Weibelwood

The Conscientious Year

2012-01-11T08:40:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about New Year's resolutions and trying to wrap my mind around what change in myself would really improve my life and family and work and parenting. I decided 2012 will be the year I become more disciplined, period. I did not decide how to go about achieving my goal, but here's a nice article to start me off

The key to being fit and eating right is discipline and conscientiousness, apparently. I suspect the key to consistent parenting is the same, as is the key to finally keeping my house tidier. Seems like that would be helpful in connecting better socially and improving my religious habits, too. Either 2012 is going to be the year that discipline kicked my butt and I respected the result, or the year I lacked the discipline to change myself. I'll check in next December and let you know.

27 Dresses (Look Book)

2012-01-06T15:35:00.000-06:00

Another great birthday gift was a golden-metallic jacket that I had been wanting, and my friend Annie got it for me! But wait, there's more! She has a wardrobe styling service (and you should all hire her: Annie Ritter 608-203-5503) so she took that jacket and shopped through my closet. In one hour she found about 15 ways to wear it, complete with shoes and jewelry (I'll show you a few). We took photos of each outfit, and I am printing them collage-style (Costco does that, you know) so each page has lots of outfits on it to make up a look-book that I keep in my closet. Now when it's time to get dressed, I can easily see how to put it together again. Now I am havingher to come back and do some more Merging (that is, helping me recombine the clothes I already own.) Did I already say: you should hire her!? You already have some clothes you like and you don't wear them as often as you should!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2012-01-06T15:28:00.000-06:00

Want to know some of my favorite birthday happenings? Well, I had the greatest restaurant dinner with my family, for one. I decided we should go out for Indian food, even though there was some question about whether that was a good choice with all the kids. But, not to worry! I was amazed that everyone sat at the table (and stayed seated the entire meal), politely tasted all of the items we ordered, and conversed amicably. I let the kids order what they wanted and we shared the dishes family-style. They tried everything and ate well. The restaurant staff liked our nice family so much that when Tiny woke up (she'd been napping on my shoulder for 15 minutes), they brought her a freebie mango lassie.

Who would NOT fall in love with my kids in public, right?

This is the best part...another couple having dinner came over to our table on their way out. The husband said, "sorry to interrupt...we just wanted to say how much we enjoyed seeing your dear precious family here. Those days fly by!" They chatted with us for a few minutes, and when I told the server we were not ordering dessert, he brought out some small samples of mango ice cream to the kids anyway.

It was a dream dinner-date! Now, the big question, that I haven't asked because I don't want to know, is: did my husband threaten or bribe those kids, or were they JUST that FABULOUS? Oh, I am already excited about my next birthday, and you don't hear us ladies saying that often.

Christmas Gifts

2012-01-01T16:11:00.000-06:00

Here are Tiny's NEW furniture items, with bows.

We tried something a little different with Christmas gifts this year...downsizing. My DH was willing to go along with my crazy notions. I asked the boys what they wanted most (Nintendo DSi's) and we decided they'd get that...and that's about it. So far, not too crazy. But then... I let the boys come along with me on Black Friday, er...Thursday night. We started at 10 PM and stayed out until probably 2 AM before I dropped them back at home and finished up my own 5 AM shopping. They were able to come with me to get the "deal" DSi's at gamestop and they even picked out a few games to go along with it. No surprises at Christmas this year, but when the day came they were delighted to finally get what they'd been pining for (and I didn't have to guess.)

For the girls, I decided that since Tiny loves her dollhouse so much, I would get her some additional furniture for it from the neighborhood used-toy-lady. Yeah, there is a lady here who collects used toys from yard sales and sells them out of her basement...so you always know she has what I need! My favorite item is the piano which really plays the notes of the major scale, so many real tunes could (and will?) be picked out on it. The baby cribs will accommodate the many baby-in-my-pocket dolls that we have living in the house, too. Every family needs 12 newborn babies, right?

Zoe had the audacity to insist that all she wanted for Christmas was ANOTHER baby doll. Her current top babies are Zoelle, Charlotte, Julie and Sarah. She has an American Girl doll also named Zoelle. Tiny has 3 favorite babies named Molly, Polly, and Penny. I decided that all Zoe needed to make the dolls new was some new clothes, so I sewed up several outfits for the 18" doll (did you know American girl has some patterns online for free!?) and her cousin Isabella got some of those, too. My next move was to collect up all the baby clothes we already had (and we don't need those anymore!) and stitch them as needed to size them so they fit these dolls. Mostly the necks needed to be tightened and the torsos shortened. Sometimes the sleeves and pants needed shortening, too.

I dressed all the dolls in new outfits in this doll crib I actually got last January at Costco on clearance for a way-cheap price (yay). I put all the extra clothes in the bottom cabinet. I had a lot of angst about how to wrap the girls' things since they were not store-bought and did not have bubble packs and fancy boxes, etc. Zoe especially seems really interested in shiny boxes. In the end I displayed things nicely, set up the dollhouse, and put big bows on it. They were happy!

The kids got up at 6 AM to open stockings. After playing with stockings and the dolls, we went to church, then came home and leisurely opened the rest of the presents. After playing with toys and having something to eat, Zoe crashed in the front foyer, wrapped in her new cupcake blanket from Grandma. That's the sign of a fun Christmas!

Thanksgiving Berbee Derby

2012-01-01T15:50:00.000-06:00

Looking forward at 2012...and looking back at 2011: Thankgiving

Maybe 2012 will be the year I finally figure out how to make Thanksgiving a holiday that feels right for me. Right now, it is not a day I love. We didn't make the effort to go visit any family anywhere, and none of them were able to come visit us. I didn't plan out a gathering of local friends (as some motivated friends have invited me to in the past) and I didn't do a great job seeking out someone to invite. So...the small crowd existing of my nuclear family didn't feel like Thanksgiving and it made me gloomy. The meal element of the day doesn't seem different from any other day... except maybe I'm willing to put in just a little extra time. And the rest of the day... we really needed something to do to make it a special day because I wasn't feeling it.

I decided to take us all out for the Berbee Derby run. The Berbee Derby... "it's like a Thanksgiving day parade, only faster" is the slogan. D and Guy actually registered as runners, but X and I pushed the girls in the stroller. I enjoyed that this was an outdoor, sporty way to start Thanksgiving morning (a day that otherwise consists of eating and sitting around, right?). The only downsides to this event were that our family was split into two groups, experiencing the "morning grouchies" and that my group was stuck with the walkers. We were in a packed cluster of walkers for at least a mile and couldn't go faster even if we wanted to.

Then we all went back home for turkey and potatoes. Still not my favorite holiday. The bright side is that I sold that stroller the next day...so it provided us some good fun while we had it.

Holiday Song and Dance

2011-12-21T09:48:00.001-06:00

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/oJPumdzwgpAQZf6y8OPH

Here's a video of us from JibJab! Sadly there were only 5, not 6 face holes.

2011 Christmas Letter

2011-12-16T11:25:00.001-06:00

That's it! 2011 has come and gone. You've had a few glimpses into the Weibel life: sometimes crazy, sometimes funny, sometimes too busy to blog about.

"Days spent raising young children are very long, but the years are very short." 2011 was the year I tried my hand at extreme couponing, volunteered in schools, and fell in love with FlyLady's concept "swish-n-swipe." My favorite icon princess became Snow White (she keeps 7 people in line and the house is still spotless...wow) and my favorite conference quote is "Look up, step up, cheer up!" I still haven't mastered bedtime without tears and don't get to blog as much as I would like, but I have mastered 25-hour road trips with four kids and figured out how to use the ipod touch.

Doug managed to avoid breaking any bones this year which we are all thrilled about and which made biking to work (and occasionally competing in cyclocross) much more enjoyable. Doug worked steadfastly at the UW, which is what you do when you're young and innovative, of course. He says he's planning to play the drums in 2012 and rediscover chess.

Clementine insists that everyone call her "Tiny." Even with big-girl pants and a big-girl bed, she's still our angel baby and is delightfully well-behaved in restaurants. Tiny often requests that I take her to Costco. She lets me know she does not want to go on the bus with the other kids, which is fine for now. She likes Polly Pockets and coloring.

Zoe rules her kindergarten class with a sometimes-benevolent hand. She still loves swimming and her baby doll minions. She had an opportunity to enthusiastically and briefly sample ballet, gymnastics, and t-ball and is begging to give karate a try next. This year she lost a tooth without any external intervention, which was great fun.

Guy is pretty passionate about rollerblading, so we go whenever we can. He's been in karate for a year and wisely resists using it during school. Guy enjoyed the Gregor the Overlander books this year and I *think* he likes it when his mom comes to school every Wednesday to teach math. He plans to finish his Wolf cub scout requirements over the Christmas holiday.

Xander is giving me a great birthday present this week- I requested he learn a challenging piano duet to perform with me at an upcoming holiday party, and he is ready! This year he's become a helpful babysitter for short durations and is a witty kid to chat with. He will easily disappear into a good book, but Xander still likes to get video game time whenever I'll allow it. I'm hoping to teach Xander more recipes in 2012 because I love it when he helps me out in the kitchen.

Huge Family Fight

2011-11-22T17:45:00.000-06:00

There was a huge tickle fight here recently. I was hiding around the corner, behind my camera!

Lost a Tooth Naturally!

2011-11-22T17:39:00.000-06:00

Zoe is pretty excited that she lost a tooth (on the bottom) in the natural style. She had that top tooth knocked out a long time ago (and we're tired of the gaping reminder of doom and ill-fate), so we enjoyed the cuteness of having a hole that rings in good tidings of new teeth and good health. Before it fell out, she was worried, "Will I have to go to the dentist? Will I have to get shots? Will it hurt!?" I laughed and smiled, "No! You're gonna love this! - It just FALLS out by itself because the new tooth wants to come in!"

Painted Rooms: Color Field Art

2011-11-22T17:32:00.000-06:00

So, when we first moved in, I painted the girls' room with a mural a la color field, and the boys have been requesting something interesting on their walls for a long time. I had a day with no lessons to teach (and I begged off my school volunteering), so I was home long enough to attack their room using the same colors that appear in their duvet covers.

Now, I know HALF of you are humming "ooh, that's cool!" and HALF of you are thinking "ew! Why would you destroy a WALL like that!?" and I know this because that's about the percentage of grimaces and grins I get if any friends or neighbors see our bedrooms. I welcome those of you from the former half of the population to email me, so I'll be motivated to paint other super boring rooms into exuberant life. Those of you from the latter half are welcome to sit around and watch TV in your boring homes while I do something creative and fun without you.

In other news, that first photo shows Tiny in her brand new big bed! I gave away the crib, changing table, and hamper! She was reluctant about the change for a short while, but I let her pick out a princess blanket from Costco to put on her bed and that made her excited to snuggle there. So far we've only had a few incidents of falling (not while sleeping...but while over-reaching to the bookshelf from the bed; you can see this set-up is begging for trouble) and of getting out of bed at night.

Poem by Guy

2011-11-22T10:23:00.001-06:00

Yoshi's swimming poem.
By Guy.

My feet are sinking down
Down into the dark sea.
My body and my arms
are going down fast as can be.
My nose is sinking, too,
and my eyes can hardly see.
There's lots and lots of water
and it's all surrounding me.

Death by Chocolate

2011-10-15T16:37:00.000-05:00

Death by Chocolate! Just kidding, she was only knocked out. When she woke up, her loving brother tried to pass on the essential knowledge: how to do bunny fingers during photos.

Scissorhands

2011-10-15T16:33:00.000-05:00

Boy: Moooom! Are you Doooooone with my hair yet? This is taking too looooong!

Mother: I'm going as quickly as I can. (snip! snip!) If I go too fast your hair will come out looking bad (snip! snip!) or I might (snip!) AAACHGH!! Now that's what you get for your whining!: Blood spatters in your hair!

Green Turtles

2011-10-15T16:26:00.000-05:00

Zoe is in the Green Turtles semester of the Let's Play Music! piano curriculum. Here she is posing with Echo Ed, the dog who sings interesting pitches for the kids to echo back. Sigh, she is usually the naughtiest child in class (because the teacher is Mom), but she is also a pretty good pianist, so we work it out. This year I have almost 50 students, and she's the cutest (don't you think!?).

French Horn

2011-10-15T16:23:00.000-05:00

I played french horn back in 7th and 8th grade, so it's a bit of fun to see Xander starting to learn. It's a bit painful sometimes, but fun sometimes, too. One evening, Zoe wanted a shot (yeah, everyone is always telling ME that my turn is over, already!), so I handed her the horn and she miraculously produced a clean, clear, C-pitch. Wowzers! Maybe we will follow up and get her some practice time on the trumpet (she has trouble getting her left hand to span the keys on the horn.)

Farmer's Market

2011-10-15T16:19:00.000-05:00

I had a chance to meet Guy's class for the farmer's market walking field trip. After walking a few miles, each student was only allowed to spend $2, so they had to carefully choose what to buy (and decide is it cheaper to buy per lb or per item when buying apples?). Afterward they walked to a nearby park for some playtime. Perhaps my favorite part will be the the wrap up: the class goes back and creates their own farmer's market with items for sale (made of paper mache and paper craft) so they can get even more practice making change and conducting transactions with the other classes.

Guy bought some Fireside apples and we all love that rare variety. He also picked up some banana bread and a small, decorative gourd.

Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-15T16:10:00.000-05:00

Tiny and I joined Zeeboo's class trip to the pumpkin patch. Funny...I didn't get any photos with the pumpkins. The farm had a shed filled with corn for the kids to play in, as well as a playground built from the old tractor tires and small and simple corn maze for kids. Tiny loved the horses pulling the hayride and I loved that they got to spend the whole day outside.

I avoided sitting on the floor of the hayride, but my allergies snuck up on me eventually anyway and after a few hours I was ready to head out! Next time I want to try the pumpkin slingshot and the trickier adult maze.

Sleepwalker Strikes Again

2011-10-13T13:51:00.000-05:00

The sleepwalker found his way to the toilet last night (yay!). Then, after a successful visit, I'm sure he felt the niggling discomfort that after evacuation, there is something else important to be done.

"But what? There is something I'm supposed to do here, I just sense it. Hm."

So, he stepped out of his underpants, threw them IN the toilet, and stumbled back to bed.

Strange to hear me say it, but I'm glad he didn't follow with a flush.

Weekly Menu

2011-10-01T18:10:00.000-05:00

The Weibel menu plan: enough detail to keep the kids from bugging me, and enough flexibility to allow me to choose what to make based on what's ripe.

Laundry Fairy

2011-10-01T18:06:00.000-05:00

Hey Jo Mama, Can you draw some images of this fairy and her dragon so I can tape a new photo on the washer and the baskets? This is all part of the very complicated realm that we have going on here!

LEGEND OF THE LAUNDRY FAIRY

Listen well, children, and learn here today

The legend of how your clean clothes got that way.

‘Tis the Laundry Fairy, gentle and sweet!

She collects dirty clothes for her dragon to eat.

This is a dear favor (she is not a slave),

Then she stocks up the clean stuff

In her tidy, warm, cave.

She’s happy to give back the clothes that are done,

But beware of the stockpile: TAKE ALL or TAKE NONE!

To pick through the pile to find pants or a shirt

Breaks her dear heart (and she can’t work when she’s hurt.)

So put the pile away neatly in closet and drawer,

Or to restore Fairy’s health will require extra chores.

And heed warning, dear children, of her fierce dragon pet:

He eats clothes that are dirty - he slobbers them wet.

If the food’s NOT in his food-bin (if it’s just on the floor),

He rears up in anger and won’t eat any more.

And nothing annoys more than clean clothes in his food.

“I won’t eat it,” he says, “cuz it’s already been chewed!”

And of course his best candies (those are your socks):

He needs all of his bon-bons in place in their box.

To win back his trust is not a simple feat:

You must feed him yourself each time he should eat.

Armed with your dagger and detergent and shield,

You’ll battle the dragon until he will yield.

But when you have battled and been proven true,

The Fairy again will do laundry for you.

She’s quiet and small as she flits all about.

She loves clean-smelling clothes: there’s nary a doubt.

But she mostly loves YOU and you bring her such bliss,

So sometimes say “thank you” and give her a kiss.

No Diapers

2011-09-09T18:42:00.002-05:00

We didn't use any diapers today! We used a lot of water, soap, elbow-grease, electricity, and disinfectant spray...but NO diapers!

Deep Thought

2011-09-08T22:25:00.000-05:00

If your 2 year old says, "I'll brush your hair," you should stop typing immediately and check to see what implement is in her hand.

Science Station

2011-07-27T14:41:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from Science Station, somewhere in PA. Guy liked building the long ball-coaster, and the girls especially liked making giant bubbles.

Guy's Baptism

2011-07-27T14:28:00.000-05:00

Congratulations, Guy! His baptism was a glorious day. Is mine the only 8-year-old boy that makes that face whenever Mom tries to pose with him? ("Ugh, Mom! Stop hugging me on film!")

Carry Me on a Short Hike

2011-07-27T10:02:00.001-05:00

While in CT as part of our family trip, we decide to take a short (short!) hike. Here, Zoe and I were examining some butterfly weed that was brilliantly orange...and we even saw a Monarch caterpillar creeping along.

I think Zoe still suffers from having a little sister. When she sees me holding Clementine, she screams, "hold me too!" Of course if I give kisses or compliments, she is affronted: "You didn't kiss me that many times!" Yesterday I was carrying Clementine down the stairs and she requested that I carry her (at the same time) down the stairs. I really thought it wasn't a safe idea. I wasn't surprised that Zoe wanted some carry time on the hike, to balance out the carry time that Tiny had.

We just have to keep reminding Zoe of the great things she gets to do because she is the BIG sister. Sometimes I take her swimming alone and emphasize that I left the LITTLE sister in childcare.

Phew!

2011-05-16T08:39:00.000-05:00

When might you hear me exclaim, "Thank GOODNESS you DIDN'T put any of the legos away in the lego bin before you went to bed! I'm so glad they were scattered all over the carpet!" ?

Answer: The morning I realize that my sleepwalking 8 year old has peed in the lego bin.

Let's Play Yellow Indians

2011-04-15T12:14:00.000-05:00

I teach a wonderfully brilliant piano course (see my link over on the right) in six semesters. The curriculum really is nearly perfect, and the semesters are called:

Red Balloons
Blue Bugs
Green Turtles
Yellow Indians
Purple Magic
Orange Roots

Recently, other teachers have been discussing amongst ourselves if the phrase "Yellow Indians" is really politically correct. We haven't actually had complaints or offenses, but a few people are not too fond of that phrase, either. Here is my response to the discussion. So, what do YOU think?

Hi All,
Just to start off, I have NO problem with the song, "I'm an Indian." It really is fun and playful and I think anyone in the spirit of the program can perceive that as our intention.

Now, the thing about calling the whole semester YELLOW INDIANS makes me raise my eyebrows a little bit. It's as if you've taken a couple racial slurs (Yellow, or yellow chink, and redskin, or red indian) and blended them to come up with an all new slur: the Yellow Indian. (oops, hold on...my fingertips caught on fire when I typed that and I need to douse them.)

I'm back. So sometimes my kids will use words that are not quite cuss words, but they remind me of cuss words. In the spirit of things, I just feel like they're cussing. "Hey mom, pass the EFFIN' milk!" is SO not allowed at our house. In emails, if someone types "Here's a photo of the cool sh*t I got at the mall," I really don't think the asterisk instead of the letter i swayed me from feeling that I just don't appreciate the tone of that message. I know that Yellow Indians is not a racial slur, but deep in my amygdala I feel a sensation that lets me know it's not the most professional of phrases either.

What I would call it is an unlucky juxtaposition of words. Let's say back in the day, instead of using bugs to teach rhythm, you used sports. Bas-ket-bal, Base-ball, golf, etc. And so the great new semester name of BLUE BALLS was born. In your childlike innocence, you created a fun and fabulous curriculum. "Come on into the classroom kids, it's time for Blue Balls!" Only years later, someone might point out to you that although the kids really are not bothered, it just sounds a little unprofessional.

A word describing a group of people (Indians) can really never be preceded by a color word in good taste.

I don't have any parents complain about this, so I've kept my mouth shut heretofore. I do have one parent that said to me, laughing, "Are you SERIOUS? Is that REALLY what it's called!?" Now she jokes about it, an she asks me if I'm a "real cracker" in class. In the spirit of things, it doesn't quite jive with the professionalism we aspire to. I would be delighted if some day the purple magic came out and magically changed the name of this semester to YELLOW DRUMS.

Easter-time Junk Boycott

2011-04-15T09:27:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago our elementary school hosted a rummage sale. I was delighted! Finally, a worthy motivation to attack the piles of clutter that I always intend to confront.

I suffer from that strange affliction that leads me to feel attached to the billions of swarmy items in my house. When I hold up a clothing item under consideration, I know I rarely wear it, but I sort-of like it and maybe I'll wear it when the weather is warmer. When I hold up the boy's and girl's clothes that don't fit anyone, I know we're not going to EVER use them again, but I sort-of think that maybe I could consign them. When I look through the books that I haven't dusted in 4 years, I know the library owns a copy of each one, but I sort-of think that maybe I'll decide to read that one someday.

The school rummage sale is the PERFECT cure to my madness. When I look in the bins of sewing fabric and knitting yarn, I know there's not quite enough of any one yarn to make the sweater I want to knit, but I sort-of think I might do a creative project that uses all the bits.....but wait! The school needs donations! It's for the children! The children need me! They're counting on me! Finally, a worthy opponent has risen up to battle and defeat the evil pack rat!

I gloriously donated 2 carloads of gear to the sale, and am daily egging myself on to keep the flow going.

Let me consider Easter now, which is a 2-week event around here. My kiddos often get a basket from the bunny, filled with small trinkets and toys and delights. The new clutter-free me is feeling really suspect about the contents of baskets - do the kiddos REALLY love those little things, or are they just providing a deluge of fodder for my overflowing toy cabinets? Thinking back on about half of what I got them for Christmas, I realize that they LOVED one item, and they half-heartedly appreciated a handful, and they ignored way too many of the doo-dads that I thought were so cute and clever. Yeah, I'm thinking I'll tell the Easter bunny that we don't need any of that in our baskets.

So, candy, then? Well, hold on, now. Tomorrow the kids are doing an egg and candy hunt at Zoe's private school, AND an egg/candy hunt put on by the town Jaycees. Next Saturday they're doing the block/neighborhood egg hunt, and there's even a candy hunt at our favorite grocery store. I really think the bunny need not bring candy here!

Novel as it may be, I really think this year we may just have an Easter morning simply singing hymns and attending church. I'll focus the family attention, instead of on toys and candy, on bringing the whole day back to its point. I'll tell the kids the Easter bunny finally got baptized.

**UPDATE: My sister reminded me that dyeing eggs and hiding those, followed by gluttonous consumption of egg salad sandwiches and deviled eggs, is an essential element of Easter that doesn't involve candy or junk-toys. I like it.

The Curious Incident of the Vomit in the Night Time

2011-04-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Back in mid February, Clemmie developed the strange habit of waking up in the night and vomiting. A lot. Of course she was miserable about it, but once we cleaned her up she'd fall right back asleep, until she woke again. And again. And a third time.

Why only at night? Strange, but at least she was happy and playful and normal during the day. The doctor said to let it run its course. But something like that is just too tiresome to deal with (for both of us), and as she got into the second week of vomiting every night, she also developed diarrhea, an ear infection, and eventually dehydration.

At this point, I must commend myself on developing razor-sharp vomit-catching skills. I have a small toy sand pail that I started keeping next to the crib at all times, as well as a stack of wash cloths. When I hear a scream in the night, I bolt down the hall, grab the bucket, and sit her up just in time to catch the deluge. I'm not always in position for the first heave, but a lot of laundry has been deterred by my precision mothering.

Back to the doc! The ear infection was easy to treat with a course of antibiotics, and the doc also sent us home with Rinitadine for reflux (to attempt to treat the mysterious night incidents) and recommended we stop all dairy.

So the night-vomits stopped. I took the emergency blue sick pail and stack of washcloths away from the side of the crib, stopped the Rinitadine, and put her back on a totally normal diet.

Less than two weeks later, she had another flare up. Diarrhea by day, vomit by night. It lasted for 3 days, then she went into remission.

After another 10-days, Grandma inquired to see if she how she was feeling. Clemmie started throwing up that night. More diarrhea. 3 days long. We went back to the doctor.

I feel that Occam's razor is really playing a heavy hand in this diagnosis. The fact that she's had diarrhea with each episode is good (good!?) news, because it rules out most of the brain issues and pinched/blocked intestinal issues that might cause vomiting without diarrhea. As far as we can gather, Clementine picked up 3 separate stomach viruses, and recovered from each in due course. Her inexplicable signature move while recovering from a virus seems to be restricting vomiting to a nocturnal activity. Really??

As of this morning, she's in remission again and feeling happy. The washing machine is happy, Clemmie's room-mate is happy, and I'm happy. But I'm keeping the blue pail by the crib for a few more weeks. Say a prayer.

Found

2011-03-09T08:38:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, Guy misplaced his winter coat, purchased in the fall. I sent him to school with his coat from last year; you know, the kind with an inner shell that zips in, only the zipper is broken so he only wears the outer shell. Then he mysteriously misplaced that one, too, and I sent him with another lightweight hand-me-down jacket.

When I saw his PE teacher in passing, she mentioned, "Oh, Guy went snow-shoeing today with only sneakers on. Where are his boots?" Hm, well the boots are here, but the linings have been pulled out and lost somehow. Dang.

I told him, "Honey, when I was a girl, not only did we NOT get to go snow-shoeing for PE, AND I had to walk to school both ways, but I never lost my boots or coat or gloves. And anyway, where are the two pairs of gloves I bought for you in the fall?"

I was just really excited for spring to arrive so I could stop worrying about snow clothes for a few months. And then it did seem like spring was on the way - we had some warm days! I went to the gym and found one of Guy's coats on the coat rack. Snow melted a bit more. The road no longer seemed to be paved with ice cream. Blades of grass started to peek through. And sleeves of coats! While playing at the neighbor's house, Guy noticed his newish winter coat buried in a quickly melting snow drift. He rescued it and I put it through the washer and dryer last night.

Just in time, too. This morning I woke up to another Christmas-y wonderland. I went out early to run the snow blower. At least the kids have coats to wear today, yay! And we can be glad that..

KA-CHUNK RaaaaRRRH! !

Oh, golly. The snow blower just ate the paper. How could I have missed it under only 5 inches of snow? I'm glad it was the skinny Wednesday paper and not the fat Sunday paper. And moreover, I'm glad it wasn't the missing winter coat.

Great Presidents

2011-02-26T13:10:00.000-06:00

I recently went to a fundraiser which felt nothing like a fundraiser. It was just a party at a lovely home, with a suggested donation. Surprisingly, we brought in something like $4,000 for the school! Wow! I certainly had a good time, and I'm certainly glad they didn't get any photos of me on the dance floor. Or any photos of me over by the dessert table, either. Instead we did get caught on film with many of the school's present and recent CAPT (Crestwood Association of Parents and Teachers) presidents. I was prez in '08-'09 and sometimes wonder, since I'll be at the school for 10 more years, if my number will get called again.

Next Saturday is the school's biggest event: the Crestwood Caper. I'm scrambling around getting decor ready for Xander's class booth (bowling). If you live in Madison, drop by from 10A-3P and spend some money on carnival games enlivening the theme: Crestwood is Out of This World!

And unlike the adults-only party, I'm sure we can all get home from the carnival well before midnight.

Diaper Champ

2011-02-25T18:15:00.000-06:00

As Xander nears age 11 I give him increasing responsibility in small bits. Just this past week he got more that he bargained for when I asked him to watch Clemmie for a few minutes while I drove to fetch Guy from karate class.

When I was only half way to the karate studio, I got the unhappy phone call from Xander that our little dear had a big loosey poopie in the diaper. The poor girl has been having some troubles in that department.

WELL, I tried to talk him into simply stripping her and putting her in the tub, in which case he could use a cup to splash warm water on her, and then let her bathe until I returned. Hardly any hands-on work required, right? He groaned as we hung up, so I thought she'd still be sticky/stinky/runny/messy when I got home.

But, much to my pleasure, he really had put her in the bath, hosed her down and then let her have some warm water to play in. He was sitting and watching, and much relieved when I got home. Good boy! He'll be a good babysitter soon, and a good dad some day, too.

Coming of Age

2011-02-25T17:07:00.000-06:00

Today there was no school, so I took the kids roller skating. The older 3 went flying around and around the rink, and Clementine and I waved and smiled as they went past. She entertained herself by jogging up and down the room, then climbing atop the long benches and running along those. When she came to a six inch chasm between two benches, she downward-dogged it across the gap, then successfully completed the stunt by pulling her knees over and crawling along the remaining bench with a squeal.

That's when I noticed a small red paper on the floor between the benches. Hm. It was a "free skate rental for birthday party guest" coupon. I asked some of the moms at the nearby birthday table if they had missed it or were going to use it. Nope. I didn't see any skateless children anywhere, so I ventured over to the skate counter to inquire, "Excuse me. What is the SMALLEST skate you have??"

It turns out the smallest rental skate is a size 8 toddler. Not bad. But Clemmie is still in size 5 toddler. Oh well. I went ahead and got the skates and showed them to her. On an adult, skates that weigh ten pounds each are mildly intimidating, so I was aghast to heft the buggers and realize that the toddler skates weigh the same.

"Now, these are a bit too big and heavy for you, but let's go skate with the kids." I velcroed her skates to her feet (huge smiles), slipped into my own rollerblades, and took off around the rink. With my fingers hooked under her armpits, I was able to keep her upright between my feet as we sailed around. Ugh! Her lead feet were slowing me down TOO much, so I stopped by the skate desk again and had the wheels loosened extremely. (You know when you first get the skates they are so tight they don't roll at all, so the littlies can walk around without fear of rolling.)

Then we had some fun. Clementine sang out "wheeee! wheee!" and valiantly attempted to move her feet in a skate-like motion as I swooshed her around the rink. I even wrapped her blankie under her armpits at one point, so I could dangle her without having to bend over so much. We took a break when the older kids competed in the limbo on skates, to which she cried, so I put the skates back on and took her around some more.

So, I'm guessing 17 months is just about the right age to start a kid on skates, even if she can't say "skates". Why not? She's clearly a girl after my own heart. Wheee!

Life is Crazy Hectic Slow

2011-02-18T03:52:00.001-06:00

Today after swimming with the 4 kids I got annoyed at the fact that it takes us 90 minutes to swim and 45 minutes to shower, shampoo, and get dried, dressed, brushed, shoed and snacked. WHy does everything I do takes 5 times longer because I have 5 times more people in my care?

I also require 5 times more trips between car and house to get all of our library books, gym bags, heelies, baby dolls, blankies, coats, snowpants, (oh and melted groceries) inside. I may be the only one, but I am a tiny bit sad that the sub-zero freeze has lifted (temporarily?) because now I can't leave frozen stuff in the car for unlimited time periods. The good news is I can leave fresh foods in the car and they won't accidentally freeze...so there's always that.

The other good news is that I can kick the kids out to play for long periods of time. But they'll come home covered in mud which will take me 25 minutes to get into the washing machine.

Couldn't Wait Her Turn

2011-02-14T18:19:00.000-06:00

Clementine couldn't wait for a turn to play on the piano (notice in the last post how she interrupts Zoe?) So, I gave her a turn and she composed something...um...lovely. Zoe didn't miss her chance to take an eye for an eye and interrupt Clemmie. So, to grammas and grandpas everywhere :

Love Somebody?

2011-02-14T18:14:00.000-06:00

This video is especially dedicated to Gramma CJ, who is a religious missionary in Australia. She could use a little extra love, we think:

Lestoil Miracles

2011-02-05T11:28:00.000-06:00

I posted a disclaimer before my birth story, so perhaps I should post a disclaimer here, too: this is a laundry story. You've been warned.

Over a year ago my mother-in-law visited and she did the exact same thing that my own mother does when she visits: evaluates the environs with pursed lips and one eyebrow raised. My non-enthusiasm about housekeeping must have surfaced when she noticed that my cleaning closet, containing not much more than a glove and a bottle of Clorox spray, sorely lacked Lestoil (which I had never heard of.) Well, we drove around all of Madison, checking grocery stores and hardware stores, but there was nary a bottle to be found. SO, after returning a short while later to her home state, she generously mailed me 2 nice big bottles of the yellow, oily, smelly goo. I wasn't sure I would ever use the stuff, but when someone I trust tells me something-or-other is a lifesaver, I am happy to have it tucked away in my cupboard.

Well, not long after that, Zoe went to the playground down by the zoo, which has evil, hateful, toxic, indelible shredded tires as ground cover. She was wearing her cutest green Lime Chiffon dress, which made her dance like Lime Chiffon from Strawberry Shortcake's gang, especially whenever she got on a trampoline. But the main point is, her dress got covered with smeary black tar smudges and I could not get them out with any stain removers.

When we went to visit Grandma, I showed her the dress (THAT'S how bad I am at cleaning - I hauled it in the car for a thousand miles to plead for someone else to fix it.) She whipped out the lestoil and scrubbed and laundered...and saved the life of that dress!

So now Lestoil is a good pal of mine. First I'll show you my running shoes, and you'll want to run and wash yours when you see this. (Or else you'll want to run to Costco; they have Adidas supernova control for $33 this week and I bet they'll be gone by next week.) Well, my shoes were so dirty that they were headed for the trash if I couldn't clean them up. I removed the insoles and threw them in the laundry, but when they came out, they were still dingy-looking (albeit smelling fresh.) So, I got out my Lestoil and a toothbrush and scrubbed a few patches of the mesh, rinsing frequently with water. Wowee! I took a photo so you could see the comparison.

Incidentally, this is the proper progression of my shoe. 1)Indoor running on the track until a small hole starts to appear by the toe 2)Outdoor running on the street until they get a little dirty 3)Outdoor running on rainy days until they look awful 4)Gardening until they are embarrassing 5)Shoes I wear in the river while tubing, that mysteriously vanish forever when my husband finds them. So, even though I am fashion ignorant, I still manage to have a closet full of shoes.

Now, y'all know I love to save a buck whenever possible and I enjoy judicious use of freecycle. Someone recently posted that they had Land's End jacket and snowpants that were in fine condition except they had (evil voice) shredded-tire-playground stains which did not respond to laundering or stain-removal. So, I accepted them and did some Lestoil charm. The fabric on these is really tough, so instead of using a toothbrush I actually used my grout brush. Here are photos with 1/2 cleaned so you can see that I revived them from 'trash' status to 'not even embarrassing to a 5-year-old' status.

And so, moms and moms-in-law, when you come to visit be sure to check out my fancy cleaning closet, vast collection of running shoes, and kids' snow gear. Then let's go shopping so you can show me all the other amazing secrets of the world and I'll put them to the test.

Blizzard

2011-02-04T17:28:00.002-06:00

Just an insight about blizzards: If you don't want to spend a lot of time digging the car out of the snow after a storm, park the car in the garage. If you don't want to spend ANY time digging the car out the snow, CLOSE THE STINKIN' GARAGE DOOR during the storm! Geez!

Grocery Game 1/26

2011-01-28T17:31:00.004-06:00

Hi folks. This week's load included:

18 boxes of cereal
4 gallons of milk (not pictured)
3 dozen eggs
4 boxes of Almond Breeze milk
6 cans of Red Gold tomatoes
5 4-packs of Fiber One yogurt
6 8-packs of gogurt

The total cost was $23.41. I had a few naysayers scold me for feeding my family atrocities like cold cereal and gogurt even though they go great in the food storage pantry/ freezer. I'll ponder that, but in the meantime does anyone want a homemade cereal bar?

Retail value (probably overpriced to begin with) for this lot rings in at $131.74 for a savings of 82.2% off original price.

Ben Folds

2011-01-28T10:52:00.002-06:00

Last night we had the treat of tix to the Ben Folds concert (thanks, Rick!). I loved the feeling of listening to live music surrounded by thousands of others enjoying the same vibe, not something I do often unless being surrounded by lots of toddlers counts. But by far, my favorite part of the night was when:

“Army!” one guy called out while Folds was starting a song. Instead of ignoring it, Folds changed direction, launching into an improvised tune about concert etiquette.

The concert etiquette song made me crack up! I loved the fact that he was able to improvise a pretty good sounding song, with comical lyrics, and the band picked up the chords and filled it out...voila. Improv music is fun!

"You can request a song, but not in the middle of another song. That's just wrong. That's just wrong."

Ben also had the fans sing some bits of the acapella piece he was putting together, which was interesting to be part of. And when they decided to play a cover of another band, he explained that they couldn't decide what to play so they went to itunes to see what the current #1 song was, and they played that as their cover. Again, these are funny guys.

Fun times. Going out to a late night concert makes me feel like maybe I'm not completely old and boring after all. Phew.

Prairie Poem by Guy

2011-01-24T19:59:00.003-06:00

The important thing about a prairie is that it has color.

It has plenty of flowers.
It has a pretty view.
It has lots of grass.
There are cool birds.
There are lots of animals.
It has lots of plants.

But, the important thing about the prairie is that it has color.

By Guy

Cowards and Shepherds

2011-01-21T16:10:00.004-06:00

Five Deep thoughts on a Friday:

When the cat's away, the mouse thinks, "Can someone remind me why I decided to get a cat?"

Eleven months is not going to be long enough. I'm pretty sure I never want to handle my Christmas ornaments and string lights again.

We've just experienced the six degrees of separation: that is, the six degrees of separation between home and school when my kids woke up and asked, "Mom, is school cancelled!?" and I told them, "No, it is only negative twenty-four degrees, and school is open unless it drops below negative thirty degrees. (Smiling sweetly) Remember to pull your scarf over your face."

Mom: "Once upon a time there was a shepherd who decided to go on an adventure to the city. Zoe, do you know what a shepherd is? He takes care of sheep, and herds them to where they need to go. That's why he's a sheep-herd, a shepherd."
Zoe: "Oh, and a coward takes care of cows!"
(I think my cousins in Wyoming won't like to hear that assessment)

After changing Clementine's stinky diaper and setting it off to the side, I noticed Zoe getting a concerned look as she realized that I would probably ask her to carry it to the trash for me.
Zoe, defensively: "You change it, you buy it!!"

Pacifier

2011-01-09T19:52:00.002-06:00

I was talking to Clementine, trying to get her to repeat my words and put some definite names on favorite objects. "Clementine, what is this?" (Holding up her pacifier as she reaches for it.) "Clementine, do you call your pacifier bah-bah?.... What is this?"

Clementine: "Mine!"

Zoe Quote

2011-01-08T21:08:00.002-06:00

Just now, as I was getting Zoe into bed and she was sassing me. "Zoe, I don't like it when you act mean."

Zoe, in a sassy tone: "I was NOT ACTING."

Balmy

2011-01-06T22:10:00.002-06:00

Guy, the boy who not-so-secretly has shorts on under his requisite snow pants as he goes to school each day, quickly checked the thermometer before heading out to school. "Mom!! It's EIGHTEEN!!"

Quizzically, I raise one eyebrow and answer, "Is that....warm?....for you?"

"Well, not SUPER warm, like, when it gets to TWENTY-FOUR, that'll be nice! (huge grin.) Well, bye, Mom! See you in seven hours and forty-five minutes."

Girl scouts

2011-01-05T08:28:00.002-06:00

Zoe: "When I go to cubs scouts, I'm going to go to GIRL cub scouts, not BOY cub scouts.....at GIRL cub scouts they have FOOD."

Bath and Bedtime

2011-01-03T21:57:00.003-06:00

Little children grow fast! Here are a few updated photos of Clemmie at bath and bed time. She still chews on toys and loves her silly pacifier and requests it whenever it's bedtime, although I try to keep it away from her during the daytime. When I lay her in bed an night, she'll often pull it out for a moment, smile at me, and say, "Ma ma." That just melts my heart.

Good Luck CJ

2011-01-03T21:46:00.002-06:00

My mom came last month as part of her grand tour before she departs on an 18 month religious mission to Australia. We had some good times, but I made her go to my water aerobics class and I cracked the whip too hard. So, I hope she has recovered from that. She also watched Zoe's gymnastics, went to my favorite Indian buffet, listened to me teach music class, ate my home-made bread, slept in the trundle bed, and helped me schlepp kids around. Good times were had, right Jo?

I'm the only one who calls her Jo. Here's why: When I was a student at the U of U, I phoned her up one day, and when she answered, instead of launching into, "Hey Mom!," I formally asked, "May I please speak to Jo?" She recognized my voice and was rather confused. "Ah..." To which I cut her of with the punchline, "Jo Mama!"

For several years she would leave phone and email messages from "Jo Mama." Maybe that's secretly what the J in CJ stands for.

Deep Thought

2011-01-03T21:43:00.002-06:00

If a tree falls in a forest, and a cabin in the forest has a kitchen and the dishes don't get washed and put away before bedtime, and the husband is out of town, were the dishes really dirty all night long?

New Year, Same Odd Self

2011-01-02T23:05:00.004-06:00

I was chatting with a friend about the new year, and discovered, "Ugh. 2011 so far feels a lot like more of the same old 2010." This brings me around again to the old realization about my quirky own self; I still miss the change-everything-up aspect of academic quarters, even though I haven't been a student for something like a decade. I thrive on the way I can throw myself at a new pursuit, and of course the thrill of accomplishment when I've conquered...whatever it was. But then after an academic quarter of that course, I'm ready for a refreshing new schedule and challenges.

This isn't a totally new revelation, and my kids definitely know it. Whenever I decide to crack down and really focus on teaching them something useful, I have learned to put a specific deadline on it. I have some really organized friends who have chore schedules and practice schedules and routines for their families that they've been following for years. Um, not here. Even my most brilliant chore schedules only last for, at most, a month or two.

The kids' favorite chore program is rather complex, but motivating. It revolves around a weekly grid with each child's assignments listed; they can get a "check" for each job, each day, that they fulfill. At the end of the week, the checks are tallied up and they get paid money. Now for the fun part: the value of the checks is on a sliding scale; when a child only has a few checks, they are only worth nickels, but as the number increases the value does as well, up to 0.25 each. (Hey, I just used both a colon and semicolon in one sentence and I don't know if that's proper.)

The boys are often found doing quick calculations, "If I just do two more chores today, I can double my income. Gee! I am not going to miss any of these!" Needless to say, the part of this program that bogs me down is the way I must be the police and verify that things have been done (we've seen plenty of gratuitous self-awarding of checks.) In the past I found the first few weeks were fine, but then I really started letting it crumble in frustration.

So, when I pull out the grid, amid cheers of delight, I let the kiddos know it's only here for two or three weeks. The same applies when I institute any program- I let everyone know exactly how long we'll be focusing on making it a success (after which point it will disappear for an undetermined period of time.)

I'll let you in our first fun-time teaching program of 2011, which I call "Be Awesome Every Morning." The boys helped me devise it. The goals are to wake themselves with the alarm clock, practice piano autonomously, eat a minimum of 300 calories for breakfast and get on the bus. They must get 30 days of completing the morning goals, AND 21 of the days must be consecutive. We're keeping track with both numbers and alphabet letters; if you miss a day, that's fine for the number count, but the alphabet starts all over again for the consecutive requirement. As soon as the goal is met there will be a big prize (involving Pokemon), and then we'll move on. Use your Monty Python voice here: "And now for something completely different."

Perhaps "Be Awesome at Bedtime" or "Sit Still and Listen During Church" or "Actually Make the House Cleaner When You Do Chores" will be our next big program. It's too bad I can't keep more than one thing rolling at a time, but at least we keep it fresh every academic quarter and can now jump into 2011 with a bright new class schedule.

Zoe, Immunized

2010-12-20T14:32:00.002-06:00

Zoe recently was immunized to celebrate being 5. The kids are always asking me to remind them of the story when they were immunized, and they want confirmation- did they cry or did they not?

So, to set the record straight about who did what when they were five, Guy was the bravest. He relaxed his arm and kept a stoic face, although there were a few silent tears that leaked out. Xander was also pretty good about relaxing his arm, although I remember he was nearly hyperventilating with fear and required quite a bit of calming.

Zoe set a new precedent as she worked herself up into a frenzy for 20 minutes before needle time arrived, clung to me while I held her on the table, clenched every muscle in her body, and yanked her arm away (even though I tried to pin it), causing an unfortunate scratch from the first needle. She screamed with terror and had blubbery tears running down her face during the shots (45 seconds?) then reduced to sniffles very quickly once it was all over. Of course, she had a few minutes to recuperate while we worked on Clementine, who was somehow totally unsuspecting even after hearing Zoe scream.

I do believe that often, the Mother's demeanor during immunization can set the child up for a cheerful or fearful reaction. I give myself full points for my level-headed comforting, smiling, and dry eyes. The nurse gets full points for giving Zoe an exorbitant number of pencils and stickers as a reward.

After all was done, we went to Culver's to celebrate Zoe's great health and try to wreck it all in one trip. She had her classroom's Corduroy teddy with her, and his adventures at the doctor were documented in his journal. He wrote to the class that unfortunately he could not get immunized himself because he was too furry.

Gingerbread Do-Re-Mi

2010-12-20T14:19:00.004-06:00

Zoe is sol-sol smart. (Sol is one of the solfeg notes, which she demonstrates here.)

Those who know me well know that I've been making gingerbread every year since I was 14, using pretty much the same recipe. I usually make lots of men and put M&M buttons on them, or I make some houses using a form my sister-in-law Amy gave me as a gift (thanks again, Amy!).

This year I made two 3x batches, so I would have enough to share, even with my 45 music students and their parents. I can do 3x batch in my bosch mixer. As I was decorating, I decided to make the cookies show the Solfeg hand signs (now that's one smart cookie!) for the ones to be used in music class.

Since many asked, here's the recipe. It came home from my brother Jacob's kindergarten teacher 20 years ago.

1 cup shortening (I use 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup applesauce or pumpkin)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 Tb vinegar
5 cups flour
1 1/2 teas. soda
1 1/2 teas. salt
1 1/2 teas. ginger
1 teas. cinnamon
1/2 teas. cloves

Cream shortening and sugar. Stir in egg, molasses, vinegar. Sift dry ingredients and add. Chill dough, then roll out. (I like mine to be a bit thick and soft.) Bake on lightly greased pan at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

To frost these guys, I use about 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 teas. cream of tartar, and one egg white. I whip it until all is smooth, then put in my decorator's piping bag. I have tip sizes 1,2, and 3. I used size 2 in these photos. This frosting will dry up hard so you can toss them in a cookie jar without worrying that the designs will get smudged.

Here are some photos of Zoe in music class. She's concurrently enrolled in my level 1 (Red Balloons) and my level 2 (Green Turtles) because she was a little young to be in class last year and benefits from revisiting the 1st year material. We play the game "Who stole the cookies from the cookie jar?" and when the kids perform their parts correctly, keeping the beat, I reward them with a real cookie from the jar!

Those are some smart cookies!

Morbid, yet funny

2010-12-20T10:54:00.002-06:00

It seems that whenever we're getting into the car, the kids are yapping about what's to come. "Can we go to our friend's house!? Can we have pizza for dinner? Hey Mom!, listen to this riddle...!"

So, I'm usually eager to get seat belts fastened so the car can get moving, but find it hard to get a word in edgewise. Once Zoe was going on, "Mom, are we going to preschool? Is today letter J day? Do you know where my mittens are?"

And I responded, "Zoe! Guess who NEVER gets to go to preschool?.... (pregnant pause)...DEAD people! So put your seat belt on so we can get there safely already."

Now the kids think it's hilarious and nearly every time we get in the car, I take whatever jibber jabber they are talking about and make it into a crazy question...."Guess who NEVER gets to play with legos? Guess who NEVER gets to choose something at the grocery store? Guess who NEVER gets to sit in the front seat?"

And they all yell back, "DEAD PEOPLE!" And then they put on their seat belts without any nagging.

Jesus in the Tub

2010-11-17T20:10:00.001-06:00

According to Guy: If you're in the bath and you want to read a book, you have to hold your hands and arms up so the book stays dry. Jesus was the only person able to let his book go all the way down to the surface of the water and it wouldn't get wet.

Puke List

2010-11-11T07:15:00.002-06:00

Guy is not feeling well today. He tossed his cookies in bed this morning, and trying to help him feel like a good boy I told him he did a valiant job trying to contain it. He pondered and quickly came up with a list of Easiest to Hardest places to clean up vomit:

1. Toilet
2. Trash can
3. Bath Tub
4. Linoleum floor
5. Tile floor
6. A blanket
7. Bed (Assuming the waterproof mattress cover is always there)
8. Carpet
9. Automobile
10. Drapery, sofa, small toys

Yes, every kid should know this list and try to hit number 1 next time instead of number 7. And every parent should remember to put the stinkin' mattress cover on when making the bed!

Hey Marci Metcalf-Ruf: looks like he did not put "shoes" on the list. Again, still sorry about the time I threw up in yours!

$2.85 Deal

2010-10-21T22:28:00.002-05:00

While grocery gaming on Wednesday, there was one transaction that was particularly fun. General Mills was having a deal that if you buy $25 worth of GM products, you get $10 off your order (not a freakishly good deal yet). Starting Thursday, the deal would change to...buy 6 boxes and get coupons for lots of free stuff.

So, I bought 8 boxes of cereal (3.69 each on sale for 2.99 each with a 0.55 coupon for each one with 5 coupons getting doubled), got the $10 off, and spent $2.85.

Then, magically and unexpectedly, the register also printed out my coupons for

-1 free gallon of milk
-1 free box of toaster strudel frozen pastries
-1 free dozen eggs
-4 free 8oz yogurt cups

So, for less than 3 bucks I got breakfast for the family for a week. Yay!

Daily News for Doug

2010-10-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Clementine went all the way down the stairs safely by herself. yay! she is happy going up and down now when she wants.

Guy took a marker and drew an additional pokemon on his pokemon shirt that you brought from Japan. Afterward he was a bit disappointed because it didn't improve the look of the shirt like he had hoped. permanent. On the other hand, Xander lost his pokemon shirt a looong time ago, so at least Guy has one and it is personalized. He is excited to go home with a friend tomorrow after school and look at rock collections and is hoping for a rock tumbler for Christmas.

Xander is enjoying making another movie on the computer although there are some technicalities that stump us both. Before we buy an upgrade to imovie I must check and see if that will help or hinder our particular issues.

And as for me, I had 6 inches chopped off my hair today and I feel fabulous about it. I went while Zoe was at preschool, and Clementine obliged by sleeping in her car seat at my feet the whole time. Also, starting on Wed night I got laryngitis or something and now sound like a frog, with a bit of lung butter to top it off. I'm starting to recover, but maybe it was all caused by the pool water I drank on Wed AM trying to flip turn in that darn corner lane. Not sure.

Zoe is flying high on her reading program again after a break we took for no good reason. She found a pack of kiddie tatoos and put them all over her body. The most questionable location was her hip...where did she come up with that idea?

Liberation!

2010-10-21T21:54:00.002-05:00

The house can be pretty chaotic when the bus gets home...kids shouting and running up and down stairs with toys and neighbor friends, Clementine unloading all of the drawers and cupboards, me putting the finishing touches on dinner and attempting to put away or have kids put away shoes/coats/backpacks/lunchboxes and all items from all of the drawers and cupboards.

It was at a moment like this that I paused, knee-deep in tupperware, and urgently gasped, "WHERE IS Clementine, the creator of this chaotic plastic-container cesspool?" I instinctively knew that she'd used my inattention as an opportunity to venture down the forbidden basement stairs, left accessible by the boys' performance of the forbidden leaving-the-door-to-the-basement-open ritual.

I silently peered down the stairs and -JOY!- saw that Clementine was 2/3 the way down, obediently sliding on her tummy, feet-first like I make her practice. The big difference, of course, was that when we practiced, she laughed at me and went up 2 stairs for every 2 she went down and never actually progressed. Apparently a basement full of raucous squealing big kids was motivation enough to inspire her to go ALL the way down safely.

LIBERATION! You might be thinking SHE is liberated because now she can go down to the playroom or up to her bedroom whenever she wants. NO! It's Me! I am liberated because I no longer have to babysit the staircases with ultimate diligence. (I still don't allow gymnastics routines, wrestling, bike-riding, or leap-frog at staircase precipice.) So now that I don't HAVE to watch closely, I DO watch closely because it makes me giggle with delight to see my little baby climb up and down unawares of my spying.

And after she came back upstairs (a feat accomplished months ago), she CLOSED THE BASEMENT DOOR! Smartest Weibel kid ever.

Grocery Game Oct.13

2010-10-14T00:11:00.003-05:00

Sorry folks! No photo today. I've had a stressful few days because my internet connection isn't working. I never realized quite how accustomed I am to using it as a reference an expecting it to be always at my fingertips. I wanted to make soup and was baffled because I couldn't instantly pull up a dozen recipes to choose from. Then, I decided to call Charter and try to get the problem fixed, but I couldn't find my account number when they wanted it because I only look at my statements online. Then I had used up so many of my prepaid minutes talking on the cell phone (because I normally use vonage and it only works if I am online) that I need more but can't buy them without going online to do so. It's been a very bad circular loop, but I did at least invent my own creamy veggie soup recipe while thinking about what to do.

And then I cheered up with some shopping. I spent $25.82 to buy $135.08 worth of groceries (saving 81%) and this is what I brought home:

8 60-count Disney gummy vitamins (usually $7 each!)
4 boxes of Smart taste rotini pasta
1 Betty Crocker Cake mix and 1 frosting (birthdays are near!)
8 cans of Campbells healthy harvest select chicken and rice soup
4 boxes of Morningstar veggie sausage patties
4 refrigerated Buitoni ravioli packages
2 refrigerated Buitioni sauces
2 gallons of milk
6 Dannon yogurt cups
7 Yoplait yogurt cups

I woulda coulda shoulda bought more tonight, but I didn't have a chance to print all the coupons I dreamed of, because of the internet issues. But hey! We are going to have eggs and vegetarian sausages for breakfast, and then really good ravioli for dinner, and maybe chicken and rice soup for lunch, so tomorrow's gonna be a great day.

Tramontina Welcome

2010-09-23T10:05:00.003-05:00

I've been married for 13 1/2 years and just realized that I didn't put a set of cookware on my bridal shower registry. Oops. It would have been much more useful than fine china. Well, I have been keeping my eye on different sets and decided to get this Tramontina Gourmet 13-piece set, on clearance at Costco for $169 (Amazon $219). It was a close call between this and the Kirkland set ($169 regular price at Costco), the Kirkland set has 5-ply with copper while Tramontina has 3-ply with aluminum, but in the end it was the pretty belly-shape that won me over. But I couldn't stop there...I checked Amazon again and found a used (only a few times but no original box) set for $70 with $20 shipping, so I decided to go that route. I'm starting to see how erratically new prices swing around on Amazon and thinking it might be worthwhile to pay more attention to that site for shopping. Well, now you're invited over so I can cook you up some tasty food! I will try to remember "hot pan, cold oil" so the food won't stick.

Nice Mommy

2010-09-23T08:49:00.004-05:00

See? I'm a nice mommy. I'm sorting through a bunch of photos that we had taken and it's very tough to find the best ones. Any shots with Clementine in them can be considered candid...seeing how she was tired and fussy and mostly uncooperative. These were taken as I was trying to coerce her to let me hold her but she wanted to run away.

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

2010-09-23T08:32:00.004-05:00

We've had yet another incident of self-inflicted hair-trimming. Guy used scissors to lop of his bangs (right to the scalp), and the following night he took a chunk from the very top and two from the back. This morning we both agreed that I should try to clean it up, which meant cutting it very short all-around, even though I still wasn't able to really get the bald spots to blend in.

I asked Guy, "WHY did you cut your hair!?"
"Because yesterday at school I told everyone I was going to come back today with really short hair." He answered.
I'm wondering if he told them he was going to shave his head...
"Did you really WANT super-short hair, or did you just like TELLING everyone that you were going to get a haircut?"
"Ummm...both."

I was instantly taken back to 11th grade, when we read Bernice Bobs Her Hair, in which Bernice uses her pretended future risque bob haircut to liven up conversation with the flirty boys. However, she regrets actually having to follow through and cut her hair, which makes her unpopular again.

Ah, well. Maybe later today I'll get out the clippers and finish the job on Guy, taking him down to a fine fuzz. The moral of this story is that those Fitzgerald stories really stick in the brain.

Silky Pasta Cache

2010-09-23T08:17:00.003-05:00

This week I picked up these $181.72 worth of groceries for $21.48, which is to say I paid 11.8% of shelf-price or saved 88.2%. I use www.pocketyourdollars.com to get my shopping list.

So, here you'll see 26 boxes of pasta (and I'm happy to report that my kids will eat this...most is whole wheat pasta), 5 half-gallons of silk, 8-10 # of boneless-skinless chicken breasts, 5 4-packs of yoplait delight (a two-day supply for our house), 4 bottles of listerine (the kind that help kids see buildup by staining it blue), 2 packs chocolate chips, 5 # whole wheat flour (I decided to compare to my home-ground flour), 1 gallon milk, 5 boxes oatmeal, 10 cans of chunky campbells soup, stovetop stuffing, tampons, 2 packs of trident gum, and some laxative (not on sale, but someone needed it.)

This shopping load gives me chance to disagree with those of my pals who don't use coupons because "they are only for unhealthy processed foods". Coupons are for popular foods, and now that whole wheat pasta, 100-calorie packs, soymilk, oatmeal and healthy snacks are popular, that's what I find in coupons. Perhaps the oatmeal and canned soup are more processed than my home-made versions, but for the price (they were free) I am totally willing to feed it to my kids. They're having soup in lunchboxes today, actually (hail the fabulous Thermos funtainer.)

Funny Things

2010-09-18T18:45:00.004-05:00

I showed Xander that Nestle chocolate coupons were going to be on my next "grocery game" spree. He excitedly answered, "YOU are DA MOM!" For a moment I thought I was the BOMB. Being DA MOM is even better.

Another funny thing- Zoe was in the kids room at Harbor playing with a little boy. When I picked her up she told me they'd been playing house. "I stayed in the house with the babies and he went out on trips, " she explained matter-of-factly. When I asked where he went she told me it was someplace like "South Califor-Ina" (a mix of California and South Carolina). Doug! Come home!

Zoe, learning all the domestic skills her mother teaches, like how to shave babies bald.

I Died in My Dream

2010-09-16T10:03:00.003-05:00

Gosh, this whole week I have been having all kinds of disturbing dreams. The kids usually think its funny when I tell them my dreams (I avoid the disturbing elements), but last night, for only the second time in my life, I died in my dream.

I dreamed I was in a small airplane with about a dozen other moms and children, sitting on the floor. (Hm, sounds like music class!) A helicopter was attempting to reach a harness into the open door of our plane and I was assisting it in removing children from the plane (why?). After 2 children had been removed, our plane started to lose control and the helicopter was no longer able to get close to us. I was able to look out the windows and see that we were spinning and flipping over, but I momentarily thought, "That's strange, I don't FEEL like we're flipping and falling." Even so, I was not afraid or panicked.

Shortly the plane leveled out, but kept losing altitude. The other parents and I started saying, uncertainly, "It'll be okay, now..." and "Do you think it's under control now?" I still felt very confident that we would recover from the situation.

But we kept free-falling and only in the last moment, as I saw the houses and yards rushing up at me, I realized we were not going to make it. Still I was not feeling nervous, but resigned. I hugged my child to comfort him/her (not sure which child I had!) and right before we hit I quietly said, "Okay...here we go..." and I took a deep breath...

Then everything was dark (or light?) like when you have your eyes shut and poke your eyelids. I wondered how long it would take until I found out what happens when you die. I counted to ELEVEN! before anything happened, and during that time I was also thinking, crap! I forgot to say a final prayer before we died.

At the count of eleven, disappointingly, another dream began in which I had a dog-sized pet parasite that looked like a slug, and lived in an apartment that was clinically bright and sterile. Luckily, Xander came and woke me up from that one, due to his ear infection.

So, this is what I found on the web about dreaming my own death:

To dream that you die in your dream, symbolizes inner changes, transformation, self-discovery and positive development that is happening within you or your life. You are undergoing a transitional phase and are becoming more enlightened or spiritual. Although such a dream may bring about feelings of fear and anxiety, it is no cause for alarm as it is often considered a positive symbol. Dreams of experiencing your own death usually means that big changes are ahead for you. You are moving on to new beginnings and leaving the past behind. These changes does not necessarily imply a negative turn of events. Metaphorically, dying can be seen as an end or a termination to your old ways and habits. So, dying does not always mean a physical death, but an ending of something.meanings by DreamMoods.com

On a negative note, to dream that you die may represent involvement in deeply painful relationships or unhealthy, destructive behaviors. You may feeling depressed or feel strangled by a situation or person in your waking life. Perhaps your mind is preoccupied with someone who is terminally ill or dying. Alternatively, you may be trying to get out of some obligation, responsibility or other situation. You are desperately trying to escape from the demands of your daily life.

This analysis is totally unhelpful, so I will come up with my own: I need to exercise more, and my husband needs to stop traveling so much.

Photos and smiles

2010-09-14T23:41:00.005-05:00

At the Dixie Stampede dinner show:

Okay kids, smile so I can take a photo. Hey Zoe! That's not a smile!

They are getting better at holding still when I request a photo, and good thing too because this one of Zoe (visiting waterfalls in NC) is a nice memory of a fun day.

Eating Yogurt in Season

2010-09-14T21:15:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the bad photo quality, yet here is a photo of Saturday's catch. I spent $22.08 on groceries that had shelf-price value of $166.54 (for a savings of almost 87%). You'll see 18 various 4-packs of yogurt and 8 boxes of gogurt (those went straight into the freezer), 8 bags of stir-fry veggies, 4 CFL light bulbs, 4 dozen eggs, 4 oreo cookie packs, 2 gallons of milk and 12 boxes of hamburger helper. Side note: I don't usually add hamburger, and for the better-than-free price, it still makes a good meal starter.

So, this week, needless to say, yogurt is in SEASON. The kids are learning to eat "in season" and I am getting better at planning meals based on the current sales cycle. We'll be enjoying yogurt in lunches for a few weeks, and then the frozen gogurts will come out for a turn. Hard-boiled eggs and quiche are in season, too, and the good news is that when the eggs and yogurt run out, we don't have to wait a year before the next harvest like the cycles on all the truly in-season locally grown produce. I know these products will pop up again in six to eight weeks and and we'll all take the Activia challenge again.

Happy Birthday, Clementine!

2010-09-12T21:01:00.005-05:00

We finally celebrated Clementine's first birthday, having put it all on hold while Doug was out of town. Perhaps her favorite game of the day was opening presents, one-year-old style. I got out several of the fashionable reusable Christmas boxes and put a birthday toy inside each one. She was easily able to remove the lid of each box, look inside, and pull out the toy. Most of the toys were already unwrapped and accessible (having been purchased at yardsales). Most were also musical rattle-type toys since she's very into shaking and dancing.

The best part, of course, is that the kids all helped me to re-box the gifts several times so Tiny could amble around and open them again, removing the toys and shaking them and of course making everyone cheer and laugh.

A few very special gifts were much coveted by Zoe, who actually broke down crying (with tears!) while Clementine took the first turn at holding her new baby doll. It is so tender to see my tiny girl cuddling and patting a baby doll - I guess if there's one thing she knows about in this life, it is how a baby likes to be loved. I think she knows it is her own doll, since she seeks it out of the basement full of toys and dolls.

And as for cake, Doug chose banana-creme pie instead. I am sure Tiny likes pie as well as cake. In addition, I just know that each family member snuck her a jumbo marshmallow or two (because we love watching her get excited and kick her legs and laugh...she does love marshmallows.) Perhaps her birthdays will all be commemorated with a marshmallow henceforth.

Frugal Cell Phone

2010-08-29T23:05:00.002-05:00

Vacation Lesson 8: Travel with a Cell Phone

Can you even believe that before August I didn't even have a cell phone? Now I have one, but I probably won't give you my number (nyah nyah nyah.)

So, racking up high cell phone bills (and paying for cable TV, netflix, gym memberships, etc.) doesn't really jive with the frugal zealot mindset that my Gramma instilled in me, but I still like those fun things. (Hint: YES I will accept a one-month Netflix membership as a holiday gift.)

So, I researched the CHEAPEST phone plan in the world, and I think I found it. So, to have my phone with STI Mobile costs me 0.09/day just to have the phone ON ($32.85/year). Then, my calls all cost 0.09/minute and must be prepaid. I find that the plan is working great. STI uses the Sprint network, I think, so I get coverage in cities well, and anywhere along major roads. When we went way off in the mountains there were some dead spots.

So, it could get pricey if you use the phone for chatting, but I don't (see, I'm connecting with YOU electronically!). While traveling, it really helped me connect with people when we tried going on outings as a large group traveling in several cars. It also gave everyone peace of mind knowing that I could call for help if we had auto trouble or got lost.

The other great benefit of having a cell phone is that I can now go jogging at the nature preserve while leaving the kiddos in the care room at the health club (which is adjacent to the conservancy). They only require I carry my phone with me. Now I can get fit...for only 0.09/day.

ATM: Automatic Teller Mother

2010-08-29T22:52:00.003-05:00

Vacation Lesson 7: ATM (Automatic Teller Mother)

Perhaps this is not something I learned that pertains just to vacationing, but I really implemented it just as we were departing on our journey, and now I think it is a permanent part of our family!

My kids earn money from chores, etc., but when we shop, they never seem to have it with them. They always beg me to let them pay me back when we get home...but sometimes they amount they think they have in the piggy bank at home is less than whatever they just bought, OR by the time I am ready to settle up we can't remember if/when the money was paid back or not. The kids always seem to claim that I owe THEM for some this-or-that that I promised to pay them for.

SO, the ATM was invented. On my cell phone I have one phone number called ATM (that stands for Automatic Teller Mother, of course). In the place for Home phone number, I keep a number indicating Xander's balance. In the place for Work I have Guy's and in the place for cell I have Zoe's. If you have an iphone or something, you can be more tech savvy than me.

When we're at a store and a child wants something, I flip open my phone and see how much money they have in their ATM. If they buy something I deduct it right there, on the spot, and then just pay for it with my order and my credit card. While vacationing, as you can imagine, there were bajillions of opportunities to buy stuff. Guy spent most of his money at the arcade, incidentally.

Also, I can offer money for chores on-the-go, and pay the kids instantly as well. This way they can't claim I owe them for something that I promised but forgot. While driving I paid Xander $1 to make peanut butter sandwiches and pass them out to all the kids so I wouldn't have to pull over for lunch. At a restaurant I paid Zoe $0.50 because she was the only one who didn't spill ketchup all over her shirt. When we are out and about, I will often "hire" the kids to watch Clementine while I use the restroom, etc. I don't ALWAYS pay, because they are willing to just be helpful and part of the family, which is important, but sometimes I think they deserve a few cents credit to their account, too.

In our family, we pay a tithe to our church. To help the kids learn this skill, I have them set aside tithing money from some of their income (like when they do the bread business). In those cases, when the money comes in, we deposit some money into a spending account and some into tithing. When I type it into my cell phone (ATM), I just separate the two amounts with a #. So if Xander earned $20 and put $2 of it it into tithing, in my phonebook it would say 1800#200. When he is ready to pay the tithe I give him $2 from my wallet and reset his balance.

Minigolf Moneysaver

2010-08-29T22:42:00.002-05:00

The boys are about to embark on the diamond mine minigolf course.

Vacation Lesson 6: The secret minigolf moneysaver! If your kids are like mine, they love to go to the minigolf places, but the young ones (like 4 y.o. Zoe) really don't have the endurance or interest for 18 holes. The boys do like to keep some scores, but they're truly most interested in the experience and atmosphere.

Sooooo, when I suspect that we're going to golf a few holes and dwindle in focus, I buy only one ball/club set, and make the kids rotate turns golfing. 18 holes, 3 kids...they each golf 6 holes but they get the fun of walking along through all of them. Even with the high-speed single-golfer plan, the kids were tired and fussy after one round. Phew!

I asked Xander, hypothetically, if he would rather go to ONE golf course (Myrtle Beach has dozens of cute ones) and each person get their own ball, OR go to FOUR golf courses, but take turns with our sharey-deal at each place. He chose to share. Yay, little frugal offspring!

Zoe Makeover

2010-08-29T22:27:00.004-05:00

Zoe was playing with her friend, Seth, the other day. She got the idea in her mind that she should also be a boy so they could be guy pals. She put on her brother's soccer uniform, got a pair of scissors, and started to trim her hair (right in front), in an attempt to get a boy haircut. Rrrgh.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind at all if she's a tomboy (I was a tomboy, too, right Mom?). But, I'm hoping to convince her that she can be sporty and muddy and still wear dresses in the summer and have long hair, etc. By the way, that's my formula for girl clothes: dresses all summer, pants all winter. With the weather here, why would you do anything else?

So I took her to the nearby cosmetology school, where services are darn cheap, and we had a fun makeover day. She had a haircut (with some layers to attempt to blend the self-inflicted bits), curls, and nail polish. I was sad they were too busy to give me highlights and haircut on myself...it's extremely tough to find a few hours away from all the kids to get things like that done.

I did get my hair trimmed back in May, though...so maybe that will last me a little longer. Zoe doesn't know that the boys envy her because she (and I) can skip haircuts for months if we so choose. Yes, tomorrow will be chop shop day here so the boys can get fancied for school to start on Wednesday.

Grocery Game 8/28/2010

2010-08-29T22:16:00.003-05:00

I bought these groceries for $41.98 on Saturday. The shelf prices for these items add up to $243.52, which means I paid 17.2% of the shelf prices. Oh, also not pictured or included in the calculation are the 3 gallons of milk and 4 dozen eggs that I will get for free next time I go shopping (buying the cereal yields coupons for free eggs and milk.)

This is a popular past-time among couponistas...posting results! I use www.pocketyourdollars.com to get my grocery lists and websites for the coupons I print out. (I have 3 computers at home that I use for printing coupons.) There is another site called www.grocerygame.com that gives the same info, but you'd have to pay to be a member, so I don't use that site, but I still refer to what I do each week as "the grocery game." Xander is an excellent helper when I shop!

In this picture you'll see 24 boxes of cereal, 6# of cheese, 24 boxes of Jolly Time healthy popcorn, 8 packs of Capri Sun, 9 cans of soup, some yogurt, cookies, gum, pens, PB and J, and nectarines. You do know I have huge shelves for food storage in my basement, right?

Harvest Time BooHoo

2010-08-29T22:05:00.003-05:00

Here's a photo of the zucchini that hid so well it didn't get harvested by the neighbors. I left specific instructions that they were to take all the zukes they could find, and they tell me there were several baseball bat-sized ones.

I'm also showing the red Zyliss tomato peeler that Jen Weibel gave me as a gift.

Below, you can see my tomato-canning production this year.

Vacation Lesson 5: Don't leave town for 3 weeks right during harvest time. Especially if you planted 40 tomato plants of a determinate variety! Last year I was able to put up 40 quarts of tomatoes and we happily ate them all, so I was hoping that this year with all my expanded garden space I would really be able to do well. But, alas, the neighbors tell me that hundreds of fruits fell on the ground to rot (and some got eaten by the neighbors, thankfully) during my absence. Just before I left I picked a dozen or so tomatoes and I knew that the big harvest was about to begin without me. Sad, sad, sad. Next year we'll sneak away for vacation during the slow months when not too much is happening.

At least when I came home there were still enough in the garden for me to do one last (and first) harvest, probably enough for 12-15 quarts. I'm sure a few more will ripen over the next few weeks, too. One thing that is making the production a little smoother is the tomato peeler that Jen gave me. I am using it instead of boiling and icing tomatoes to make the skins come off. It's faster to just peel them.

Standing in the kitchen, late at night as I am, reminds me of LAST August 30, when I was doing the SAME thing, only I happened to be in labor! Sweet Clementine- tomato canning will always make me think of her.

Children's Museum Winner: East Tennessee

2010-08-29T20:33:00.006-05:00

At the museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL, we stayed from about 11:30 until 5:30, when the museum closed and they kicked us out (but not before taking a photo.)

In Indianapolis, Guy had an X-ray taken. Just kidding. Hey, does he have extra hands growing?

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I hope she will be as enthusiastic about playing piano with her fingers this year.

The kids were not happy that I made them pose for this photo...they had many things to run around and look at.

This is the closest to horseback riding that we have gotten. Maybe I should put real horses on our bucket list of adventures. Maybe I'll put Zyrtec on the list, too.

Perhaps this is how young engineers get started?

CJ bought all the kids T-shirts at the museum and they did "chromatography" to decorate them. To do this at home, draw on a T-shirt with a sharpie, then squirt it with isopropyl alcohol. For a better effect, stretch the shirt over the mouth of a glass and hold tight with a rubber band, then draw, and then put alcohol and the center of the circle. Dry. Rinse in cold water before laundering (colors bleed).

CJ, Dacy, Gina and Clementine hanging out at the Children's Museum in Myrtle Beach. Jenny, Margie and Olivia are almost in the photo

Guy spent a lot of time building devices from k'nex.

Even CJ mastered the giant bubble maker! C'mon CJ, do you ever feel like you're living in a bubble?

Zoe discovered the art of crouching low...as the bubble loses liquid it sucks in (you can see it starting) and nearly forms a dome right over her head just before it pops. She wins the award for being able to stay inside the longest before the bubble touched her and popped.

Xander wrote "pac man". He was even willing to share the colored tubes with Clementine when she wanted to play.

Vacation Lesson 4: Get a Membership to a Children's Museum

This is a trick I've used in past years when I knew we'd be traveling long distances: Get a membership to a children's museum (make sure it is a member of both the ASTC network and the ACM network), then use the membership to visit lots and lots of museums all along your route.

The winner this year was the East Tennessee Discovery Center. They are part of both networks, getting you into the maximum number of museums, and an annual family membership is only $50 (you can get a membership by mail). I found a few museums with $40 memberships, but they were not part of both networks. Anyone know of a better deal?

On this trip we visited the ETDC in Knoxville, TN, then the children's museum in Myrtle Beach,SC, the Exploratorium in Indianapolis, IN, and the Musuem of Science and Industry in Chicago, IL. Our very own Madison Children's Museum, WI, is newly rennovated and scheduled to open soon, so we can go there, too! Considering some of the other adventures we paid for on this trip, this was by far the best deal and best loved.

Oh! and after driving for 4-5 hours, if we just stop at a museum to run around for 1-2 hours, the kids were perfectly happy to get back in the car for 4-5 more hours (and nap.)

Isle of Palms

2010-08-28T07:39:00.005-05:00

Here are my Snapfish Isle of Palms photos. (39) Other family members did a better job capturing fun times!
Click here to view photos

Relaxing in the house is a fine way to spend part of the day. I forced the kids to come inside from 11:00-2:00 everyday, but they were outside much of the rest of the time.

Nothing says family reunion better than a houseful of kids!

Vacation Lesson 4: Take more photos! When I'm IN the party/ baseball game/ pool/ ocean waves/ boggle game, etc... I enjoy myself greatly and totally space out on the idea of taking photos. I need to learn that tricky balance of both being there and participating, but also stepping back periodically to capture it all. I have seen how the kids (Zoe especially) look at photos and remember and reminisce about what was done. I fear that without enough photos (and blog entries) they will forget about the things done, people seen, and good memories made. And since I rarely take photos of them crying and throwing a tantrum in the restaurant, they'll just go ahead and forget that part of the vacation.

The Bucket List

2010-08-27T23:18:00.002-05:00

Zoe, at Olbrich botanical gardens, dreams of going to Hawaii to see plants like this growing in their natural habitat.

VACATION LESSON 3: Make a bucket list.

Before this summer, "vacation" meant going to grandma's house, exploring and doing activities in her town, and coming home. Now that we've tried something a little different (renting a beach house!), I'm starting to open my mind to all the fun things I could do with the kids...and simultaneously I'm realizing that I only have SEVEN more summers with Xander before he graduates. I got to thinking...what are the seven family adventures we most want to do? Let's dream them, plan them, hang a list of them on the wall, and then make sure it happens! (Grandma, we still plan to visit you, too!)

We have only just started brainstorming, but the boys want to go whitewater rafting (we went river tubing in NC with Dacy...and now they're dreaming big), rent a motorhome, and go to Hawaii someday. If we start now, we can save up for Hawaii in seven years. I'm searching for awesome adventures close to home, so that every year our summer trip is not a bank-buster.

Don't Buy the Mazda 5

2010-08-27T22:51:00.004-05:00

Guy models his vehicle of choice....NOT the Mazda 5.

There's a silly camp song that we used to sing, Down by the Deli-side, that went like this:

When you go to the delicatessen store
Don't buy the liverwurst
Don't buy the liverwurst
Don't buy the liverwurst
I repeat what I just said before
Don't buy the liverwurst
Don't buy the liverwurst

Oh, buy the corned beef if you must
The pickled herring you can trust
And the lox puts you in orbit A-OK
But that big hunk of liverwurst
Has been there since October first
And today is the 23rd of May

So when you go to the delicatessen store
Don't buy the liverwurst
Don't buy the liverwurst
Don't buy the liverwurst
It'll make your insides awful sore
Don't buy the liverwurst
Don't buy the liverwurst

So, I am gonna go ahead and replace the LIVERWURST with the words MAZDA 5.

This is TRAVEL LESSON 2: DON'T BUY THE MAZDA 5. It will not enhance your vacation experience.

I originally got the Mazda 5 because, frankly, I had a mental block against driving a minivan, even with 4 kids. The M5 is SHAPED like a minivan, but it would fit INSIDE any of my friend's minivan. I think maybe Mazda wanted to put out something like the SMART for van lovers.

As a mother, here are things that irk me about the M5:
1. The storage space in the back...huh? Oh, there is no storage space in the back. You can set a gallon of milk there if you are careful. When you close the hatchback, warn any passengers to watch their heads...the door comes right into the passenger's personal breathing space. How rude.

2. The storage space between seats is also non-existent. You cannot bring a stroller (I'm talking UMBRELLA stroller) in this car. Not even under passengers feet, nor between seats. Are you seeing here that whenever I go shopping, let's say to buy a 6-pack of soda, I leave one family member or more home, so I can lay down seats and put purchases there.

3. No arm rest. This might just be my bare-bones model, but the driver gets the only armrest...none for the passenger. If I'm the passenger I can't help but reach over and put my arm on that armrest. I want one! If I'm driving, I can't help but smack away the arm of the intruder trying to share it with me.

4. Amputees and very short children only will fit into the 3rd row seats. I'm guessing anyone who's femur is less than 8 inches can get in. No car seats can fit back there, which is too bad since infants don't mind being squished into the fetal position for the entire road trip. Guy complacently rode in the back for this entire journey, and I often saw him with his legs splayed into the various headspaces of the vehicle.

5. What did you say? The M5 is so loud while driving that it's hard to hear the radio, DVD, or Nintendo DS. On the other hand, it's also hard to hear the crying baby, so maybe this is a positive element.

Okay, so since I needed to fit a TON of vacation stuff into this car, we used our Thule car-top carrier to provide some storage space AND (this is key, ladies) we left Doug at home. Sorry, Doug! But not really sorry - he later traveled by airplane and met us there. Good thing he had work requirements that couldn't be left for 3 weeks, otherwise we'd have had to put him in the car-top carrier.

Travel Trepidation

2010-08-27T22:03:00.004-05:00

Would you like to go on a road trip with this little cutie in your car?

These butterflies are ready to migrate!

We've just returned from 21 (TWENTY-ONE!) days away from home. It's been a long journey filled with beautiful beachy vistas, warm ocean waves, and a large roster of family members (also beautiful and warm.)

I really should have kept the blog rolling while we were on the road between Wisconsin and South Carolina, but I just could not deny myself the experience of being computer-free and nearly phone-free, too. So I shall do my best to reflect upon the life lessons I learned while vacationing and get them down (so I can have another great trip in the future).

Lesson #1: NO MORE TREPIDATION
Prior to this summer's epic journey, my experiences could be summarized by a road trip we took last summer, driving from Wisconsin to Connecticut. The driving part seemed to generate quite a lot of crankiness, grouchiness, nastiness - and did I or did I not swear I was never going to do that again? (note: I was extremely pregnant during that trip.)

Well, I decided a positive attitude and carefree, easygoing spirit would vanquish the cranky clouds of doom from before our path, freeing us up for fun road-trip memories. I packed up the car and 4 kids and drove for 2 days down to Isle of Palms, SC. We stayed there for 7 fabulous nights visiting with the Margery Dodge descendants (Doug's maternal grandma), then shifted up to Myrtle Beach for 7 nights with several of the Margery Lorraine Seiler descendants (my maternal grandma). The fun didn't end...we went for 3 more nights up to my sister, Dacy's, cabin in North Carolina. 2 more days were spent in the car driving home and voila!

Not only did I survive it all, I loved it all! I came home with an all-new empowered attitude about travel with my kids. We are going to become a traveling family. We are going to go fun places, because now I know we can! NO MORE TREPIDATION.

Expensive

2010-07-21T18:01:00.002-05:00

Right now I'm fuming. A naughty child can do a lot of damage in just a few seconds. Zoe took the garage remote off my visor in the car and it was $25 to replace. Just now Guy pulled a seat belt all the way out, looped it over the seat in front, and pulled it tight so now we can't retract it. I don't know how much that is going to cost. Zoe also cut holes in the bedroom window screens so she could throw stuff out windows, a move that echoes the rabbit-hole Xander cut in the porch screening. The rodents who now frequent our porch love it, but I hate it when kids cause damage. My husband says he'll avoid buying nice furniture or cars until the kids are moved out. I agree!

Mortal Babydolls

2010-06-22T21:32:00.003-05:00

In the continuing incomprehensible adventures of Zoe and her baby dolls (currently named Julie, Julia, Julianne, Juliette, and Sarah), Zoe let me know that baby Julie had died.

"I went in my ship that flies up and up, " she explained, "and went all the way up to heaven. I talked to Jesus and he said baby Julie could come back with me and live again, so she just crawled into my ship and we drove back home. She is afraid of Jesus so she wanted to come back to our house."

When not concerned with the off-an-on mortality of her babies, Zoe is busy shopping for a husband, and has narrowed it down to two of her preschool playmates. Guy is shocked and affronted that Zoe has pegged her victim, but I say, "It's fine if she plans to marry Alexander. They have several years to decide if they really want to get married or if they want to change plans." Personally, I'm surprised that Guy gets upset, since he's been sweet on a girl at track team for several months and sometimes lets slip that he's got long-term visions of his future. He did mention he planned on having 3 sons and 3 daughters. I just told him to be sure to choose a house near me so I could be a fun grandma.

(If he wants exactly 3 sons and 3 daughters he should send Zoe to go visit Jesus and put in a request on his behalf.)

Fairytale Ballet

2010-05-16T00:23:00.005-05:00

Zoe has just finished a session of Fairytale Ballet at the nearby dance studio. I love it! Every class has some exercises and dance skills BUT the main emphasis is on the short story (to set the theme) and the COSTUMES each week. After all, isn't getting into costume and performing the most fun part? Shouldn't every class be nothing but costumes and performing all the time (if you're four)?

So here are some photos and movies from Little Red Riding Hood, Peter Rabbit, and Lilo and Stitch (hula theme.)

Almost 10

2010-05-16T00:17:00.003-05:00

I realized recently that I am delinquent in photographing the boys, but at least I was able to convince Xander to sit still momentarily after a recent soccer game. He's enjoying soccer and usually likes to play defense, although he recently discovered that he gets more ball action on offense. Doesn't he look like such a nice boy? He is!

A goodly amount of hair

2010-05-16T00:11:00.002-05:00

Great news! Clementine has enough hair that she can wear little clips to keep the bangs out of her eyes. She's very sweet looking. On the other hand, every other child in the family saw their first tooth at 6 months, but Clementine is still gumming it at 8 1/2. Hey! For my part I am loving this deal (cuteness without the bite.)

Clementine Yoga

2010-03-23T08:46:00.002-05:00

This style of yoga involves a bit of flailing, some flopping, and if it's naptime there will be some fussing too. I better start babyproofing!

Sit Swim Smile

2010-03-23T01:21:00.003-05:00

Clementine sits up beautifully and even crawls a bit now. She loves to play in the water and goes swimming each Thursday. Well, if you count bathtime, she swims a lot more frequently than that.

2010 Food Paradigm

2010-03-22T23:51:00.003-05:00

Every year I designate February as Weibel Family Food Storage Month. I take time to inventory and rotate what we have in our cellar and do what needs to be done to live the bulk-food-way. (There's not very much exciting stuff to do in February, and the snow-shoveling demand wanes.) Each year the regular chores include buying and packaging bulk foods for long-term storage in addition to tweaking the system.

In 2007 the tweaking meant I built new storage shelves in the storage room (see photo). In 2009 it meant buying the new Bosch mixer so I can make delicious bread more regularly and quickly. And now 2010 is turning out to be a paradigm-shifting year for the Weibel-food-way!

Yes, I still drove down to Chicago and picked up 300 lbs of wheat, 150 lbs of rolled oats and 50 lbs of dry milk powder, brought it home and packaged it in buckets and mylar bags and labeled everything beautifully with precise organization (see photo). But let me just TELL you about the biggest change in my frugal-living-bake-from-scratch-shopping methodology: COUPONS!

I saw my friend Jen sitting on the lawn last fall, flipping through a 3-ring binder and pulling papers out of the plastic sheet-covers. She let me know she was doing her hobby--- clippin' coupons. I thought she must be a little crazy, because it seemed like a lot of work and hassle and I was sure the payoff must be average (besides, coupons are a gimmick to get you to buy high priced stuff you didn't really need, right?) Nevertheless, I kept thinking about it and checked out her favorite website: www.thegrocerygame.com The video there does a fine job explaining how couponing can really save you money (That is, wait until an item goes on sale, AND use a coupon, AND use it at a store that will double it. The end result is really cheap food!)

I decided to give this thing a try, and was tipped off to MY favorite site: www.pocketyourdollars.com which gives me a list of the items on sale at my store (Copps), and tells me where I can find the coupons I need to match up. I do get one copy of the Sunday paper (many couponistas get multiples), but I've found that most of the coupons I use are the ones I can print off the internet (you can print a coupon twice). When I do need a coupon that was in the newspaper in some previous week, the website tells me which week to look in (I have my own 3-ring binder, and each week's coupons go into one plastic sleeve, so I don't even have to clip them unless I need them.) Oh thank heavens for the ladies who did all the research and make it so easy for me to save a buck!

When I began doing shopping runs, I thought that it would be rare to get items for free, but it turns out that each week there are 3-4 items that I end up gettting totally free, and since I have multiple copies of each coupon (I own a couple computers), I get several of the free items. Wahoo! Each order has to be $25 before you can get 5 doubled coupons, so I fill up the rest of the order with sale items and more coupons.

Each week that I "play the game" I get a little better and a little faster and a little more organized. I think that after 4 weeks I'm doing super well. Last week my receipts said the value of my orders was $250, but I paid $50. What a rush! The best part is that my kids are enjoying the yogurt and Bagel Bites and canned soups, etc. AND the store has a rewards program so I've been saving $0.50/gallon on gas, too. Wowzer. I'm definitely in stage one of coupon-zealousy.

After Clementine was born, I took a bit of a break from having 100% home-cooked meals. I let the boys get hot lunch A LOT (at $2.25/day that was $100 each month!) and on evenings when I taught music classes I experimented with frozen lasagnes and other things we've never tried before. Now, we're still getting the frozen dinners that make MY life easier, but for a cheaper cost AND the boys are getting to take fun stuff for lunch at a very cheap price! The other meals I make are starting to be based on what I see in the fridge from the previous bonanza that needs to get used up.

I decided to buy the kids thermos funtainers so they could take hot leftovers for lunch, and much to my delight they were on clearance at Target for $3.50 (normally $12-$15)! So, for the past 4 weeks everyone has been loving hot lunch from home. Sometimes it's leftovers, and sometimes it's Bagel Bites or other grocery-game freebies that the kiddos love. I think funtainers are a permanent part of the Weibel way.

And the final biggie for 2010 is my new chest freezer. I decided to go with 14.8 cu feet, and it's quickly getting filled up with grocery-game loot. The real beaty of the freezer is the capability to easily save my garden produce that I'm planning to harvest from the all-new Weibel 200 sq. ft. garden plot. We have taken out 8 trees to make space for the plot, and haven't I mentioned that March is traditionally Weibel Family Garden-Planning Month?

My shelves are sturdy and anchored to the wall.

Look at all those empty glass jars longing to be filled with produce. (The full tomato jars are hard to see, but we got 40 quarts finished off just as Clementine was born in 2009.)

Buckets and buckets and buckets. Sealed tight with oxygen-absorbing packets inside. Small green sticker-dots on the buckets are a code to let me know which are open, and how full they are. I use green dots because the hundreds of red, yellow and blue dots are used in my keyboarding classes to label the chords!

The funtainers. My favorite small purchase of 2010!

What should we name this lovely darling? Doug laughed when he saw how excited I was when it was delivered. He said he'd never seen anyone so excited about an appliance.

Xanadu

2010-03-09T14:15:00.004-06:00

I am pretty sure that these photos of Zoe, the muse of rollerskating look just like ME rollerskating when I was 4! Zoe is pretty happy and confident out there on her skates, trying to keep up with her speedy brothers (even too fast for me to photograph.) Somewhere there is a photo of me deeply and exhaustedly asleep on my bed with my roller skates on when I was 4 years old. There's also another photo of me asleep, with skates on...sitting on the potty.

Hey, skates work anywhere! Xander agrees- he loves to wear his heelies to Target and Costco especially (what other options exist?). Whenever I'm going to the store I remember to grab my reusable shopping bags and he remembers to grab his heelies. (Guy and Zoe are requesting Heelies, too, now.)

All He Wants For Easter

2010-03-09T14:07:00.005-06:00

All he wants for Easter are his 2 front teeth. Here are some photos of Guy proudly displaying his empty sockets and his brotherly touch with Clementine. All 4 of my children currently have teeth missing (well, Clementine never had any to begin with.)

Another Great Caper

2010-03-09T13:57:00.003-06:00

The kids had a great time at the school's fundraising carnival. This year I was NOT in charge of the whole shebang (phew) but I did decorate the "pick a flower" booth for Guy's class. This is an easy game- you pick a lollipop from the flowerpot and if the bottom is painted red or green you win a prize. If not, you still win the lollipop.

As always, Zoe loved the bouncy house the best, and Guy got in on some bouncy action, too. Zoe's butterfly tatoo is still on her cheek (4 days later) and going strong.

I'm in the process of documenting the rest of the booths and decorations, to make the planning process easy for whomever decorates the booths next year.

Let's Play Music METRONOME

2010-02-23T13:18:00.002-06:00

You know I love teaching my Let's Play Music classes...especially when there are treatsies. Maybe I'll win a metronome in this drawing. This week in class I used the metronome on my keyboard so we could practice the song "Hickory Dickory Dock" but I'd love one that's a little bit louder.

Shocking!

2010-02-06T22:48:00.002-06:00

Well, it's always disappointing when my delusions of my own invincibility come shattering into reality.

I was playing in a racquetball match with a new partner (okay, yes, I was getting kicked) and just as she was finishing her swing I leaped for the ball and got a sharp smack by the racket squarely on my left bicep.

Surprisingly, even though it left an impressively bright and distinct mark (you can ALMOST read the words), it didn't really hurt at all, so we kept playing. Yeah, yeah, my game didn't improve at all...

But then...I started to feel really weird. Dizzy, and nauseated....flushed...my heart was racing. My hands started to get shaky, I could tell I was about to either break into sobs or barf (or give one final push and deliver a baby...but I knew that wasn't the sitch).

Gosh! All that first aid and CPR training prepared me to diagnose myself as going into shock. Years of lacking "the edge" in competitive sports also enabled me to also diagnose myself as a class-A woos. I had to lie down and sip water and call it quits for the day.

Certainly I was embarrassed, but also simply perplexed at what my body was doing while in my mind I was not actually upset or injured. Ah, me.

I also recollect that I've experienced similar psychological trauma when playing laser tag and paintball. I know it's not real, but having someone chase me with a gun (or, apparently, racket-shaped weapon) FREAKS me out and gives me a panic attack.

Zorse!

2010-02-05T17:25:00.002-06:00

Xander: What do you get when you cross a Zebra with a Horse?
Zoe: You're gonna get in a LOT of trouble!!

Poems By Xander

2010-01-16T08:32:00.002-06:00

Xander's class is working on poetry, and I thought I'd share some of the excellent poems! This first one was written by the whole class working together. Xander was the one who came up with the word "ricocheted".

I BOUGHT OUR CAT A JET PACK

I bought our cat a jet pack,
Which I think she liked a lot.
She strapped it on and instantly
She took off like a shot.

She zoomed around my bedroom
Then she blasted down the hall.
She ricocheted off every piece
of furniture and wall.

Our dog freaked out and ran away.
Our hamster squeaked and fled.
I even saw my sister hiding
underneath her bed.

Our cat is so fired up
I almost hate to break the news:
She'll never catch our mouse;
I bought him rocket-powered shoes.

(This one is by Xander. He got the idea from his friend, Meg, who is always talking about her invisible dog, Pedro.)
MY DOG PLAYS INVISIBLE FRISBEE

My dog plays invisible frisbee.
He catches invisible balls.
He rides an invisible skateboard.
He hurdles invisible walls.

My dog has perfected the practice
of doing invisible tricks.
He jumps with invisible jumpropes
and fetches invisible sticks.

He barks at invisible mailmen.
He growls at invisible cats.
He'll bring me invisible slippers
and even invisible hats.

He chases invisible squirrels
whenever we go for a jog.
He's clearly the greatest dog ever.
I love my invisible dog.

Screams With Her Mouth Open

2009-12-18T17:30:00.002-06:00

It takes a special kind of person to be a children's dentist. I took Zoe in to have a cavity filled. After her traumatic tooth-injury and pulling during the summer, she was truly terrified to go back. We tried, in September, to take her for a cleaning and exam. She screamed and kicked and cried and flailed as though we were pulling teeth (which she probably assumed we were.)

So I suggested that we wait 3 months to let the fears abate before confronting the dental chair again. This time we were at least able to get Zoe to lie back easily and open her mouth (while holding my hand and sobbing,) which was a huge step up from the last visit.

Then Dr. Tim administered the "sleepy-tooth juice," and I must say, this is really and truly a performing art form. The giant needle was kept hidden from Zoe's view at all times, and he was able to remove it swiftly and hide it during those few times she started grabbing, pushing and rolling. All the while he was speaking soothingly, gently patting her hair, and wiping the tears away. And of course, no one said the N word or talked about pain!

I am going to go ahead and give myself a giant star, here, too, because I didn't even cry! Go mom! While they were working on the filling, I told her I could see her tooth and see how nice it was looking and how strong it was going to be. To console her screams, I said,"Yes, I know that juice tastes really bad. Sorry about that. You can spit it out soon."

I wonder if she was thinking, "DUH Mother! I'm crying because it hurts, not because it tastes bad!" But, you know, focusing on the minor annoyance may have helped her to take her mind off the giant drill hammering her tooth into her skull.

When it was all done (and so QUICKLY, by gosh! What TALENT!), Zoe was relieved and recovered instantly. Gentle Dr. Tim, with his sunny disposition, remarked that she seemed none worse-for-the-wear and deserved a nice helping of ice cream. He commented, "the good news is, she screamed with her mouth wide open the whole time!" :)

MOVIE: Clementine Slide Show

2009-12-12T00:19:00.002-06:00

A slide show of my growing belly and the new baby.
Photos by Gala Gardiner (except the self-portraits of my belly!)

My Newest Chindogu

2009-12-11T14:02:00.002-06:00

Last evening I took all the kids to Toys-R-Us to do some Christmas shopping. Xander was quick to point out that the name should be "Toys are We," and we decided that even if you have poor grammar, you can still get rich selling toys, which is not a very good way to promote college.

Well, helping four kiddies shop for each other WHILE the others are present can be tricky, so I brought along several dark green reusable shopping bags. These green bags have become really popular lately- everyone seems to have them. Anyhow, the idea was that as each child chose items for siblings' gifts, they could keep them hidden inside the "don't peek" bags until we got to the registers.

Each of them had already done some holiday shopping at the thrift store, so I think they appreciated the difference in price when visiting a big shiny toy chain. The boys were a little reluctant to spend a whopping lot of cash on gifts, so I agreed that if they plunked down $5 of hard-earned allowance toward each sibling gift, I'd cover the rest. Zoe had a hard time even grasping the concept of imagining what someone else might like to receive as a gift. She continually whined about not being able to buy gifts for herself. Hm. We'll have to keep working on that!

Well, things were going well until I needed to use the bathroom (browsing takes a really long time, you know.) While I was occupied, Zoe climbed into the cart and peeked in one of the "don't peek" bags! Argh. I don't think she understood what the item was that she got a glimpse of, so I'm hoping I can still surprise her.

When we got home, I took each child in turn into the wrapping room, where they chose paper and bows and tags for each gift. Then all the presents went up under the tree. In reality, the kids are already enjoying playing with the gifts- arranging and rearranging them like building blocks and stacking them to make forts and displays. Who needs to unwrap when gifts are so fun!?

So although the evening was a delightful success, I'm thinking it could be even better with my newest invention: the Spyfree Shopper-cart (AKA Peek-a-boo basket). Plastic walls and lid modify your shopping cart to make it impenetrable to peeky-eyes and make Holiday shopping a breeze. Just crack open the lid and toss in a few Bakugan, then slam it shut and pretend you were looking at the My Pretty Ponies. Swiftly toss in some Wii games while the kids aren't looking, then spin around so it looks like you probably were just buying a cell-phone charger and batteries. When you get to the checkout, be sure to choose any candy-filled aisle, and the kids will be so busy comparing flavors of Nerds that they won't notice you removing items from the cart. Order now and get a FREE green opaque bag to carry items home in.

Just call 1-800-SPYFREE before your Holiday gifts get spied on!

To make this blog entry more enjoyable, google the word "chindogu".

Prepubescent Portent

2009-12-11T00:15:00.002-06:00

The other day, Guy had his first phonecall from a girl, Celia. At age SIX, I think this is just too early. No growing up allowed!

I could hear her giggling and shrieking (and I think she had a friend at the other end of the line, too.) Guy liked the attention and was making silly jokes and laughing as well. After 5 minutes I said, "Let your friend know you have to get off the phone soon," and he dutifully did just that. Phew.

So, here I am, one of the LAST people I know to hold out and not get a cell phone, and my kids are slowly nudging me toward the lip of the friendly phone-calls, facebook, personal-email-accounts, cell-phones abyss. You can bet I got plenty of flack for not having a phone when I was 9 months (and then some) pregnant. I just hate the idea of yet another monthly bill, and I'm also not so interested in figuring out how to carry a phone on my person. Yes, I'm also holding out against carrying a purse or a diaper bag! I am just an easy "jump in the car and go" kinda gal. (Did I mention that before jumping into the car I have to make sure 5 people each have on 10 different sub-zero-temperature protective clothing items, AND help them into seatbelts AND remember the gym bag AND reusable shopping bags?)

Jumping in the car to dash someplace means taking 30 minutes to GET in the car. And who wants to add a purse or bag or phone to that mess? I put a diaper, few wipes and a hand-sanitizing spray nudged in the baby's seat, and my wallet comes along, and we go. Enough already.

But, then, the other evening at a Christmas party, I sheepishly borrowed a cell phone to call Doug and let him know that the party was starting and he'd better come on over (he'd been at the holiday physics show with the boys - WHAT?! - don't YOU go to the holiday physics and chemistry show each year? You should!) The owner of the phone wisely stated, "Aahh, but when your kids are teenagers, THEN you'll really need a cell phone of your own."

And sadly, I think he was right. Now someone please tell me that "teen" does not begin at age six!

Bad Day, Worse Day

2009-12-04T15:53:00.002-06:00

When I was in high school I sometimes played a silly game with a friend. It was "bad day, worse day." The first person thinks of a BAD scenario, and the second person thinks of what could make it WORSE (and/or comical).

It goes something like this:
BAD DAY: On the way to work in the morning, you get stuck in a 45-minute traffic jam.
WORSE DAY: AND you ate four bran muffins for breakfast.
BAD DAY: Your date notices you picking your nose.
WORSE DAY: It was a football date, and everyone else looking at the jumbo-screen saw it, too.

And so, I found myself saying "Bad day...worse day!" when this happened to me in real-life yesterday:

BAD DAY: While shopping, I got 25 one-dollar bills, to use over the next few weeks to pay my kids allowance. I stuffed the roll in my back jeans pocket and forget about it, until later, when dinner was boiling over and the baby was crying for a diaper change and the kids were fighting. I planned to take care of everything just as soon as I relieved my bladder, so I ran in the bathroom, whipped down the jeans and....the roll of bills flipped out of my pocket and landed in the toilet!

WORSE DAY: I didn't notice the bills in the water until AFTER, uh, they got even WETTER. Then I had to fish them out, set them aside until the other emergencies were resolved, and later spend some time washing them in soapy water and laying them out to dry.

BAD DAY: You get roped into money laundering.
WORSE DAY: It's the kind of money laundering that involves toilet water.

Candid

2009-11-28T18:48:00.003-06:00

The kids have a "kids camera" that I got for free via freecycle. I decided we needed a kid camera after one of the real cameras was killed. So, it's always a little intriguing to see what kinds of things Zoe has taken pictures of, and every once in a while there's a candid photo of me! So I just felt that I should post it. Along with the band-aid on the toe.