Smellyann Strikes Again

Advent-ures 2012, Days 1-3

So three days of our Advent 2012 calendar in, and it's kind of a half-fail. December 1^st, the activity on the calendar was "1. Nautical Holidays – make your own nautical-themed ornaments @ Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum 10 AM – 5 PM AND/OR Games, Arts & Crafts, etc. @ VA Sports Hall of Fame 11 AM – 3 PM AND/OR Make Holiday Crafts @ Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve 2-4 PM."

So. Chloë had her piccolo lesson at noon that day:

(and yes, she technically was supposed to be taking flute lessons, but she's a wee pixie, and the flute was too big for her, so for now, it's the piccolo).

After her lesson, I ran a few much-needed errands, so by the time we got home, it was after 1400. I offered up the activities on the list to the kids, and they chose to just go to the Hoffler Creek Preserve to make crafts. Okay, fine.

Rob took them to the preserve sans moi, because I was exhaaaaaausted and needed a "nap," (which turned out to be a marathon catch-up sleep session), and there turned out to be nary a craft at the preserve. They were all, "What crafts?" and had nothing. Um, that's cool, so whatever. Rob and the kiddos went for a hike out on a trail in the woods intead, but do you think he took any pictures for me? Of course he didn't. Boo.

They had a great time anyway, crafts or no, and saw some ducks. I don't know what, if anything, else they saw, but I did hear tell that apparently three kids in the woods are generally too loud to see much else, because they scare away the aminals? Yeah, mine don't shush well. So. That was Day One.

On the 2^nd day of our 2012 Advent calendar, the activity was: "2. Learn to knit, do origami, and/or do fun Christmas print-out activities!" However, I had to do some, uh, shops of the mystery variety down the upper stretch of the Outer Banks, so we rented a bunch of movies from the Redbox, put the kids in the car, and went, figuring on doing the activity(ies) upon our return to the homestead.

Here's my man getting gas. We needed some. I took a picture. There's that story.

And if you look hard, you can see him in the 7-Eleven there, getting me a Diet Coke refill. We did that a bunch during our annual OBX pilgrimage, too. I found it interesting, and commented many times during the drive, that SO MANY NEW THINGS have sprung up down in that place. I thought it was cool to see all the new things, but on the other hand, a little sad that Big Box has taken over the "mom-and-pop kitschy-beachy" feel of the Outer Banks quite a bit. Progress? You decide.

The kids watched Arthur Christmas and 12 Dogs of Christmas during the drive; as you can see Sophia was locked onto the screen during their little viewing party. I rented four movies, but we haven't gotten to the two others yet, and I haven't returned them to the Redbox. Yay, late fees. Arthur sounded like a really fun flick, from my driver's seat hearing position, and even Rob enjoyed it, so I recommend that if you have and your kiddos haven't seen it yet! Hubs and I talked to each other a lot during the other movie, so I can't really comment on that, but there was a lot of "awww"-ing from the back of the van, if that helps.

Anyway.

When we got back here, it was decided that we would go do our big grocery shopping trip together, so the Advent activities were pushed back even further. Note that the girls both wanted to learn to knit, but Jack absolutely did not, no matter what we tried to convince him; no one wanted to do origami; and, everyone wanted to do fun Christmas printables.

Knitting took a pause for a later date, as it was lay-hay-ate by the time we got home from the shopping, but I did allow the kids to do the printables. There were mazes, dot-to-dots, word searches, bookmarks with jokes, and so on, which I searched for all over the Interwebs, so no linkage, sorreh. They're easy to find, however. Remember to use Swagbucks for your searching, to rack up those rewards! Anyhoo, the kids really enjoyed that and kept asking for more, so I guess that part wasn't a fail. (Eek about all the paper and ink I used, but nevermind that.)

On the 3^rd day, the Advent activity was: "3. Holiday Lights at the Beach – Military Mondays 20% off!"

The plan was to go after Jack's Cub Scout meeting, but, uh, while the boy and his father were gone, I fell asleep and didn't wake until a few hours ago; 0230 to be precise. The kids were a bit disappointed, but I'll bump that to later in the month, so we won't entirely miss out on that, an annual tradition for us.

I did accomplish something, though. Normally, Rob does all the dinner cooking, especially in this house, since I hate the kitchen, half our crap is still at the old house, and did I mention I hate the kitchen?? However, I got a bug up my arse to actually accomplish some housewifery yesterday, and I washed the humongous pile of dishes that were taking over the sink and half the nation, so I could give The Bob the night off from cooking and make a delicious dinner that would be ready for him when he got home, exhausted from work. (The kids helped: they dried and put away the dishes and did some other various and sundry tidying-up chores while I prepared the sup.)

Dinner was a pork loin, cooked on the stovetop in a pot with the usual roast veggies: potatoes, onions, and carrots, along with a bunch of garlic thrown in for good measure, salt-and-peppered to who-knows-who's taste, since, natch, I don't eat pork (mammal-free since 1995, give or take a few lapses I won't mention now) and wasn't about to sample my own cooking. 

I decided to make dessert, too, and opted for baked apples, which I'd never done before but had long wanted to try. I used this recipe as a starting point, with the addition of oats to the hollowed-out Granny Smiths, and a cooking time of 30 minutes rather than 15.

The chiquiniños watched me make dinner and dessert, and they thought the addition of butter to the apples was disgusting!! They were vehemently opposed to trying the apples on the before side, but when I served the baked cinnamony goodness alongside their roasted pork an' veggies, they decided the after was quite edible, indeed. Jack didn't eat too much, having filled up on pork (he's my meat kid; Sophie's my fruit kid, and Chloë is my picky, depends-on-the-moment kid), so I ate some of his (in addition to my hummus dinner), and it was delicious!

Anyway.

I don't normally eat with the family anymore, since my gastric bypass surgery (nearly four years ago, wow!), because I'm finished eating in approximately 13½ seconds when Oscar-the-pouch is full, and it's incredibly agitating to me to watch everyone eating for another ten, twenty, thirty... you get the drift...  minutes, when I have so much else I could be (and would rather be) doing. It's kind of sucky on my part, which I realized in full when the kids were so ecstatic over my joining them for the recent Thanksgiving repast.

So I sat with them today, to watch them enjoy the meal I'd made, because I do love so when I cook and it turns out well, and the eaters of such like it and compliment the food and so on and so forth. I normally am quite horrible at accepting compliments, but because of my stepmother's excessive criticism about cooking-related everything during my formative years, I live for cooking-related accolades! And all four of them loved the meal (though the girls kept thinking the pork was chicken, not that I cared, as long as they ate it), so I was well-pleased. Well-pleased was I, yes.

And then, while I was washing up the dinner dishes, the boys readied themselves for their den meeting, and Sophia did Sophia things, Chloë, who was helping dry and put away said dishes, said to me, "I hope tomorrow is just like today."

Of course, I asked the inevitable, "What do you mean?"

And do you know what that child said to me? She replied, "I mean, I hope you cook a yummy dinner again, that's ready when Daddy gets home from work, and sit down with us for dinner. I really liked that."

You could have knocked me over with a feather, when she said the part about dinner being ready for Daddy when he got home from work. Seriously? It was a revelation for me. It was a total 1950s moment, kinda, but I mean that in a good way. I envisioned what tonight looked like from the kids' perspectives, compared to my usual snubbing of dinner, and wow. It meant so much to them, that I cooked, and joined them, and all, and I felt great about having done so. (I'd had my meds, so I was able to turn off the "I feel like crap about every other day" thoughts that tried to push in.)

So yeah. We didn't do the lights on the beach, but that happened, and it was pretty awesome, so I'm calling Day Three a mostly-win. Okay with you?

And yes, I'm going to cook dinner tonight, and probably the next, and yes, the week's menu plan was already in my head eleven seconds after Chloë said that. And I'm feeling a weird feeling I don't often get, and I think it's what they call "happy."

Stay tuned for more Advent-ures!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here if you've got bits and pieces floating around in ye olde brain this week!

☼

I've had a busy week. For starters, we've all been sick, especially the kiddos, so I proclaimed it Fall Break and gave them the week off to lie around in bed and cough an stuff. I was sick, too, in the same way and gastro-intestinally (TMI?), so I did a lot of sitting around. I wasn't sick on Monday and, feeling pretty good, so I did a ton of laundry and cleaning house. Then I went downhill, so ... this will mostly be a pictorial of our week.

☼

On Sunday, I went (by my lonesome, because we didn't have childcare) to the qualifying party for the radio station I to which I listen to send someone to Live in the Vineyard. I just KNEW I was going to win the trip, but alas and alack, I came in tenth out of about 11 times as many people. Close but no cigar. At least I got a $20 gift card to a wine shop and the latest Matchbox Twenty CD out of it - not to mention a very strong gin & tonic that had me announcing something kind of embarrassing, on the microphone, to the ENTIRE room.

☼

Also on Monday, aside from cleaning and attending to sick kids - and speaking of sick kids, actually - I signed up to be a Point Radio change bandit to benefit The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters (CHKD). You can look at the sidebar on the right to see how much I've raised and (please, please, please) donate a buck or two to my efforts. I fervently believe that if I'd had my twins at CHKD, Robby would still be alive; aside from that, Jack has had surgery there, and Sophia has been followed there for her ongoing breathing issues, as well, so I help them out however and whenever I can. I'd greatly appreciate your support!

☼

Since I fell sick on Tuesday, and Chloë especially was ailing, I canceled their instrument lessons and spent time on eBay in between nursing sick chirren. I've had a good month: over $700 in sales! Woot!

☼

On Wedneday, Rob's and my Halloween costumes came in, so we tried them on:

Oops, that one's not for trick-or-treating. Heh heh heh. Let me try again:

I kind of hate this picture, because I look fat in it, but whatevs, it's fun. We still haven't decided where we'll go trick-or-treating -- definitely not here in the new neighborhood -- or even if we will, as opposed to trunk-or-treating at church, so I guess with five days to go, I better figure it out! At least we've only eaten ¼ of the candy I've bought for handing out!

☼

On Thursday, I really didn't feel well, so I skipped Jack's Cub Scout pack Halloween party and sent the rest of the family without me. The kids were SO excited to dress up in their costumes:

Sophia is going as a pretty princess (yes, I will be buying more appropriate shoes for her before Wednesday night!);

Jack's a dangerous dinosaur (LOL I just realized I left the tags on his costume; d'oh!); and,

Chloë's a cute kitty cat. Guess I need to find some black shoes for her, as well!

Group shot, including our landlord in the background. Argh.

☼

I'm on my way out for therapy in a bit, so I'll leave you with some cute shots of the adorable tommy-kittens Sophie and I rescued a week ago.

That's Pepper on top and Ginger on the bottom.

A trio of cuteness!

Soap cuddlng Ginger, "her" kitten, while studying her guitar lesson book.

Chloë mimicking Jack's portrait with the kitties.

Me canoodling with my "grandkitties," looking an awful lot like my mum in this photo, face-wise.

And finally, Pepper peeking out of Rob's camo work pants pocket! Aww!

☼

That's it from me. Hopefully after therapy I'll be able to do some visiting of y'all Fragmenters, too!

Fin.



Wordless Wednesday: Jack's A Webelos!

If you've got a picture or thirty to share, head over here and link 'em up!

Happy Hump Day!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here to share your bitty bits (well, not those bits) with Mrs. 4444 and the gang today!

☼

So I'm in a highly manic state right now, according to my therapist last night. She thinks my (bipolar) meds need tweaking again. Awesome. As if I don't already do that every other month. The thing is, I like being manic; it's highly preferential to being depressed. On the other hand, as she said, I tend to be reckless and not think about the consequences of my actions in this state, and she's right. So I guess I better get things under control, such as it is with this %^&*( illness. Le sigh.

☼

I can't believe it's already Friday. I had planned on having the most productive week, schoolwise, with the kids, but we have accomplished precious little so far. Hopefully today, we'll kick it into high gear and make up for some lost time! The weeks and months are flying by for school, already, and I'm behind. 'Course, I've overloaded our schedule intentionally, but still... It'd be nice to be caught up on ONE kid in ONE subject.

☼

Speaking of homeschooling, I've been reading Tom Sawyer to the kids before bed most nights, as it's on Chloë's reading list and I wanted the young'uns to be involved, too. I put a lot of effort into both adding histrionics and comedy into my reading, as well as lengthy discussions with the kids as the need (continually) arises. They are absolutely LOVING the book, as am I (for the nth time). It's often the bright spot in our days, and it's good, quality time together. No matter how old the kids get, reading aloud together is such a joy.

☼

If you missed it, scroll back a post or two to see my Wordless Wednesday pictures - but not for another coupla hours, as I'm going to add in captions and descriptions, as requested by several of my more habitual readers. In short, the kids and I were baptized in the ocean on Sunday, and it was such an amazing experience, I'd love to share with more of you!

☼

Last night sucked bullocks. After therapy, I drove two hours up Virginia's Eastern Shore to do a mystery shop, and the place was out of business for the night when I got there, though they shouldn't have been. And I'm not going to get reimbursed for the travel expenses, therefore. ARGH! Not only that, but I hadn't slept the night before, and so, driving home, I had to pull into a gas station to take a nap. Welp, I left the lights on, and of course my battery died. When I finally awoke, hours later, it took a heap of trouble to get jump-started, and Rob was super late for work because of it. Epic FAIL!

☼

Jack's Cub Scout pack meeting was tonight, and he received his Webelos I garb, his whittling chip, and a raffle prize (a car to build, for which he traded a boat to build)! So exciting. He's also in third place for popcorn sales amongst Webelos, and will soon get some rewards from attending camp activities with his dad this past summer, too. We have a great team of parent volunteers running the pack this year, so it's shaping up to be a great one for Jack and the other boys!

☼

Chloë got her retainer the other day for having her braces removed, and she's been complaining about it ever since. I remember those days... I had braces twice, and I need them a third time! One day...

☼

A few vanity plates spotted around town this week:

ANGEL BABY - self-described, or s/he has one, like us? I wonder...

Those of you from my home state will instantly recognize this as, "LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK!" Woot!

"GOTTA LOVE 'EM!" Who, those Lawnguylanders? Yeah, I agree.

☼

Those are all the bits to which I have to expose you at the moment. I'll see y'all 'round these parts next week, I hope!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here if you've got bits and pieces to string together for Mrs. 4444 and the gang tonight!

*~*~*~*~*

It's certainly been an up-and-down week for us here at Chez Odette, but I'd like to start off this post with one major announcement:

After SIX (originally typed "SUX," which would also have been appropriate!) WEEKS, THE LICE ARE GONE, THE LICE ARE GONE, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, THE LICE ARE GONE!!!!

Now, I had to totally chop off ALL of Chloe's long, luscious curls to do it, but desperate times call for desperate measures, y'know? Thankfully, her hair grows back wicked fast, like her dad's and Jack's. It'll be back before we know it.

*~*~*~*~*

Downpoint:

Two weeks ago, my CPU died. We replaced it. Last week, my monitor died. Can't afford to replace that, too, just yet... UGH! I'm stuck using the laptop. I hate laptops. Can't say why; I just do.

Plus, this one doesn't have a number pad, which is why I can't do my special ALT characters. Bah.

*~*~*~*~*

Upside:

(SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen the Olympics yet tonight)

Gabby Douglas, Virginia Native who trained at Excalibur, where Chloe will start next month in rhythmic gymnastics after a switch from another gym that doesn't offer rhythmic, won All-Around Gold tonight! The first African-American to do so. I'm SO super proud of her and her teammates! USA, USA, USA!!!

*~*~*~*~*

Downswing:

My boys, Hubs and Son, are at Webelos (Cub Scouts) camp all week. They were supposed to get there on Sunday, but we messed up and thought it was supposed to be Monday. On Monday, we didn't get paid, like we thought we would, and so they still couldn't go until Tuesday. Suck! But the main point is, I miss them so much!!! I can't WAIT to pick them up tomorrow (today) morning and hear all about their adventures!

*~*~*~*~*

Upside:

My dad and I had a major falling out several months ago. I mean, MAJOR. I thought we'd never speak again.  We've made a lot of progress through emails, however, and finally, I called him on his 70th birthday on Tuesday. There was no awkwardness whatsoever, which was a huge relief to me. I don't do confrontation - especially with my father - well at all, and there just wasn't any. Very anti-climactic, and I'm glad for it.

*~*~*~*~*

Downbeat:

Today, my toilet overflowed all OVER the bathroom, and indeed, it still IS. I cannot seem to plunge that da*n low-flow piece of crap for the life of me, and so it waits until Rob gets home from camp tomorrow. Not a fun time. To top things off, I broke a jelly jar pulling something else out of the fridge tonight, got glass lodged in my foot, and can't find the foxtail and dustpan anywhere. So that mess will be waiting for Rob, too. Unless I can find some paper towels somewhere... and yes, I'll put on some shoes. Oy.

*~*~*~*~*

Upside:

I had multiple sales in my Etsy shop, I was commissioned to do knitting for another WAHM's Waldorf-inspired mini-dolls, my blog post about Virginia Beach was featured on a national travel blog, and I was invited to submit a chapter in a textbook. I'm not sure I'll do that last one - who has the time?! - but I might give it a go. Either way, cool. I do want to write my own book at some point, so it would be good practice if I did it.

*~*~*~*~*

Down-another-thing:

My wrist, which I unwittingly somehow injured at the end of May, is still not even remotely healed. I think there is nerve damage, since the fracture we thought was there seems not to be, judging from later x-rays.  I'm in a hella lot of pain, and I refuse to take pain medication on an ongoing basis for it.  Back to the doc I go, I guess...

*~*~*~*~*

Upside:

I had a LOT of me-time this week, with the boys away and my friend Saritah taking the girls along with her kids to Vacation Bible School - up to four hours a night! SWEET. I took advantage of it, because my migraines have been plaguing me lately, and did a whole lotta nothin'. That's difficult for me to do, but between the wrist and the brain-pain, not so hard at the mome.

*~*~*~*~*

Guess that's all I feel like jabbering about for the time being, though I feel I could go on for another half-hour or more!  I'm going to try REALLY hard and visit other Fragmenters this weekend; a rarity for me with all the chaos our lifestyle brings.

*~*~*~*~*

Take it easy, peeps, and, you know, stay away from Chick-Fil-A and stuff... ;)

Fin.

Wordless Wednesday II: A Little Whittler

Here's my 9yo son, Jack, learning to whittle with a bar of soap and a plastic butter knife, at Cub Scouts. In the end, he made a boat, which was pretty cool... but where's that photo, Mom? Oy.

Link up here if you're (semi?) Wordless today.

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here if you've got newsable bits to share with the pulchritudinous Mrs.4444 and cohorts today!

☼

I haven't fragmented in 3 weeks, because I've been SUH TI-RED. I've had my share of drama and stuff I could've shared with you, but I've actually been sleeping more, well, at least on Thursday nights I guess, so I didn't make it here. I won't bore you with three weeks worth of bits, though, rest assured!

☼

Confidential to Mamacita: I'll do the online Jeopardy! test if you will!! Surely they can get a stool or something so you can stand on it to see over the podium... ;)

☼

The kids, normally night owls anyway, have been totes off their sleeping schedule since Daylight Savings time began. Last night, they were up until - no joke - 0500 (so, this morning, I should say)!!! I stayed up with them, to ensure they didn't burn the house down, and it was so late when they finally crashed that I just decided to stay up and face the day. Well, that plan was a FAIL, and I lay down at 10 AM for a "nap," thinking I'd just sleep 'til noon or whenever the kids got up. NOT! I didn't wake up until after 4:30 PM!!!!!!! S**T! That meant we missed our Girl Scout meeting, which was a field trip to the local Food Bank. Major suckage. :(

☼

So this boy:

(2012 Pinewood Derby winner for his Den and overall Pack)

had his District races this past Saturday morning. There were only four heats this time, as there were four lanes, as opposed to our (ahem, much better) six-lane track. He won three of those heats and came in 3rd on the other. Our Pack drops the lowest heat score, so I thought that was standard operating procedure for all Derby races. Well, apparently not, because even though his car was zoomin' and it looked like he would take home a trophy, he didn't even land a 3rd place on the podium. I was stunned All. Day. Long. And I know, I know, it's about the fun and not the trophy, but dang, I so enjoy looking at those things up on my mantel! Having never earned a trophy of my own, I'm enjoying living vicariously through my kids' awards. Sad, I know, but ... ah, well. For one thing, there's always next year. For another, it was still fun and exciting.

(Still, though. Crap!)

☼

The cookie sale is over! Hallelujah! It really wasn't that bad for me, since I'm not the cookie mom and didn't do a whole lot of door-to-door that year, but we did a bunch of booth sales that usurped our weekends for the past month or so. Anyway, I'm glad that's over and we can get back to our not-so-normal weekend pursuits.

☼

AND, now that that's over (cookies), I can once again concentrate on my reborn Jafra business. I'm celebrating 13 years with the company this month! If any of you would like to order or have questions, check out my Jafra website or send me a message/comment through here. Anyone who visits from Friday Fragments will get 25% off their first order - the biggest discount I can offer! (Offer good through the end of March. Must mention FF to get discount.) ☺

☼

I hope you're reading this post slowly, because that's how I'm typing it. My thumb is all bandaged up, since I shoved the back end of a sewing needle ¼" deep in it, whilst sewing Girl Scout patches on Chloë's vest. I hollered. A whole bunch. Loudly. You may have heard me?

☼

Our nice hunka-hunka-burnin'-tax refund is due any day now, and we have a looong list of things - mostly vehicular and medical - it's going to be parceled out to in a quicklike fashion. One of these days, maybe we'll actually be able to hold onto it longer than a week or so. That'd be nice. (At least I don't need more yarn...)

☼

And finally, while my boys' birthday is actually on the 22nd, we're celebrating Jack's 9th birthday party this Saturday with friends. Yep, St. Patrick's Day. No, I'm not going to make the above rainbow cake - it just looks like ick to me - but you'll have to stay tuned to this blahg to find out what I do end up serving. He's SO excited and had been counting down the days!

☼

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here if your thoughts are all over the place and you think Mrs. 4444 and pals have just gotta read 'em anyway!

☼

I've been grateful to have a pretty low-key week both at home with the kids and extra-curricularly, since I'm still nursing a weeks-long migraine. It's a baddy. I need to call Neurology today to get back into the headache clinic. I was supposed to call Tuesday, but I haven't even been able to bear being on the phone for five minutes. Thankfully, the children "get it" and have been pretty hushity-hush when Mom is begging for them to be quiet. All three of them get migraines, too, so they're able to empathize, sadly for them.

☼

Anyway. I did manage to do some extensive deal-shopping and save (even make!) a few bucks this week, but that's about all I've left the house for, other than driving a friend to work one night.

☼

No one's answered my Aloha Friday question yet - won't you? - so I'm thinking people either don't get the question or I'm the only such weirdo. Now that latter thing wouldn't surprise me, nor does the confirmation of it smart, but it'd be nice to know that someone out there knows what I mean and has a similar feeling!

☼

Oh, I know what's happened since last Friday! On Saturday, my son Jack's Cub Scout pack ran their Pinewood Derby race, and he won first place for both his Bear den and the overall pack. Woohoo! Three years running, he's taken home a trophy (or two) and headed to the District race, coming up in March. You can see his grins here, if you'd like.

☼

Also, that night, I took my Daisy troop - and Chloë went with her Junior Girl Scout troop - to a local museum for their environmental activities and exhibits. I haven't blogged about that yet; perhaps I will after this, 'cause I'm wide awake this early morning and yet not energetic enough to, y'know, fold the dozen or so loads of laundry taking up space over yonder. It was fun, and I think they learned a few things, but my Assistant Leader and I both agreed it probably wasn't worth the cost. Meh. Whatcha gonna do, barter over Girl Scout programs? I don't think so. But we probably won't do that one again next time.

☼

So that's me for the week. Usually I can blather on 'til the cows come home, but my head aches, and if I told you anything else, it would likely be a complete fabrication!

Have a great weekend!

Fin.

P.S. Oh! I've been asked about my iron transfusion last Friday. It went great! It took forever, and I was humbled as I was by far the youngest patient in there and, judging from the bald and be-wigged heads of the others, probably the healthiest, relatively speaking. It took about six hours, so I did a little knitting, a bit of chit-chatting with the nurses and other patients, and mostly, I napped. I probably snored and drooled; okay, I know I did, but I didn't care then, and I don't care now! Ah was tarred. If it weren't for the migraines, I'd be feeling like Superwoman now, I think. That infusion made a huge difference. I'm already looking forward to the next topping-off in 4-6 months. Hee! Iron-piggy, me. Thanks for your concern, askers out there! Now cross your fingers I'm able to donate blood tomorrow afternoon; I'm O-neg and feel it's my duty, but I've been deferred every time I go in for a year now! Ayee!

Oops, They Did It Again!

Welp, folks, it's that time of year again: the annual Cub Scout Pinewood Derby! Jack's Pack raced yesterday, after he and Rob spent the week hashing out the details of how to build The Car. Every year, Rob asks him, "Do you want it to look cool, or do you want it to be fast?" And every year, Jack goes for fast. It's completely his choice, as it should be, although there are some folks who, like my high-ranking Boy Scout Mama-in-Law said, need to be a "wet blanket" on that theory and always make it look cool. Whatevs! Jack wants to build the car, he doesn't necessarily want to watch the races, and he wants to take home a trophy. That's Jack. So, let's see how it went down, shall we?

First, the Tiger Den raced. It seems like just yesterday, that was Jack. Hard to believe it has been two years since he won that race! And those boys are so little and young-looking and eager and cute. (Rob took the kids to go do the crafts in the other rooms while I knitted a hexipuff or two, watched the races and times, and suffered a horrible migraine that I've been nursing for over a fortnight now...)

After that, the Wolf Den raced. That was last year for us, and whew, it has flown by since Jack won that race, too. Those boys are still so cute, just a little bigger, same amount of eagerness... just adorable.

Lunchtime was next. I helped serve the food, because I haven't really stepped up much in the Pack, and I wanted to be useful in some way to them. After everyone ate, the Akela gave out the Popcorn Sale prizes. Jack had chosen a catapult, but it wasn't in yet, so I don't have pictures of him earning that for now.

And finally... his den, the Bears ("da Bearz" as everyone kept saying) were ready to race!

There were six boys, and there are six track lanes, so each boy's car races on each lane once to account for speed differences. It's a calibration technique. You know. Anyway. They drop the slowest time and average out the rest to determine the places. Five out of six heats, this popped up on the screen, with this one representing Jack's fastest time:

It was all very exciting! (I purposely didn't bring the Nikon, so these are all iPhone pictures. I didn't want to risk losing/dropping/breaking the dSLR, so that was intentional.) I don't have any involvement in the races except to go there to cheer on the boys - all the boys - so I don't take any credit. However, I was fist-bumped and congratulated as much as Jack and his dad were, I think, and I enjoyed every second of it!

Here are the Top 10 standings for the Bear Den - that lowest score was dropped, remember, so basically, well, he did awright. ;)

After we cheered on the Webelos 1 & 2 dens, it was trophy time. Jack earned the First-Place spot for his den, which meant three things: (1) Trophy, (2) Smiles, and (3) Participation in the overall pack race. And yes, he was every bit as just-rolled-out-of-bed-rumply as he looks here. Ha! What a mess. His crooked, looser-than-loose front tooth, really needing a haircut, and sleepy eyes make me laugh, but his happy face makes me smile and warms my heart. This is a boy who enjoys his trophies, and he was PROUD of himself. That matters, "cool-looking" car or not.

 

Right after that, they ran the Pack race, and Jack's car whizzed down the track heat after heat, to take First Place again!! I'm so happy for all the boys, every single one, and it was a fantastic day of racing... but yeah, I was super-proud of my guys. ♥

 

Here he is with both of his First Place trophies! Whoo! We're hoping for a third one to add to the collection, from the Districts, now.

Finally, the traditional First-Place Akela (parents and Leaders, basically) vs. First-Place Cub Scout race took place, and it was back-and-forth for all six heats, as they went from lane to lane. Guess what? Jack's car DID NOT WIN! This guy, Mr. P, who is cool as HELL, won. That's Team P's car on the left, and Jack's green car on the right, with Mr. P checking that they were on the track right. His son, Junior P, moved up to Boy Scouts last year, but he was the One To Beat up until that point, so Mr. and Junior P have talked to us many times about tips for making The Car be fast. Mr. P was totally and thoroughly thrilled for Jack, and he'll be at the Districts to cheer him on! I'm a huge fan of that guy. Just a really nice man, truly.

On the way home, as he held and admired his new trophies, Jack asked if could keep them on his dresser instead of the mantel with the others. I was all, "No way, dude!" For one thing, that's their place of honor. For another thing, we have Sophia up there to lose or break them if we let him do that! So on the mantel they went, as soon as we came home.  They're up there on the right, with all the others, sandwiched between the girls' soccer trophies from a couple years ago.

So, not a bad day of racing and camaraderie. All in good fun. Everyone was a good sport. (But psst: YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!!)

Grandma was very proud, too, to hear the news, and I loved sharing it with her!

This report will be continued on March tenth...

Fin.

Friday Fragments

Link up here with Mrs.4444 if you're feeling fragmented today!

☼

Happy Autumn! Good-bye, 100º days with NO air conditioning, hello, well, 65º days so far... Much more tolerable. Better get the HVAC fixed soon, though, or we'll (I'll) be miserable come Winter!

☼

Check out my Aloha Friday question on the previous post for a special offer! I'm running a Jafra promotion for my blog readers only and it ends in one week, so hurry!

☼

Wednesdays are homeschool co-op days for Team Odette, and while the kids are in their classes, I'm in the kitchen all day teaching cooking to children from age five to 14. Last week was the first week and quite chaotic (but fun); yesterday went much more smoothly and was a blast. Still, it wears me out. I had more errands to run and finally crashed before midnight, and I slept late late late today. We were supposed to spend the day up in Yorktown for their homeschool days events, for which we had tickets, but I was just too pooped. I think we'll have to think about taking Thursdays off from doing school, because last week was the same. Can always make it up Sat & Sun, though technically, we "do school" ALL the time, if you count the lessons the kids learn on-the-go, in the car, at the store, and so forth. Yeah. Let's count that.

☼

Tomorrow, we WILL be going up to Jamestown for the kids' classes, since Jamestown/Yorktown Homeschool days end this weekend and I want to get our money's worth, but since we already went to J-town last week, we might either go early or stay late (or both, what the hey) and venture over to Yorktown. We've never seen Y-town, and it's unlimited free admission during this event, so I'd like to go check it out. Have y'all ever been to the "Historic Triangle," as they call it (Colonial Williamsburg is included in that)?

☼

Saturday is free museum day! Learn about that here and get your two free tickets if you haven't already! We plan on going to the Children's Museum of VA in Portsmouth until Jack has to go home and get ready for his Cub Scout popcorn show & sell (a booth sale, as we Girl Scouts call it), and then a friend's having a birthday party for her husband after that, so... another busy weekend!

☼

Oh yeah, and the Girl Scout Fall Product sale (candy and nuts) starts on Saturday, too. Phew, it never stops. My dad always complains that our life is too chaotic and hectic. I guess he can't seem to remember what life was like with four teenaged girls going in all different directions all the time?

☼

If you want to read about my trip with Chloë to D.C. for her 10th birthday celebration, read the two posts prior to my Aloha Friday one. We had a grand weekend at American Girl, taking the train, going to the National Zoo, and staying in a hotel in the middle of the District. And I left her alone for her very first time while I slipped out and did a mystery shop at a restaurant and bar with a friend who lives there. Chloë did great, except she was upset that she couldn't get the laptop OR the TV to work, so she ended up taking a bath to calm down and missed my check-in phone call. By the time I got back, after watching the Mayweather-Ortiz fight at the restaurant, she and her AG doll, Faith, were sound asleep in their bed. (Speaking of the fight, did you see that? I kept cringing while the men cheered; it's the mother in me, I guess!)

☼

I'm back in therapy at least twice a week now, and it's helping considerably. I adore my therapist and think it's the best-working relationship I've ever had with one (and I've had a bunch).  My psychopharmacologist, "Paypal," has changed up one of my meds, from Side-Effexor to Pristiq, and it's not going so well... plus he was out of town and unable to take any of my "what should I do?!?!" phone calls. Luckily, my therapist was there and able to help me cope. I ♥ her.

☼

So, my 8yo son, Jack, had his latest appointment with the new pediatric endocrinologist this week, and that went as expected, with the medication refill put in and new needles ordered. However, apparently we're supposed to be physically seen in the office every 4-6 months - as opposed to the 12 we've been asked in the past - and he's supposed to get an IGF-1 test every other visit or so. Now, like you I'm guessing, I'd never heard of this test, so someone has been dropping the ball. At least this new endo is on top of things. Basically it tells us whether his med dosage is correct, according to liver function after taking some marker meds. I love finding this kind of thing out after, what? Five, six years of being following for his growth hormone deficiency? Nice. (In the "good news" category, though, he's grown 8½ cm since Feb. 2010, which is fantastic! It would be 0 cm without the meds, more than likely.)

☼

Chloë, at age 10 and smaller than her 6yo sister Sophia, weighs less than 50 lbs and has barely grown herself, so at the end of the endo visit, I asked the doc if she should be re-evaluated. She'd been checked a few years ago and was "borderline" for the condition, but I remained concerned. He took a height check on her and then pored over her medical records. Doc called me himself within the same day and told me that, yes, she definitely needs to be seen again and will probably end up taking the shots herself. I broke the news to her a little while later, and she was fairly calm about it, saying she kind of knew that was coming. She just doesn't want her shots "in the butt" and asked if she could have them in her arms and legs instead. I don't know, but since she's not very meaty in those places, I'm guessing that'll be a "no."

{Note to Grandma: her appointment is October 18th at zero-dark-hundred.}

☼

Since we're talking medical stuff now, I visited my PCM myself this week to ask for referrals for both a new sleep study (do I still need the CPAP, which I don't use anyway, for apnea since I've lost 205 lbs??) and for the breast cancer gene test. Normally, they don't approve the gene test unless there is a "strong family history," which to Tricare means a mother or sister with the disease. Well, my maternal grandmother had it both in her 30s and 50s, and my mother died too young, at age 33, to know whether she would have gotten it. Since Sis and I have both had lumps checked out, I was able to talk my way into getting the referral submitted. I found out tonight that I've been referred out for an oncologist-geneticist appointment. Woot! (Meanwhile, the sleep study referral is still "under review," which I think is ridick. Whatevs.)

☼

At Jack's Cub Scout pack meeting tonight, he earned belt loops for Gymnastics, BB-gun shooting, and Archery, along with his first Popcorn patch for this current sale, and his Wolf badge, which he somehow didn't get last year. (He's a Bear now.) We don't know what those arrow point-thingies are for, though. Grandma, help?

☼

Ehh, I guess that's way more crap than you really wanted to know about me/us this week, so I'll shut up now. I really need to go do some cleaning, since we're having house guests (a friend and her three doggies) all next week. With four cats, this should prove interesting!

Fin.

So Much For That.

I'm going to make a long story short:

The kids all went to camp this past week. Chloë was gone from Sunday thru Friday, while the Littles were gone only Wednesday to Friday night. I planned to use the time to deep-clean my disaster of a house. I was highly motivated. It needs it badly, and I intended to get down on my hands and knees and scrub every square inch.

Well, that didn't happen.

Oh, they went to camp all right. I have no pictures, because I suck, but they all seemed to have had a great experience this year. There's not much to tell: they did camp stuff, like swimming and field games, arts and crafts, and learning new songs. What you would expect to hear, that's what I'd probably tell you.

But I didn't get to clean this monstrosity. I didn't lift even the tiniest pinky.

Why?

Because I got freakin' sick instead. The kids were all sick for the prior couple of weeks, so it was inevitable, but that didn't make the timing any less sucktastic. Indeed, they're still getting over their various colds, while I am still in the no-voice, nose-running-like-a-faucet, clogged ears thick of it. I've been quite miserable, and I haven't hesitated to let anyone who wanted to listen know it.

Not many people wanted to listen, so I'm telling you.

Of course, when I'm sick, the house gets even worse than usual. So right now, it's probably the worst, most icky I've ever seen it, and I would like to torch it right down to the ground and/or run away.

Barring that, which I can't do now that I've said that, I'm going to ride out this misery and then come back fighting, to get this house ship-shape. I have to say, though, that I'm disappointed the time when all three kids were gone for two whole days was wasted by me sleeping on the couch for about 27 hours straight. I needed it, but dang.

Aside from resting and more resting (and endless nose-blowing), I've been making stuff for my Etsy shop. I have been stash-busting through my scrapbooking supplies, since I've gone digital on our family books, making cards, tags, and other what-have-yous that you can check out here. If you're interested, use the coupon code "SCRAPPY" to get free shipping on any goods from the paper section of my shop.

I've made a few cards to send out to real people I know, too, like my friend Erin who's gone and gotten engaged, to my total and complete delight. She and her afianced man-friend received this one:

... Hm. I appear not to have taken pictures of it, or if I have, they are gone? Weird. I'm sure I did. Maybe she'll send me one of it to show you later. :D

Also, tomorrow my father will turn 69, and as I feel safe in that he won't be reading this post, I'll show you his card:

You might recognize it if you already peeked at my shop, since I listed it there as well. He's an enormous Elvis fan, so when I found this on a card website, I had to "scraplift" it, as we say in the scrapbooking world. I don't know what card makers say, since I'm a n00b, but I'm sure it's similar. Or maybe it's frowned upon and I'll get busted down a peg or two. Either way, it's already in the mail, and he will like it, so that is that.

There's another card winging its way to another person who reads this blog, maybe, so I can't show you that one just yet. I'm not claiming to be all good at this or anything - I'm just starting out in the card-making venture - but it sure is fun and addictive! I'm having a blast. And I sold a set of six cards this morning on Etsy, so I'm legit, right?

Welp, that's the gist of what's been going on this week. Camp. Sick. Cards. Oh, and endless litterbox cleaning. I've managed that, at least, because if I don't, the two kittens pee and poop wherever the hell they feel like it, and you know what? I can't have that. Groooo-ooooosssss.

So back to work for me. Check out my shop and "favorite" it if you haven't already, please. I check that stat frequently, obsessively, and the number rarely changes. You'd think I'd stop.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Fin.

P.S. I lied. I do have two pictures of freshly picked-up Sophia from camp:

"I'm hungry. I'm starving. I'm STARVING...," she whined.

Apparently not as much as she was tired, because this was her within five minutes. She slept more after the hour-long drive home, too. I should send her to camp more often! 

 

And here's an enormous grasshopper that I'm showing you just so I can file it away in July pictures. It jumped on my desk and gave me a start! I called Rob over to rescue me from it, or it from me, depending on your viewof things. Thing was HA-YUGE. He's going to use it as fish bait. 
 

2011 Blue & Gold

 

Almost a month ago, Jack's Cub Scout pack had the annual Blue & Gold, which is their big birthday party for Scouts. Most of my pictures didn't turn out well (it was before I got my new Nikon!), so I'll only be able to share a few here. As you can see, cupcakes are a big hit with my boy! He's got the bush baby eyes going on there!

Sophia never met a cupcake she didn't like, either.

Here's Jack being called up by the Cubmaster to get his Pinewood Derby patch.

Awesome patch! I'm all about the patches. Love them.

Does this look good to you? It does not to me. This was Rob's plate. The theme for this year's Blue & Gold was "Heritage," because they have been working on learning where their ancestors came from and such. Everyone was supposed to bring a food to represent their heritage. Rob took a little bit of everything - he's not picky! Jack is Bohemian on Rob's mom's side, so we had intended to make and bring a Houska (sweet bread) to the event, but it didn't turn out. I had to run by the grocery store and get a challah and an Italian bread to sub for them. Is that sacrilege? I hope not!

The little guy with the yellow kerchief was Jack. He's so teeny and cute! ♥ The boys were called up to play a Jeopardy-like game against each other for prizes. Jack got his questions wrong. He didn't care a lick, either, that they were things he should've known! Der!

That was about all there was to it, at least as long as we stayed. I think it continued and we left early because I wasn't feeling well, but we were there for most of it.

I'll post more later; it's "catch up" night for me, obviously!

Fin.

Proud Mama Keeps On Braggin'

The first thing in this Scout-heavy Saturday was the Stop Hunger Now project at the church where our two Girl Scout troops meet.  Chloë, Sophia and I headed over there first thing in the morning and stood around for a while until we figured out what we were supposed to be doing. And then, I think, we and the (fellow Scout) team we were on were a force to be reckoned with!  For three hours, we scooped rice, TVP and dried veggies, and measured, weighed, and vacuum-sealed. We went as fast as we could. In the end, I think the church-goers and we put together more than 30,000 bags of food for the world's hungry. It was an awesome, humbling experience.

The elderly lady who was on our team, along with her dear husband, made a point of finding out my girls' names, and mine. She told me on several separate occasions what a pleasure they were to work with, what lovely manners they had, and how hard they worked. I was very proud. Both of them stuck to it for the duration and never complained. They had a job to do, and they did it. Chloë enjoyed it so well, she asked if we could do it again next year. But of course!

Chloë's troop leader's two younger daughters were there (the younger of whom is one of my Daisies, the older a fellow Junior), along with another Junior from their troop. They posed for a quick picture after the hard work, and then Troop Leader brought us all home. It was a great, great start to the day for us girls.

 

Meanwhile, at another nearby church, this handsome young lad was waiting with his daddy for the District-level Pinewood Derby race, for Cub Scouts. He had taken First Place in his Den and (I think but keep forgetting) Second in the Pack, so it was on to the Districts for Jack today. Unfortunately, the girls and I were busy with the hunger project, so we weren't there to cheer on our favorite Little Buddy, but we were with him in spirit. And check it out:

A picture speaks a thousand words, eh?

That's right, baby!! Woohoo, go Jack!!!!

 

After the boys rushed home from the District race - which wasn't entirely over yet, because they had to be back at 2 PM for the Finals (and it was already about noon) - we all went over to our Girl Scout cookie chair's house to pick up the goods for our booth sale at a somewhat distant grocery store. Sophia and Jack sat in the van and watched movies with Daddy while Chloë and I ran the booth. And that girl can SELL some cookies!!! She is a natural-born cookie saleswoman. It doesn't hurt that many people find her too cute to resist, but she really does not rely on that. Her booth manners are impeccable, and her charm is undeniable. She sold a ton of cookies compared to what we expected!

As soon as our reinforcements arrived to the booth, I counted down the inventory and took off with my crew. We made it back to the District Finals with ONE minute to spare. Whew!!! When we walked in, there was a chorus of, "There he is! He made it!" all around the room.  I was so relieved he didn't have to forfeit, even though he had already advanced to the Council-level race by virtue of placing in the finals.

The finals were fast and furious, and they were over before I knew what hit me! Jack kept rubbing off the graphite that his daddy had just put on the car, and that may have had something to do with his 11th-of-15 place finish. No worries. They'll have time to tinker with it before the Council race, and anyway, he was already happy to have gotten a third trophy for the 2011 race.

 

We're gotta need a bigger mantel!

After Districts ended, we raced back across town to recover the cookies and funds from the booth I'd earlier abandoned, because I needed to do inventory again and because I needed the cookies for tomorrow's booth with Sophia. There, I discovered that I'd goofed on the beginning inventory for the second shift who replaced us, writing down the numbers we SOLD instead of what we had LEFT. Oops. I explained to the dad there that it was a hectic day, but I also admitted I'd be lying if I said I wasn't always this scatter-brained!

After we got home, Chloë and I spent the next umpteen hours delivering all the cookies she and Sophia had sold, and we got more orders in the process. My GPS wasn't picking up a signal, and I got lost for well over an hour. That wasn't fun. Quite not fun. But we made it home alive and look, here I've lived to tell the tale.

And tomorrow, we begin again.

********

For Monday, because it starts with "M," Chloë has requested we study all "M" things: Math, Music, and ... "Muppets?" I suggested. No. Maps. Silly Mommy.

Fin.

Scout Sunday

First, a lot of talky business, and then I'll show you a bunch of pictures. Deal?

This weekend was pretty Girl Scout-heavy for us. Girl Scout cookies came in, but fortunately I didn't have to pick them up since I have a pretty awesome Cookie Chair helping out our two troops. She has been a tremendous 'save' to the troop and me personally, and I'm so thankful for that! We were supposed to go to the Air & Space Center for a Black History Month celebration that was steeply discounted for homeschoolers, but we would have had to float a check to pay for it, so we opted out. That sucked; it would've been fun. I ended up with some 'free' time that I used to invent some stuff I'll show you in a minute, and then it was time for Chloë and me to go to the church where our troops meet, for a rehearsal.

Sunday morning was Scout Sunday at that church, and there are three services. The girls and I were signed up to help out at the latter two, and Chloë was going to be in the Color Guard (flag duties) for the first of those. For each service, one Scout, one Cub, one Junior, and one Daisy was going to be part of the Guard. They were talking about the Cub and Boy Scout carrying in the flags, but I was quick to rush in and say, "Hey, since you have girls represented here, too, why not let them carry a flag?" I was nice but kind of insistent, because, you know, girls gotta get a fair shake in this world. Well, there was some masked unpleasantness about it, but they took me up on my "suggestion," and that meant the duty fell to Chloë for second service.

Now, I know a lot of you haven't met her in real life, but you've seen me say it before: Chloë is REALLY petite. And she has a delicate air. And those flags are pretty big and heavy. So my suggestion seemed kind of, well, dumb, after they brought the flag in that she was expected to carry. She nearly toppled over when they handed it to her! I started to say, "Well, you know, maybe she shouldn't..." but she quickly spoke up with the whole, "MOM, I can DO it," thing, so I shut myself up.

After that, they practiced all the commands or whatever you call them, in the sanctuary, and she did a swell job. I exchanged numerous looks with the people in charge over that, and they pretty much gave me the thumbs-up and said she did a good job, so my nervousness over the whole situation dissipated. The last thing I wanted was for her to drop the flag or something dire like that, during the service, but she said that, while the flag was pretty heavy for her and she really had to use all her strength to keep it dipped at the appropriate times and stuff, she could DO it, MOM.

We went home after that. We were supposed to be heading out to our own church service after that, but I hadn't slept the night before and was terribly exhausted, so I made the argument that since we were going to be going to church in the morning anyway, couldn't we just skip it that time? Rob grumped a little but agreed. Instead of going to sleep, though, I had to get back to work on creating the stuff I'm fixin' to show you in a sec, and I ended up staying up a whole 'nother night. Let me tell you, massive doses of Diet Coke were required to keep me vertical during the day on Sunday. I managed not to fall asleep during church, though, which is a super-duper-ooper-schmooper good thing.

  

When it was time, we woke up the kids and scurried on off to the UMC for Scout Sunday. While Chloë was readying herself for the Color Guard, Sophia was put to work handing out bulletins. (This was the only picture I took at church, because I had camnesia and had to use my iPhone and didn't want to be rude. The people in charge took pictures of Chloë and promised I would get copies later.) Soap was instructed to smile, say, "Good morning," and hand everyone a bulletin, but she could barely manage the first two things. She was overcome with an uncommon-for-her case of shyness, but she looked so freakin' adorable anyway that everyone just smiled and commented on that part of things. I mainly stood by her and made sure she wasn't dropping the bulletins all over the place, but she did a couple times anyway. That was okay. Really, she was so cute, I can't even tell you how much.

Rob and the boy-child were in a pew waiting for us. They watched the Color Guard advance and do their duties, and he said Chloë did a stellar job. She remembered all her directions and didn't drop the flag and generally was superb. I'm very proud; I wasn't sure she could do it, and she did. Way to go, Curls!

The service we attended was the Contemporary one, which I enjoyed greatly. We knew some of the songs (well, hymns, I suppose) from our own church, so I sang loudly and freely during those and more hushety-hush during the ones I didn't really recognize. The message was nice but, quite honestly, I didn't really get much out of it like I do at the Vineyard where we go, so I have no plans to switch churches anytime soon. When the pastor (reverend? minister?) called upon all past and present Scouts and families of Scouts to stand, the five of us did so proudly. We sat in our pew and cuddled our sweet babies and generally looked a much nicer family than we really are at home, where we devolve into talking about poop and farting and, between us parents, lots of much more filthy topics.

But I'm not going on that tangent.

After the service, during which it seemed like EVERYONE greeted EVERYONE instead of just the few people around themselves like we're used to, I put my girls back to work. Another one of my Daisies showed up (thank you, G!), so the three of them handed out bulletins at the various sanctuary entrances. Soo many people showed up to this service that they ran out of bulletins. I had to scour the pews for ones the Contemporary folks had left behind! Then I found a full basket of them that I didn't know existed and felt like quite the fool. Anyway.

G and her family stayed for that service, while Team Odette skedaddled on out of there after the doors were closed. We'd done our duty, and we were excused.

Overall, it was super nice, and I was glad to be a part of it. I wore my Leader shirt and khaki pants, so while I wasn't quite in official GS Leader uniform, I was passable and representin' just fine.

I was going to continue with all the other stuff in this same post, but this got a lot more talky and lengthy than I originally planned (what else is new?). Plus I need to go run for a Diet Coke refill. I'll be back with photos and verbiage galore, okey-dokey?

Fin.

Building A Legacy

Today was the annual Pinewood Derby race for my son's Cub Scout pack. The boys (Jack and Daddy) spent a lot of time last year on Jack's car, but this year it was rather rush-rush after the hustle and bustle of the holidays and then Rob's 8-day hospitalization. They made the car all in the past week, with Jack changing his mind about the design features several times in the process. We didn't have very high expectations for this year, after last year's First Place win in the Tiger Den! 

(And yes, I got on his case about what they were doing in the above picture!)

 

Last night, Rob took Jack to have the car weighed and impounded, as is the night-before custom. (The girls and I had some lovely time to ourselves, and we quite bonded, but that's for another time.)

 

This morning, none of our children wanted to get out of bed, after staying up super-late last night. Happily, we managed to make it to the church on time for the opening ceremony. Jack walked in the color guard - he's the one in the yellow neckerchief and mis-matched blue shoes above! So funny, he put on different shoes...

 

Cubmaster J, giving the announcements and rules update - isn't he a cutie??  Sadly, this is his last year with the pack, as his youngest son is moving up to Scouts soon. Rob was thinking about taking over the position, but he's relieved someone else stepped up for the job. Now he's thinking about what he'll do instead. (Meanwhile, I volunteered my services today as Treasurer, Awards .. uh, person, or Events Chair... we'll see what I end up doing, but I want to give Jack equal time in scouting).

After the opening, we moved upstairs to the room where the track was located, which is the same room where Jack's Wolf Den meets weekly. The Tigers had their races, and it was so cute to watch them in the same place where we were just last year. Soon, the Wolves were up. We had no idea what to expect from Jack's car, but lo and behold, it consistently came in first for each heat! That's his car with the red/black fade, above, in the lead.

After the six Wolf heats, the older boys started to race, so we went down the hall to do some crafts. I had brought my knitting, which I really need to finish for the intended recipient, so I asked Rob to be in charge of helping with the crafts. Jack went by himself in the next room to build the Twinkie car he was SOOO excited to make, while the rest of us sat in the room where they were making clothespin neckerchief slides. Here they are, just getting started... I don't have any more pictures of those activities, because I was busy knitting. Sorry.

One of my Daisy girls has an older brother in Jack's den, and their dad (another cutie!!) was busy being the computer tech guy for the races, so he asked me to look after G during the day. I was happy to; she's a little sweetheart. Here are the girls waiting to be let into the lunch hall for pizza and snacks. Little G was SO excited to have one of the doughnuts her daddy had brought!!

After lunch, Cubmaster J handed out the Popcorn sale awards to the pack. Jack earned himself a fishing pole, so he and Dad will be doing lots of that together come Spring. (Rob is an avid fisherman, though he hasn't had a chance to do a lot of it in our decade together.) Cubmaster's Webelos 2 son sold about $2700 in popcorn, so I quickly hit up his mother for tips for next year!!

We had already done the crafts, so after lunch, the kids got into the Derby poser thingy and had their pictures taken. 

Sophia had the next turn.

I barely remember taking this picture, so I have no idea what's up with Chloë's expression!

The races seemed to go much faster this year, and soon is was time to announce the winners for each den. When the Wolves were announced, we moved up front in time to see Jack declared the winner for his den. Woohoo!!

Cubmaster J handing Jack his participation ribbon and First Place trophy

 

Jack barely had the patience to sit and watch his car race today, but he was really excited to be getting another trophy!

 

 

After all the den winners were announced, the first- and second-place winners from each one raced against each other to see who won for the pack overall. There was one super-fast car on the tracks which couldn't have been beaten without a wreck, so we knew that First Place was out of reach for us. So, what would it be? In the end, Jack happily came in second for his pack!

For the next trophy picture, I couldn't get him to take his eyes off the prize for even a second! He was so excited.

Jack posing with his Wolf den leader, who's fantastic

I managed to snag a very busy cubmaster for another pic with the two trophies, and he asked me if he was going to be reading about this on my blog again this year. Uh, whoops - I always get so embarrassed when I find out people I know in real life, locally, have read it!! So here you go, J!

We helped clean up the church when the Derby was over, and then we took our happy boy home. He asked me if he could put his new trophies upstairs on his dresser, but I told him no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks! Sophia would have them broken by bedtime. So they live on the mantel for now, where we can beam with pride at their growing collection. Now the boys have to get the car ready for Districts. Maybe this year, he'll have a chance! (Last year, his car broke.)

Go, Jack, go!

Fin. 

Wordless Wednesday III: Jack, Entirely Too Excited About Being Tied Up

I'll have to remember that...

Fin. 

Friday Fragments: Smelly Returns!

Wait. "Smelly Returns" could mean a lot of things, couldn't it? Well, don't sit and think about it too long! It means I'm going to try to get back into FF after a long absence, not... those other things. Just be forewarned that I'm listening to Bob FM online through my ear buds, very loudly, so if one of my fragments suddenly turns into song lyrics, well, that's why.

Another forewarning: This is going to be long. I have a lot of stuff to unload. Feel free to, you know, NOT read it!

 

Link yourselves up right here if you're fragmenting along with the awesome Mrs.4444 (who is not so awesome at Words With Friends - aka Scrabble - on the iPhone, it turns out. Heh heh heh)!

And away we go!

☼

The past two weeks have been insanely busy for me, so I'm pretty much going to post about the goings-on then. For starters, Rob (The Hubs) was in the hospital for 8 days, starting on Tuesday last week and ending on Tuesday this week. He's all right now and stuff, but he didn't plan that visit too well for me, timing-wise. I guess I'll forgive him, but our bank account may never recover from the amount of babysitting I had to pay for during his absence!

☼

For starters, it was crazy Girl Scout Cookie week last week. Tuesday morning, I had an hour and a half of mandatory Leader training for that (I'm my younger daughter Sophia's Daisy scout leader). In the evening, there was the monthly Leader meeting, which, uh, I missed, because... we'll get to that. Thursday afternoon was our regular scout meeting, and Friday night was the big Cookie Rally. My co-Leader and I had to keep track of all 13 of our scouts by ourselves (8 of whom are 5 or 6 years old), because no parents were allowed. (It was insane!) Saturday, the cookie sale started, but it's been too freakin' cold out for us to go around the neighborhood, so I've been spared that for the moment. Still, I'm a little Girl-Scouted out at the moment, know what'm sayin'??

☼

And yes, I will be happy to send you six cases of Thin Mints... if you pay for the shipping. ;)

☼

After the cookie training last Tuesday, my Cookie Chair took me to BJ's, where she has a membership. We had to bring fourteen #10 (the huge ones) cans of veggies and fruits to Friday's Cookie Rally - one for each of our girls - for donation to the Food Bank. Our local council is really pushing the Food Bank this year. Which is great and all, but those things are 'spensive! ANYway, not the point. I did get some groceries for our household while there, and I decided I'm going to get a membership on payday. The pantry has been slim pickin's around here lately. Every time the kids turned a corner and found more giant containers of delicious-looking food, they would yell, "JACKPOT!" It was funny and sad at the same time. They were really relieved (and excited)when I told them not all that food was going to the Food Bank, and some of it was coming home with us...

☼

So after I finally got home, schlepped all the groceries up to my door and got the kids out of the van, it was with an unimaginable amount of dismay that I discovered the water shut-off notice on the front door. Yep. Went in and checked: no water. None. I literally went berserk. I had forgotten to pay the bill last cycle, yes, but as soon as Rob got the notice on the door one single day before, I sent the payment. Online. Which takes a couple days. I didn't know they only gave you one day of notice to pay before shutting it off. Gulp. I sent the kids upstairs to play in their rooms so they wouldn't hear me fall apart on the phone with the water people. I was in tears and threatening to do things that would put me back in the Psych Ward I visited in December. You just can't have three kids at home with no water. Can't cook, can't wash dishes or yourselves - can't FLUSH. And have you seen what three little kids put out? You must have The Flush. Needless to say, I got them to come turn the water back on within hours, after swearing on a virtual stack of Bibles that I had, indeed, paid that %^&*( bill.

That was definitely not the highlight of my week.

☼

I just don't get to say "schlepped" often enough. It's a fun word.

☼

Moving right along...

Wednesday, I saw my shrink for the second time since I got out of the Looney Bin. It was a good thing. My bipolarity has me swinging off the chandeliers one moment and contemplating slicing up my wrists the next (not kidding). It's been pretty hellish inside my brain lately. He changed one med, increased another, and refilled the third. Fingers crossed that this is the combo that works.

☼

Jack was supposed to go to his Urologist on Thursday morning for a follow-up after his surgery on September 1st, but uh, it took me so long to get him scheduled that his referral expired. Stupid, sucky Mommy. (He had a bilateral orchiopexy.) Yet another thing lately on which I have dropped the ball. Hopefully by next week's Fragments, I'll have scheduled the appointment to get a new referral...

☼

Thursday afternoon was, at long last, our Girl Scout Christmas party. The girls each exchanged gifts. Sophia completely and totally embarrassed me when she opened her present (from my Cookie Chair's daughter, no less), saw what it was, threw it, looked like this:

 

for a few minutes, and then burst into tears. Why?? Because it was Tinkerbell/Fairy goodies, and she thought *I* had given her MORE Tinkerbell stuff. She had all Tinkerbell things in her stocking this year, and Chloë got Disney Princesses stuff, and she wanted Princesses, and here was more Tinkerbell, and ...ugh! It was mortifying. I had to take her out of the room, lecture her once again on the proper way to receive a gift, and then put her in the corner when she was STILL being bratty. And then go apologize for her behavior. I'm still embarrassed!

☼

The Cookie Rally on Friday night went really well, and I didn't lose a single Daisy. (The chemist in me thinks of my troop of Daisies as a whole lot of excited valence electrons, if that's any explanation!) Sophia was probably griping here about not getting more cookies... See her red shirt? One of the troop parents had the bright idea to put all our girls in the same color, and we chose red. Worked like a dream.

☼

Saturday and Sunday, the kids and I spent pretty much all day at the hospital with Daddy. Thankfully, they provided crayons and paper to keep the little ones busy. It helped. Mommy and Daddy got into the drawing and coloring for a while there, too. It was pretty therapeutic. I smuggled in some chocolate for the patient, even though no outside food was allowed. It was most appreciated. I smuggled in my new iPhone 4 for him to "ooh" and "ahh" over, too. Daddy likey.

☼

So far this school year, I've been working a ton with Sophia on letter sounds. She kept getting them mixed up, and she found the whole process rather boring, so we didn't really graduate beyond that - until December, when things suddenly clicked for her, and she began to read! Still, I didn't go back to the Hooked on Phonics program we'd been using, because we did so much traveling last month, and because I wanted her reading skills to develop more informally in that period. We went back to HoP on Monday, and she did a beautiful job with the program, even reading her first three stories to me, unassisted. So she finally got to put her first sticker on her reading chart, which has been up on the wall since September. It was a momentous occasion, so we all did the Happy Dance! Yay, Sophie!

☼

Monday night was dance class for Chloë and Cub Scouts for Jack, so we didn't get to visit Daddy at the hospital. That sucked, and we all missed him like crazy. I may have cried a little.

☼

Tuesday was nuts. I had to go to the mall to get an eye exam (yes, for a mystery shop, but I really needed it). My vision has jumped another big step, for the worse. Awesome. Not that you care. After that, I stopped in at The Children's Place to check the clearance racks. Score! I got over two dozen pairs of good, quality pants for less than six bucks each - half for the girls, half for the boy - since they've all been in high-waters lately. Imagine that, my kids actually grew! Now to take the 3Ts and 5Ts to the kids' consignment shop...

☼

In the afternoon, I still hadn't heard when Hubs was getting out of the hospital, and I was starting to panic. I had to take Jack and Sophia to gymnastics (the boy joined his sister in class last week, too, and he's über-enthusiastic about it) in the afternoon, and then spend four hours at the Girl Scout council doing my CPR certification class, and I really didn't want to get another sitter for that... plus I wanted him HOME, of course! I called the head nurse, his command, his chief (because he had to be released to the command, not his wife, argh), and finally found out they were discharging him in the next 20 minutes. Really? You couldn't keep me in the loop?? I dropped The Littles off at the gym and then raced my tush over to the Naval hospital to scoop him up, before rushing us back to the gym to pick up the little gymnasts. In rush-hour traffic, both ways. Normally, that should have taken me about 2½ hours, but I did it in an hour and 15 minutes. Go me.

☼

Tuesday night, I spent four hours learning CPR, for the first time. I meant to do it after I had my first kid, and then the next two, and then the last one, and then... I never did. Now that I'm a scout leader, it's time. It was an adrenaline rush, for sure. I've been on the lookout for an unconscious victim ever since. Next month, I'm going to take the next step and take the course to be a Red Cross CPR instructor. I'm doing it for free through the Girl Scouts, in exchange for teaching a couple classes a year after that. I'm nervous and excited!

☼

Wednesday night was our monthly Bunco night. I almost forgot to make my cupcakes! 1700 rolled around, and I finally got started... or at least I did, after I sent Hubs out to pick me up some eggs. Well, I wanted to make some really cute cuppies, only all the Wilton food color gels I wanted to use had dried out. So I had to use blue. I tasted some of the blue frosting... can you tell??

Then, I put the tinted frosting in the fridge so it wouldn't be soft and melty like it was in the tub, while I showered and got ready. Only, I left it in there so long, it got TOO hard, and I couldn't use the swirly tip I wanted to use. So I ended up doing these slapdash basketweave cupcakes, in blue, and getting exactly nothing like I wanted. Apparently they were good, though, and I was asked to bring cupcakes every single time.

☼

This morning, I had my two-year check-up with my gastric bypass surgeon. Hard to believe two whole years have gone by since I weighed *gulp* 341.3 pounds. I've lost about 205 of those lbs along the way, dropping from a BMI of 62.xx to somewhere in the mid-20s (hard to tell with all the extra floppy skin I'm still lugging around). I'm happy, but I'm not finished yet. I look okay in clothes, but when I take them off, it looks like I'm 92 years old. No lie! So Plastics is in my future, and I'm okay with that. Just don't touch my face, because I'm pretty adorable. Ha!

☼

Tonight, I went for the follow-up to my CPR class, which was the First Aid portion. I aced my test. Well, I did get one wrong on the child first aid portion, because I read the question as a CPR one instead of a choking/abdominal thrusts one, der. That'll teach me to rush to be the first one done! (That's a lifelong habit I've had, so dumb.) It was a good class, and I'm seriously glad I've had it. My only complaint - and a major one - is that there was waaaaaaay too much joking around and talking during the instruction and videos. A little laughter is fine. The entire six hours? Not so much. Not when some of us aren't taking it for the 7th time and actually want to learn this stuff! Now I need to stock a first aid kit to bring with me everywhere I go!!

☼

Well, I could bore you to tears for another hour, and THEN share some cute-and-funnies from the kids, but I shan't. This has gotten long enough, and I know you agree. Have a fantastic weekend, and send me any extra gauze and band-aids you have in the house. ;)

Fin.

P.S. Scroll down and read my Poop Story, if you missed it. I'm told it was a good story, anyway.

Jack's Belt Loops

Apparently I never posted about this? At Jack's last pack meeting for Cub Scouts (he's a Wolf now!), he was given these three belt loops, for BB gun shooting, archery, and soccer. He worked on these at camp over the summer. I didn't take him to the meeting - his Daddy did - but I heard he was super-proud of himself when he was called up to get these. Yay, Buddy!

Fin. 

The Way It Went Down

Saturday. What a day. I think it was the 7th of August.

It was a day full o' Scout activities: Rob and Jack were scheduled to spend the day at our local waterpark with th Cubs, and the girls and I were slated to attend the 2010 Girl Scout kick-off for our council, in Chesapeake.

There was just one problem: We girls had to be out there at around 0830, but the boys didn't need to be in place until 0930. I had to drive them there an hour and a half early, since the LandCruiser is currently inoperable (insert heavy eyerolls here) and we can't exactly strap the boy onto the back of the Beemer. It was a 40-minute drive from the Virginia Beach oceanfront - site of the waterpark - to the location of the Kick-off, but I made it there on time, with seconds to spare.

Um, except that I didn't.

I thought it was at council, but NO ONE was in the parking lot when I arrived. I goofed! Thankfully, I had the address entered into my iPhone, but I goofed again, because although the church where it was actually being held was nearby, I went south when I should've gone north. Twice. Maybe thrice. And then I realized I had the wrong segment of street. Argh!

So I finally showed up, with Curls and Soap in tow, about 15 minutes late. Have I mentioned that I despise being late?! I do not like to make an entrance, not in that way.

Bunches of people were milling around the large church compound, but not a single soul seemed to be able to help this poor mother frantically dragging two little girls around, trying to figure out where we were supposed to go. I finally found someone, who directed me to their check-in rooms. They ran in, I signed them in, and I didn't see them again until lunchtime.

It took another little while before I figured out where I was supposed to go, myself. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one late to my class (for new troop leaders, part 1), and another lady made the grand entrance with me.

Unfortunately, I was waved over to an empty seat in the middle of a crowded row, and I tripped and fell into the person on the other side of the seat, who was NOT thrilled about it. My face burned with embarrassment. Ugh.

The class went well and quicklly, though, and I picked up a lot of tips and even made friends (sort of, we didn't exchange numbers or anything, but I'd smile and say hi if I saw her again) with the lady on whom I so ungracefully landed.

After class, there was an assembly downstairs, and we listened to the council CEO, the new COO, and a former-turned-renewed adult Girl Scout volunteer ramble on and on and on. And on and on.  I really didn't get a whole lot out of that, and looking around, I could tell that not a lot of people did. I was pleased when my coach and the membership chair for our Service Unit found me and gave me a great, big, reassuring hug. I didn't see anyone else I knew from our Service Unit except for R, the lady from whom we got the kids' homeschooling desks last weekend, in Chloë's classroom.

The assembly ran really late, and unlike a lot of folks, I didn't have the gall to get up and walk out while they were still talking. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. So by the time I collected my young ladies, we didn't have much time to eat. I hadn't purchased their boxed lunches for us, because you never know what you're going to get with those things, and I didn't want to pay $24 for food that might go to waste. I still didn't have my replacement debit card, so I had exactly seven dollars available for the three of us to eat.

Saved by The Bell - Taco Bell, right down the road. Hardly the kind of nutritious fare we're trying to fill their bellies with lately, but you gotta do what you gotta do, and they were ravenous. I got them each two mini-quesadillas, myself a bean burrito, a large Diet Pepsi (blech) to share, and we spent $6.90. And they were FULL. Phew!

We drove back and ate in the van, which was a sweaty proposition, but it let them be a bit more rambunctious than I'd have allowed them to be in the church. It was time to bring them back for the afternoon session as soon as they finshed, but when we got there, they claimed all the kids weren't supposed to be signed in until quarter past the hour. Didn't make much sense, since that's when our classes started, and wouldn't you think they'd give us a little time to go from one thing to the other?

I got them in and made it to class just as introductions were being made, which made it the second time that day I had to make an entrance. Hello, as much as I am the queen of TMI on here, I am SO SHY in real life!! At least until I get to know you. Unless I've had some alcohol or a good deal of caffeine, and then all bets are off. But never mind.

Class two, Leadership Essentials (basically part 2 for new leaders) was long but a lot of fun. I learned a LOT. Essentially, after running GSUSA about the same way for almost 100 years, they are completely revamping the entire movement and making huge program changes across the board. It's exciting, but for those of us used to the old way, it was also quite confusing.

The facilitator was going on and on about the new "journeys," and everyone seemed to be nodding their heads and going along with her, but I had no clue what the heck a Journey was. Finally, I raised my hand and said, "I don't GET it! WHAT is a journey?!!" and then half the class was with me, "Yeah, yeah, we're confused, too." She kinda treated me like the dumb one, but I think if I'm the only one who spoke up in a class full of people who were in the same boat, I'm the smart one. But that's just me...

So now, I'm clear, and I'm on board. I don't think Chloë's leader will transform, because she never attends Leader meetings, but I am definitely going to run the Daisy troop the "new and improved" way. It's just better and, when you understand it, much more sensible. I'll try to prevail on N to make the switch, but in the end, I am not their Leader, and that is not my troop.

So.

At last, class ended, and I set off to collect the ladies again. Who, by the way, I'm going to have to start referring to as the NEW Non-Twins, in that they are the exact same size (with Sophia outweighing her older sister by a few lbs), and everyone constantly asking me if they were twins, both going into Daisies, or some such. Poor Chloë. Jack doesn't seem to care and gets angry when people assume he's a baby or younger than he is, but Chloë seems much more personally wounded by it. :( I'll have to talk with her about it, or maybe have her therapist do so ... if I can ever get myself to make another appointment for her!

When I found Sophia, she was lying with her shoes off under a table, sucking her thumb and twiddling her hair. She was definitely in quiet, nap-time mode, while the cacophony of girly antics raged on around her. I watched her, unseen, for a smidge, and then I called out her name. She was instantly on her feet, calling, "Mommy, Mommy!!" and rushing into my arms. When we left to get Chlo, the sign-in lady told me that she had been asking for me. Aww. She's still my Little Little, even if she's big. ♥

I collected Curly Sue, and then we texted Daddy that we were on our way. The boys were ready to go. Thirty-five sweaty minutes later, we pulled up in front of the waterpark, acquired our men, and set off in search of a Starbucks for a desperately-needed free cup of coffee that I was owed for having an empty bag of their java. I could barely keep my eyes open, but we planned to stop by either the Kia dealership to look at Sedonas, or the Honda dealer to look at the Odysseys, after the coffee stop.

No could do. I didn't like my coffee (iced), so I gave it to Rob and decided to give up and go home for a snooze. And then he remembered he left his backpack at the waterpark! Which, by the way, is not even remotely close to our house. Argh. So I got off the highway, flipped a U, and got back on. Thankfully, the pack was located, and nothing was missing, including all his cards - both financial and identifical. We have been lucky with the Honest Joes lately, in that regard!

Wow, so I didn't plan on being this lenghty about our day at ALL. I was actually intending to do bullet points! Sorry...

We stopped for frappés again, on the way home, and I kicked myself the whole time. This caffeine habit is expensive and must be stopped!

Speaking of which, I think I give up on sleeping regularly. At nearly 34 years of age, it's time to stop fighting it and realize that I sleep when I sleep, and it may not make sense to you or you, there, but it's how my body works. I'm nocturnal. I'm sure of it. I've always been.So if I manage sleep at night, awesome, but if I don't, well, I'll nap when I can manage. It pretty much sucks, but hey, now that we're homeschooling, if I have to teach in the middle of the night and let the kids sleep all day right along with me, at least it's an option! (Don't worry, I don't plan on making the children conform to my whacked-out rhythms. I'm just sayin' - I could...)

Tomorrow's another busy day, taking Chloë up to Williamsburg for camp. She's NOT looking forward to it. Here's hoping she enjoys herself despite her reluctance!

Fin.

P.S. Oh, yeah - the boys had a LOT of fun at the park. Jack's face got sunburned, but he doesn't seem ouchy. He slept all the way home, and back, and home again, and he was in a joyous mood after. Rob just hung out with his little buddy all day and did what the kid wanted to do, and I think it was good for him.  For both of them.

Friday Fragments

Is it Friday again already?! Sheesh, I am way behind on "regular" posts here, sorry! Well, thank goodness for Mrs.4444, or y'all would NEVER hear what's going on in our lives... wait. You might like that. Anyway!

☼

Last weekend, Sophia went to the birthday party of her former preschool teacher's little boy. I didn't take any pictures of anyone else, ever since I got in trouble with the school for having pix of other preschool children here on the blahg. *insert eyeroll here* So here's Sophia having tons of fun at the newly-updated Chuck E. Cheese. I couldn't believe it when I walked in there - it's all different since her party in April! New games, new rides, new layout... too bad they didn't have new (organic) food. I let her eat, though. She was THRILLED and totally pigged out!

I talked to her teacher quite a bit; we get along swimmingly. Seems Sophia is a "fave" of hers from class, and she behaves like an angel while at school. Ha! She could not believe how seriously naughty Sophia is at home. Maybe I should send her back to preschool...? I mean, really, wth?

☼

As we left that party, Sophia told me she was going to marry the 2yo birthday boy. I pointed out that she was quite a bit older than him, at five, but she seemed nonplussed. My daughter, the cougar!

☼

Hahaha, this picture kills me. Not only am I wearing Ye Olde Fashioned Scary Mud Mask, but it looks like I have a giant boog on my face! Awesome.

This is part of a review I'm doing for my giveaway blog, Fishing and Wishing. I'm having lots of fun giving away goodies every night there, but I tell you what, it is starting to become a lot of work to keep up with it! I'm thinking about getting an assistant... and at times, I think about handing off the blog to someone else entirely! I just don't know how I'm going to have time to keep up with it AND this blog AND running this household AND homeschooling. Something's gotta give!

☼

I am pigging out like crazy this week. I don't know what it is; every once in a while, the former appetite seems to come back, and I feel like eating constantly. And I eat when I'm hungry, so I'm afraid to step on the scale this week! I haven't been keeping up with my protein, either, so... yeah. Maybe I'll skip that mean ol' weighin' machine for a few more days.

☼

Two things about Sophia: She loves birds, and she loves bugs. She loves the cool bugs she catches, like this grasshopper, so much that she wants to keep them for pets. Mom never lets her, though. Today, she asked me, "Can we put him in a bucket and poke lots of holes in it so he can breathe?" I declined, asking, "But what would we feed him, honey? We don't want him to starve!" She had a ready answer: "We'll just go to the pet store and get grasshopper food, Mom!"

☼

I usually get my crabcakes already made from the fishmonger at the Farmer's Market, Uncle Chuck. His are the best in the world, I sh*t you not. 

But the last time I went, he was out of them! Wha?! Didn't he know I was coming?

I had to settle for a pound of lump crab meat, instead.

That was at the beginning of this month, and yesterday, I finally decided to break down and make my own crabby patties. I had asked Steph how she made hers, but I lost where she told me (it was online, on Facebook I think), so I turned to the old standby: The Joy of Cooking. Reading the recipe, it sounded pretty much exactly like Steph's, so I decided to go for it (mustard and all! Eek!)

 I had to make a few subs: I didn't have scallions, so I used the organic red onions from the organic food shoppe. I didn't have bread crumbs, or even bread to make my own, so I used cornmeal (yeah, don't do that). Otherwise, I think I followed the 'structions pretty much exactly... and you know what?

Uncle Chuck's were a zillion times better. Seriously. If you're ever in Virginia Beach on a Thursday-thru-Sunday, get thee to his stand at the Farmer's Market and pick up some of his crabcakes! *drool*

☼

Oh! Oh! Oh! I have perhaps the most exciting news you've read all year minute: We now have air conditioning!! I'm no longer stuffing freezer packs down my bra and underwear all day long, to keep from melting! Hee. Ahhhh. Everyone is feeling MUCH better, thanks. And I no longer have to listen to the poor dog panting like crazy. That was driving me insane in the membrane. (I'd yell at her, "Stop BREATHING, already!") Aw, poor pooch.

☼

Jack, 7, is at Cub Scout camp this week. I heard from his Leader, Beth, that he's having a fantastic time and has gone boating and rock wall climbing. I didn't believe it - he's quite a chicken, and a whiner - but she said she has the pictures to prove it! I can't wait to see.

We miss him so much, Rob and I. It's very different without the little feller. The girls got along for the first time EVER yesterday, and played like sweet little sisters. Today, however, the fighting was worse than usual. It was outrageous! I felt like shouting, SHUT UPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!

☼

So that's all from me this week. Hope y'all have a fan-flipping-tastic week, and I'll see ya back here next time!

Fin.