December 23, 2006

Good Taste

The making of the pralines is complete! Three batches and only the last one was a flop---and I didn't need it anyway---got all the gifts covered with two batches. Let the gift wrapping begin!

Quote of the day by FM#1: "Pralines are comfort food."

December 22, 2006

Does someone need a hug?

A few days ago some conversation was going on around here -- probably several conversations at once, but FM#2 asked CeanBounter something to which Cean snapped back with a grumpy response. FM#2 leaned over to me and said in a low tone, "He's an angry elf."

December 16, 2006

Ben Who?

Ben 10 Omnitrix F/X; it's all the rage this year;
For boys who watch the cartoon it's a must-have, I hear.
It's black and green and really cool;
A supply shortage I fear.
Ben 10!

The stores are sold out, only ones are waiting on Ebay,
For three times the retail price you can own one today.
Remember PS2 and Elmo,
Hurry, don't delay!
Ben 10!

UPDATE: HolyChow and my algebra buddy (nephew) found one! Score!

December 14, 2006

Pu-khan' or Pee'-can?

Today's the day. Can't you hear Rod Stewart singing "Tonight's the Night"? That song always creeped me out. Hey, what's the deal with us talking about the Rodster so much lately? See EuroMom's post for more.

Anyhoooo, today I will attempt to make pecan pralines. I am doing this for my husband's staff at work. No pressure, just ten boxes -- that's five batches, folks. FIVE BATCHES!!!

I figured I'd get started today so if it's a flop (HolyChow promises it's easy) I'll have the weekend to figure out something else. A couple of years ago we got them all a nice bottle of wine. I loved this option because it was one stop shopping, easy gift wrapping, and well, who doesn't love wine?

Apparently, someone on my husband's staff because they gave us a bottle of wine last year and I think it was literally The Same Wine we gave them the year before. Or maybe they thought we liked that particular wine since we gave it as a gift - in which case they'd be correct.

I'll let you know how the candy making goes. Meanwhile, if any of you have any great gift ideas that require a credit card rather than a stove stop, fess up, and save me from this chore!

December 5, 2006

Digging Up Old Brain Cells

I must admit I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I told my nephew, who is not loving algebra, to give me a call and I'd help him. I really didn't think he'd take me up on that offer. Well, he didn't really. His mom did. Now I'm on my second algebra assignment and I'm finding I remember stuff I haven't done since high school. What I've forgotten how to do I'm googling and, "Whew!", it's coming back to me. Hence the sigh of relief.

I am often surprised at how much we forget, although 'forget' isn't the right word. The knowledge is in there; we just don't use it anymore. Or the memory is in there and we just don't think about it. I wish there was a way to replay segments of our lives.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to a friend's husband about what he did for a living. Come to find out he does the same thing I used to do, you know, before I retired (yeah right). He used a word that described the type of systems he works on. SCADA. At one point in my life, I used that word almost daily. It was like a little brain cell rejuvenation when I heard it again; kind of like this algebra is now. It was rather fun talking to him about my former job. But I'm glad it's my former job.

I *heart* algebra and CeanBounter for doing the job he does so I can do the job I do.

November 28, 2006

Tales from the Turkey Trail

We hit the road for Thanksgiving this year. We usually switch back and forth from one parent's house to the other, trying to be fair. We usually end up forgetting where we were last year and where we're supposed to be this year.

It's a rather pretty drive, even on the interstate. Once off the interstate we jump from one little town to another, stopping at a traffic light every now and then.

In one little town I spied this sign, "Scrapbooking Supplies & Guns".

Now that's one-stop shopping.

November 14, 2006

No matter the election results or what is going on in my town or who is ruling the nations and kingdoms and principalities of this world.

...that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. --Ephesians 1:18-21

November 9, 2006

Dream a little dream with me

Last night I dreamed that I was following EuroMom in my car. We were going to her favorite spa downtown while our kids were in school!!!

October 26, 2006

Good Day Sunshine!

Yesterday was a good day. We had tickets to the RenFest, but FM#2 has been under the weather so we had all agreed it was best for him to stay home. The morning of our would-be outing, FM#1 announced he was very sad we weren't going at which time FM#2 (aka the sick one) started sobbing. Sobbing! They really wanted to go. So I told them if we could be ready in an hour we'd go and if FM#2 started feeling bad or itchy (a reaction to his antibiotic) we'd come home.

All in agreement, say "aye". "Aye!"

Off we go with diapers and lunch and water bottles and camera and cell phone and money and.....thankfully enough umbrellas for all of us.

Wrong Turn #1 - Have you ever been driving down a road and in order to stay on that road you actually have to turn? Otherwise, the road magically becomes another road? This happened to us.

During Wrong Turn #1 a friend calls and asks where I am. "Are you here?" "I'm about ten minutes away."

Wrong, so very wrong.

My gut tells me to turn around; this way doesn't feel right. So I call CeanBounter who is at lunch with the Sox auditors and doesn't hear his phone. I turn around anyway and take the turn I should've taken in the first place. Off we go. Pretty countryside. Nice little towns. I come upon the next road I need and take a right. Which leads us to.....

Wrong Turn #2 - "Should've taken a left", says the KwikLube guy. Back we go, eating our lunch now because we need to save time thanks to my detours! Get a call from CeanBounter and he admits the maps are way too general. It's confusing to him, too.

But hey! A sign! Turn here, it says. What a concept! We make it just in time for the rain. A mizzle, a drizzle, a downpour. So pushing a stroller with one hand and holding the umbrella with the other, we meander our way through the crowds, the rain, the mud. We see some interesting characters (all G-rated 'cause this is School Days at RenFest after all), a joust, Celtic jewelry (those penannulas they used to hold their cloaks on in Eagle of the Ninth), and swords for everyone!

FM#2 was getting cold and starting to itch and we were all soaked so we sloshed our way back to the car. Dry, comfy, and munching on Pringles ("Mom, you got the King Can!").

We got back to the main intersection and I saw a sign that directed me to what I thought might be a more interesting route home. Less 80 mph traffic, more scenery. Let's go that way! Pleas from the backseat: "Mom! No!" And we find ourselves in the midst of.....

Wrong Turn #3 - After a few miles I call CeanBounter who, now at Full Alert by the phone with Google Maps on his computer, tells me I'll end up halfway to A&M if I proceed down this road. Not entirely a bad thing, mind you, but not today. So I turn the old SUV around on a dime and go back from whence I came.

Boring.

The FM's have now fully loaded their arsenal with ammo for the next time Mom sets off to points unknown. My "shortcuts" turn into adventures.

October 9, 2006

LotR Update

Reading through previous posts I noticed I said I was going to finish LotR. I didn't. It really takes an investment of time! And you have to be able to stay awake.

The grocery fund had a surplus and I had some mad money so I bought all three extended editions. Now we're starting over from the beginning. FM#1 and I watched FotR already. Over three and a half hours long!

He watched Two Towers and showed me the part where Eowyn realizes Aragorn is really old. Add to that the fact that he grew up with the elves - I guess he and Arwen do make more sense together. I acquiesce. Plus, he wanted me to guess who Eowyn marries. My guess was Faramir. He wouldn't tell me if I was right or not. Said I have to watch the movie and find out. But if I am right, then - yeah!

October 6, 2006

Sentence Opener...Dress Up Anyone?

Some of you may know that I am in a panic because I can't find my IEW notebook. Okay, you may not know I'm in a panic, per se. I am. Some of you may know how expensive this writing curriculum is, hence the panicking.

I have the DVDs, but can't find the notebook anywhere and I desperately need sentence openers. Well, not me, but FM#1 needs some sentence openers. I'm sure if you asked him he wouldn't think it a desperate situation at all.

I've asked a few people to whom I might've loaned it, but they don't have it. EuroMom, poor thing, has been asking to borrow it for months now. Sad thing is she asked a procrastinator (me) so she's still waiting. ShelledPeas, remember her? She said there's an IEW notebook at church in the secretary's office. It's been there since VBS. I even remember seeing it myself. I even asked the secretary about it and she didn't know who it belonged to. Bless ShelledPeas heart, I'm hoping, hoping, hoping it's mine. Could it be mine? Would it be mine? Won't you be my notebook? Did I mention how expensive this thing was? What concerns me is, how did it get to church? I have absolutely no recollection of taking it up there. Did I loan it to someone who has left it there for over two months? I have a vague recollection of talking to someone about it, but did I loan it to them?

Remember Rehab's brain cells post? And I did not live a wild life pre-CeanBounter. Speaking of whom, I should probably block him from reading this.

UPDATE: The notebook at church was mine! All is well in the writing world.

September 28, 2006

It's Not Easy Being Green

Last night for dinner I made a pasta carbonara dish. I got the idea from Holly's blog except I pumped up the fat by making an alfredo sauce. Along with it I managed to tweak my sauteed haricot verts and they came out mmm, mmm, good.

Now, FM#3 takes after CeanBounter in his disgust of all things 'vegetable'. Honestly, the kid can't stand vegetables. But I made him eat the green beans. I heard someone somewhere say you had to offer something 30+ times before a child will come around. I'm up to around 20-25. Time's running out.

But I put the green beans on a fork and FM#3 willingly opened his mouth and chewed. He got the pirate face. You know, that face you get when you suck on a lemon? With the one eye that goes closed? Except these were green beans, for goodness sake! But he swallowed them.

After a while I put more on the fork and he grabbed his milk cup and started guzzling. Everytime he'd put his cup down I'd put the fork up and he'd grab the cup again. His brothers loved this show. At least I found a way to get him to drink all of his milk. Hey, that organic stuff is expensive! After a while, the milk was gone and there was no other choice than to eat the green beans. In they went.

Pirate face. Gagging. Smiling. Chewing. Gagging. Coughing.

I told him to swallow. He said, "Hold my hand."

The Clapper

We've lost our DVD remote. That means we can't rewind the scene over and over again on our favorite parts. We have to use the TV remote which is an inferior substitute.

To complicate matters, we've now lost the TV remote. FM#3 and I were home alone. I put him to bed and skipped, happily bounded, went downstairs to enjoy my only night of network TV. The New Adventures of Old Christine, love it! What?! No remote?!

I looked everywhere and I do mean everywhere. Couch cushions, in the dark recesses behind the TV, DVD drawers, cabinets, under the couch, kitchen, fridge, pantry, trash can, office, bedroom, back upstairs.

Nothing.

I came to the conclusion that FM#3 must have some secret hiding place for the remotes and wherever the TV remote was, there we would joyfully find its cousin, the DVD remote. I'd ask him the next day. Meanwhile, I'll just sit here and enjoy my show and try not to go crazy without a remote during the commercials.

Oh, what the heck. Why not check the obvious place? I mean I have looked EVERYWHERE! I opened the official Remote Control Drawer and, voila! TV remote! Who put that there?!

Alas, the DVD remote is still MIA.

September 18, 2006

Not exactly my cup of tea

I have a few ninos en mi casa. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I might one day have to buy a cup, and by that I mean the athletic-protect-your-sensitive-man-parts kind of cup. Several thoughts occurred to me:

what do they look like?

how are they installed?

how do they stay put?

do you try it on before you leave the store?

will they be bulgingly embarrassed if they end up being the only ones in class with one?

What to do?

Send the husband.

For some reason he was less than enthusiastic himself and felt perfectly confident that I could accomplish the task. In the words of Dana Carvey's George H. W. Bush, "Not gonna do it."

So CeanBounter took my bittle loys to Cups-R-Us and they came out with what might be called "the coolest cups" in the world of cups.

So we're good here.

September 12, 2006

Treadmill? You mean the quilt rack?

Wow! It has been a while. As I told the Library Lady the other day - been up to my eyeballs in school, scouts, and co-op.

School - Chugging right along. FM#1 is doing well. FM#2 loves his math fact sheets (bless his heart) and I decided to start him in a spelling workbook. FM#3 likes to color.

Scouts - We had our first den meeting this week. We've got some sharp-looking scouts. I'm really excited about this year. Being the den leader I have to wear the oh-so-attractive scout uniform. Shirt only really. It's at the alterations shop right now. I'm having it altered to look a bit more feminine. I've probably committed some heinous crime against the BSA for altering the uniform. Seamstress Jennie is putting in some darts and what-not to make me look like I have curves that I don't, because let's face it, I am not tucking that shirt in! I haven't tucked since the early 90's.

Co-op - FM#1 is managing to keep up with the reading. FM#2 has made new friends. FM#3 eats the other kids' snacks. Me and my fellow LG teachers are managing to fill the three hours more than adequately. I get home and crash!

Tile - Thank you all for your concern. I just can't bring myself to go looking again. I know I need to do it and I will, but.....

A chica de mi iglesia even encouraged me. This after our pastor announced from the pulpit that I needed prayer for my tile situation. Tongue-in-cheek, of course. His wife has been helping me with tile and colors and such. I'll prolly venture out this weekend. Until then I'm using the aforementioned tile as a huge trivet.

Oh, my under cabinet lights are pooping out. Mi esposo says it's because I leave them on all day and they get muy caliente. You'd think if we can put a man on the moon we can design a fixture that can withstand the heat of a halogen. Or maybe not invent a light bulb that gets as hot as a halogen!

So who has time to exercise?

August 29, 2006

LaFem Rehab - this one's for you

1. ONE HOMESCHOOL BOOK I'VE ENJOYED - Well-Trained Mind. Much more interesting than the Bluedorn's.

2. ONE HS RESOURCE I WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT - The Library Lady

3. ONE HS RESOURCE I WISH I'D NEVER BOUGHT - Spellwell and Explode the Code. Want to buy some? Never been used.

4. ONE HS RESOURCE I ENJOYED LAST YEAR - Teaching in my pj's. Now that's resourceful!

5. ONE HS RESOURCE I WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR - Hello, McFly. Did you read #4? I will be teaching in my pj's again. Seriously though, it would have to be a real spelling curric with FM#2 and Latina Christiana (second try) with FM#1.

6. ONE HS RESOURCE I'D LIKE TO BUY - Have I not bought it all yet? G.A. Henty books. Or the perfect spelling curriculum.

7. ONE HS RESOURCE I WISH EXISTED - An Insta-Smart-in-History pill or an Amazing-Memory-for Bible-Verses pill.

8. ONE HS CATALOG I'VE ENJOYED READING - Veritas

9. ONE HS WEBSITE I VISIT REGULARLY - Oi vay! Tapestry of Grace.

10. I've got to come up with a good tag subject now.

August 27, 2006

Bummed. Like Totally.

The aforementioned tile is.....discontinued.

No joke. I went to the distributor this weekend to have them pull several tiles for me to look at since it has some significant variation and, alas, it is discontinued and there is only about 500 sf available.

Back to the drawing board.

Going to finish LotR tonight with CeanBounter.

August 24, 2006

I have an announcement to make...

I have picked a tile! (roar of the crowd, applause, applause)

Okay, so it's not as exciting as Sheller's, but I'll be living with it, too, for the next 18 years. At least I'm pretty sure. I have to go to the manufacturer's store and look at several of them to check the color variation. If it's a 'go' then the destruction of my house can begin!

On another note, we've started school. Celebrate good times, come on! To quote Kool and the Gang. We're off and running and doing an adequate job thanks to lesson plans. Why didn't I do these before?

On yet another note, can we believe our Shellers is preggers? This is going to be fun. Let's start thinking of names.....Sugar Snap, Snow, Crowder.

August 18, 2006

Sage Advice

You know you haven't posted in a while when your own husband accuses you of shutting down your blog.

I have been doing school stuff and scout stuff and trying to suck one last summer-ish day out of a not-so-very-summerish summer. (Sally sells seashells by the seashore.) Plus los ninos have been sick - muy malo. After a week of fevers and smoker's cough we went to the doc.

While we were waiting for the doctor to come in I thought I'd read a bit - Shakespeare, The Federalist Papers, PEOPLE magazine. FM#1 was looking at a magazine, too, and FM#2 was spinning FM#3 round and round and round on the doctor's spinny chair. Now normally this extensive wait would put me on edge (aka-make me crazy mad), but los ninos were being good and I was finding out who the 100 sexiest people were. (Hey, I might need to know that one day.)

Out of the corner of my eye I saw FM#3 go flying. Not just any flying, but an all-out horizontal, frisbee kind of flying. He landed face-down on the floor and began to sob into said floor. His well-intentioned bro had spun him too fast and, because he doesn't know any better, he wasn't holding on for dear life.

I picked him up from his horizontal position and inspected him. Sure enough, a boo-boo. Not a bump, per se. A vein to be exact. It was purple and protruding. "Everybody sit down and be quiet and don't touch that chair again for the rest of your life!" The doc came in ("breathe, breathe, say 'ah'" times 3) She mashed (hard) on the veiny area and declared, "He'll be fine."

Sinus infections. Antibiotics all around.

For the next few days, FM#3 had a bruise that ran in a rather straight line above his eyebrow. It made him look like he was frowning and mad. Nothing like a 2-1/2 year old sportin' a 'tude.

A bit of advice for the youngsters in the crowd: if you're going to fling your brother off a spinny chair, make sure you do it in the doctor's office.

August 10, 2006

Tagging - Not a Fan

But I'll succumb just this once for Su-Z-Q. Three things about each of my FM's, suitable for worldwide blog readers, of course.

1. FM#1 has a surprising sense of humor and good comedic timing.
2. He has a slightly loose tooth that won't come out even though the new tooth is growing in.
3. Doesn't complain when I ask him to unload the dishwasher.

1. FM#2 has a great pitching arm.
2. Read today without being asked.
3. Is not afraid of his big bro. Probably secretly thinks he could take him.

1. FM#3 is hanging on to this fever thing.
2. Was a post-vas, we-followed-the-doctor's-instructions baby.
3. Looks suspiciously like my lawn man.

August 7, 2006

Vedui' Il'er

Okay, forgiving the fact that I haven't read the book so I'm only going by what the movie reveals, surely I am not the only one who thinks Eowyn is better suited for Aragorn than the shallow, forever-young Arwen. And let me just say that my favorite part of The Two Towers is Helm's Deep and I love, love, love the part when the Elvish army shows up and when they all snap their heads to one side. Those Elves can fight!

Almost makes me like Orlando Bloom. Almost.

July 19, 2006

Mmm, Peanut Butter

It's been a blow slog week. Things have been either too mundane or too salacious to write about, but I'll give it go.

A friend called the other day to ask me two things: (1) if I wanted to go to an informational meeting about a co-op and (2) since it was near my house, could she leave her son here during the meeting. Yes, to both counts. Really, whether I went to the meeting or not her son was welcome. Are you kidding me? An impromptu visit from a friend? To play? I can just hear it now, "Mom! You're the greatest! We love you! What can we do for you, oh, Beloved Mother?"

I was still basking in Fun Mom Status from last week. FM#1 planned a patrol meeting and in order for one of the guys to make it we brought him home from a birthday party the day before to spend the night. I had seven Boy Scouts in my house on Friday. They were good kids. Worked hard. Produced a good looking patrol flag. Anyhoooo, the look on FM#1's face was most excellent when I told him Adam was coming over.

Now, I wasn't looking for a co-op, mind you, but thought I'd go anyway to check it out. I hadn't seen the hostess in forever and at the very least I'd get to spend time conversing with other women. While we were gone CeanBounter and the boys taught our guest how to play poker, quarters, dominoes.

So I went and the co-op looked good, oh so good. In attendance were four women I knew and liked plus others I had met here or there. Good crowd. The cooperative effort would be to teach ToG Year 2, but they were starting in Unit 3. This sounded pretty good because we're in Year 2 although Week 8. No prob. We could work around that. The classes are grouped according to Lower Grammar, Upper Grammar, etc. which means my little FM#2 would have his own little Lower Grammar class complete with age appropriate material and projects. They primarily concentrate on history, literature, and timeline. They add in some geography and vocabulary every now and then. The hands-on is done there. And the best part is they do NOT generate writing assignments every week - maybe a report here or there or an oral presentation. And they do not grade anything. And the first semester ends before Thanksgiving. Oh, and did I mention they have a nursery? See? Good!

Now the bad news. It's almost 45 minutes away. Yuck. Ick. Boo hiss. I joined a local homeschool support group in order to be able to have groups like this close to me. I am tired of driving to that side of town. I did it for three years for scouts. ShelledPeas and I have been doing our own little co-op and if she wanted to join this one it would be over an hour drive for her from Tornado Alley! I even put out an email on my local group's email loop asking if there were any co-ops out here. Wouldn't it be great to find another one like this and close to home? It's been two days. No takers. Absolutely none. Crap. What to do.....

So, today we're having lunch with Grandpop. Hoping to bring over rice krispie treats. We're trying them with peanut butter.


July 11, 2006

The House That GLOG Built

It's been a few days since we last spoke and I was starting to feel bad about it. I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of the festivities going on around here. I've been doing lesson plans. (Confetti, streamers.) Remember? I told you I was going to do them this year. I guess I really meant it. I even laid out the next two weeks which are dedicated to finishing Math and Grammar for FM#1 and Phonics for FM#2. Yes, I do realize we should've finished already, but we got sidetracked on Cub Scout problems, swim team, VBS, vacation.....hey, wait a minute.....don't even try to tell me you haven't had the same sort of stuff happen around your place. Shame!

In fact, today was Day 1 of Finishing Math and I was met with a little resistance. Can you believe it? The Big One ran from me! Into my bedroom! He thought he could lock me out, but I chased him, blocked the door open with my foot, and reached around the door trying to grab his arm, his shirt, his face, anything. This was really a lot of fun and we all got a great chuckle out of it, but then I finally had to put my proverbial "foot down" and crack ye olde whip. The first words out of his mouth were, "Hey, Mom, you said I didn't have to do this one, but I love this kind with the chart." Methinks the little stinker doth protest too much.

As for next year's lesson plans, it's taken me three nights to get the first writing lesson sorted out. I'm pitiful that way.

July 6, 2006

The Sweet Life

My phone rang the morning of July the 4th. It was EuroMom wanting to know if I wanted to go out for coffee. I did, of course. A couple of hours later we were sitting in a local coffee shop talking non-stop about a myriad of things. Kids, vacations, school, relationships, our current phase of life. We were there close to three hours and could've stayed a couple more. I love that she called at the last minute for an impromptu get-together. I'm already looking forward to the next time.

I love having friends who are so comfortable with us that they invite themselves over. That's what our dear friends, the Willi, did a couple of Sundays ago. They rightly suspected we weren't doing anything on the 4th and suggested we get together for food, fellowship, and fireworks. What a great time we had. It rained on and off, mostly on, but that didn't stop the kids from playing outside. We moms didn't care. We were enjoying appetizers and Soco and lemonade inside.

Grandpop came over and even he, being the loner that he is, had a really good time talking about his pre-retirement days here, former church members, and reminiscing about Nana. Now she would've had a grand time that day.

After stuffing ourselves on brisket, sausage, garlic potatoes, baked beans, cobb salad, and cookies we went outside for the pyrotechnic extravaganza. It's been rainy before on the 4th, but this year broke the record. There's nothing like rain, heat, and mosquitoes all at the same time. The kids played in the rain, ran through the smoke, oohed and aahed at the show all around us. The older kids even got to light a couple of fireworks which further fed FM#1's love of fire. Every year CeanBounter fine tunes his fireworks purchases and vows to "buy more of those next year".
I think it was our latest night yet with these friends. At the end of the evening we were stuffed, tired, hot, sweaty, but what sweet fellowship we enjoyed.

Looking back on the whole day, what jewels God has given us in friends like these.

July 2, 2006

To the Shire!

We're watching Lord of the Rings trilogy over here for the first time. Fantastic! Can't believe we haven't watched it before now. Having a hard time remembering all of those names.

June 30, 2006

Who says I'm not a Fun Mom? Oh, that's right. I did.

I Need a Powder

I'm freaking out about school. Not so much for FM#2, but the big one. The decision as to what to teach and how is getting more and more serious every year. We're jr. high now and only a couple of years away from "credits". Don't even mention dual-credit because, oops, see, I threw up a little bit in my mouth.

I've always struggled with Tapesty of Grace - using it to its full potential - which I haven't. I'm not a Fun Mom who does those oh-so-memorable projects which invariably involve sewing some sort of blasted costume - I don't sew. Or cooking some sort of gosh awful food. Have you read a medieval cookbook?

Ultimately, I want to give him writing assignments that correlate with IEW, but use his history reading because, let's face it, Tapestry's reading assignments don't leave much time to read anything else. But I can't. Maybe I'm genetically predisposed to not being able to think that way. I'm an engineer by training and we work with formulas, within parameters. I don't know. Maybe I should be able to do this. Add to that the fact that next year we really need to do Latin. And I hear people talking about Logic. And he needs to learn to type correctly and ouch, my head hurts.

Why is it that some moms seem to know exactly what to teach their children, the absolute best materials to use, and how to teach so their children will absolutely love it? It's like they've taken some super-secret course or something. On top of that, their children seem to love reading Beowulf and the Iliad in their spare time.

And I'm particularly talking about boys because I have a few over here. My big one acts like he deplores reading. I am tired of the TV this summer (already) and if they can't watch TV they want to be on the computer (I'm tired of that, too) so I made "A Rule!" that they had to read two hours everyday and we'd have very little TV and computer. That went over like a lead balloon.
"Aw, Mom!"

The middle one would read to me and I picked out two books for the big one to choose from, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Twenty-One Balloons.

"Mom! Those are boring. I tried to read that one and it was terrible! How about a Hank the Cowdog?"

Okay, says I. I figured I'd ease him into this slowly. First Hank, then the hard stuff, but "it has to be finished by Friday."

"FRIDAY?!"

So he mapped out how many chapters he needed to read each day (4) and determined it was doable. Like I said, he acts like he deplores reading. The whining. In actuality, he likes it. Once he's into a book he can't put it down. He read six chapters his first day and that was because I finally said, "Lights out."

So maybe I'd be more effective and sure of myself if it weren't for the whining. Do they ever stop that? It makes me think I'm doing something terribly wrong and surely I must be because all these other moms have children who love to learn and seem to do it with great zeal.

Seriously, my head hurts.

June 29, 2006

Pat the Fat Rat

That's what we read today, FM#2 and me.

Just to summarize, Pat is a rat. He is fat. Pat has a hat. Now mind you, Nat is a cat. He is fat. Nat sat on his mat. Pat is on the mat. Nat sat on Pat. Pat has a flat hat. Is Pat flat? Pat is flat.

I need a nap.....or a drink. Yeah, a drink.

June 23, 2006

What I Did On My Summer Vacation


Every couple of years, Dad comes back to Texas and as is tradition, we all converge on this bustling East Texas town. This year Sistah #2 took the week off. It was especially nice to have her around all week; she hasn't been able to hang out with us like that for years. Unfortunately, Sistah #1 had to work. The cousins had a great time together. After this week, my sisters and I have decided to plan a yearly sister-only weekend. Woo hoo!

We celebrated two significant birthdays during the week. My niece and my grandmother, who turned 90, and you'd never guess she was a day over 80. She's like the Energizer Bunny.

The festivities took place at Sistah #1's hacienda. The day started off cloudy and rainy, but by noon it had cleared up and the backyard was Water Sport Central complete with a blow-up water slide. Due to the rainy start, I didn't put sunscreen on the FM's - didn't think they needed it. For Swim Team Boy it wasn't a problem, but for my red-headed one it was too little, too late. He was downright crispy by the evening. He walked around like a little old man for four days and tried to maintain a "safety circle" around himself so nobody would touch him. I don't think he got a good night's sleep until Wednesday. Now he's Snake Boy, shedding all over the house, and his mantra is, "scratch my back, please."


Since Mamaw's pool is out of service, we broke our Sabbath Day rules and went to Chuck E. Cheese's so all the grandkids could play. They stuffed tokens into the machines and danced with the Chuckster for at least three hours.



My lowest score in skeeball was 230,000 as you can see from the picture. I didn't think to take a picture of my highest which was 250,000. Jess, jess it was!


The second birthday celebration was for my niece who turned 13. That's thirTEEN! She is growing into a beautiful young lady. We all went to Putt-Putt and then back to Mom's for dinner and cake.....yum! Playing Putt-Putt reminded me of a couple of dates I had there a bijillion years ago. Mom made two cakes: a yummy ice cream cake (on the right) and her signature coconut cake.



This gathering was particularly nice because Mom and Dad were both there. They're divorced and it is seldom they are together and enjoying their grandchildren. So this birthday party was a rarity for that.

Another high point of the week included the Aviation Museum. On display was a pamphlet that the US military distributed to several Japanese cities during World War II to warn them of the impending bombs that would be dropped. What I found particularly interesting was it stated that the US was humane; that we did not want to kill people; our targets were Japanese weapons facilities. It also said that the Japanese people were not our enemy, our enemy was the Japanese military. It told them to warn their friends and neighbors and leave town.

We also visited the East Texas Oil Museum. Although this was my first trip to the oil museum, a particular member of my family (and by that I mean Mom) thinks that not only have I been to the museum before, but that my husband has, too (he hasn't)! On top of that, she claims we've been there a couple of times!

It was really interesting to hear how the area was affected by the influx of people and money. One story told of how someone came into the general store asking for roach killer. The storekeeper didn't know what roaches were. They didn't have roaches in Kilgore before the oil boom. Imagine that! It was also neat to see things I haven't seen since I worked for an independent oil producer during college or for Texaco when I graduated. A lot of things like pumps, pipe, and valves never change.

We also visited a children's park in town. The kids enjoyed running around, climbing on rocks. CB was in the car enjoying the air-conditioning with a sleeping FM#3.



On our last day there, Mom took all the grandkids to see Cars, complete with soda, popcorn, and candy. The movie was cute. Since my boys were so well-behaved during the week, I bought the soundtrack for the trip home.

June 12, 2006

Colossians and Star Destroyers

This is a story only a grandparent can enjoy.

Yesterday in church, Union Jack was preaching. Pastor Bob "I ran over a chicken on my way to Poughkeepsie" was on vacation. FM#1 leans over FM#3 and whispers, "Every time he says 'fah-thah' it makes me think of Star Wars. Jesus, I am your fah-thah." At which time FM#3 starts to hum the theme to Star Wars out loud.

June 7, 2006

Gross Kid Tricks

Today was a good day. Swim practice, school, working on the disorganization, and I'm even pretty sure what I'll be making for dinner which is saying a lot!

FM#1 has been working on getting his tooth out for about a week. Thought I'd post a gross-out picture for you.


It was hanging on by the tissue. He could literally blow it in and out. Finally, it came out! Only one more left before he has a mouthful of adult teeth.

May 29, 2006

Celebrate Good Times. Come On!

FM#2: Today is Opposite Day.

Me: Opposite Day? Where'd you learn about Opposite Day?

FM#2: Spongebob. He taught Patrick and now I'm teaching you.

Me: You don't think I know about Opposite Day? I used to play it when I was little.

FM#2: Opposite Day...it's a celebration...of opposites!

May 28, 2006

Rhog Blyme

Where is Mazy, where could she be?

Has she forgotten her B-L-O-G?

"Of nourse cot," she says, "been under the weather."

"After dee thrays of a migraine, now I'm all better."

Migraines? Oh my! I thought they were gone!

"They were, but hormones are awfully strong."

"Just letting you know things are a bittle lit crazy."

"I'll blog more soon or my name ain't Mazy!"

May 23, 2006

A Swimming Tribute


Mojo (2004-2006)

Today we bid a loving farewell to Mojo. He joined the family in early 2004 when FM#1 got him for a scout project. He was FM#1's first pet.

His color was brilliant. Deep blue, burgundy, and a touch of turquoise.

Sometimes he would "sleep" at the bottom of his bowl. Sometimes he would swim around so vivaciously that he'd move around the stones that line his bowl. When you shook the food he'd swim to the top of the water.

We enjoyed him and he fit into our family quite nicely.

He will be missed.

(Burial will be in the backyard tomorrow morning.)

May 22, 2006

Buy Low, Sell High

WOW! No. 1 in market return! I know one of their executives personally and this company is in good hands! Our very own, CB. In fact, he's only been there 5 or 6 years. Coincidence? I think not.

May 20, 2006

Leave and Cleave

I went to a wedding today. It makes me so happy to see two Christians get married. This is a sweet couple. The groom is from our church. I've known him ever since he was a boy (who loved Legos).

I cried.

I cried because sometimes something is so good you just cry. I cried at the message Pastor Bob IROACOMWTP gave. I love that reminder of what God intended for marriage; that coming together forever; that growing old together. I love thinking of the man I'm joined to forever. He's perfect.....for me. God really knows what he's doing.

I also cried because of the way this leaving and cleaving is 'goodbye' in a way. I watched the groom's mom talk to him at the car just before he and his bride drove away to begin their life together. In that private moment it was a mom saying something to that child she craddled in her arms, and rocked, and kissed, and doctored, and bathed, and dressed, and fed, and taught, and cheered for, and prayed for, and worried about, and grasping that one last sliver of a moment with her child, just the two of them in that moment before he goes off to be a husband, to become one flesh with his wife the same way she did with her husband. I cried because I know I'll be there one day. And I'll have to do it three times.

We raise them for that, don't we? We pray for that, don't we? We beseech God to give them a godly spouse that believes the same way they do; that wants the same things they do; that is of the same mind as they are in the raising of godly children. We raise them to do just this and then when that day comes...my, how hard it must be to let them go. I know now how my mom felt when I got married. I just didn't understand it then. I wasn't a mom then.

Although this mother and father will never again have their family of three, they rejoice in God's good blessings and providence. Their family has gotten bigger...and it will only get bigger still because they will give you grandbabies!

Got to go blow my nose. I cried again.

May 18, 2006

Thought for the Day

How come when you spell "palindrome" backwards, you don't get "palindrome"?

May 17, 2006

SCORE!

Last night I had planned to make Taco Salad for dinner. One of our Canadians at church made one Sunday night for Prayer Meeting dinner and it was good, eh. I had been jones-ing for more ever since. When I told the resident men my dinner menu they were none too excited. See, the taco salad was meatless and, well, we just don't do meatless. My response was that if no one liked my idea, they could come up with one of their own. My husband said he'd stop by the grocery store on the way home and pick up a rotisserie chicken and tortillas. When he got home, sans chicken, he announced that he abandoned that plan and was instead taking us out to dinner!

Score!

Remember?

It's been a slow week which is not a bad thing. I'm not complaining. School...scouts...swimming.

I goofed around with HTML until I got it right. I need to learn that - or Javascript. A little at least. Just looking at it reminds me of those C programs I had to do in college. File transfer...computer lab...PUKE! See, boys and girls, in those days hardly anyone had their own computer. We had to trek over to the Fermier Building or the library (the LRC waaaay up on the top floor) and wait for a computer. That was back in the days of the floppy disk, the dot matrix printer, the cassette tape, and bowheads. Remember them? I was a bowhead some days. I remember with fondness a blue chambray bow I had. And a big red floppy one. And a white one. Good times.

May 15, 2006

Love Cakes


This is what all the menfolk in my house made for me on Mother's Day. It was delish.

I also got two handmade cards (my favorite) made by precious hands.

Sunday worship was refreshing. Pastor Bob "I ran over a chicken on my way to Poughkeepsie" delivered a good sermon on fasting.

May 13, 2006

Hold Please

My current cell phone has never had a call-waiting feature. When a second call comes in, my phone tells me who's calling, but it's only mocking me since it won't actually let me answer that call. I've pressed every button on that phone. Until today.

It's not that I have call-waiting that's so amazing. It's how I know I have it. I suspect something got activated when my husband added his dad to my account recently, but still, I never would've known had my mom not insisted I give it another try. She called me on her cell and then from her land line. She had me answer the land line; go back and forth between calls; hang up with one and figure out how to get back to the other one. Folks, I now have full-blown call-waiting on my cell. I'm uptown! And all because of my mama. Who else would insist as only a mom can and then walk you through the whole thing making double sure you can do it? Only a mama would.

After this and especially since tomorrow is Mother's Day do I reflect on all she's done for me. When I look at the things I do for my FM's, my mama did those things for me. When I couldn't feed myself, she fed me. When I cried, she soothed me. She picked me up from school when my mean 2nd grade teacher, Miss Black, was so mean I got sick. She bought me that first real bra the day before the 6th grade field trip. Why did my shirt have to be so clingy? She gave me volumes of advice on boys. She spent hours coaching me when I tried out for majorette and again for Flag Corps. She worried herself sick when I was out with friends. She instilled in me my affinity for neatness. She taught me well about Christ and what He did for me. She supported me through all of those hard and lonely times at A&M. She encourages me to cook more and be more patient with my children. She loves her grandchildren and thinks they're the most beautiful and intelligent children ever and she loves her son-in-law. She's always there to hear my mundane stories and my gripes. That's my mama and I love her.

May 10, 2006

I seemed to have so much to say...

...before I got this billy slog. Now nothing comes to mind, so I'll just recap the day for my fam across the miles.

Slow school day. Lots of reading. Plodding through the Middle Ages. Future Men #1 & #2 are enjoying King Arthur so they run around with swords and shields all day. FM#3 joins in, too. How does a king go? "King go, "Ho, Ho, Ho."

FM#2 decided last night at dinner that he was going to have dual careers - a chef part of the day and a baseball player the other half. He was determined to make all of the meals today. He succeeded in making breakfast for his big bro (muffins and fruit) and he dictated the dinner menu to me and his father (chicken and a noodle concoction). He confessed during dinner that he didn't like the noodle concoction, but I told him he had to eat it since it was his recipe. He managed to choke it down so he could have lemon snaps during devotions.

The drawings for the new built-ins are approved and they say they'll start cutting tomorrow. Very exciting to be making some progress on my interior decorating. The tricky part is unloading and moving our current entertainment center. That should be a real booger. I want to get rid of it, but my peetie swie doesn't.

As for losing weight: Wouldn't it be nice if you could get calorie credits for the things you resist? Like Sonic, which I resisted today. I ordered the kids' meals and drove away without one of my own. Mmmm, tots. I've also resisted the oreos in the pantry and the lemon snaps. Still, no calorie creds. What's up with that?

Experiment in this passe form of communication

For years now my primary blog has been over at Xanga. Admittedly, I haven't blogged in months, but recently visited my site just to see if it was still there. I was disgusted in the sidebar ads appearing on my page. Xanga has upped the sleaze factor on their sidebar ads and I will stand for it no more! I will attempt the tedious task of switching to Blogger. No ads. How refreshing!

I've decided to try to transfer my Xanga posts here. Ultimately, I'd like to transfer all of them, but that may be more tedium than even I can stand. So bear with me while I experiment.

Here goes...

May 9, 2006

Pressure!

Oh the pressure! Overwhelming was the guilt of reading every blog I could get my hands on while not having one of my own. I finally caved. Okay, not so much. All I needed was a nudge from somebody and that somebody was my friend in crime, Shellers. We've been going on and on about starting a blog and I guess we've put our money where our mouth is. Plus, I thought this would be a new and different way to share my daily musings with my fam - and the rest of the free world.

I make no promises here - no nuggets of wisdom - no humor - no edge of your seat suspense. Just the ramblings of my life which is usually pretty repetitious. But I'm not complaining. Thanks be to God for business as usual.

So, rump in and jide with me!