The Follow Up

I had to take Maddie to the Doc yesterday. I claimed it was her ER follow up, but really, she didn't look good. She still had a fever, and this weird rash thing on her face and limbs. She was miserable, and I didn't sleep Monday night, due to her needing to be touching me the entire night and moaning and wimpering every time she moved. The poor thing was just miserable.

So, in we went. I have a fairly decent relationship with our GP, mostly due to the fact that in the past five years with kids, not only have I personally financed his 4 summer homes, but I'm pretty sure I've also supplied the income necessary to allow him return to India for a MONTH every year.

It's never good when the doctor walks in and says, "Oh, she doesn't look good." However, thanks to this statement, I felt validated in bringing her in. LOOONG story short, he put her on antibiotics. He listened to her chest, and asked if the ER got a chest film on her. No, they did not. Well, her breathing is coarse and wheezy, and he couldn't promise that a viral infection wouldn't/didn't turn bacterial, and since it wasn't quite pneumonia YET...blah blah blah here's the dose. Thank YOU! (The rash was just her body's way of fighting the fever). I did kind of get a lecture on her eating and needing to drink milk yada yada yada. I can't help it. I try, but I think she's just a little girl. What can I do?

She still had trouble sleeping last night, and still isn't right. My workouts and training are SEVERLY compromised, but I can't take a sick kid in to the Y and infect everyone else. She hasn't even been fever free for 24 hours. I've been eating like crap (not in quantity, but certainly quality) so I'm sure I'm porking out. You know how it is. You're tired, and crabby, and feel gross because sometimes that workout is all you get in a day to feel good about yourself....Sigh....

We are almost back to normal, but she's still a little lethargic, still not quite 100%. One more rest day, then we'll get there.

Because Everyone Should Spend The Holiday In the ER

Princess still has a fever, so I decided to stop being a shiteous mother and I took her in to the ER. I tried calling the Dr.'s office, but of course they are closed, and they were going to charge me $30 just to page the on call Dr. who would have sent me in to the hospital anyway. Bloodwork could find nothing wrong bacterially, so they think she has some funky virus and sent us home with a garbage can diagnosis and a fever of 101. They did pump in some fluids (she was a bit dehydrated), and give her tylenol (which didn't work).

She perked up a bit with fluids, but I'm keeping her home while John visits his parents for a cookout. We're having a quiet day, but she's sitting here next to me singing Mary J. Blige and U2's version of "One". She has a pretty good voice too.

The worst part of today is that she's lost weight. We're down to 21 lbs folks. Not so hot for a 2 year old, but what can I do? Maybe she'll just be a cute little pixie chick, with pink punky hair when she's a teenager and possessing the ability to wear any little outfit and look cute- even ripped jeans and chains and goth wear. Hmmm.....

If Sammy doesn't like the look, there's always those cute boys in Iowa! ;-p

Goings On...

Don't they look like they could be twins? I swear, if Nate didn't have a gigantor head, and weigh in at about 10 lbs heavier than Ms. Madders, people might think there's less than 13 months between them.


I've decided it's time to stop ignoring the obvious and I'm taking Nate in to an ENT Tuesday. He's going to see an audiologist to check for any hearing loss- he was a total ear infection kid, and then the ENT who did Madders frenulectomy will consult. I've also been on the horn with our local CFC (Child/family Connections) to get Nate a speech eval. It all came about when at the park Thursday he was just damn clumsy. It's typical for Nate, and how I have not been in the ER with multiple head wounds with him is beyond me.

Jen, who is a FABULOUS OT conferred with me my concerns at the park, and just told me to get him in for the evals. Not sure if his vestibular system is off, or his equilibrium, or if he needs articulation help, but we'll figure it out. It could also be that he's kinda on the lazy side, so we shall see. It could also be that I'm either a freak and over the top, or just a really shitty mom who's ignored this problem for too long. Sigh....

Madilynn is a little on the sick side. She spiked a fever last night while John and I were out for his birthday. It comes and goes depending on when her Motrin/Tylenol cocktail wears off, and she hasn't been eating for 2 days. Not good when you're a 22 lb 2 year old. WHICH, by the way!!! I think I've solved maybe a bit of her mystery.

She WILL NOT drink milk. Every mama knows...babies gots to have dem some whole cows milk for the fat and calories. My peanut won't touch it, and I THINK that since she's been drinking only water her 7 daily poops have been quite reduced. I think milk hurts her tum tum and I think she is smart enough to know it. I've tried soy (vanilla and chocolate) and she's not having it. I also tried enriched rice milk, uh, another no go. On a whim, I bought some Lactaid, which is lactose free whole milk, and about oh, 7 bucks per gallon. And she drinks it. And she likes it. So, I guess I suck up buying 4 different kinds of milk for a while... (Lactaid, Skim, 2%, and Soy for me). If I were a good mom, I'd go totally dairy free, but that is damn hard to do. She loves her pizza, but won't really touch cheese otherwise, so I'll just follow her lead on this one.

She's still pretty warm right now and tossing and turning in her sleep. We had a bbq at OT Jen's for my future son in law Sam's first birthday and since we were outside (and Jen said her kids got my kid sick anyway so bring her) she had fun for a little under 3 hours (they live less than 2 mi. away so we could make any necessary quick get aways.) I'm sure I'll be up with her tonight, but that's okay. She's a total snuggle bug!

As I mentioned before, we got a sitter last night and celebrated John's birthday. There's this really awesome restaurant near us called The Onion Pub that has awesome, fresh, non mall chain type food. Since I'm a total food snob, I LOVE it! After we got some grub, we hit a local bar (yay to IL for being all smoke free!) and watched the Cubbies and Women's softball on the big huge plasma screens. It was nice, but we didn't stay out long because I had to take the sitter home (who did a fabulous job by the way)!

My mom thought it was hilarious that we are 30 years young and in bed before 10. It's a good thing too, because Homer and Barney (the boys) were up around 4:15. And by up, I don't mean vegged watching tv. I mean up, running thru the house and shooting each other with guns and swinging light sabers at each other. Very annoying when you've been up with a mini oven fevering in your arms all night, but I still got my hour long cycle in today. Gotta keep up with the training!

I've been rambling. It helps to get it all out there and then I sleep very peacefully. Thank you David Gray for being my musical companion tonight....

Running Races For a Cause

I've decided that to get ready for this triathlon thingy I should probably do more outdoor training, so I'm getting geared up for some 5ks. I have to have a good cause to do it though, like pediatric cancer, or Down Syndrome.

Anyone want to join me June 5th?

http://www.gigisplayhouse.com/

Jack, Erik, and the Bungee Cord Experiment

Jack has a new best friend, who lives, conveniently, 2 doors down. I know my son. I know he can be pushy, and bossy, but I KNOW he LOVES this kid. At 5:30 a.m. every day, he is asking me if it's 3:30 so he can play with Erik. NO! NO! NO! I have not had my coffee, I am NOT functioning, stop asking really hard questions.

Today we got to take Erik to the park. Jack couldn't have been happier. Then my little stalker son knew exactly when it was time for Erik to be home from school, so he stalked his way over and invited him to play. Here's where it got interesting.

I truly believe boys are not left to their own devices enough. They don't get to climb trees, shoot sling shots, or JUST BE BOYS. Here's where my son and the neighbor boy excelled today. They decided to climb the puny newly planted trees in my yard using bungee cords for help. They were wearing their helmets, so I deemed it OKAY and SAFE. Plus, it's not like we have big trees, more like sticks in the yard with leaves, so I supervised, made sure no one could really hurt themselves and proceeded to weed the bushes.

Then, they got CREATIVE! They were both hooking the bungees together to make a slingshot off the tree, and were shooting Nate's Diego sunglasses into the Cul-De-Sac. Now, I realize a NORMAL mom would be freaking about the possiblity of hooks in eyes, but, I warned them, and they both made sure to be free and clear of any hooks during shooting practice. What was so neat was to watch their problem solving. Sometimes the glasses didn't go to far, and I listened to the boys trying to figure out new Bungee configurations to make them fly further. Sometimes it didn't work well at all, and I swear, they put their heads together and talked about it, and got something cooking that made "boy sense", and then they slung the glasses into the cul-de-dac and got really excited because their experiment worked.

At one point, someone drove by and waggled a finger at them, and shook her head. Let me be clear in stating that they were supervised at all times (although they didn't realize it), and really, whose business is it anyways? Here were 2 boys, problem solving, in a very real sense to them something that was really important, and really, kinda scientifically cool. I DID draw the line when they started bungee slinging other bungee cords. That could be dangerous, but the discussions were awesome and relevant. It was really hard to curb their enthusiasm. (Also, in our Cul-de-sac, it is our house, and 2 others, one of whom is not here during the week, the other family doesn't arrive until after five, so the boys were not in danger of hurting anyone, or anything, waggling finger lady!) The therapist in me couldn't have been more proud!

So I say, let boys climb trees and shoot sling shots, and hold worms, and watch Star Wars, and think their own thoughts. These little men we are molding are amazingly interesting creatures, who can problem solve, avoid injury (give them a little credit!). and learn social skills and how to love and care for each other.

Maybe I'm not a "normal" mom. But, I'm hoping to create free thinkers, problem solvers, and kids who aren't afraid of their own shadows. I want them to be their own little personalities, but I want them to respect their neighbors, and friends. Maybe waggling finger lady knows more than I do.

But, maybe not.

Because NO Little Girl Wants to Be Known as "Mullet Chick" (Or, Mullet Chic)

I took a good, long, hard, painful look at my beautiful little girl yesterday and decided it was time to let the mullet go. I was trying to let her hair grow long, but, well, she was ALL business up front, and party in the back. Her bangs were really scraggly too. She looked less like a little girl and more like a frumpy old lady. She always has that old lady look, but the hair made it worse. She can't help that she's an old soul. By the By, the outfit is an 18 monther that OT Jen bought for her when she was born. It's just starting to fit nicely, but the dang pants still fall down. Skinny Minnie.


During the cut, she didn't cry, or even whimper. She just has that old lady sad face on, probably because it looked like the boys were having a lot of fun running around the hair shop. I on the other hand, was a little teary. It's the last ever "First Baby Haircut". Just one more thing to add to the Last Ever First of something. Sniffle....

Bye Bye Mullet, hello cute little girl bob. The cut is a bit uneven, but it's not the hair lady's fault. She was working on a moving target, and did okay in spite of that.

The end result. I can no longer put all her hair up in Piggies, but it looks cute with a little bit down in back. No more sad old lady, just a smiley little girl.

Just Finished this Saturday....

All 350 + pages took about a week, and it was well worth every second I spent reading it. Those of you who know me know I love me some good historical fiction. This book explores the Italian Renassaince, the Medicis, the artists, and the reformation of the Church all in a very exciting read. There's a lot of religion in there -and those of you who know me know my religion issues (I believe in faith, not religion. Especially since some people wear their religion like a badge and aren't really good people inside or out). But, the religion is done in a historical sense.

The book is awesome. Made me really wonder why there are no women artists in the annals of history (Michelangelo? Donatelli? Leonardo Da Vinci?) I'm pretty sure women did not wake up in the 1960's during the ERA movement with a bunch of newborn talents, and I'm kinda angry at myself for not questioning it all before. How would history be different if women were more tolerated? Hmmm....

Good food for though, and for those of you who need a little love story and romance, well, that's all in there too.

Yummy!

Graduation

Nobody ever tells you how depression parenting can be. You get sad every birthday, weepy or morose at every milestone-because your 'baby' is growing up. I've been avoiding this post for that reason. My 'baby' is no longer a 'baby'.


Really though, I can't decide why it's so depressing. Is it because he's growing up, or I'm getting older. When in the world did I get old enough, and grow up enough to be a parent of a kindergartner? How did THAT happen? Where did the past 5 years go?

What is REALLY upsetting is that I feel like I can't remember a lot of it, due to having to very exuberantly live in the present tense. I don't remember every milestone for every kid, and for whatever reason I feel like those were supposed to be important enough to remember.

At scrapbooking a few weeks ago as I did Maddie's baby book, I couldn't remember how old she was when she was crawling, getting teeth, and eating solids, and all that other stuff. But, I DO remember her 2 surgeries like they were yesterday. I remember she walked at 9 months old. I don't know if that makes me a bad parent, a normal parent, or just one who is trying to survive childhood. But I don't want to just survive it. I want to treasure it, and it seems like the more I try, the faster and more fleeting it goes.

Back to graduation. I get it. He's 4 and graduating from pre-school, so it's not like there's a lot of academic accomplishments to embellish on. It was more a cute little ceremony, designed to make mommies weep, and help transition the kids. Jack was very excited, but having a hard time with not going to St. Barnabas anymore. I know he will love kinneygarten. He sucks up information like a little sponge, so I am looking forward to him learning a lot!



This is Mr. Man. Pre-Ceremony. All dandied up in his shirt and tie, and new haircut. And dancing. Always dancing, dressing up, smiling, mostly happy. Except when he is arguing with me and debating the finer points of life.



Boys. Aren't they handsome little devils?

Family photo. I love this, because although there were a couple of us all looking at the camera, this is more typical of us. Notice Nate's bare feet. Always. The kid feels the world thru his toes.

This is Jack at Graduation receiving his diploma. It was really a Bible, and all the Biblical stuff they have learned the past 2 years is from this particular Bible. It's very cute, picutres, and all, and the wording is extremely kid friendly. Not like his other "kid" Bible that shows a cartoon Jesus in pain on the cross. I mean, I know they need to learn the story of Easter, but for a little kid, graphic nails in hands and feet is a bit much--even if it is a cartoon.

I got him a DQ chocolate extrememe ice cream cake, and OH MYGOSH YUMMMY!!! I highly recommend it. I had them write on it, but what do you write for a 4 year old graduating preschool? Congratulations seems a bit stiff, especially when we're just celebrating a transition in life, rather than any actual achievements. I chose "Way to Go!". I should have had "Way to Go MOM" put on there, because it's due to all my hard work, dedication, and sacrifice he's gotten this far, don't you think?

Oh well. Summer has officially begun, so I'm busy training, planning field trips and mentally preparing myself for the first day of 'big kid school'. That's gonna be a tough one-emotionally speaking.

Thank goodness I have 3 and 1/2 months to prepare myself!

Did She Have an "Oh Crap" Moment? I Doubt It!

Most people who have 4 kids at home may go "Uh Oh!" once they find out they're pregnant again. Most non celebs may faint, curse, or break some dishes when they find out they have 4 kids and are expecting twins. I know I would.

Why? Because while I love my children all days, and like them most days, this is hard. It is hard to be June Cleaver and the fun, funny, clever, physically fit mom all rolled into a tidy little package. Which leads me to wonder about Angelina Jolie. I can't help the things I think when I'm working out, so this was today's topic.

Do you think, with all those kids, when she found out she was having twins her reaction was what yours or mine would have been? Or, do you think that since she has someone to cook, clean, nanny, and probably change double the amount of crappy diapers in the middle of the night she was like, "Whatevah...Now we can go forward with our next adoptee crisis?" She seems hands on--when the bulbs are flashing. She seems content, and happy to be a mom, BUT, I think I'd be happy a lot more too if I wasn't chasing my 2 year old to keep him from peeing in the front yard. I'd be REALLY happy if I wasn't constantly cooking, and cleaning, and organizing school papers and graduation cakes and vaccinations, etc, etc, etc. You all know the drills of daily parenting and the multitude of dilemmas.

My next thought was, who thinks the twins were natural? She has enough money that they could be "on purpose". It'd be a great stunt, for publicity or whatever she wanted it to be. I don't have any answers, just speculations.

And, lastly, does a celebrity, like Angelina get to say, "Wow! Being a mommy is SO hard?" Because in my opinion, it's probably not as hard for her as another suburban mommy trying to balance healthy family meals with a healthy family budget, and just trying to make sure you're raising good socially responsible future Americans and humanitarians.

Thoughts?

T Minus 8 Weeks....and Counting

So, I'm getting ready for this race. And I'm getting nervouser and nervouser (yes, this English minor knows it's not a word. Work with me.)

I've been working hard, and not losing any damn weight in the process, except for 2 pounds which may or may not be attributed to the high fiber fiasco. My diet isn't any better, but I'm crapping a helluva lot more, so maybe that's what shaved those lb's off.

I digress. Last week I was on the part where I do 8 x 100 yds in the pool, first with a 20 second rest, then a few days later a 10 second rest. I did 9 sets, just to get me to my 1/2 mile and build endurance. I also purposely circle swam with the big dude who was slow, but made a lot of waves so that I could practice being in someones wake. It was good practice, I think, but now I'm getting nervous in regards to swimming in a lake. Temperatures are estimated to be between 72-75 degrees in the water, so I won't need a wetsuit, but, well, I hate being cold. Chronic anemia does that to a person. Maybe it will make me swim faster to warm up.

Today was a swim day, and I just did a straight half mile. It was slow but I was working on increasing the efficiencey of my breathing and stroke. I also ran a little over half a mile and lifted weights. It's funny, that while I'm not losing any weight, my body is changing a bit. Not much, but enough that I am very comfortable in size 6 pants, occasionally (depending on the brand) a size 4, and I wear medium sized tops. No more larges for me, however that may have less to do with working out and more to do with post breastfeeding flat banana boobs. I guess I'll take it, because as a former overly chested woman, slightly smaller ta ta's allow for cuter clothes. And the styles fit better.

I am getting really nervous about the race though. I have nerves of jello and am not very good in competitive situations. Not at all. Unless I'm playing Bar Trivia, or any Pop Culture Trivia. I'm really good at that shit.

I think that I'm fine with all the physical stuff, the swimming, the biking, and the run (which for me at that point may most likely be a slow jog), but I AM getting really nervous about my transitions and being prepared with all the 'equipment' I need, like bike shorts and running shirts, the right type of hyration (Gatorade, or Propel?), how quick can I change my shoes, etc, etc, etc. Any athletes out there with hints would be welcome to offer up advice. Basically, I think I'm just reaching out to my blog fan base for some sunshine pumping, words of encouragement, and shiny happy thoughts.

People have been asking about my training, so I'm thinking I'll be writing more and more about what's going on. I have decided that until the race I'm not going to be drinking any alcohol. I know it's a hard pill to swallow, what with summer coming up and lots of fun festivities, and some will be disappointed that the 'fun girl/entertainment' is taking a bit of a break. Sorry. I get buzzed off one beer lately (since I've cut back so much) and the next day during training I feel sluggish and not up to par. The workout feels slightly compromised. Perhaps between now and then I MAY have a glass of wine here and there, but I'm trying not to, so I can be strong as I can be in 8 weeks. I'm REALLY trying on the coffee thing too, but, well, it gets the system going and when you have um, 'issues' (I know it grosses ya'll out, so I won't blog about 'them' anymore) it helps.

I believe tomorrow is a brick day, and as always abs. They aren't getting any better, so if my husband calls anyone asking what to get me for my birthday or Christmas, inform him I wasn't joking when I said "TUMMY TUCK". Stinking kids.

Do you think they make 2 piece triathlon bathing suits that adequately cover stretch marks?

PIRATES!

Saturday I took the boys to see the musical/stage adaptation of "How I Became a Pirate". It's a really cute book and I just found out there is a sequel as well. Yay!

I for one, love live theater. So does my mom, so we took her to see the play, and then out to lunch at Portillos where Jack was the only 'bad' one and ate a burger. My mom and I were 'good' and had salads (no fatty dressing on mine, just a dab of oil and lots of vinegar), and Nate was sorta good because he ate his bun, no fatty burger for him!

Back to live theater-I'm hoping after watching their reactions to Diego in Omaha and now the Pirates this is something we can do more often. CYT (Christian Youth Theater) is pretty cheap, between $13-$18 per kid ticket, so we'll see how it goes.

Here they are, giving their best "Aaaaaaaarrrghs!"

Oma and the boys.

Me and the boys. It loks like I have them in some sort of death grip. Which I probably did.

Jack has been trying to take a lot of pics with my camera lately. This is his stage shot. He may have some raw talent!
The Pirate show was good. Except the guy who played the little boy tried so hard to be a little boy, that he almost was like, a little Special Ed. For a little while anyway, but then he kinda just was more like a kid...it's hard to explain. The boys loved it tho-even the singing and dancing, which I can hardly convince their father to like.

I really, really can't wait to 'culture' them more. Someday, I may get to see "Wicked" again!

No comment

This is the shirt my bro wore to my niece's birthday party yesterday. Quick quiz baseball fans...what does it mean?
Hint: If you're not at a Brewers game it really doesn't make a lot of sense. And seems weird to be a bilboard on a guy.

This is how my brother shows me he loves me.

I love him too.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today was a special Mother's Day program at Jack's school. It was sooo cute. The kids sang some mom's day songs, and then we were treated to some cute art projects and cinnamon rolls and juice. It was lovely, and really perfect as far as mother's day gifts go.


Isn't he the cutest? Sometimes his devil horns retract and make us proud!

Me and my buddy. I can't believe that next week he is graduating from preschool. That means he's old enough to go to big kid school, and while I'm good at not being overly emotional, or keeping my thoughts in check, this one is going to be a hard one. Have I been the best mom I can be these five long years? I'm not so sure. So much more to do I think.

Back to mother's day-I've heard and seen lots of dumb commercials for gifts. I think my favorite was on the radio today, 2 radio personalities advertising a sonicare toothbrush, special mother's day edition you know. Uh, no thanks.

Another commercial asked "What does Mom REALLY want for mother's day? To keep everyone connected! Buy our phone!" Um no again. Like I want people to be in contact with me more than they already are? No.

How about the constant e-mails from Williams sonoma for new cooking apparati. WRONG! Because that means I must use them to serve, and well, on mother's day I'm not serving anyone anything.

So what do I really want? Quiet. Time to read. Time to play instead of do laundry. I really don't want jewelry, I barely wear my wedding ring as it is. I want my husband to make dinner that I like, not just steak. And if that's all he can handle, I want it rare, not charred because that's how he likes it, and is too lazy to pay attention on the grill (big flames = faster cooking = less time doing something you don't want to do). But mostly, a few hours of quiet would be enough.

What do you hope for this Sunday? Be honest!

Fiber-licious!

One of my coworkers at the clinic has started a new high fiber diet. Supposedly, last week, she ate whatever she wanted and lost 4 lbs, all because she consumed 35 grams of fiber per day. So, I got to Jenny's on Monday to continue our 15 hour internet conference and obtain a mastery level of some skill still to be determined, when she hands me 5 sheets worth of high fiber foods.

To be sure, it is NOT easy to consume 35 grams of high fiber foods, unless you're eating raspberries, because a mere cup of them contains 8.34 grams. If you eat 1 cup of Bran Cereal, well, you'll be crapping redwoods with 19.94 grams of fiber, and the list goes on. 35 grams of fiber is a lot of fiber to begin with so bran cereal aside, if I follow this diet I probably will be crapping redwoods. Except, with Triathlon training, I think I'm supposed to up the ante on lean protein- I suppose I should consult the experts at Celebrity Fit Club. Hell, Tina Yothers lost 11 lbs in one week eating chicken and broccoli. It's gotta be worth a try....

For now, I guess I'll up my fiber, just for the sake of my cholesterol (which I'm sure is fine) and a high fiber diet IS heart healthy.

It's just too bad for the hemorroids I suppose.

What WILL the neighbors Think?

The scene: Me, mowing the front lawn at about 3 this afternoon.

Nate runs out into the yard (I thought he was out back, but apparently he snuck into the house) and he was Nekkid from the waist down.

"Nate, what are you doing?"

"I gotta go pee on the tree!"

"Uh, no ya don't. Get your hiney in the house and go on the toilet!"

"Don' wanna go toilet, wanna pee on the tree." Begins running around yard. Flapping his junk for all the world to see.

Crap. Grab kid. Drag kid. Sit kid on toilet-he pees and for whatever reason needs new undies and shorts. Whatever-he didn't wake up his sleeping sister.

Just gave all the neighbors and the authorities from Child Protective Services a show....

That's all.....

The Ultimate Do it Yerselfer

Every girl needs a man in her life that can just do things. And by do things, I mean fix whatever is broken. It's also good to have a handyman on speed dial that knows 20,001 different uses for both gorilla glue and duct tape. For me, that man is better known as dad. The guy can fix pretty much anything, or at least improvise enough to make it seem like he can do anything.

John can do the basiscs, don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure he can hammer a nail into a board-however he definitely cannot eyeball a perfectly straight cut for a louvered door with a table saw, and my dad can. The man literally works 8 days a week. When you call at 8 on a Saturday or Sunday and he answers, it's weird, so my siblings and I don't usually say Hello. It's more like "What the hell are you doing home?" To which he responds "I live here." Right, we almost forgot.

Being able to visually and spatially accomplish a task is not one of my finer points. In fact, I can't do it at all. Dad used to come home from a job and start babbling about 2x4's and framing sidewalks and pouring 16x22 basements and I would hear the teacher from Charlie Brown start going "Wah wah wha wha whhaa wha wah..."

This brings me to the point. Oma and Opa got Jack a build a pirate boat kit for Christmas. Perfect to start working on before I take the boys to the Pirate Musical this Saturday. Perfect except the very succinct directions started and ended with "Comes with 85 interlocking pieces." and on the sheet the pieces were numbered, just to prove there were really 85 of them. That's it. Of course, my dad came over and started tinkering and built up, took apart when that didn't work, so he did it again and again. He has a lot of patience when it's a project that has nothing to do with his kitchen sink being scrubbed....

And...a few hours later, with the help of a cartoon photo of what the boat looks like in action, he did it. Voila! Feast yer eyes, mateys!


To round out the day, not only can the man build a boat in savant like fashion, he also taught Jack how to use homemade divining rods. "Go get me some wire hangers" he says. Okay....2 wire hangers, and some plier work later, we're out in the front yard figuring out where our water line runs. It totally works too....Just cut them as you see below, bend into little l's, hold loosely and start walking. When you hit the water line they cross.

John did it...it made a believer out of him! Opa totally rocks. The kids loved having him here to build stuff, and Oma here to cook stuff. It was a great way to spend Sunday afternoon.

So, who's your Mr. Fix it?

Just Because

I have taken thousands of photos using my digital camera. Still wishing I had an slr, but this works too. Enjoy!

Nathan....I am your Fatha!
No! I'll never join you!

I guess it's just what little boys and big boys too do. Everything is a weapon.
Like my Barbie car?

Say cheese, you little princess!

Chicks dig me!

She Might Possibly be the True Love of My Life

For real, who else is so unapologetic about using 8 sticks of butter per dish? Her stuff tastes good, and homey, and very saturated fatty, but once in a while, don't we all need some good southern lovin ya'll?

I love how excited she gets when she tastes her own food. Doesn't she practice before she's on camera? She loves what she does, the relationship she has with butter and the food it creates is pure and genuine bliss. She's happy and totally loaded.

I know, I know. I try to be healthy and workout and do a triathlon. But if that gig doesn't work out, I'm totally gonna put on some Paula, make somethin' delish, and laugh at all the skinny people running 5k's.

Sigh....