looking for my voice

In the meantime, a slice of June...

just after graduation (Jake had just spotted his dad in the crowd)

last day of t-ball/baseball

when all else fails, spray paint your hair




Lydia, from one moment to the next

whirlwind days and a blogiversary winner!

Is it really only Wednesday? Monday was Lydia's 15 month check. She's doing great--23 1/2 pounds, 31 inches. Yabbering a lot with a few actual words thrown in and a few signs (eat and more: a girl after my own heart). She screamed bloody murder when I tried to change her diaper on the paper covered exam table. As I lifted her legs she did that huge back arching thing so that she ended up upside-down. That set the tone for the visit up until her immunization. For that she just stared, nonchalantly.

Tuesday netted a second trip to the emissions station. My van failed last time and $500 in repairs later, we've been given a waiver until next summer. Chuck E. Cheese was nice enough to fix lunch for us and after that we (Ben, Lydia and I) met up with my stepmother to go visit my grandmother (the one whose middle name Lydia sports as her own middle name). She doesn't remember us anymore, but seemed in good spirits and laughed as she rolled Ben's ball off of her knee to him for a little while.

From there it went downhill.

Lydia seemed to be having a reaction to her vaccine and was screaming every time I tried to set her down for a second (I'm guessing it's the vaccine), then as chopped a big onion for dinner (teriyaki noodles with shredded chicken--yum!), I heard Abie screaming outside. Distracted, I dropped chopped onion all over the kitchen and then saw Billiam bringing Abie in, blood covering his elbow. He had taken a spill while riding his bike. Once the bleeding was under control a nasty gash was revealed and I headed off to the er with him, pretty sure that stitches would be needed.


Four hours and 45 minutes later we were back home. They numbed it and cleaned most of the grit from the driveway but couldn't get the last bits. The pa said that going deeper would be "practically a surgical thing" so he scrubbed it some more, gobbed it up with bacitracin and bandaged it up, not wanting to suture it closed with the stuff still in there. Pacman on my cell phone and the camera phone were a godsend during the huge waits while there. Click here if you want to a yucky photo.

A quick call to update Bill and I found out that Lydia was just as happy as when I left. Jake, good sweet boy that he is, actually ended up getting her to fall asleep.

I fell asleep around midnight but at two Ben woke up crying that his tooth hurt. He had a tiny filling last year and I thought it must have fallen out. I gave him some motrin but my poor baby was crying and periodically shaking with pain for two hours before I could get him back to sleep. I felt just awful for him.

A trip to the dentist this morning revealed that he didn't lose the tiny filling...he has a cavity in a different molar that appeared just since his last cleaning 4 months ago. GAH!

After that we grabbed Jake and headed out to find him something suitable to wear to his senior banquet tomorrow night. Semi-formal.

This evening is an event at Hope and Clara's school that they are involved in.

Are you still there? I'm really not griping about all this...just reporting. Really, this was a long way of saying that if I owe you an email, it's coming. I've just been a bit swamped. Hang on...I do have one gripe. We have a low-yield well and we're out of water. Thank goodness it's supposed to rain tonight. Gripe over.

And now, the winner of the blogiversary contest! I copied all the names and numbered them. Off to the random number generator and the winner is....

Lindy!

Congratulations! I will get the Kureyon out to you this week, barring any more minor catastrophes.



Huge thanks to everyone who posted a link (and Nancy, for posting twice!). Please keep helping me to spread the word!

snow day #3

Have I mentioned I love snow days? The only downside to this lucky run is that it's not because of snow, really, but ice. We got a little bit of snow then lots of sleet and freezing rain. The first day the kids were able to go outside and play. Sledding was great and (what fun!) they could walk on top of the stuff without sinking in most of the time.

The second day looked promising. They could glide down the hill on their backsides, forgoing the saucers altogether. Then two injuries in quick succession (following, but not related to Clara's super slide into the neighbor's fence) and the troops were called in. Today I haven't let them out at all. It's just plain dangerous.

But there is plenty of fun to be had inside. Dogs were walked and fed (note the bowls of fruity cheerios served on the floor), babies flew and The Screaming Babies practiced (their cd release show is tomorrow--woohoo!). All this and Monday is a holiday. Sweet.

distraction

a few photos from New Year's that I never posted.
Lydia enjoying her sparkling cider (with a lot of water added) toast

Abie, at midnight

Clara, shortly after that. Don't tell her I posted this.

the part where airport security yells at me

Checking in. See the screen on the back of his jacket? That's Lydia, from this pic. She's the poster girl for his band. Ben was not happy about Jake leaving.

That sign up there on the top left? It says you can't take photographs here. Oops. A lady in a uniform quickly pointed out the error of my ways.

The observation deck.
There is a thick pane of glass between them.

leaving

I talked to Jake about counting the number of seats between the emergency exit row and his seat. Then I asked him to text me once he was seated.

I'm on.

Good boy. How many rows from your seat to the emergency exit row?

It's my row.

(eyes looking upward) Thank you.

Laura, he's hurtling in your direction. Make him shower every day, have fun and then send him on back home to us.

BEHOLD the power of the inside-out pajamas:

Snow Day! Woot! It's about time. While I could do without the bitter cold we've been having, we don't usually have to wait until February for a snow day off from school.

I love, love, love snow days. As I've told my friend, Laura (who is misguided enough to believe that L.A. weather is normal), snow days are like finding a twenty in your coat pocket that you didn't know was there. Sweet!

You fair-weather folks, are you aware of the power of the inside-out pajamas to bring on a snow day?

You know, I was just thinking how nice it will be that the other kids will have today to see Jake before he gets on his flight today (the original plan involved me taking him to the airport straight from school). Then I realized that, left to his own devices, he will probably roll out of bed sometime after 1 pm. Oh, well.

Abie's hat, in the photo above, is Fig and Plum's pattern knit up in Araucania Atacama (M02).

Abie at seven,

with Jake as his stylist.

"we've found a good one. Jake, bring me the rifle."

~Billiam, when we finally decided which tree to bring home.

Tree Hunter Man. I told you I would post it.

(Now you can all watch as I get my ass kicked for posting this)

This tree was actually our second choice. The best, most perfect tree that we found first became The Poop Tree after Billiam and Hope skidded through some...well, poop that was next to it. Don't tell Hope I told you that. She would shriek at me in that voice that thirteen year old girls use when you've ruined their life. Again.

I don't even think she actually got any on her shoes. But the thought of it sent her whole world askew and when she thought we might actually still be considering getting The Poop Tree she ran up the hill, horrified. Mind you, there was no poop on the tree. It was next to the tree. That was enough to ruin the whole tree. Just ask Hope.

There was much discussion about how likely The Poop Tree was to fall into the poop once it was felled. Favorable angles were considered. In the end, this family's fear of the poop won out and we set off to find the second best tree.

Hope, lugging the sack of potatoes that is Lydia

The sack of potatoes smiles

My Abie

Ben, in the lemon hat that wouldn't die. Cheap cotton, circa 1990 something

Clara, ever happy with her camera-toting mama

Emma

Bluey, among the blue spruces

Ben had the most fun, hands-down.

A barbed wire fence! QUICK! Strike a punky pose.

Hope, hiding from us as we considered getting The Poop Tree

Cutting down Second Choice Tree

Billiam's view of his audience as he cuts down Second Choice Tree

For some reason this year the blue spruce prices came down while the other tree prices went up so that in the end there was just a few dollars difference. So instead of waving at the blue spruces as we drive on to the cheaper ones, our sunroom is now filled with blue sprucely goodness. The ornaments still haven't gone up, but maybe tonight.

Abie, two views

halloween parade at school

Dash Incredible was in the house, happy to pose.

Jasmine was there, wishing she had a pair of shades.

A masked man appeared on the roof, bringing squeals of glee from the kids.

The weather here at this time of year is such a crap shoot. Last week the kids would have been freezing in the cold, windy weather. Today they're roasting in the 70's. I predict sweaty kids tonight before we hit the second block.

please don't run in the house

It's a simple rule, really. We tell the kids all the time. Especially those two little energetic boys. So why did I feel the need to dash down the hall the other night to check the calendar for Jake's appointment time? As if the calendar was going anywhere. Anyway, if you need to know, the vacuum cleaner is in the hall. On the right side. The side I dashed up. Fact: a pinky toe crashing into a vacuum cleaner with enough force can cause the vacuum cleaner to relocate a few feet away from its original location. Your pinky toe will likely break, as a result.

If you see me out and about with flip flops on, despite the more fall-like temps and rain we've been having this week, please know it's because I can't put my other shoes on. What with the broken toe. At least I painted my toenails. Oooh! I need a pair of these!

I'd love to show you a photo of my beautiful sock (made from this from Khris at ChewySpaghetti--drool along with me!)I started yesterday (all four inches of it), but my compact flash card has chosen to go wonky and give my poor, deserving of better than this camera a hard time. It's driving me nuts and I hope I don't have to resort to buying a new one.

We leave in just a bit to get Ben's cast off. Woohoo! They'll x-ray his wrist after they take it off and he'll either leave there a free man or, if need be, with a fresh cast for a little bit longer.

Oh, and honey? If you're reading this, I signed Abie up for karate. I just saw the form yesterday and the first class was already full so I hopped on one of the last openings in the second class. It's less than the wrestling he was expressing interest in and [whisper] the idea of wrestling was kind of freaking me out.

I just love this picture

Abie inherited the Sweaty Head Gene from my side of the family (love ya, Dad!). This was taken on the boardwalk in Ocean City. It was in the evening and I think it was still about 275 degrees outside. He had been playing on and about the wooden castle in the sand at Talbot street, where the Fisher's Popcorn stand has been since 1937. There are also lots of benches so the moms and dads can sit and eat popcorn while the kids run around and get sweaty (and tired).