All Part of the Plan

This weekend is crazy-busy. The Bigs have a day trip for Scouts, in which they'll earn their Aviation Merit Badge. The Cubs have an overnight camp-in that includes siblings. We need to pour the slab for the balcony stairs. (A glider contest on the balcony earlier this week reinforced the need for people to not have to run through the school room, living room, foyer, out the door, off the porch, down the front yard into the lower drive, and back again, to retrieve gliders. I don't know that the children realized that, but *twitch* I did *twitch*.) And more, but I've lost the list.

As of last night, we weren't entirely sure how we'd pull it off. I don't know if it was bad salad or a virus, but... DANG. And really, although we're looking forward to all of it, we're such homebodies that it takes a lot of mental bolstering for either of us to get excited about leaving the house. At one point, we had this brief exchange:

Zorak: I think you poisoned me.

Me: I panicked. It was all I could think of.

Zorak: *pause* Probably the best plan, really. Pretty effective.

Thankfully, we were back in fine form by this morning. Zorak and the boys headed out to do their thing. The littles and I are packed and ready to go. We'll wave in passing, I'm sure. I hope the rest of the weekend is fairly obstacle-free, though.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Winter Fun

Today, Zorak brought home a Johnny Rodriguez CD one of his friends had found for him this weekend. (He just *knew* Z would love it - I don't think our friend knows a thing about Johnny Rodriguez, but he knows Zorak well enough to be pretty right-on about it. It's nice to have friends like that.) So, we popped it in... and waltzed. I love waltzing with that man. The kids, however, wanted to know what we were doing. And why.

Um... uh-oh. We've breached some serious law of parental obligation, here, when none of our children knows how to dance. Great Granny's 98th Birthday is coming up, and you know there'll be a barn dance - live music, gorgeous weather - we'd best get on it, or we'll find ourselves in trouble when Granny can't dance with her grandsons BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS DROPPED THE DANGED BALL!! We have a plan in place to remedy this. Also, we should move somewhere with more live music and dancing. This will never do.

Meantime, we had a gorgeous Saturday - Me-Wa came out to do some shooting and see the godbabies. He's so awesome. I wish we lived closer to them, so it wasn't a full day's outing, away from home, just to stop in for a visit. Last time he came out, EmBaby got to try her hand at the Cricket. The balcony has built-in rests. I am beginning to suspect that was intentional...

And today, Jacob made his first-ever solo loaf of banana bread. My only input was pulling it out of the oven. He told me, after they'd devoured the whole thing, "You know how, when you make enchiladas, they don't look that great, but they taste just fine? Yeah :sigh: It was like that." It must have been good, though, because they didn't even leave crumbs for the mice to find.

If this cool weather keeps up, he may get his wings on any number of loaves this week!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Alice, and Wonderland

We took the morning off to see the Grissom High students put on a play. It was a lovely way to spend the morning. They performed Alice in Wonderland, and although it was a two-hour production, the kids did just fine. (We sat on the aisle, in case one of the unpredictable ones did something... unpredictable. They were fine, though - wholly engaged and delightful.) The older ones are already comfortable with theater etiquette, so they're enjoyable on many levels. (They're also a reminder that it's worth it to take the time when they're little, even if you have to sit by the aisle for a while. Someday, you won't have to. And you may get a bit sniffly about that when you glance over as the great big manboys, behaving without prompting, on either side of you.)

We stopped at Sonic for a little Something after. Sadly, both my breakfast protein and my GABA had given out about 30 minutes before we got there, so that part was not as easy as the rest of the morning had been. (Why must Sonic offer So. Many. Choices?!? Even if you narrow the options to "soda," or "slushie thing", the flavor options, alone, are enough to send the most mild-mannered of children into a choice-induced frenzy. Five children make it exponentially more... interesting.) We got out without incident, tears, or aggravation, though, and then home for some protein and water. Yay! Yay for Home!

The Bigs have both taken training to serve as Den Chiefs for the Cubs. I can't tell you how helpful that is - not just for running a Den or Pack, but also for helping your young men to realize they *are* The Big Kids, and that the little ones can/do/will look up to them. At our last Pack meeting, our Cubmaster invited them to come teach knots to the boys. They built frames for making the knots, so they could show the Cubs the knots in context (pitching a tent, tying down a load, ceremonial knots, cinching a sack, etc.). It was a good experience, and I'm glad they jumped in with both feet. They've been asked to meet with the Webelos next week, to go over Arrow of Light material. I think they're working on this knot to teach the Webelos. (The plan then is to turn the finished product into bookmarks for the boys' mothers for Valentine's Day. That'd be cool!)



And now, it's the weekend. We've been working on the little projects that have been whispering for our attention. It's the 15% of each project that got neglected in the first big push, as soon as it's "usable", or "for now," but we're veering out of the realm of Temporary, and into the kingdom of Wow, You People Really Live Like That? So, time to get cracking.

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

Turning 6, and Other Fun

 EmBaby turned six last week. I'd be having a hard time wrapping my mind around how on earth my baby girl is six, if she hadn't timed her birthday perfectly with some kind of sprinting Amazonian growth spurt. Suddenly, she's so TALL, and her legs are a bazillion miles long, and all her sweet little dresses are tunics. Thank heaven for leggings! I *just* got caught up on shoes and pants for the males in the house, and we haven't quite recovered that envelope yet. So, anyway, I asked her what she would like to do for her birthday, and in my head, I thought maybe she'd like a lovely tea with her girlfriends, and a girls' day out. No. Before I could offer that suggestion, she hopped about, shouting, "Sushi! Sushi with Mr. Ward and Miss Terry!"

 

Well, there ya go. Happy as a pretty little clam, that one. Terry was under the weather that day, but Ward came along to help EmBaby celebrate her day. And her brothers helped, of course. Because they're good like that. (Camera phone! I forgot about the camera on the phone! Yes, I'm new to the 21st Century.)

Her favorite gift was a plain pink t-shirt from Hobby Lobby, given with express permission to use the fabric markers Terry had given them years ago (I'd hidden them. The kids found them in the room re-shuffle. You would not believe how incredible the concept of fabric markers can be! We sort of bought the shirt out of self-preservation. This way, I can enjoy the children enjoying the project. It wouldn't have gone so well had they run with their initial plan of, "Can we use these on the curtains in the living room?") But really, it was awesome. She is awesome. She is going to be *great* at being six, I just know it.

We've had a warmish and wet winter, so the freeze the other day was fun. Friends came over and the kids all headed to the creek to play (because isn't that where everyone wants to play when it's freezing out?) James came back up and asked for my phone to take some pictures. They'd found quite a few beautiful and interesting things - this ice ridge is one of them. I thought it was kind of cool that a herd of children would want to stop for pictures of something, to enjoy the beauty of it. Made my day. Well, that, and getting the last of the muddy clothes washed and dried before the other kids' parents came to pick them up. There may have been a little internal high-fiving over that, too.

Kiss those babies!
Dy

Lost the cord again!

I saw a camera the other day that has the USB bit attached to the camera. Santa needs to see about getting me one of those for Christmas. In the meantime, we've cleaned the house, and there's no sign of the camera cord.

The camera is full, though, as the kids have been making videos. Oh, I need to buy each of them a camera with a boatload of storage (and an integrated USB dongle). The videos are sweet and funny. Or, they are once I stop hyperventilating over the fact that children don't tend to pick up before they film. Heh.

School is going beautifully. The first two weeks have been great. The kids' new math books arrived last week, and they dove right in. James moved over to Wheelock's for Latin. I hate Wheelock's, but he's happy. He'll wrap that one up this term, and then... I dunno. Orberg? Wing it? No clue. But that's not now, so we'll enjoy the rest of this term. We're hoping to have a few good adventures along the way!

John's ankle is healing well. He's off the crutches, and winging about with the boot. I've put a total moratorium on Paper On The Floor. Normally, I try not to be too uptight about it. It's hard not to have paper on the floor when someone is always sketching or drawing or making diagrams - between the five kids, there's... there's a lot of paper. Aesthetically, meh. But if you step on it with a boot? You're goin' DOWN, folks. And I can't... we can't have two broken bones on one child all at once. *shudder* For the time being, paper is now a Controlled Substance.

Jacob brought me the first Daffodil of the year, yesterday! We don't normally get them until February, but here they are. It's been a wet and balmy winter. I hope we haven't missed our pruning window for the trees! We'll check this week and see what we can do. In the meantime, we have a beautiful bit of sunshine in the kitchen window. Hopefully, it's the first of many to parade through the house this year!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Back to School Week

We started back to school this week, which has gone nicely. Mostly. The days have been long (seriously. long.) I'm going to give it a couple of weeks before deciding if I've given them too much. It could be that, or the weather. It could just be inertia that's kicking our butts. It could be a little of each. Time is an excellent sorter, though, so we're going to muscle onward and wait it out.

 

The boys also start back to music lessons this week. They've not had them in three months, and although they didn't touch their instruments for two and a half months, they've both picked up practice again willingly and enthusiastically. They were ready. So was I. It's nice to have music in the house, but it's not spontaneous for us. We need to be intentional about it. The bedroom with only one child inherited the instruments and practice space.

  

We're settling in nicely with the new arrangement. We all love that we have more room in the bedrooms, but there's still an entire toy shelf loitering in the hallway. I'm, um, I have nowhere to put it. We've simply outgrown this house. I've culled and culled and, for having five children, there truly aren't a lot of toys. It's just a lot of toys for a house this size. We need to repaint and add a little decorating in some rooms, but for now, I'm happy with the progress. The Littles feel like their space is downright palatial, too.  :-)

 

 The boys like having a safe spot for the Legos and other creations, and with the Littles in the bigger of the bedrooms, a full-scale invasion is less likely. I like roaming up and down the hall, glancing in to see fairly tidy rooms. (They don't notice the lack of artwork or curtains, but I've got to fix that soon.)

 And that's pretty well taken up all our days lately. Music. School. Tripping over things in the hall. Zorak has sketches all over the place for stairs from the balcony. I guess that's the next big project. Blessedly, he's designing it to use as little concrete as possible (but still be wholly over-engineered). I love that about him. Meanwhile, we're hanging out on the couch, fighting that inertia...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Decorator Tired

If it's not a theme, it should be.

We're making some adjustments to the Forever Home. People keep growing, spreading, changing their interests. What worked five years ago isn't quite cutting it now. (Imagine, huh?) Today, we got some wild hairs waving in the wind that whipped through the TN Valley and figured if we can't work outside, we can work in. So we began. We emptied the playroom of every last Lego and so very many random bits of string, moved the toy shelves into the hallway, vacuumed, wiped, swiped, and touch-up painted all over the place, dismantled the boys' bunk bed and reassembled the erstwhile top bunk as a stand-alone twin in the playroom.

It's... been a while since I've had to move like that.

And I now remember why. ;-)

However, already we are seeing the benefits of the plan, and it's very exciting! Visually, bringing it all down a level is going to be huge. People will have the space they need to do their thing without us having to build on an entire extra house. (Building the Den would still be awesome, but there are so many other projects that need doing. We had to act now.) This is good stuff, here. Pics to follow.

Tonight, though, I plan to sleep the sleep of Those Who Move Heavy Things For A Living. (Or, more accurately, the sleep of Those Who Don't Move Heavy Things Very Often At All But Suddenly DID. Yes, that's more descriptive.) The kids are already there.

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

Too Pretty To Stay In

We thought about staying in today. Then the temperature rose above 35. And then I saw that our homeschool group had a field trip today that sounded like fun. So, we spent the morning finding everyone two shoes that match. Each. Then it was time for lunch. I'm giving serious consideration to buying everyone one pair of shoes, and everybody gets the exact same style. Then I'm putting some kind of homing device on each and every shoe, just to be sure.

We got distracted, nailing down the details of this term's reading lists and missed the field trip with the group, but didn't want to waste a fully shod opportunity. Before anybody could kick off their shoes, we bolted out the door and headed into town.

It was beautiful today! I think the high was 63F, which is just about perfect. It's cool enough that you have to keep moving to be comfortable, but not too warm for fuzzy scarves and warm sweaters (if one is perhaps insistent, as I am. January is the only month I can reasonably wear warm sweaters, here.) The energy-emitting youth wore t-shirts and short sleeves. It's okay. They move more quickly than I do, so they never had a chance to get cold.

And yes, those are crocs. With black socks. That wasn't intentional. He wears them as house shoes, and forgot to switch shoes when we prepared to leave the house. Oddly, that's one I didn't think to check. However, he has two, and they match. Plus, he's funny and helpful and sweet. Those count for double. We called it Good.

The museum has a delightful exhibit by artist Michael Liu (a quick Google search seems to indicate that that's a shockingly common name, even when you narrow down for "artist", and I still haven't found his specific site). The Carnegie Visual Arts Center has a little information on him, and one of his pieces featured on their page of current exhibits, but if you have the chance to see it in person, go. Do it. Wow. What you can't see online is that the paper pieces are so intricate and multi-layered - and that's all paper! It's truly magnificent in person. The pieces on display currently include paper cutting, some phenomenal collage, charcoal, and graphite. Jacob says he likes Mr. Liu's charcoals the best. We were all enthralled.We spent over an hour in this display, and I didn't even have to restrain Jase. much. James had found this zebra image during his research of Mr. Liu. It was in the exhibit - in person, it's entrancing. Also, we all think it's fun when you see a piece of art in person that you'd previously known in books, online, or through some other medium. That's always a treat!

From there, we wandered over to the music shop to get new strings for the guitar. I love the people at the shop. Not only did they put the strings on, then and there, but they took John behind the counter and taught him how to do it properly - what each step means, and why it's done. He got some hands on experience. If I weren't worried about scaring people, I'd have hoisted myself up over the counter to hug both of them for that.

Also, I found out why the boys haven't lost all their guitar picks. They keep one in the guitar! Yep, just drop it down in that hole when they're done, and shake it out when they want to play. And here, I just thought they'd been using the pocket in the case. Well, whatever gets it done. (Although I am very glad to know that rattling sound wasn't something that had broken off in there!)


Before we knew it, the day was done. Time for home, supper, and bed. I'm so glad we didn't stay in, though!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A Beautiful Start

We had such a great day today! One of my cousins was in town on a layover, and let us kidnap her for lunch and a trip to Burritt Museum. The kids are in awe of her, and I'm so happy that we re-connected. It's been 13 years since we've seen each other. Life gets busy, but it just shouldn't ever get that busy. I didn't get any pictures, though. We were too wrapped up in talking, eating, talking, and planning future visits.

The kids were amazing! Bless them. I didn't even do the usual, "For the love of God Almighty, PLEASE keep your brains on!" speech. (I meant to, but I forgot.) Serious fist bumps to the bigs and the smalls for keeping it normal on their own. Of course, we got back in the car after dropping her off, and all kinds of absurdity broke loose. There was so much poking and wrestling on the drive home that I began to wonder if their heads would have popped off if we'd stayed much longer. I love these kids. They make me laugh. I'm glad they didn't explode.

Tomorrow, our copy of The Codes of Hammurabi and Moses should arrive. I know, exciting times. Good stuff.

Friday, the bed risers should be here. If I can blow off skate day (unlikely, but one can hope), I can spend the day getting a little Old English Housekeeper action going on the master bedroom and storage plans.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

And A Happy New Year!

This weekend I've read some fantastic lists - reading lists completed and planned, goals met last year and set for the coming year, hopes and plans of hearts and minds. It's been encouraging to read through them. And in the process, I've muddled out some goals for us for 2012. (This house is up the road from us - it has no relation to this post, other than I think it's pretty amazing, and don't have another place to share it.)

2012 will be the year I learn to work around the things that normally pull me up short. Considering these are things I've been unable, or unwilling, to work around up to this point, it'll be interesting to see how that pans out. I suspect the keys will be (in no particular order - or rather, in whatever order I can pull them off first): getting over the stories in my head that make me feel paralyzed, letting go of what I think the delegation process should look like, and being willing to just leap right the heck out of the box so that we can move forward. I'm starting with bed risers.

See, under the bed is absolutely *crammed* with things. But I've held off on getting boxes for those things because we plan to build or buy a new bed (then I'll know how much room I have for boxes). And it's ugly, because there's no bed skirt (the old one, being 25+ years old, finally refused to stay stitched, stapled, glued, or tucked). But I've been holding off on buying a bed skirt until we bought or built the new bed (no bed wants highwater skirting, right?), but we're putting off the new bed because it's not on the top of the list (and it has to be patient and work its way up, like all the other good projects), and to be honest, we'd both rather have a new mattress - which we need, as it's even older and far less compliant than the defunct bed skirt - before a new actual bed frame - which is still functional. All of these things are fine, taken on their own. No biggie. But if you add it together, now I've got an antagonistic relationship going with the entire bedroom, and we keep stubbing our toes when we make the bed. It's not the bedroom's fault. It's nobody's fault, really. It just is what it is. For 8 bucks, I can clear the bottleneck and move forward. Why on earth not?

In other words, 2012 will be The Year of The Blindingly Obvious Solution. Well, yes.

I also hope to mail all the things that are sitting here, withering away and doing their intended recipients absolutely no good, whatsoever. They aren't getting dusted, either. The initial push is going to cost a fortune in postage, but after that - again, clearing out the bottleneck. And from there? Drop ship directly from Amazon and bypass myself, entirely. Put the good intentions into good practice, and bless all the people who have blessed us so very much. (I'm actually more excited about this one than I am about the bed risers! It'll be fun.)

Reading. Always. Good, good stuff. Didn't get nearly enough of that done last year. Facebook is quite the attention and time slayer. This year, I won't be my own worst enemy. This year, I will reconnect with the books. I've missed them, but it wasn't until I read the reading lists of others that I realized how very much I'd missed this last year. That's not good - not good for me, and not a good example for the children. So there is that. Again, blindingly obvious solution to a simple problem. What an exciting year this will be!

And time with friends. This year, we've been so glad to have some real community coming together for us, locally -- people we enjoy, people who challenge us, people who give and take in many ways. That's some powerful stuff, there. I want to tend those nooks and crannies and give them whatever they need to flourish this coming year.

And, we're punting on school for this week. Zorak's off a couple of days this week, and a cousin is coming into town mid-week. It seems silly to get spooled up for a day's worth of schooling. So we'll spend that day looking for all the things I'm sure we won't be able to find right off the bat, and then - theoretically - we'll start bright and early on the 9th. Granted, we aren't theoreticians, so I won't hold my breath, but it seems like a good plan at first glance. And if it doesn't work, I'm sure we'll be able to find a solution that will move us forward.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Got your Christmas On?

I think... maybe... we do. Maybe. Then I read blogs of interior designers, and I realize... my theme is sort of a rustic, 'manger' theme. I leap from the chair, high five the startled children, and whoop around the house, yelling, "We have a THEME, folks! We're good!"

Jacob's Den Christmas party was Friday, here at the house. We had several stations set up around the living area - garland making, paper crafts, leathercraft, cookie baking, and cookie decorating. 13 children, 3 adults, 500 square feet. Go! They made the cookies (and decorated and ate them in one fell swoop), made leather gifts for their families, and garlands and ornaments for their trees at home.

 

That was pretty awesome. But I have *great* parents who pitch in, and roll with it, and bring their fantastic suggestions to the table. They rock. And their kids? Their kids are so freakishly wonderful and amazing... :sigh: One Mom surveyed the activity, and all the children working, interacting, and playing. Smiling and wide-eyed, she turned to me and said, "You know, I wouldn't even attempt this with just any group!" Every adult youth leader should have this kind of a setup.

 

Zorak's company Christmas luncheon was Wednesday, and I got to slip off to join him for that. Then we did a little present searching before heading home. It was nice just to hold hands, stroll along in the crisp winter air, and talk about nothing in particular and everything in general. This year, with the master bath now being a functional bath, and the basement slowly becoming a functional game room, we had to come up with somewhere else to store unwrapped presents. So we got creative and borrowed the boys' foot lockers. One in each car, so no matter who picks up something, it goes straight into the foot locker. That has worked out quite nicely.

And so, that was last week. Lovely Christmastime.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Another 10 Miles

(Argh! Blogger informed me, after I'd uploaded the post, that it no longer supports Firefox for the upload-from-Picasa function in Picasa. So, now I understand where random pictures disappeared. Carrying on...)

We took another ride this weekend. (Just realized I hadn't blogged about the previous ride. Last weekend, James and John began the rides required for completing the Cycling Merit Badge for Scouts. They'll have to plan and complete seven rides: two 10-mile, two 15-mile, two 25-mile, and one 50-mile. This weekend was their second 10-mile ride.) This merit badge may kill me, but the boys are learning a *lot*. They were up, dressed, had their gear packed and their bikes ready to load before Zorak and I had even thought to wonder if there was coffee. If I'd thought about punting (and I'm not saying I did, but yeah, I had), their enthusiasm and willingness to do a little thinking for themselves shamed me out of bed and into motion.

 Did I mention this badge may kill me? Yeah. We rode the Richard Martin trail, which is really not all that *hard*, except that, well, it's hard if you're old and out of shape. Or just a weenie. It's uphill both ways, I kid you not. The downhill portions aren't downhill enough to be able to coast and get that feeling of just cruising downhill, and the uphill portions aren't steep - but they are loonnnggg. So long.

Jacob hung with us like the champ that he is. Even when his deraillier dorked up and he was stuck in sixth gear. Even when the cold got to his nose and made it run, and made his eyes water. Even though he's grown about three feet since his birthday, and we'd already gone a couple of miles before I realized we needed to raise his seat. He never gave up, and he really didn't complain, at all. Again, if I'd considered whining, I quickly realized I had no wiggle room, there.

The scenery was beautiful. The few dogs we saw were mostly friendly. (One small dog with a Napoleon complex chased James down and nipped at his heels, but he was easily deterred.) We saw some neat places - a covered bridge, an old church, and some relic railroad cars. In all, it was a great day with the boys. And at the end, they could take a victory lap. (Or just sit there and raise their arms a bit.) Plus, Zorak had packed pie and milk in a cooler for us, so we got to sit on the trailer and watch the little Elkmont Christmas Parade while we chatted with the folks parked beside us and admired their horses.

Kiss those babies! ~Dy

What's This? It's Christmas!

Our wee town Christmas Parade was yesterday. This was our 7th parade, and the first time we haven't been absolutely freezing. We took hot chocolate and peppermint bark, anyway. (And consumed it, anyway.) But it was so nice, we couldn't resist stopping by the park on our way back to the car.

One of our chairs gave up the ghost on our last campout. Of course, I forgot about it until we pulled it out of its sleeve yesterday. D'oh! But we had rope, and we had a Boy Scout, so we had a solution. It held! I was pretty impressed. (Also, I need to learn lashing.)

 

Jacob's Pack decorated the float themselves. They did such a great job. It was supposed to be "Scenes of Scouting", and that's just what it looked like, with the fishing, camping, archery, and boyish enthusiasm. They got 2nd Place in the judging, and the boys beamed all the way to the end of the route.

 

And we'd meant to put out the Christmas decorations this weekend. But our tree - oh, that poor tree. Two years ago, we lost a third of the lights on it. No amount of fuse/bulb changing could remedy the problem. We threw on extra strands and called it good. Last year, the stand broke. We made one out of wood, and called it good. This year, the wooden stand is MIA, and most of the lights (on the tree and the strands) don't work. Not to be deterred, the kids grabbed an axe and headed to the woods to find a tree. They found one. They got it down. They hauled it back. I'm going to love it because they picked it, and they worked together. (And nobody lost an appendage in the cutting of the tree!)

 

It's definitely beginning to look (a little) like Christmas!

Kiss those babies!

~Dy

Thanks, Given and Received.

 This Thanksgiving, we were thankful for much. For our kitchen, and all the things we are able to make in it (James helped with the pies)...

 For the children, who learn, grow, and love a little more each year (John made the bread)...

For friends to share the bounty of our table (the Pinot was good, but the name was just too precious to pass up!)...

And for the ability to enjoy traditions past and present, together, with joy and love. (Also, so VERY thankful Jacob and Zorak fixed the other long table in time for us to use it that day! It was so nice to have all 15 of us seated at one table for the meal!)

I hope your Thanksgiving was filling with blessings given, and received.

Kiss those babies!
Dy

Autumnal Doings

Wow! What a week this has been! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous - nights near freezing, days in the 60's. It's been dry enough to finish gathering wood for the winter, although so far we haven't needed to fire up the stove. (As much as brick is not my favorite building material, I grudgingly admit that it does have several fantastic characteristics. Heat retention is my second favorite.)

The kids and I have taken advantage of the cooler mornings to break out projects and activities we've neglected in the milder Autumnal weather. Paints, Beads, Boggle, and Monopoly were this week's fun. Gah! Look at that easel. It's taken more than one beating over the years - five kids, three moves, and whole lot of use. It's not terribly attractive anymore, but man, have we gotten (more than) our money's worth out of it! I love that thing!

 

I've done some cleaning, as well, in preparation of making the more elaborate meals that cooler weather facilitates. (Yeah, I'm gonna bake! Cookies, cakes, and probably pastas! Bring on the winter weight!) Zorak said he's ready to make the hanging pot rack for the kitchen, so I cleared that spot - got it dusted, blessed, prepped - whatever it takes. I'm ready for the pot rack! (Yes, our nuts are hanging in the basket. I'm not thrilled with that plan, but we're out of shelf space, and I was desperate to clear off that wooden shelf below, to make it look more intentional and less like a landing spot for leftover junk and random snacks.)

Zorak and the Volvo took on a charging deer the other morning. He always keeps an eye out for deer, just as a matter of habit, but this one came barreling out of the woods where they're the closest to the road, and there was no way to avoid him. This was a solid hit at 50mph! Thankfully, Zorak is fine. He was able to drive the car home, and I am now a die-hard Volvo fangirl. Also, we're in the market for another commuter car. :-)

And that's been about it. Busy. Good. Much to be thankful for, and in many different forms. (Jacob's reading Pinocchio right now. He's loving it, and hopes someone will make a movie that actually matches the book.)

The End of October

(Had some technical difficulties with the pictures. I think they're fixed, now.) Jacob broke out the Lincoln Logs one chilly morning. I love how their play mirrors their lives. See the awesome wood pile for the fireplace? (He took the chimney off for me, so I could see the interior layout, too. But a full wood pile, even in Playland, makes me smile.)

Em has a pair of shoes that she has loved to death. Actually, she hasn't worn them out yet, but she's dirtied them up pretty heartily. I hate to throw out anything that's still usable, and these still were. But oh, their once white, shiny ribbon trim was looking mighty gross, and we could not get it clean without doing some real damage to the shoes. So, we took a different route to the spiffing of the shoes. They cleaned up well, and the blacking on the ribbon gave new life to shoes that had been relegated  previously to the grunge pile.

Thursday, James had a follow-up appointment with the Ortho Surgeon for his arm. We expected a routine x-ray and a reminder not to overdo it on the physical activity. The way his bones had broken, and the trouble the surgeon had setting them, prompted all the people involved to warn us that while they *say* 6-8 weeks in the long cast, we really need to expect a full eight. And while they *say* 2-4 weeks in the short cast, we really need to be prepared for four weeks. So imagine our surprise when, after only five weeks in the long cast, the surgeon pronounced James' arm fully healed, and not in need of a cast at all! He's got a brace to wear when he's biking or hiking, and instructions to work on getting full range of motion back over the next week or so. He's one very happy camper, and I'm one very happy Mama.

The kids made their own costumes this year, for Halloween. We're following Dave Ramsey's plan for budgeting and finances, and it just doesn't make sense to blow $20 a piece on costumes they'll wear once or twice (well, the smalls will wear them well past Easter, but it's the principle of the thing). Plus, it's never hurt anyone to get creative. Being the team players they are, they got creative. And had a blast. These were two of their outfits: PacMan Ghost (used an old tarp and sign board - $3 total outlay, there), and Cinderella (she inherited the dress from a friend's little girl and although most of the sparkles have been loved off of it since we got it - she *really* loves this dress - all we needed was a blue headband a little glitter hairspray left over from previous projects - total outlay, there, about $1.50) Then we spent our holiday envelope money on a brisket and a great evening with friends, instead! Everyone agreed that's a better use of Blow Money, all around. :-)

Kiss those babies! ~Dy 

Weekend Camporee

I spent the weekend at the Camporee with the Boy Scout Troop. This was James and John's first time as grubmasters, and they absolutely rocked it. We may not be athletic, up on pop culture, or interested in fashion, but we know how to eat! I think the biggest hit this weekend was the boys' favorite winter-time soup: Loaded Potato Soup. It modifies beautifully for the camp (the pig pot didn't hurt - I don't think we have any dutch ovens large enough to serve 21 hungry Scouts!), is easy to make, and clean up is a snap (it helps that there was very little soup left over).

The days were gorgeous, but those mornings? Whooo - chilly! It got down to 29 degrees the first night, and the second was a warmish 34 degrees. The kids are tough, but I think they're agreed that they're going to need better sleeping bags if we're going to do this gig properly.

Zorak brought the Smalls out for a bit. They got to run in the woods (TICK CHECK! Always, always take your garlic, and check for ticks. *shudder*), watch the catapult launches, and enjoy a dinner with the Scouts. EmBaby found so many beautiful things tucked away in the nooks and crannies of the meadows and woods. She'd make a great naturalist, if she'll learn to take the camera to the plant and not the other way around.

All in all, though, it was another great outing. And I've finished out my Christmas list for Santa: good tents for the boys, a camera for Em, and some Ben-Gay and Epsom salts for me! There we go. That should just about cover it, yes?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A Beautiful Day for a Hike

The boys chose to complete their Hiking Merit Badge this year. This means we need to complete five 10-mile hikes, and one 20-mile hike. I've been... um, not hiking for the last 15 years. So, in order to ease me into this plan slowly, and to get a grip on what we need to gear up with (not to mention to ease me into this...) we decided to do a few trial hikes (of significantly fewer miles) to start.

 Zorak had Jake and Em at Cub Haunted this weekend, so the rest of us did a quick two-miler. The boys carried their 10 essentials and water for everyone. Jase got into the action, too -- he packed his bag with a ball, a truck, Gary the snail, and some pork rinds. I carried Jase part of the way in the Kelty carrier - but he was eager to put some miles on his wee feet, too. Also, we learned he does not need to be eased into this! (He did ask that we stop for a little playtime and a snack, though. Who are we to deny such a cheerful request? It was nice to sit in the beautiful weather and just be, visit, watch. Good stuff.)

We hiked along the river, and enjoyed the cool air, the dappled trail, the amazing birds. It was pretty great. Our pace? Deplorable. Or attitudes? Not bad. If we can get out the door a little faster, and with fewer reminders, I think we could get the hang of this and enjoy many miles along the Alabama trails.

Over the years, I've jokingly told the children that at least one of them needs to develop a love of backpacking, so I'll have a buddy to hike the Appalachian Trail with me one day. Wouldn't it be great if I had several? Yeah, I thought so, too.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy