D - Trying to redeem himself

At lunch today, Noah designed THIS out of all of the healthy parts of his lunch that he didn't want to eat:

He begged me to "Put it on the blog!" I think he's trying to make himself look better to all of you since he knows what his last blog entry was about!

D - When Joel comes to play

Here's the bad news for Mary & Neil: My kids REALLY like playing with Joel - not so much as a playmate, but more as a play thing.

Here's Joel playing with EVERY toy he brought to our house (courtesy of Katie):



And here he is playing princess (also courtesy of Katie):



Doesn't he look happy? He just loves to see us......

D - Did I mention that she's ornery?

Just in case I haven't mentioned lately what a stinker Katie is......



(Click for larger image to get the true effect.)

I Y her!

D - A Paradox

I had every intent of titling this post "Nursing Mom," and writing all about how sweet my son is. You see, 2 days ago I woke up with the stomach virus that is plaguing the OKC area. Ugh. It was awful. I couldn't get out of bed that morning (or all day for that matter), so Noah took care of Katie by getting her cereal for breakfast. Next, he came in with breakfast for me:



(Disclaimer***This pic is a recreation. I was too sick to get the actual pic on film!)


So sweet! Of course, I couldn't touch it, so I was happy every time Katie snuck in the room to "check on me" when she would steal a handful of Wheatables. That way I could lie (Sorry, Audrey! I didn't know this was such a bad habit of mine!) to Noah every time he was sad I hadn't eaten his breakfast and tell him that the crackers were really helping me.

Now for the paradox part. How is it that such a sweet, thoughtful boy can also be so conniving, misbehaving and mischievous?

Here's the background: Noah missed a week of school (about 3 weeks ago now) when he had a fever for 6 days. About a week ago his teacher told me that he has been getting into a lot of trouble ever since his return to school. Apparently he's acting very silly and his 2 best buds are following his lead. Ugh again.

Flash-forward to today. I was getting Noah ready for school and went to put his teacher's book in his backpack. When I opened it, I saw a bright yellow folder I had never seen before. It was titled "Behavior Folder. Return the next day." Did I already say "Ugh?"

Me: "NOAH!"

Noah: "Yes, lovely Mother, the light of my life?"

Me: "Where did this folder come from?"

Noah: (Head drops, shoulders sag) "Kindergarten."

Me: "When did you get it?"

Noah: "Yesterday."

Me: "And was there a letter or something in it?"

Noah: "Yes."

Me: "Where is it???"

Noah: "In the trash can in my room."

Me: "Booo Hoooo Hoooo Hoooo! Where did I go wrong?" or maybe just "Show me!"

Anyhow, apparently my son is not listening, thinks he is the teacher, and is acting quite silly. I made him write a letter to the teacher apologizing for his behavior (which apparently no child on earth has ever been forced to do before). Some sort of grounding will likely follow which I'm sure will destroy his life.

But, SERIOUSLY????? Who knew he could be so conniving at age 6???? In hindsight, I now recall that when he got home from school yesterday he emptied his own backpack and said "Here's all of my stuff for today." That had never before been done. I guess I just didn't realize how quickly I would be required to match wits with him. Sadly, I am, of course, disappointed in him, but I'm also a little proud. I mean, how smart is he? He almost got away with it on his first try.....or, at least, I HOPE it was his first try!

D - Rhetorical Question

Let's suppose for a moment that there is a lovely young mother of 2 charming children who is diagnosed with the Flu 2 years in a row. Unlike the 2 previous years, would said mother make it a priority to have herself and her angelic offspring vaccinated the following fall? I guess we'll never know - seeing as this is mere fiction.

M - Mom obviously needs better manners

Aside from this blog, I keep a more personal journal that I hope to give the kids some day. It is chock full of pictures and stories, fun things we've done together, and as best I can muster, how much and all the reasons I love being their dad. The journal is 86 pages so far, fully ensuring they'll probably never take the time to read it. :-)

Anyway, here is an entry from 25 Nov 2006 that I wanted to share with you.

Noah has been counting down the days until his friend Chandler gets to visit our house tomorrow. He started counting down about 9 days out and tomorrow is the big day.

He and I were at the mall yesterday enjoying a small container of Dippin’ Dots ice cream when I asked him what he and Chandler did last time she came over. Following is an EXACT quote of what he said:

“Last time Chandler came over mommy got to do whatever she wants. She got to clean dishes and wash clothes...it just worked out perfectly for her. I can't remember if she thanked us or not.”

Really, mom. How rude.

D - Grandpa Emmitt

The most beautiful man I've ever known passed away yesterday. My heart is broken - as are the hearts of my entire family and the many, many people whose lives he touched.

I'm staring at this screen now...trying to think of something adequate to say. I want to be poetic. I want to use words like truly great writers do. I want each and everyone who reads this to leave feeling like they knew him and like they too have lost a great treasure. Unfortunately, I'm not a gifted writer. I'm not a poet. And I have the flu, so even my usual brain isn't functioning like I want it to.

But I'm hurting. Tears are pouring from my eyes, and the knot in my throat is choking me. I love him. And I miss him so much.

Mostly though, I'm thankful. I'm thankful that I knew him. That I was his granddaughter. His favorite. (Just like the other 7 would say.) I'm thankful that Mike knew him - because if he didn't, he would never understand what kind of marriage we are striving for. I'm thankful that Mike has been crying too - not for my loss, but for his own - and that we're in this together. I'm thankful for my grandmother, who was his best friend in the world, his sweetheart, his other half. I honestly can't imagine one without the other. Now I'm crying for her.......again.

I'm thankful that I got to see him last month for his birthday and that it will always be one of my happiest memories of him - and there are many, many of those. I'm thankful that he had no doubt how much he was loved. I'm thankful that he's not hurting anymore. I'm thankful that he is with God. I'm thankful that I get to share this pain with a family who loves him just as much as me and that we all get to hold one another close and cry together this weekend. Please pray for us all. It will be hard.

M - What your kids did on date night...

I've uploaded pictures from last Friday night, 1 Feb 08. Most of the kids were great and even if yours wasn't, I wouldn't tell you anyway! :-)

In general there was all kinds of craziness and silliness.

You can view the pictures and video by clicking HERE.

D - Yum! Pot pies!

Mike and I have recently started a couples journaling project that I saw on Oprah. It's really a great idea, and I'd be glad to share more about it if anyone is interested. Anyhow.....one of the things you do in this journaling is to ask your spouse a question. Nothing big - just something to talk about because conversation is good.

Disclaimer - Mike is BAD at food. In our early married life we came up with a politically incorrect term for his condition. He is Food Retarded. He never has ideas on what we should eat. He never remembers what he ate the previous meal. He has no knowledge of what I like. For example, I once asked him to stop and pick up hamburgers on his way home from work. He brought me a burger with mayo, tomatos and onions. This is the exact opposite of my order of mustard, cheese, pickles and lettuce. How could he really have no idea what I eat??? He no longer orders for us in drive-thrus; I shout from the passenger seat. But I digress.....

Back to the journal entry. My question for Mike that night was "What is your favorite meal that I cook?" I see the panicky look come across his face. He mentally fumbles around and comes up with taco soup (the meal I had cooked the previous night and that he had eaten leftover for lunch that day). I like taco soup a lot, but I vocalized that I was surprised it was his FAVORITE thing that I make. He agreed, and then his eyes lit up as he proudly said that he REALLY likes it when I make those pot pies. POT PIES? You mean the ones I buy from Schwann's??????

I'm never again asking a food-related question. It's entirely too painful..........for both of us.

D - A Regrettable Conclusion

This evening I came to the regrettable conclusion that I am some sort of a mutant packrat. Not a real packrat mind you, just some version of one. A real packrat by my definition is someone who looks at an item they no longer use and elects to save it because they may someday use it again. Not me - no way. If I don't use something, I get rid of it. I sell it, give it away, trash it. Whatever. It's out of here.

So, what changed my mind? Well, tonight as I was fixing dinner, I smelled something strange in the fridge. In my quest to find it, I came upon a jar of pickles that said, "Best if used by April 2007." Ugh. This, coupled with the Neosporin I found in our medicine cabinet 2 days ago with the February 1997 expiration date, brought me to the point where you now find me. A slob. A packrat. Someone whose home you seriously need to question ever eating in.

So what, you may ask, was the smell that brought me to this state? Don't know. Maybe I'll discover it in another year or two......or 11.

******************************************************************************

PS - Mike just read this and said he thinks it gives an unfair picture of who I am. I love him.

M - The snow will come and go

I took this time-lapse video earlier in the week from my office window. I bought this webcam a couple years ago so that I could see the fam while I was traveling. We have one on our home computer also. The software it came with has a time-lapse feature where you can customize how frequently it takes a picture and for how long. You can even change the frame rate of the stitched pictures, which it does automatically also.

When it starts snowing in the video you can see the snow build up on the leaves and the subsequent bow they take as a result of the added weight. At the beginning of the video you can see the reflection inside our offices because it is still dark outside. You can also see the reflection of my webcam perched there in the window. As the ambient light outside the window increases, so does the view through the glass.

When you see alot of snow disappear at once it's because I had to take my computer to a meeting and thus stopped recording for about an hour.

Be sure to notice the condensation trails of the jets passing overhead at about 32 seconds into the video.