Trip to the Zoo

For awhile, we've been looking at the calendar - trying to work some day trips in during DHs 4-day weekends. We won't be taking a vacation this year in an effort to save some money. So today we got things gathered, put the kids in the car, and told them we were going to the Pittsburgh Zoo. It's only about 3 hours away. Ha. Plus a stop to eat lunch, a little time burned up turning around after wrong turns, and we were there.

The kids were not so thrilled when we first told them. As we were entering the park, a family was leaving and they offered to give us their cart. At first I thought we'd be ok, but the mom pretty much insisted. It ended up being a life-saver. Carrying water, snacks, Little Boy's diabetes stuff... it adds up. And Baby and Little Boy ended up riding in it. At times they were more concerned about hopping in than looking at animals. Little Boy was hung up on wanting to see the sharks. The aquarium was toward the end of the loop, so that's what we heard the whole time. Baby was NOT happy about leaving; I promised her we would come back. People walking by heard her crying, and then heard me promise and they were all "aww-ing" her. Daddy ended up carrying her to the car.

Before we were out of the parking lot, she was out. We ended up hitting rush hour traffic leaving Ptsbrgh, but soon we were out of the city and made good time. At some point, we hit a couple bumps, Baby woke up and she was mad. She cried and fussed and started throwing anything she could reach onto the floor. We tried to ignore her for as long as we could. She settled down. We stopped at Burger King at Baby's insistence. She did great. Until it was time to leave the playland. Again, Daddy carried her to the car.

We got home, put the kids in bed and now we are winding down. Both kids kept talking about how great the day was, and about their favorite parts of the trip. Baby liked the polar bears; Little Boy liked the sharks. :0) Mommy's favorite part was the sea otters. Baby was standing by the glass, and the sea otters kept swimming against the glass right in front of her.

Baby slept a little on the way; Little Boy thinks this expression is funny. IDK.

Pittsburgh Zoo has a new baby elephant. So cute. Little Boy is 6. I know I wasn't that tall when I was 6. I was only 4'11" in HS. I grew 4 inches after HS. How crazy is that?

The African animal exhibits are nice. While we were looking at zebras, giraffes, elephants, my kids were mesmerized by the fish in the moat.

Here are my two sweeties watching monkeys. I will not say anything sassy. :o)

Little Boy is 6!

Little Boy was on the steps waiting for his first gift. This was his face when he saw it:



Daddy brought it around where he could see it.



He quickly took it from Daddy.




He gave Baby a ride, but I put the kabosh on it when I saw him take off and her feet flew up in the air.



Here's his cupcakes.



Gifts:



His diabetic educator, Vicki.

And Baby, after she fell in the lake.

Last Friday

Just some cute pics my husband took of the kids, and he took some pics of my spirea bush.

Sprinkler!

Wednesday was hot and muggy, so we got out the sprinkler. The kids had a great time. Thursday we got it out again, but Little Boy tried to move it to make it more of a circle and it split at the seam. So Friday when I went shopping I got them a new one. These pics are from Wednesday.

Nothin' says summer like freezer pops and a sprinkler!

Bowling

Baby and Little Boy have been earning points. Baby earns points by keeping dry until naptime. Little Boy earns points by checking his blood sugar without fussing. Our church has been going bowling on Monday nights - it's a dollar for shoe rental, and a dollar apiece each game. So we took the kids bowling last week.

6 years ago

I was HUGE - I was counting the minutes until Little Boy was delivered. I had a planned C-section. The OB/GYN said there was no way the baby would fit through my pelvic opening.

We didn't find out girl/boy beforehand by choice. I had an ultrasound a couple days before the delivery and the tech offered to tell me, but I said no.

I was sure we were having a girl; DH wanted a boy and I didn't think there was any chance that I wouldn't disappoint him. (Like it was my "fault" or something.)

One of my good friends from Schaumburg had a horrible catastrophe - in the time from her appointment one day to the time she went in for delivery the next day - her baby died. I had that stress on my mind. I felt like I couldn't breathe until I delivered.

I was sleeping in the recliner - had been for months. Pelvic separation was so painful. I couldn't wait to sleep in my own bed.

Mostly, I kept talking to our baby - "Who are you?" "What do you look like?" "Please be cooperative." I was anticipating seeing that little baby face.

And was a cutie! I look at his pictures and he was so beautiful.

Do you have a good brain?

My son and my husband are racing Mario Cart. Little Boy won, and DH came in second. We've been working with Little Boy to not brag, but to build up the other players.

"It's ok, Daddy. You came in second; you beat everyone else." And he tapped his own head. "Except for the one with the good brain."

So humble.

Father's Day

I hope my husband has a nice day. If it weren't for him and my kids this holiday would completely stink.
My dad has been gone for 24 years now. It gets easier in some respects, but I sure do miss him.

Have I ruined my son?

My son has a pair of shoes that we bought for him a long time ago. They are expensive shoes - StrideRite in XW. He wore them for church and going places. Later, we bought him another pair, same style, and the old ones became play shoes. At this point, his play shoes are very worn, but I'm sure they are comfy - broken in. I saw some shoes at WalMart that I think are made wide enough for his XW feet. I brought them home, had him try them on, and they are wide enough. He thinks they look cool.

I explained they are his new play shoes and he started crying. I asked what was wrong.

"I don't want you to take my shoes away. They remind me of things from when I was a 4 year old."

So I think I've passed on my emotional connection to things. Poor kid. And his poor wife some day.

I assured him he needed 2 pair of play shoes; a pair to wear when his shoes are wet. From playing in the drainage hole. We have the prettiest drainage hole on the hill.

Grrr.

So Little Boy dislocated Baby's arm AGAIN later in the morning. He was trying to get her to get in the house because I had called them in. Poor Baby.

After lunch, Little Boy told me, "Oh Mommy. My belly is so full of antelope!"

"It's not antelope, Sweetie. It's *C*anteloupe."

Funny.

Is it Monday, again?

I think I slept well last night. I don't remember my husband coming to bed or the alarm going off at 2 am. I don't remember the alarm going off this morning for my husband to get up, either. I vaguely remember my daughter getting up early, and my husband sending her back to bed.

Little Boy woke up before my husband left, and I had DH send him in to my bed. It wasn't long before Baby woke up, too, and the two were bumbling around the bed. I sent them both to the living room when I finally got up to go to the bathroom.

We were sitting in the living room, me with my laptop, Little Boy with his stinkin' green army guys, :0) and Baby flitting around being a cute little pest. And then she did something (I don't know what) that caused a reaction, and the next thing I knew, I was having to fix Baby's dislocated elbow. Again.

So, I'm wondering - is it Monday, again?

Booby traps

Little Boy has been playing with his little green army guys and all the paraphenalia that goes along with them - plastic barbed-wire fences, half logs and broken down buildings for the army guys to hide behind, tanks, jeeps, planes.

I had just picked up an airplane so it wouldn't get stepped on, when Baby hopped off the couch onto a tank. She howled, and I told Little Boy to pick up his stuff.

"Brother shouldn't leave his crap on the floor!"

Yikes! I guess I use that word more often than I thought. Oops.

Baby Baby Baby

So Baby has been waking up early. I usually send her back to her room, tell her to read some books in her bed, and then I lie in bed listening to her playing around.

This morning I needed to get up early so I wasn't as irritated as I usually am.

When I finally got up, she and I spent some time snuggling on the couch. We were talking about kittens; she loves everything kitten. She started telling me about her Sunday school teacher's kitty. She showed me the face the kitty makes when it meows, told me how it jumped at her, and made her "freak out". And she was talking about how she freaked out, and said "freaked out" another half dozen times.

I just laughed and kissed my little freaked out Baby.

Like Father, Like Daughter

Or is it the other way around?

Lately, when I tuck the kids into bed for naps or at nighttime, I have to check, recheck and check again to be sure Baby is in bed.

She waits til we walk away, climbs down, turns on her light, gets books and toys and climbs back into bed.

Well, I just had to "sneak" back into my room to put the dying phone on the charger and get the charged phone. I opened the door as carefully and quietly as I could, hoping to not disturb my husband. He's supposed to be sleeping after working all night. I opened the door, and he smiled sheepishly - iPod in hand.

Hope he can keep his eyes open for his meeting today and for our church directory pictures. Pfft.

Busy week

So last week my husband and I were looking at our calendars and comparing notes. We have to make sure we are on the same page or we get into trouble.

My week went from 2 appts. to crammed full. How on earth does that happen? And where am I going to fit in a visit to the printer for VBS stuff? Arrgghh!

My husband has a 3 oclock meeting, we have a 5:25 appt. for pictures for the church directory, he at least should make it to the funeral home tonight or tomorrow night for the visitation for our neighbor. Tomorrow I have a therapy appt. Wednesday is the funeral, and I have a VBS meeting before church. Thursday and Friday, my husband has union negotiations, and Saturday he will be working a double shift - day and 2nd.

So I need to concentrate on getting through today. I need to find/pick out clothes for us for our picture. I need to find something that will make me look thin.

HA HA HA HA HA HA.

Sunday Sickies

Little Boy has had a stuffy nose for a couple days now. And last night Baby started sneezing. I gave her some medicine, but about 1 am, she started coughing and crying. I gave her some more medicine and then laid there watching the clock until it was time to check Little Boy's blood sugar.

This morning Baby woke up crying. I checked on her, and ick. Runny, crusty, clogged up little nose.

So I decided to keep the kids home. Little Boy is going outside to play, Baby is watching TV and I'm getting ready to run to the pharmacy. They messed up his syringes and test strips, again. It's getting to be like our local McDs. I have to check everything before I leave.

But it's a beautiful day, so I'm going to enjoy the sunshine and the fresh air.

Another neighbor

died this morning. In the last couple years, 6 of our neighbors have died.

Our next-door neighbor, Lewis, passed away this morning. He's had problems with congestive heart failure for awhile now. My husband grew up here and was friends with the kids next door.

I think one of the hardest things is trying to explain it to my kids. They question me over and over about people who have died; especially my dad and our neighbor lady across the street. I know it is an abstract concept to them; their questioning doesn't make things easier on me, either. And not knowing their spiritual condition is the hardest part.

Two of his four kids have already died; two are left. And his wife seems frail; I don't know what they will do. It's just so sad.

My son is funny!

My son still says, "Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie," when he hears Obama talking.

I asked him the other day what he would say to the president if he had a chance to talk to him.

"I would tell him to stop spending people's money."

Out of the mouth of babes!

Little Boy's graduation

Here are some pictures from last Sunday.

Be sure your sin will find you out!

And be sure it will be Mommy who finds you!

So today I went out to get the mail; Baby was riding her bike. She had stopped at the bottom of our driveway and put her head on her hands on the middle of the handlebars. It was sweet, and a bit sad. I was wondering why. I asked her what she was doing, and she hopped off the bike and came up the driveway to "help" me get the mail. She was a little discouraged that she couldn't ride her bike up the driveway. I told her it was ok, b/c if she made it up the driveway, she would most definitely wipe out on the way down. She asked, "Would I cry?" "Yep."

Then I decided I should check on Little Boy. I walked around the back of the garage; he was sweeping dirt off the driveway. Ok. But he looked at me with a scared look. I asked him if he was in trouble. He said he was. I asked why he was in trouble. He pointed to the puddle on the driveway. Oh great; he pee'd on the driveway. I asked him what he did. He pointed to the old rickety buckets full of dried up tar that have been sitting in our driveway since I moved here in 2000. The lids are broken, and they fill up with water, which gets nasty from the icky tar. He wanted to see the tar, so he dumped out the water. UGGGHHH. I keep telling him to stay away from them.

I came back in the house to finish cleaning out the "linen" closet. It's a catch-all with very little room for linens. Soon it was time for a snack. I decided to take them out some freezer pops. As I rounded the corner, Little Boy was digging next to the playhouse porch with a shovel.

Ok. We have a rule here. NO TOOLS. I am seriously afraid one of these days someone is going to come running in with a huge gash from some tool.

I asked what he was doing. "Baby pooped and I'm covering it up!"

AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

"Both kids --- in the house ---- right now!"

He got in trouble for not telling us, covering her mess (sin), using a tool, and, OH YEAH, peeing in a bucket yesterday.

She got in trouble for her part in the episode.

Can we have a day without wet undies or poop in the yard?

Good grief.

Do I have to be outside?

HOW can two sweet, cute children get into so much trouble? I guess in perspective, it's not so bad. But Little Boy insists on getting tools out of the workbench, and Baby wet her undies again today. And I caught both of them up by the road picking up rocks.

I do NOT want to make them stay in the house unless there is an adult with them, but if I have to, I will. And they won't get as much time outside. Which means they'll be in the house driving me nuts.

I need to get back to being more organized with meal planning, so tonight my goal is to plan out the meals and snacks for the week. With Little Boy's special diet, it will take a little more planning, but I know it will save time and brain strain in the end.

DH is off tomorrow so I plan to make it my shopping day this week.

I guess I should go check on the little kids.

It was a very nice day

My husband didn't have to work a double last night. That was good. I woke up with the kids and let him sleep. I was glad he was able to sleep a couple more hours.

It was a nice day out, so as soon as the kids finished breakfast I took them outside. There was a baby deer in the neighbor's yard (Grandma & Granddad's). I told the kids they could play on the driveway, but not to go into the grass on that side of the house so the baby would not get scared.

I went into the house, walked into Baby's room, opened the shade, and saw Baby walk off the driveway into the grass. It took that long? I had to deal with her, and sent her back out.

Daddy woke up and went outside. Pretty soon, he called me. "Come look at your daughter." Great.

She was running up the driveway in just her little stripey undies. Wet undies.

So she came in, I put a plastic grocery bag on her (cut little slits for her legs), and she had to sit on a towel on the couch. I kept asking her if it felt nice or yucky. When we got her cleaned up and dry undies on, she had to stay in the house until she peed again.

We had a nice lunch - steak, grilled potatoes, green beans, ice cream. The kids were still up when Daddy left for work. I did some things on my computer until my head started bobbing.

I was lying on the couch, sleeping, and I kept thinking I could hear music. I half wondered if Little Boy was playing with the Nintendo game. He got up, came out, and - no music. A little while later, Baby got up, came out, and - sure enough. Music. Sometime while she was sleeping, Baby Pooh bear started playing music and never stopped. I guess the batteries were dying. At least I wasn't hearing music that wasn't there.

The kids went out to play, and soon they came back in. Little Boy thought he saw a bear crossing our road. I think he was looking for an excuse to come in that would make Baby come in, too. Eventually they went back out until supper.

We had a decent supper, Little Boy and I picked up toys, I cringed at the messy back garage, and we came in. Now we're just hanging out until bedtime. Not having schoolwork to do really makes a big change.

Beeeeautiful Day

It is a beautiful day here, again.

My kids woke up early, again.

I ran to Wal-Mart, again.

Tomorrow is Little Boy's "graduation". I want it to be a special thing for him. Not a blow-out extravaganza, but something he might be able to remember.

I got him a recordable picture frame, a cute Snoopy '09 stuffed animal, and a cute ball that talks when you throw it - it has a graduation cap with 2009 on it. I want to put up streamers and balloons after he goes to bed.

The pastor is going to give him his diploma. I bought a nice frame for it for his room.

I am even thinking of making him a graduation cap. I bought black foam board, and I have navy satin material from my wedding. I don't know. We'll see.

Undies Only

So I was at the store the other day buying Overnights for my kids. Little Boy could sleep through a hurricane; there's no way he'd wake up to pee. Baby is actually a little better, but not consistently.

I stood there looking for the right sizes, and then thought I should buy her a pack of regular pullups for during the day. And then I made a decision. I am not buying any more "daytime" pullups. She needs to wear undies, and be uncomfortable if she pees in them. And suffer consequences. DH wasn't so sure. We tried undies before and ended up with wet furniture. Ick.

So I bought her another pack of cute undies.

She did have an accident in them one of the first days. She wanted me to peel them off her right where she was. I made her walk to the bathroom and wait for me. By the time I cleaned up the wet spot and got in there, she was very unhappy.

I explained that next time, I will make her wear the wet clothing for a long time; she can sit on a plastic bag. I sound mean, but she wasn't worried about the consequences of wetting her pullups so I want her to think about how horrible it would be to wear wet clothes.

So far, so good.

My Grandparents

I've been homesick lately, but without a "home" to be sick for.

My mom's parents:

My Dad's parents:

It's time to teach them

how to read the clock!

Both of my children were awake before 7 am, going back and forth between their rooms, opening and closing doors, playing with jangling, bells-ie toys. My husband and I layed there for awhile, hoping it was a bad dream or that if I kept telling them to be quiet and stay in one room, we could get just a little more rest.

We must have been delusional.

I speak, you type

Husband got a new computer program that will type for him as he talks. He thinks it will help him with his papers, because he can just talk through things better than he can write it out. But it sounds funny.

"Business meeting notes colon tab key June 3rd comma 2009 period tab key."

You get the picture.

Baby is riding her stick horse this morning. She told us she's going to ride her horsie to the awstrant.

Wonder if she's going to order awfuls or a swindich with ovills.

The snarl joke

I mentioned in my last post that my dad might have called the curly little squiggle above the head of the player who missed the ball a snarl.

One day we heard my dad laughing, and of course, we all wanted to know what he was laughing about. When we found him, he was laughing so hard he couldn't talk. When he finally was able to tell us, he showed us a Peanuts cartoon book. Charlie Brown was fishing, or attempting to fish, and cast his line. The next frame showed a huge wad of fishing line at the end of his rod, which he described as a snarl.

I guess it just hit Dad funny - maybe he was thinking of all the times he had to fix our line when he took us kids fishing. Maybe he just needed a good laugh.



I miss hearing him laugh.

Cuteness

Baby was watching Little Boy play tennis on the Wii. When he missed the ball, she laughed. "He's got a scramble on his head!"

I had to laugh. My dad might have called it a snarl.

Family favorite

This is a recipe my grandmother made often. It's super easy, and it's yummy. I'm going to try a sugar-free/no sugar added version for my son. Thanks, Grandma.

Orange Jello Dessert

1 sm. Box orange jello
1 sm. Box vanilla pudding
1 sm. Box tapioca pudding

Add 2 c. boiling water. Let set until half done. Mix in 2 c. cool whip and 1 can drained mandarin oranges and 1 can drained crushed pineapple.

All I ask

is for ONE night of uninterrupted sleep where I wake to the sound of chirping birds or waves or silence.

Last night I took two Tylenol PMs at 9:30. I was wide awake at midnight. I could have slept until 10 am except for the two screaming banshees who were allowed to run wild until I dragged myself out of bed.

Grrr.

Funny

Yesterday, Baby was being silly at naptime. I jokingly showed her my fist, and asked her if she wanted a knuckle sandwich. My dad said that to us kids all the time. She plopped into bed and asked a question.

"Does it have pickles on it?"

Wish I could sleep

So, I'm sitting here at 4 am, wishing I could sleep. My legs and hips are hurting so badly that I can't get comfortable. I should have taken Ibuprofen HOURS ago. And I may be awake b/c I had Diet Coke yesterday. I know. I'm not supposed to even have it b/c of my acid reflux, but it is SO hard to not drink it every once in a great while. But now I'm paying for it.

Whoa. I just yawned - good sign.

I'll sign off here (another yawn!) and try to get some sleep after I get some Ibuprofen. I'd go climb back in bed, but my poor husband is snoring. He was up very late tonight finishing his schoolwork. He's so diligent; has a 4.0 grade average. I hope he gets some rest.

This is so yummy it hurts!

My husband does not like BBQ. I love it. So I found a recipe that satisfies us both. But "satisfies" isn't the word. I would eat this more often, but then it wouldn't be as special.

In the past, I've used country style ribs, but in an effort to reduce our fat intake, I've been using pork chops instead. It actually cuts out the baking step. But the taste is the same. I'm trying to not drool on my keyboard. I made this recipe a couple weeks ago, and froze half the chops. We're having them tonight for supper, and I almost cannot wait.

Marna's Killer Rib Rub

3/4 to 1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. paprika
1 T. onion powder
2 T. garlic powder
1 T. salt
1 T. black pepper
1 T. oregano
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne (more or less to taste)
1/4 c. apple juice & 1/4 c. grape juice

1. Mix all ingredients in a ziplock bag. Place pork in a shallow dish, add part of the spices, and rub generously into pork. (I put a bag over my hand as paprika will stain your hands!)

2. For ribs, I baked them for 2-3 hours at 250 covered with foil in the juice and 1/4 c. water.
Then we put them on the grill just long enough to crisp the surface a bit.

3. For chops, I put them in the fridge for an hour to let them marinate. Then they go onto the grill.

I can usually make two whole batches with this recipe. I double zip lock bag the remaining rub and save it for next time. Last time, I used brown sugar Splenda and it tasted just as good.

My daughter, who is almost a vegetarian by stubbornness, cannot get enough of this. It is just too yummy.

She cracks me up

Our neighbors recently bought a new TV. Today was garbage day, and they put their OLD set out at the road. The trash men were standing in their driveway on the phone. I'm sure they were calling to see what to do with the big set. Finally, they did put into the back of the truck.

Baby asked, "Are they going to crack it up?" She phrases things so cute.

Other Baby-isms -
Swindich - two pieces of bread with meat and cheese
Ovills - green condiment with pimento centers
Newsgit - noise that comes from instruments
Awfulls - breakfast food that she eats like a cookie (with a little butter)

I'll have to make sure to write down any more we come across. :0)