden grew enough that you're harvesting stuff out of it.

The blackberries have all turned red!

Jason's talking more. Emily's making her own bed.

*sigh* Everything's changed in just a week.

Yeah, yeah it has, kiddo.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Well, Hello!

The weekend flew by with an unbelievably busy schedule, but it was so thoroughly enjoyable. We had company, company, and more company. Ate a lot of food, shot a lot of rounds, and shared a lot of laughs. Can't ask for much more than that.

Thanks to the rain, baseball was canceled both Friday and Saturday, which gave me not only a bit of a reprieve, but a false sense of security, as well. Then it didn't rain yesterday, and we paid for it, today, with three different doctor's appointments, two baseball practices, and Cub Scouts. (Really must remember to take the pocket calendar with me into town, and never do that, again.)

On the upside, I did manage to get the crockpot cranking before we left. Yes, I'm now 2-for-70 on that, and Rockin' the Domesticity. (It wouldn't be nearly as exciting if I pulled it off all the time, now, would it?)

We're getting settled in with the new doctor for the kids. I really like him. The kids seem to like him. And, joy of joys, he hasn't pulled the Voice of God act on us, when it comes to some of our less-than-mainstream lifestyle choices. If I had any ability, at all, I'd sing, or burst into dance. But, like I said, I really like him, so I'll refrain and just smile and nod a lot.

Me-Wa found a chiropractor he trusts, and recommended him to us. I went first, to check him out. (Nothing says "Mommy loves you" quite like taking point, right?) I like his method and philosophy quite a bit. Now, after going for almost three weeks, I also like being able to hold my children without my legs going dead numb on me. Haven't been able to do that for the last three babies. This is the first time in over six years, too, that I haven't had constant lower back pain. Wow. John's been seeing him for a week, now, for a few issues. Mainly, he's been having headaches, which the adjustments have nearly eradicated. This is *huge*, and makes a big difference in John's overall outlook on things. It'll also, hopefully, make it easier to pin down the other concerns. Good stuff.

And really, although that doesn't sound like much, it's all I've got, for now. I promised myself I would make a few changes this month: drink more water (still trying to figure out how to do that without giving up the coffee -- I've been tempted to take up drinking soda so I could have something to switch out for the water and still feel like I'm making progress, but that plan, appealing as it is, didn't pass scrutiny); get more rest (this is more an ongoing pursuit than a tangible goal, I get that); live more intentionally (this has been a habit for a while, but sometimes it's good to get back to the basics); and... I've forgotten the rest. Oh! Yes. Be on time more often (yeah). So, with that in mind, I'm going to turn in before it is midnight. It's still close enough to the time change, that my body thinks it's eleven, and I'm hoping to kind of feint a punt and knock it out of the ball park, then come in under par.

Perhaps in April, I'll spend a little time working on my sports metaphors. Until then, Kiss Those Babies!
~Dy

Blame it on Lent

Well, maybe not. I'm not sure how God is with the whole Striking With Lightning bit these days.

However, I did decide to stop vying for time *alone* in the evenings. Something had to give, but what? Reading time with the boys? No. We're not giving that up, and we can't really shorten it. (They keep adding to the stack, anyway. I'll be reading to them from my death bed if I shorten our nighttime reading.) Time spent tidying the kitchen? No, that one is a sanity-saver come sun up. Time with Zorak, alone, together, speaking in full sentences? Somehow, I don't think sacrificing that is the best thing in the world for a marriage. And I like Zorak. I want to keep him, always.

The only thing left was my late night foray to stay up and blog. It wasn't working, anyway. The Bigs' read-aloud time lasts longer than the Littles' does, so Zorak gets done first and beats me to the computer. (My grand plan to hook up the old computer in the basement fell tragically short because I can't get it to connect to the internet. I seem to have misplaced... the modem. Yeah, not sure how that happened.) Zorak and I are both night owls, so in order to get time alone and on the computer, I'd have to stay up until well past two in the morning. Even then, there was no guarantee. After falling asleep on the couch several nights in a row, waiting for the computer, I realized I was being silly. Very Silly, Indeed. *sigh* That's always embarrassing.

Lent just happened to be an excellent opportunity to quit being Silly. So far, I've been a'bed by eleven six nights out of seven. The extra rest helps. I'm more productive in the morning, able to spend time in study more often. I'm a much nicer mother before noon, too. But boy, does it make for a dull blog. And no photo editing time, either. I'm not sure why I feel pressure to include photos with blog entries, anyway. (Yet I do! Just a peek into my weirdness, I guess.)

So here's a quick recap of the last week or so:

~ We fed a stray. Turns out my Mother was right. They do stay if you do that.
~ Jase is LOUD. I mean, unbelievably LOUD. ALWAYS.
~ Baseball kicks off today. (*whimper*) It will be in the low-low 30's at practice tonight. One kid has practice, another, a meeting.
~ James is anxious (both excited-anxious and fretting-anxious) about taking golf lessons this Spring. No clue what's up with that.
~ The Pinewood Derby is this Saturday. The boys have done amazing things this year. It's not unusual to go to the basement and see a boy with a torch, melting weights, or a boy with a drill press, making holes. They may not win, but they will have learned a great deal, and had a lot of fun, and that is, for us, the point.
~ Netflix really needs to get Season 4 of Big Love on DVD. Seriously. This is important.
~ EmBaby knows where to find, and how to use, the shut-off valve on the toilet! I don't think I've ever been so proud of the sense and composure of a four-year-old in my life.
~ We've had company every Saturday for the last month. As of Monday, the boys have officially petitioned that we re-define "Company Clean". They say this pace is killing them, and that someone will figure out The Truth, eventually, so why not just use that to help weed out the weak ones. (Yes, I'm both proud and horrified at the same time. Parenthood will do that.)

And, I think that's it.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

New...Theme?

I was JOKING about the theme for this year being a better filing system! I didn't WANT a new theme! I was happy with,

"Oh, hey, look, it's 2010... how'd that happen?"

That was a perfectly acceptable theme, to my way of thinking.

God, however, being the God of life... and humor... had another plan. His plan is that we WILL learn exceptional time management and resource allocation skills. Or die in the attempt.

You see, so far, this year, we've only had one Really Busy day each week: Wednesday. That's our grocery, car wash, stray errand, music lesson, Bible study day. It starts at noon, for Pete's sake! It's not like we're good at this.

But, starting tomorrow, when we sign away the next four months of our lives, it's all going to be a nightmarish jumble of Things We Do For Our Children (or, more aptly called, Crap We Couldn't Talk Our Way Out of, Although Don't Think We Didn't Try).

John wants to play ball again this year. He'll be in kid pitch.

Smidge then decided that yes, he'd definitely like to play (since John is playing). All attempts to remind him that he wasn't all that fond of baseball last year fell on deaf ears. "I'll like it this year."

And, of course, EmBaby's been counting on playing the split second she turned four. Some of you recall her attempts last year to convince us she was "three AND four", just so she could play last Spring.

Our weeks are now shaping up a bit frighteningly:
Monday - baseball, and Cub Scouts
Tuesday - baseball, and Boy Scouts
Wednesday - grocery, car wash, stray errand, music lessons, Bible study, and Baseball
Thursday - baseball
Friday - baseball
Saturday - all baseball, all flippin day -- heaven help us on the weekends Zorak is away at Scouting Stuff with James! (I cannot physically be in three places at once, and I guarantee we'll never have three games at the same field on the same day.)
Sunday - restock the cooler and the Shout stash, and try not to sleep through church

If I don't blog until June, it's because I'm drinking beneath the bleachers. Send burritos.

And, as always-always-always, Kiss Those Babies!
~Dy

A Celebratory Weekend

Zorak woke me Saturday morning with a kiss, saying, "You get your birthday present a day early." I felt bad pointing out that my birthday is in July, not January. I also worried a bit, considering he's known this for 14 years, and he's had the actual date down pat for about eight years, now. But, no. No worries. He had the right date, and the right girl. He also had a beautiful sentiment...

He gave me a gift, to commemorate Emily's birth. A token of the work I'd done that day, and a loving Thank You for everything I do, every day, year in and year out. Talk about humbling! (And here, I was wondering if perhaps he needed a Palm Pilot to keep track of dates! Sheesh, what a dork.) That's it, up there: a pasta maker! I love it!

We spent the day, making pasta, trying new things, laughing, eating the mistakes. It really was the perfect way to honor our family, and all we share.


The boys were helpful and interested, and we all learned a lot. (Let the smoke right out of the pasta bottle, so to speak. That was cool!)


But I think they got a whiff of the whole meat grinder introduction (do you know how long it takes to grind 30 pounds of sausage by hand? *grin*), and while they hung in there and tolerated my weirdness, after a couple hours they dispersed to go do more varying things, like playing with Legos and cleaning the bathroom. EmBaby hung in there, though, cracking jokes, asking questions.

I introduced her to my favorite pasta obsession: CHEESE! Cheese IN the pasta! (Confession, I could eat my weight in cheese ravioli, cheese manicotti, and cheese-based-cheese lasagna. But I never buy it at the store, and I don't order it at restaurants because, either way, it would cost $90 to feed me on that stuff. But now??? Whoooeeeee! Yeah, baby! We're eating right!)


Em is a master crimper. She's awesome. And she's tough. She never left the counter to follow the siren song of Other Things. What a trooper, huh?


"I did it! Can we have pasta on my birthday, Mom?"

Yes, Baby, yes we can. With cheese.

I hope to earn that appreciation, day in and day out, from both him and the children. I know it sounds hokey, particularly coming from me, the Queen of "Suck it up and do yer job, already," but I am honored to be their mother, and his wife, and to have brought these children into this world. There's not another job in this world that would be worth it, to me.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Buddy: Felted Jackal, Family Dog

This is Buddy. He's new here.

He's a Yellow Lab/Heeler mix. Probably some other things in there, too, like hyena or jackal. Not entirely sure. But he's got a good temperament and seems to be well aware that this is his crew. Mutts are good like that, in our experience.


Santa brought him for all the kids,

But... mainly, for John, who has felt most severely that puppy-shaped hole in this home, and in his heart since we lost Balto. You can see the look on his face, here.

He could not believe his eyes when Buddy came snuffling through the foyer...

He could hardly speak for a few minutes afterword. I think we nailed it.

And so, A Boy and His Dog begin a beautiful friendship.


They picked his name well. Buddy.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

I love this time of year.

Fall keeps me sane. There's just no other way to put it. The nights are cool enough to need comforting blankets. The days are nice enough to wallow in the out-of-doors. It's like emerging from a horrible, damp, hot blanket after Summer. Like storing up on sunshine for the grey, wet, cold winter months. (And yes, it does seem to be a water-related issue. I grew up where water, if there was any, was 500 feet under ground, and you had to really want it to find it. Here, it's everywhere. It's wonderful, in the ground. In the air, eh, we're still adjusting.)

Zorak and James are camping tonight. James' first campout with his new Troop. He's elated. Zorak seems to be hanging in there fairly well. It's hard to put your child out there, in a group with such a huge age gap (he's 11, and the other boys are ALL 15-17). Even when they're great kids (and these boys are - they're awesome), it's stil... there's a lot of room for... yeah. It's just a little on the tingly-knee side for Zorak, I think. They'll both be fine. Probably be pretty cold by about 2AM. But in general? In the grand scheme of things? I think they're going to have a blast and do just fine. Both of them. (Still, watching your children venture out on new highwires, over faster rivers, deeper ravines, bigger life... I'm glad we have each other to hold onto.)

John, who wanted with every fiber of his being to GO, to Be There, to CampOut, was so good about it. He didn't whine or mope. He was great about helping James get his stuff rounded up. Enthusiastic about the dry run on the tent (on the balcony - I love that - no leaves or dirt to contend with when you're done). And they had a very heartwarming-moment-turned-squirrelly-grab-ass bit of sibling familiarity as James headed out the door. (Boys are so weird about that, sometimes.)

But you could tell he really wanted to be going, too. So, we decided to have a fun Alternate Weekend, here:

~ Movies John wants to see that James would rather not. (And, of course, a Princess movie for EmBaby, and a not-a-princess-movie for Jake. It was an all-inclusive movie rental trip.)

~ Dinner at the coffee table.

~ Bedtime Story, all of us piled on the couch, instead of everybody in their beds.

~ Fresh cinnamon rolls tomorrow, watching the sun rise and the thermometer creep up. We may toast the warmth with hot chocolate. ;-)

~ Time together, just the five of us, hanging out and doing things a little differently.

I kind of like the change in routine, and the break. (And I'm really thankful I didn't have to go.) But I do remember wanting so badly to go somewhere that I couldn't. Sure, learning to be OK with that comes with maturity, and with time. But sometimes, it's nice to know somebody understands and remembers what it was like to go back inside after the truck pulled away. And sometimes, it's nice to have someone help you learn that it's not so bad to be left out of one thing, when there are other things awaiting you just around the corner. Plus, it may be the start of a nice new tradition. After all, in nine years, it'll be Jason looking longingly as his siblings file out the door, one after another, and the house he goes back into will be quieter, lonelier, and a bit different than it is now. It'll be good to know that some good things stay the same.

Like Autumn leaves. And great weather. And people who love you.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Holy Mackerel!

Just when we thought we had it all under control, we got hit with the gentle (*snort*) reminder that we're not really at the helm. Sometimes I feel that if life came with an instruction manual, the "Quick Start User's Guide" would look something like this:

1. Kiss those babies
2. Say your prayers
3. Hold on tight

Obviously, there's more to it than that, but that's what it takes to get started, isn't it? And sometimes, to keep going.

We've got to back up a bit. Let's see, I got sick Sunday (the 18th). Thought it was nothing big. Nothing a little rest and some cranberry and water couldn't fix. Stayed home from church to pound the liquids. (Didn't help.)

Monday (the 19th), I thought I had cramps (sorry - no cute or euphemistic way to put it), and we learned we have what Melissa calls, "A Runner". Yep, we now have one that, given the chance, will bolt swiftly and silently, leaving the whole ball of wax for one glorious shot at freedom. Thankfully, he is safe and came to no harm. My knees still hurt just thinking of it. However, he is now on a lock-down the likes of which no child in this house has ever seen. He will probably never be allowed to watch Blade Runner, or Logan's Run until he moves out, or can explain where he's going. And we spent a harrowing week, holding our breath, keeping the house Company Clean, in fear of a visit from The Authorities. Adrenaline does wonders for pain relief, by the way.

Tuesday (the 20th), I realized I wasn't fighting a mild UTI and cramps, and started to worry that this was, perhaps, appendicitis. That's a scary thought. (It was a scary pain.) Nothing touched it - not asprin, not hot baths, not the gazillion gallons of water and cranberry I imbibed, not the hot pad, not massage; not walking, not laying, nor rocking nor crying. At that point, with the severity of the pain and the lack of relief, we called the nurse line and she recommended I be seen "within six hours". Blink Off to the ER, where I was diagnosed with, but not treated for, a rather severe kidney infection, and blood, most likely caused by a blockage. We're voting for "stone sludge", as whatever it was, it passed during the five-hour wait in the ER. Yes, FIVE HOURS. And yes, they had a sample. Oh. My. Word.

It seems that the confirmed presence of a raging infection (the lab was quick), a "9" on the pain scale (figure there's always room for it to hurt worse, right?), chills and swelling just don't cut the triage scale if you have somehow managed not to spike a fever. The poor Triage Nurse took my temperature every way she could think of, but there was no fever. No fever, no check mark. No check mark, no spot at the front of the line. She was very apologetic about it, and begged me to stay, because, obviously, there was something Very Wrong. But still, back to the lobby.

What's with that, anyway? Nevermind. I am currently trying not to think of the myriad reasons I had no fever. Just. Not. ThinkingAboutIt. If I'd known, however, that they would not give me antibiotics at the end of that wait, to be honest, I'd have gone home to writhe in the comfort of my own floor while waiting for the urologist's office to open. Away from the lady who likes to hang out in the ER, being obnoxious to other patients; away from the guy who came in for a cough; away from the three other guys who came in to hang out, catch a nap, and then move on. As it was, we got home a little after 7AM Wednesday morning, mildly re-hydrated and just a little bit stoned on pain killers.

Wednesday was supposed to be our Preparation Day. The day we washed the car, did the groceries, made up the guest room, finished the basement work, took the kids to music and did all the things one normally does on a Wednesday. Or something like that. Obviously, that's not how it went down. I'll fill you in on that, tomorrow. It just hasn't slowed down in the least.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Virtual Friday

Tomorrow, Zorak is off for the day, and so are we. Well, from school. There's still work to be done, wood to be hauled, equipment to be moved. But, in theory, we're off for the day. Which means today we must bust a hump and really make some progress.

It's been a slow week. It's been one of those weeks where you look at the children making origami (drawing pictures, having swordfights) and you think, "I'm pretty sure the math we JUST went over isn't done yet."

No sooner have you made the rounds, getting everybody back on task, only to return to your original spot to find the beginnings of a paper crane...

a stunningly complex rendition of Harry Potter Meets Captain Nemo...

and clue in to what's happening, just in time to duck a particularly wild sword thrust.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Feed them. Get back to the repeating part.

Collapse into a heap around ten PM, with a glass of wine and a pile of peanut butter cups. Watch as many episodes of Chuck as you can before your spouse starts making snarky comments about how he could be an inept spy, too, if it would help.

The down side is that you get to get up and do it all. over. again.

The up side is that you DO get to get up and do it all over again.

Today, I'm taking the sword to the crane for "history". But I think we may just call the drawings "art". I'm out of wine.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Native Tongue

Mom! Mom! Get the foot cream for the chemo pie!

EmBaby's still somewhat fluent in her first language. The one none of us quite remembers.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy