Part of my heart

My kids say several times throughout the day, in a winsome way, "I love you, Mom." And I tell them that I love them. Inevitably, one of them will ask, "Why do you love me?" I tell them that I love them because they are part of my heart.

Little Boy went with me when I took Baby to her ballet lessons the other day. The thought of leaving here there forever must have crossed his mind. The way she treats him sometimes, I guess I don't blame him. But as we were driving across town to pick her up, he said, "I'm glad we're picking up Baby. I could never leave her at ballet because she's part of my heart."

He can be so sweet.

My son, the politician

"That's right! That lady was right!" We asked Little Boy what he was talking about. He was paying attention to a commercial that we had tuned out.

"We are supposed to control the government; the government isn't supposed to control us!"

He's 6.

Anti-social Tendencies

There is a part of me that enjoys church functions; the rest of me HATES going to things like the church picnic. I think my husband is rubbing off on me.

I just can’t seem to enjoy going like the other people who sit around visiting.

Maybe because I don’t get to sit around visiting? I hate the stress (I put on myself) of finding a recipe, fixing the food that morning, putting together play clothes for the kids, making sure I had my Sunday school lesson ready, transporting food to church and then to the picnic. I had to get stuff together to play a game with the kids – feeding baby food to a couple teens. I also had to straighten out a mess with the Secret Sisters (I never realized I was even “in charge”.) I also had forms for the cookbook we’re working on, and I had to hand out stuff for the kids’ Christmas program.

For lunch, I had to go through the smorgasbord of food trying to find things my kids would/could eat. I had to estimate the carbs to figure my son’s insulin from food I didn’t fix. That kinda sucks the joy out of enjoying everyone’s creative dishes. And then I followed my kids around all afternoon. Since there is only a handful of kids, it isn’t like there’s a program or adult supervising them.

I watched them play a game with the pastor’s wife that included a hay bale with candy inside. The kids tore it apart, grabbed candy, and then threw hay at each other. Oh yeah, and it was raining – hard. And then the pastor took the kids to play kickball on the muddy baseball field. Yeah.

It made a huge difference that my husband was working 2nd shift. But I kept thinking I would rather have just gone home after church. And in the mood I was in, I knew I wasn’t an encouragement to anyone. I had someone suggest I find a couple songs for the adults to sing, too for the Christmas program. Do these people understand the work that goes into that? I’ve already given up hosting the ladies’ Christmas party at my house. I wouldn’t be heading up the program this year, except there is no way I want a repeat of last year’s fiasco.

My kids had fun, which is the only reason I went.

Art Class

I've been trying to think of something for Little Boy to do, since Baby is now in Ballet. I don't think they have to be in the same things, but I do think they should have equal opportunities.

I got a notice from our Homeschool Group that our county is offering art classes once a week for six weeks. I kept meaning to call, but life just interrupts my best intentions. So I called today, and there were 2 spots left. So Little Boy is in! Yay!

But Baby was upset. I explained that she has Ballet, and he has art class now.

"But I don't want to be left all alone."

Such drama.

Double Shift Days

My husband is an instrumentation tech at the local paper mill.

INSTRUMENTATION TECHNICIANS test, certify, install, repair, inspect, maintain, and help to develop complex instruments that measure and record changes in industrial environments. The process-controlled systems operated by these technicians are central to the operation of such facilities as chemical plants, canneries, food processing plants, air and water pollution control agencies, petroleum refineries, and power plants.

Technicians test and record the effects of varying conditions, actual or simulated, such as vibration, temperature, humidity, pressure, differential pressure, liquid flow and level, altitude, acceleration, pH, conductivity, stress, and chemical analysis. They prepare graphs and written reports translating test results into meaningful terms.

Technicians select, install, calibrate, and check out telemetering and recording instruments and circuits. Using engineering data, and considering the limitations of the equipment being tested, they develop specifications for nonstandard apparatus and equipment.

They may make sketches and build or modify jibs, fixtures, instruments, and related apparatus. They also may verify the acceptability of devices which have been fabricated by craft workers or other technical personnel. In addition, technicians, troubleshoot, repair, and perform preventive
maintenance on test apparatus and peripheral equipment.

Some Instrumentation Technicians work as field service representatives who install and maintain equipment and systems at the customer's worksite. In addition to providing preventive and corrective maintenance, their duties may involve training the customer's employees and advising them of proper procedures to use to avoid equipment breakdowns.

In the performance of their duties, technicians operate calculators, computers, testing devices, and laboratory equipment. They use drafting tools, complex electronic and mechanical instruments, and also use engineering handbooks and other reference materials.

He had to work so hard to get his journeyman's card - it was a lot of gobblety-gook math and electronics stuff to me. As someone fairly intelligent, I'm in awe of what he does.

And this week, he is working three consecutive days of double shifts. Time and a half pay is always nice, but Baby, Little Boy and I would rather have our Daddy home.

Deer, Kids & Yard sale

Part of Little Boy's math this year is using geometric shapes. For the first couple days, he is supposed to work on making whatever shapes he wants. He's really enjoying making rockets and satellites after seeing them at the Air & Space Museum last week.


Baby was kept occupied during school last week by playing with rice. She kept most of it on the blanket. And she cried when I put it away. Hopefully that means I can use it often to keep her happy.



Part of the herd of deer that roam around our hill

We love to see the spotty ones. But they eat my flowers and shrubs just like the big ones. :0(

This is my rummage sale. I didn't sell as much this weekend as I did the first weekend, but the weather wasn't as nice. I don't know. I even put an ad in the paper; I did get some people from the ad.

The March - 9/12/09

We walked past the White House on our way.


Daddy and Little Boy.


The March was supposed to officially start at 11 am. The police requested that the start be moved up because there were too many people cramming into Freedom Plaza. We were standing across the street from Freedom Plaza.

See the Capitol way down there?

We are getting closer!

We were standing/sitting on the south lawn.


So cool to be that close to the Capitol.

Little Boy had a great time waving Daddy's flag.

What a great weekend!

Friday, I packed up Baby and took her to her G & G's house at the lake. When her aunt got off work, she went home with her. She was with her aunt and uncle this weekend and had a great time. She was well-behaved and spoiled; I'm sure she had a much more enjoyable weekend there than she would have with us. I'll have to get pics to post.

We left our house (where the sun was shining), picked up lunch, filled up with gas and headed out. Before long we ran into rain that didn't stop until after we were in our room. We stopped in Hagerstown at the Prime Outlet Mall. There is a Stride Rite store there where we usually can find XW shoes for my son with feet shaped like a piece of pizza! We found him a nice pair of Saucony walking shoes for less than $30. Yay! I bought a hooded sweatshirt, and we were off!

We drove into the DC area, and my husband asked if we could stop at an Apple store (Mac Computers). Since it was right on our way, we stopped at a huge mall, found a parking spot and went in. Thankfully we were about as close to the store as we could have been!

We were able to find the store where DH walked around drooling. :0) Son and I found a kids' computer set up and we played some learning games. We ate at a nice seafood place, and then we were on our way to DC.

We got out of the mall area just fine, but I took the first exit we saw. I don't know where we would have ended up. I finally decided to pull off, turn around and go back. Right. I turned off and ended up on Clara Barton Parkway/Canal Road. If you look at a map, it looks like a nice, little road. It's a two lane road through woods next to the river that runs right into DC. God was really watching over us!

Downtown DC is all one way streets. We ended up going around the block once to get to our hotel. We checked in and crashed! I think our hotel was very nice, very convenient and I was able to get a very good price. We tried to get to bed early (didn't really happen) so we would be fresh for Saturday morning.

DC here we come!

We told the kids today that Friday, Baby is going to stay with her aunt and Little Boy is going with Mommy & Daddy to Washington DC for the 9.12 March.

She doesn't quite understand why she's not going, but she's going to be ok. I've told Little Boy that he needs to make her think SHE gets the exciting trip. I don't know if he'll be able to do it. I just know she would not enjoy the trip or the walk from Freedom Park to the Capitol Building. It's going to be a long walk. I hope that I can make it. I bought new shoes - hopefully my feet won't fall off at the end of the day.

I need to get supper ready, and then I need to start finding clothes for everyone - I don't want to be doing laundry tomorrow.

So excited to be part of a HUGE movement.

Yard Sale

So a couple weeks ago I started thinking about having a yard sale. This weekend was really the best choice, but there was so much to do. And I've never done a sale before so I was a little nervous to do it.

I asked my FB and Baptist Moms for advice. Here are 10 things I've learned:

1 - Make nice signs
2 - Hanging clothes sell better
3 - Baby clothes sell themselves
4 - Nice toys make lots of money
5 - Some people think that if they make you an offer, you are obligated to take it
6 - My kids had a hard time keeping their hands off the toys
7 - Being organized pays off - I had the clothes all sorted by size. Hanging clothes had the size on the hanger.
8 - People show up if you try to fix your kids some lunch
9 - Books don't sell that well here
10 - Use sunscreen

Oh yeah. Name brands don't mean much to people here so Ebay, here we come!

Feeling the pressure

of getting my first rummage sale ready. I need to do signs, put up the signs tomorrow morning, get the tables out and start putting things out. We'll put a pole between two ladders to hang clothes on - thank you Karen-lyn for the suggestion. I have all but one bin of clothes priced. I need to finish pricing a couple things. I found some stuff that is stained and I will try to get the stains out. I need to go through the coat closet and the coat rack in the basement. I haven't priced all the toys yet. I think I'm going to make a couple signs like Make me an offer! and Magazines - $.25 each.

But the pressure... I'm afraid that no one will come. It's not like there's a Shopper's Guide here where people advertise their sales. IDK - I've sent messages to local people - hoping to see people show up - hoping they will pass the word along. Yikes.

Ha ha ha ha

"Blowing a hoolie" I laughed out loud! I was reading a crafter's blog - she lives in Ireland - and she was talking about the horrible weather - said it was blowing a hoolie.

I had to look it up, even though from the context I figured it had to do with a storm. Cracks me up.

doubletongued.org - blow a hoolie v. phr. (of weather) to storm; to forcefully gust, blow, and rain. Subjects: English, United Kingdom, Slang

You'd think I would learn

If you don't use blogspot, I don't know if it's the same. But when I write a post, I usually write first and then insert pics. But when I do that, the pictures push the text down. And then I have to move the pics. And it takes a long time.

A shortcut would be to cut and paste the text back up to the top. But I've tried that, and it isn't possible. But then tonight, the lightbulb went on. If I toggle to the Html screen, I should be able to copy and paste. Yay! It worked.

But the pictures were still in reverse order since the last picture uploaded is at the top. I'll figure it out one of these years.

Baby turns 4

Yesterday was Baby's 4th birthday. She's getting so big. I tell the kids often about the day they were born. God forbid anything ever happened to me, I want them to know how excited we were to have them in our family. I've written it down in their baby books, but I hope they will remember me telling them.

We didn't find out the gender for either of our children from the sonograms. Our plan was to have only two babies, and we wanted their births to be as exciting as possible. Grandma wasn't so happy with our decision, but...

Here's a bit of what I tell Baby.

When Baby was born (C-section), DH says the doctor said the "It's a girl" thing, but for whatever reason, I didn't hear her. The first thing I heard was the doctor saying, "Did anyone know SHE was coming out bottom first?" I was SO relieved. I wanted a little girl so much. And then she was screaming quite loudly. DH got to hold her for a second to show her to me before the nurse whisked her away. I sent DH to be with her while I went through the rest of my surgery stuff.

I tell her a little, but not too much about the fact she was born the day Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I lay in the bed in the hospital watching all the horror unfold - praying that any mommies having babies were safe like Baby and I were.

I found Baby's baby album the other day while I was cleaning in the den, and she's been carrying it around with her. She knows the story well enough to tell her dollies all about it, but she comes to ask me questions repeatedly. I know she just wants affirmation.

She had a great party. DH and Little Boy decorated before we got to the lake house, and Baby and I finished up decorating the cupcakes. We joined them just as DH was finishing up the balloons. She was very excited when DH put her ribbon on her. She really is a girlie-girl. Until she gets angry, and then she's a pink Incredible Hulk. Thankfully, there were no meltdowns during the party.

Pics

Some of my sweetest memories of my Dad during the last years was him winning a race and driving around the track with the checkered flag. That meant so much to him. I tried to help him when I could - I held pieces of the roll cage while he welded, I painted the numbers, I scrubbed the wheels. I just wanted to be with him.

And before that, my dad traded this motorcycle with my Uncle John. It must have been a mess, because when my uncle saw it, he didn't even recognize it. (Might have been due to other reasons, but that's another story.) He used to take me for rides around the neighborhood. One of my friends asked me if my dad thought he was the Fonz. LOL

New Old Pictures

I sat yesterday and scanned a pile of old pictures. I have many more to scan, but thought I'd share a couple of them. Here she is - the BEST dog ever! Scruffy!

She would get so excited to play; she'd run in huge circles - always coming past us to be praised.

Scruffy wasn't always the best doggie - as a puppy, she chewed a stuffed animal my dad had sewn while in a hospital. He crammed the stuffing in her mouth and then spanked her with a rolled up newspaper - knocked the stuffing out of her! LOL I remember she ate the wooden beads off the ties on my mom's new shoes. Ha.

But as she grew older, she was so well-trained. She wasn't allowed into the living room - her hair fell out in collie-clumps. She would lay in the doorway with her paws on the carpet until someone told her to back up. We would balance a treat on her nose and she was trained to not eat it or anything on the floor unless we told her "ok". She would chase the goats back into the pen. She was in the house one day, and started barking to go out. We let her out and she raced down to the chicken pen - a huge hawk flew into the air. She would shake hands, roll over, speak, smile...

She was home with me the morning my Dad died. I was home sick that day, and Mom left with Dad in the ambulance. My great aunt and her son came to sit with me until we heard from Mom. When she got there, Mom called to tell me Dad had died. Scruffy went into the kitchen and threw up by the back door. I always felt sorry for her - she really loved Dad, too. But when that happened, it was a comfort. I felt like she loved me and felt my pain, too.

Blah. Enough tears! She was a sweet dog, and I don't know if I'll ever have a dog b/c it wouldn't measure up. That, and no one here wants to clean up dog poop. LOL

And here is a picture of our horse - Prince. He was too smart for his own good, but he was a great horse.

The Pit

I am trying to clean out our catch-all room - our den - so we will have a designated area for school this year. The end of the dining room table didn't work so well as far as keeping the mess contained.

So how long will it take me to clear the Pit? I don't know, but I don't think two little people playing with an old kitty will help it go any more quickly.

But I can't kick them out - their laughter and one kitty getting well-deserved attention trumps the frustrations.

PS - last night the deer came back for a visit.

Cardboard Testimonies

Saw a great video slide tonight.

Just wanted to share.

I want to be her

I need to do something about my weight. I just can't stand it.

9 years ago...

I was finishing up with a massage, and taking a shower at the spa.

It was going to be a long, exciting, stressful, wonderful day!



Thankfully, today is going to be more relaxing!

I love you, Dearheart!

This week...

has been quiet since my sister and her two boys left Monday morning.

I posted about our Monday. It's been quiet since then. And I've loved it.

Monday evening we were sitting in the living room when a birdie hit the window. The poor thing sat on our step for over 40 minutes before it flew away. I was so relieved when it did. Here it is in it's dazed state:

This morning, there were two baby deer running around. The momma leaves them to hide under the neighbor's huge pine tree or in shrubs by houses. But apparently, these are two naughty little deer.

My husband ordered a weather station to mount onto our house. We are trying to figure out if solar and wind power generators are feasible to cover our needs in a cost efficient way.

And then the package she's been waiting for arrived. The ballet clothes I ordered. She's so beautiful in this picture, she takes my breath away a little.

My right to boycott

"Three companies who run ads during Glenn Beck -- NexisLexis-owned Lawyers.com, Proctor Y Gamble and Progressive Insurance -- today distanced themselves from Beck. LexisNexis has pulled its advertising from Beck and says it has no plans to advertise on the program in the future. Both Proctor & Gamble and Progressive Insurance called the Beck advertising placements an error that they would correct.

The decision by the three companies comes as over 45,000 ColorofChange.org members call on advertisers to pull their ads from Glenn Beck after the controversial news host called President Obama a "racist" who "has a deep-seated hatred for white people" on "Fox & Friends" last week.

"Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention," said John Michaels, Senior Communications Manager at LexisNexis in an email to ColorofChange.org. "We have suspended further advertising during Mr. Beck's program."

So they have the right to do this, but I am proposing a boycott of their companies and products. That's MY right.

Monday

My sister and her sons were here for a week-long vacation. We had a very good time, and my kids and I were sad to see them leave. My kids came in the house and sat on the couch with very sad looks on their faces.

I told them we would go to lunch at "Bessie's shop", and immediately they perked up. They both wanted to know if Bessie was going to be there. Even though they get a little bashful around her and don't say much to her, they really like her.

I decided yesterday to start calling around for a dance studio where Baby could start taking Ballet lessons, but I wanted it to be a class with just ballet. The first place I called was having registration start last night.

So we went to eat lunch and then went past the ballet studio. It's not much to look at from the outside, but inside it's sufficient.

After naps we went to check it out. There was another little girl who will be in Baby's class, and the two of them wanted to see the studio. So they went in. Baby didn't want to leave. An older student showed her some positions, and Baby was mimicking her. The teacher and the older girl's mom both seemed impressed. Baby woke up this morning and asked if today was the day of her class. It's going to be a loooonng wait for her. Class doesn't start until Sept. 8.

Little Boy was heartbroken. I had told him that while I took Baby to the studio, Daddy could take him swimming. But while the kids were sleeping we had a huge storm come through. Daddy played games with him on the Wii, and I think he was placated.

We ate leftovers for supper, and put the kids to bed. I ordered a black leotard, black skirt, and a couple pair of pink tights. We'll need to go to Payless and get her fitted for pink ballet slippers. I'll post a pic when she gets the whole outfit.

I need to get to bed earlier. I've been up too late the last couple weeks, and I'm starting to feel it.

Get out while you can

Any politician, regardless of gender, race, political party or personal likability, who votes in favor of a bill which he or she has not read, needs to resign and move away.

2010 and 2012 are going to prove very difficult for any said politician to speak above the roar, much less run a successful campaign.

Staying home from church

My legs and hips are really hurting. I'll be glad when this storm front is completely gone. Add to that I have company coming tomorrow, DH is at work, Little Boy never took a nap, and Baby woke up from her nap coughing and completely cranky. And top it all off with a sermon by someone for whom I have absolutely NO respect. Even the prospect of a reimbursement check for $100 doesn't make me want to go enough to ... well ... go.

I need to deal with the feelings of contempt I'm feeling. I cannot let this person's ignorance keep me from wanting to attend or serve. I am not there to please that person, so I shouldn't avoid church because of him, either. I will just continue to do what the Lord leads me to do, and if he gets in the way, I'll let God push him out of the way.

But for tonight, I'm keeping the kids home.

It's a mommy thing

Am I the only one who gets too busy to go to the bathroom? Usually, as I'm tucking the kids in, it hits me that I haven't gone for a really long time, and I REALLY need to go.

Gotta love bedtime!

More Baby

So it POURED this morning - I could feel it coming yesterday, and I'm so glad it's past. I was pretty miserable while it lasted. Stinkin' arthritis.

Little Boy and Baby were on the porch playing. He was shooting his cap gun, and she was out there being a goon. He came in to tell us she was on the neighbor's driveway. In the rain! But she kept her hand dry!

And after she came in, I made her put on a long-sleeved shirt to get warmed up. This is where I found her when I called her for lunch - watching TV. What a pretzel.