Hungry Boy

J - Mom, I'm starving! Will you make me something to eat?

Mom - We have beef stew, taco chili, chicken fried rice, egg drop soup, or white chicken chili in the fridge. (All leftovers from homemade meals this week.)

J - Sick!! I mean something good!

Mom - I'm pretty sure you know how to make Ramen noodles.

J - Ooo, yeah. Will you please make it for me??

[An ongoing yet never changing conversation in our house...]

Mom Pace

I walk fast. You may or may not have noticed that but if you spend much time walking with me you'll see that I have trouble going at a leisurely pace. Wait, I think I've mentioned this before... Yep, here ya go.

When the J was little, (from the time he could walk), he's had trouble keeping pace with me. He would hold my hand and say "Mom slow down." Or I'd be cruising along and realize he was running to keep up with me. I did try to slow down but really he had to learn to move it. To this day he is more of a dilly dallier than me. Until today.

Today I had the J take me to the library to switch out some movies. I was moving as fast as my little surgered self (gall bladder removal last week) could and he was several paces ahead of me. I said, "Are you running a marathon?" He laughed and said, "No, I'm just going my mom pace."

That gave me a good laugh. Which hurt. ;)

Don't You Love Getting a Surprise in the Mail?

I mean really, who doesn't love getting a little unexpected surprise in the mail? This afternoon I got home from work and thought I'd check the mail on my way in.

I opened the box and just as I was about to reach in I saw, to my great surprise, a snake!! For the record I said, "ooo" but I didn't scream. I thought that was pretty good. And then I promptly moved far, far away from the mailbox. I've seen Indiana Jones and you just never know what these creatures might do!

Now, I'm sure this is a garter snake and they say those are harmless but really I've never had the urge to know that first hand. So I informed Dad and the J that until one of them removes it the mail will stay in the box. (This is a clearly defined "man" job!)

My guess is that those lovely junior high kids thought they'd have a little fun - at my expense. Rude.

Meet Bosco

The J got a dog this week! Meet Bosco:

Isn't he cute? He's getting used to us and as I watch him I'm coming to see that he'll fit in just perfectly around here. He likes to bury himself in Js comforter to sleep just the way J does. Then I watched him eating this morning:

He takes food out of his bowl one piece at a time and lays them out on the floor then eats them one at a time from the floor and I thought "where have I seen that before?"

See? He fits right in with us already!

A Comic About Me?

The J saw this comic earlier this week, cut it out, and showed it to me with a huge smile on his face.

(Ok, you might just have to click here to read it...)

When I read this my only question was "Almost July? How did she get all the way to July before she started planning summer vacation?" I'm just sayin'...

Then I saw the next day's comic:

(and here...)

Oh my heck!! That's the exact dynamic in my little family. The J doesn't like to travel and I love it. This is us to a T!

Part 3 - Wrapping Up Our Summer Adventures

Here's the final installment of "What I did on my summer vacation with my Little Hs."

We had lots of story times. You can see that I have three sides so that I can fit three kids perfectly:

We enjoyed Ice Cream Soda day even though it was rainy. Actually the kids loved it! They put on their rain gear and played in the rain for a long time.

Speaking of water, we had a spontaneous Flotsam day. Have you ever read the book Flotsam by David Wiesner? It's a great book for kids - no words (or very few? can't remember at the moment), wonderful pictures and the kids make up the story as you go. Anyway, we started out by doing a science experiment to see what things float and what sinks. In our back yard we have sea shells scattered along the pebble walkway so the kids went out and gathered sea shells, rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. and their bowls just started to look like bowls of flotsam:

To continue on the floating experiments I gathered up lots and lots of pennies then we made a boat out of foil, floated it in a big bowl of water and added pennies one at a time to see how many the boat could hold before it would sink. Naturally they all needed their own big bowl, foil, and pennies because that's so much more fun. And it was the best thing! They played for over an hour without fighting or whining or anything. And they probably would have played longer if I hadn't called them in for lunch. Water just works wonders for kids, doesn't it?

One day we made shark shirts for the boys and a buddyfly shirt for Mia. These were really fun and easy to make but I'm really annoyed with the shirts themselves (Hanes t-shirts) because they shrunk so much when we washed them. So obnoxious!

One of the highlights that the kids really loved was movie night! We set up our projector to watch movies on the family room wall. The kids made signs for the movie and concessions. Tiernan sold tickets and treats: popcorn in movie style popcorn bags, taffy, and fudge (since it happened to be national fudge day), and pop! Josh was the ticket taker and Mia made sure everyone was invited and attended the movie. The kids set up blankets and pillows on the floor and we closed all the curtains to make it as dark as we could. (I'm not nice enough to let them stay up until it is dark before we even start the movie.)

This was so popular we had another movie night the next week and the Little Hs can't wait to do this with all their cousins in Durango later this summer. So much fun!

We went on lots of picnics in the park - too many in fact since the kids have said they don't want to go on any more picnics! Wow. I never would have expected that. :)

What a fun visit with my Little Hs!

Back Seat Drivin'

This weekend Mom, Becky, Mia and I went to Durango for Jodee's (soon to be sis-in-law) bridal shower. Yay!

On Friday night we all went out to dinner for Danny's birthday and we (the girls) followed Danny & Jodee back from the restaurant to the motel. Now, as you may already know, mom is a notorious back seat driver. Well, we were stopped at a red light and when the light turned green Danny pulled forward and waited to turn left. (Did I already mention that Danny & Jodee were in one car and we were in another car? That's important to remember.) There were two cyclists in the cross walk walking their bikes across the street.

Mom said, "Look out Danny. Don't hit those people."

Me, "Oh my gosh. You're back seat driving from another car."

Part Duex (That works since their parents were in France, right?)

On Daniel Boone day we went on an "exploration" hike at Chatfield. The boys had fun exploring and recording what they found in their explorer journals.

Mia? Well, she was not so into it and would have been happier staying home that day but 2 out of 3 isn't so bad.

We went up to the Heron Observation deck and even spotted a heron! And disagreed on exactly how many boats were on the lake. And enjoyed snacks while watching for more herons or anything else that was interesting.

One day we painted with corn cobs (between you and me, it was not nearly as impressive as the picture in Family Fun lead me to believe... What? Do they have professional corn cob painters there? I mean, really!)

...which evolved into finger painting then whole hand painting which is soooo fun! And just a little messy.

One of our favorite days was National Root Beer Day! We made homemade root beer (for the first time ever) and it was super fun. Let's be honest, anything with dry ice is super fun!

We had playgroup at our house that day and the Little Hs are rather shy critters. This is how the conversation went the day before playgroup:

Me: We're having playgroup here tomorrow for Root Beer Day.

Little Hs: We're not going.

Me: Um, it's at our house.

Little Hs: Well, we're not coming out then.

Me: That might be a little goofy.

Little Hs: We don't care.

When the big day arrived the making of root beer lured them unsuspectingly outside. They clustered together in the sandbox as the kids started arriving until they realized it wasn't scary at all - it was just a big group of friends and lots of fun. Whew!

I was gonna say "let the fun begin" but since it's taken me so long to get to blogging anything it's almost time to say goodbye to the fun, so... Here's a look at how me and the Little Hs started our three weeks together.

First we made aprons because they all like to help in the kitchen and the adult sized aprons just don't quite do the job for them. We used tempera paint and animal stamps and they all designed their own:

One morning was National Donut Day so we made donuts at home. The kids each got a bag with either powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar in it and they got the shake the hot donuts in the sugar to coat them. That was fun! And messy!! And yum, what a delicious breakfast.

Another day was World Ocean Day so we made shark and fish (girls don't like sharks!) magnets using Shrinky Dinks. Those are so entertaining to watch while they shrink! And the magnets turned out really cool. But, we didn't realize until too late that you are coloring what will be the back of the magnets so now their names are backwards. Oh well! Still so fun.

I'll post more later after I break free from these outlaws!

The Renegade Tire

I got a call this evening from the J. "Mom, I need you to call a tow truck for me. My back left tire flew off my car and I'm stuck on Santa Fe." Uh huh. So here's the whole comedy of errors - because it's too good not to share.

J and his friend N were driving down the street and heard a funny noise. They pulled over and found nothing wrong with the car that they could see so continued on their way. A short time later they stopped at a red light. Well, the car stopped but the back tire just kept going. It was flying away so fast that it flew right over the median, down the bank and into the river. N went chasing after it (not the best plan on a busy street I might add...). He saw it going for the river, took off his shoes as he was running, pulled up his pant legs and jumped in the river only to find that he couldn't reach it. He jumped out, found a nice long stick, jumped back in and rescued the renegade tire.

They couldn't put the spare on or even the rescued tire because, of course, the lug nuts flew off with the tire and one generally doesn't carry around extra lug nuts in case of renegade tires... So they called for a tow.

I was on the phone with the insurance company to arrange a tow, my brother, S, to ask car suggestions, and J who had called back to tell me never mind the tow because the police just showed up and the officer said he'll help them fix the tire and he'll get the tow company they use to come out.

They took one lug nut from each of the other tires and put the renegade tire back on with those lug nuts so that each tire had only 3 lug nuts. (Can I trust two teenage boys to drive safely and *slowly* home with fewer than recommended lug nuts on every single tire?? Eeek!)

S left work to go help the guys and called to say he couldn't find them and where did I say they were? I gave him the location, as far as I knew, hung up and called N to ask if they were on their way home.

"Well, not yet. See, we left the doors open during all this and now the battery is dead. We're in the motel parking lot and someone is giving us a jump."

Just this morning I gave J a kit with jumper cables for his car and as he was leaving I reminded him to put it in his trunk. Inspiration, ja? Ja!

I told the boys to wait there as S would be coming to follow them home and make sure they arrive safely then I'll take N home in a safe and properly working car. I called S and directed him to the Murder Motel (naturally that's not really the motel's name but when I was a teenager there was a murder there and I remember seeing it on the news and it just stuck with me so now I call it the Murder Motel and I can't imagine for the life of me why anyone would stay there!) where he found them safe and sound.

Tomorrow we'll go have a lug nut pressed for the back tire and then the wheels should all be safe and sound. And we'll get a new battery.

Whew! What an adventure. Thank heavens for a kind police officer and for kind Providence!

Absentminded Cook

Sometimes I think it's a wonder that anything turns out in my kitchen. Today I was making Snickerdoodles and I opened the oven to take the first batch out and this is what I saw:

(Well, I guess that's not exactly what I saw since these are stacked on a cooling rack but you see what I mean...)

Gadzooks! What in the world? I mean I haven't made Snickerdoodles in years but I don't remember them being terribly difficult and I know they aren't flat!

The dough was really soft and I read the recipe three times to see if I was supposed to chill it before rolling into little balls but no, no chilling needed... I just couldn't see what else it might be. I walked out of the kitchen because I wasn't sure if I wanted to bother with the rest of the dough or just throw it out or what - so I took a break.

When I came back I realized that I had only put in 1 3/4 cup of flour not 2 3/4 cups! Duh!! I would like to say that this is the first time I've ever done something like this but it's not even close. In fact, this seems to happen in streaks so perhaps I need to do only minimal cooking for awhile. haha. I did add more flour to the remaining dough and it's quite amazing, the dough feels better and the cookies look like - Snickerdoodles.

I'll just say I invented a new cookie - Snickerdoodle Crisps. ha ha! I tell ya, if my head weren't attached...

June's Funny Days

I've been looking for fun things to do while my nephews & niece are here for three weeks this June. I always like to look up the funny, little-known holidays cause you can build some fun around them.

Here's a sampling of June days you may not have heard of:

3 - Donut day

4 - Pencil Drawing Day

6 - Yo-yo Day

7 - Chocolate Ice Cream Day AND Daniel Boone Day

8 - World Ocean Day

9 - Donald Duck Day

10-13 - Superman Week (although that's not very accurate because this is 4 days not a whole week but apparently one day for Superman didn't seem like enough for whoever designated this day... I bet Tiernan would agree.)

11 - Corn-on-the-cob Day

14 - Family History Day

15 - Fly a Kite Day and Nature Photography Day

16 - Fudge Day

17 - Root Beer Day

18 - Go Fishing Day & Picnic Day

20 - Ice Cream Soda Day and Juggling Day

Of course, there are designations for each week of the month too. For example, June 6-11 is National Clay Week. That could be fun.

That leaves one to wonder if there's a designation for the whole month - well, of course there is! It's National Candy Month. Super fun!

I better get busy planning now, we have a lot to do!

Hands

Have you ever stopped to think how wonderful it is to have hands? I was out planting flowers yesterday and I was using my little spade but, as usual, I ended up using my hands to break up the soil in the flower pots because, really, hands are just the most efficient tool I've ever found! They do the work much better and you have such control. I do the same thing with cooking - if I'm making a large batch of something (chicken salad, for example) hands just mix better than a big spoon. No worries, I use gardening gloves for gardening and food gloves for mixing big batches of food.

If you think about how much you use your hands every day - for everything you do - it's quite amazing! Don't get me wrong, I'm really grateful for all the very useful tools we have - and they are very useful - but sometimes you just have to use your hands to really get the job done. What a blessing to have hands!

Easter Craft

March was National Craft month so naturally Becky & I felt obligated to have a craft day and here's the result:

Aren't they adorable? We bought the ready to finish kit from Etsy seller Wellgood then we sanded, painted, and assembled them. I do enjoy craft days when we find something fun to do!

My Love-Hate Relationship with Mornings

I have a love-hate relationship with mornings. I'm not really sure I'm a night person but I'm not so much a morning person either. I'm a middle person? Well, I'm not sure what that would even mean...

Love - I really can be so very productive in the mornings and I l-o-v-e that! Really! If I get moving I can get so much done in a short amount of time and it feels great. Love it.

Hate - I h-a-t-e waking up in the 5's. The 5's were not meant for being awake. The other day the radio alarm went off and the DJ (do you call the announcer on classic music radio a DJ? Probably not...) anyway, the announcer guy said, "you're enjoying night music on Classical 89.5." SEE? My point exactly! It's night not morning. And since I've heard that announcement more than once I consider it solid fact that the 5's are nighttime. One should not arise then and certainly not before then and I have a really hard time doing so. Maybe there will be a day in the future when I can wake up in the 6's and see if I like that better but I'm not holding my breath. I really prefer the 7's but that's totally unreasonable except for weekends. (Which is a good reminder, if you want me to do something on the weekend that will require my waking before the 7's I make no guarantees of cooperation.) Hate it.

And lest you get too worried, I don't sleep past the 7's except for on very rare occasions and never to the 9's - I mean that's full blown morning and I'm decidedly up by then and even at the 8's I start feeling like I've wasted away the whole day. Maybe that's it - I just like the 7's.

Perhaps someday I'll get over the hate-it part but...let's not hold our breath. In the mean time I'll try to focus on the love-it part. And go to bed so I can get up in the 5's - and only hit snooze 1 or 2 times before doing so...

Preparedness - The Sound of Music Way

I am once again in my preparedness mode - something that the basics of which are generally at least in the back of my mind and now and then takes the front seat. I was looking around for preparedness ideas on the net and found the funniest thing. The following was on a blog for a condominium in Seattle:

•The Sound of Music (1965)

The Sound of Music tells the story of an Austrian family -- with seven singing children -- in the days before the Holocaust. It’s a Couch Potato Preparedness classic for its sustainability and the sheer number of preparedness lessons.

– Maria is resourceful, making new clothes out of curtains.
– Captain von Trapp demonstrates using whistles as communication tools.
– He stays aware and informed of the situation, to make good decisions.
– To escape, they make a plan, share it, and adapt it as things change.
– The adults protect the children and the children help each other.
– In crisis, the family finds sanctuary and help from old friends.
– Of course: “My Favorite Things” is about thinking positively when bad things happen!

Use this family favorite to recognize diverse preparedness skills and actions.

I just laughed out loud when I read that - clever and certainly something I never thought of when watching the Sound of Music. And kudos for the condominium management for trying to help their tenants get prepared for natural disasters.

The O Goggs!

Let's start with a little background to the onion goggle story. Here it is in a nutshell - I HATE ONIONS. That's about it. But allow me to elaborate a little... Not only do onions wreak to high heaven, they taste gross and they have a gross texture and they make me bawl. I mean bawl like someone just died. Generally I use onion powder and I'm perfectly happy with that. Other people like onions, my mom LOVES onion. One time I was on vacation and she called me to tell me that she made onion burgers with sauteed onions on onion rolls for dinner. Sick and wrong!

I've made a general rule that if mom wants onions in the food I cook (when I won't be eating) she has to chop them ahead of time and freeze them. Sometimes she does and then I just pull them from the freezer which works beautifully. Plus, then she can't complain when there aren't onions because she's the one who hasn't chopped them so it's her fault if there aren't any. hee hee.

A few months ago I was being particularly generous and decided I'd go ahead and cut up an onion for the whatever I was making. I chopped away and bawled - we're talking tears streaming down my face - and I couldn't even see what I was chopping so really I'm lucky I didn't chop a finger off! My eyes were burning and burned for a couple hours after the deed was done. I mean that is just ridiculous. I vowed that that was the last time I would be nice and add onion to anything unless it was pre-chopped and frozen.

Imagine my surprise on Christmas morning when I unwrapped these beauties:

Wow! Nothing says hottie like super-hero O goggs! The deal is that you wear these while you chop the onion and you won't cry and your eyes won't sting. I will admit that they mostly work. Some onions are just so nasty that nothing can help but if it's a mild onion they mostly do their job. (Have I mentioned that I also wear plastic gloves while chopping onions so that my hands don't stink?)

I have used them a couple times and aside from looking like a loon it was a better experience than most onion experiences. Did I also mention how self-serving this gift from Mom was? Or maybe you noticed that yourself. haha! But, lest mom or anyone else gets too excited, I still won't cook with onions (unless I won't be home for dinner) and the rule about chopping your own onions is still in full force. Just sayin'. Wanna make sure we're clear on that.

I Fell Off the Blogging Planet For Awhile

...and really, I'm not sure if I'm totally back. See, I was going to blog about our fun Halloween party -

But I didn't get to it. Then I was going to blog about.... well, no I was going to skip Thanksgiving. So I was going to blog that Christmas was coming -

but it already came and went along with all the family -

that was here that I could've blogged about... Missed that too.

So here's the latest. I was released from the RS presidency after 3 1/2 years. It's bittersweet. I'm excited for the new presidency because as much work as it will be it will also be full of sweet blessings and so much growth. It was truly an awesome calling. So, what does that have to do with blogging? Well, not much really. I first thought maybe I'd be better about blogging but let's be honest, I probably won't. But I suppose I can't say it's cause I'm too busy now...

Maybe I'll blog about my most unique Christmas present - onion goggles. Stay tuned...