The number 1 question I get asked . . .

"Are you surviving baby #5?" or "How do you do it?"

So, while this may seem boring to you to actually read, I decided to write down exactly how 1 Saturday went.  So that someday, I can remember exactly how we did it. 

• Soccer season was in full swing when Owen was born.  Normally I stay at the same park during the kids practice's and play with the other kids.  We always have a lot of fun batting with whiffle balls, playing catch, or running around.  However, once Owen was born, the weather changed dramatically and nearly every practice was FREEZING and super windy.  It meant that we sat in the car for an hour during practice.  The game days were even worse (instead of 1 hour of soccer) there was often 3-5 hours of soccer.  Trent and I came up with some pretty creative ways to see all the games and get the kids to all the other activities (that always seem to occur at the same time as soccer).   Here is how one Saturday went.  I got up, fed Owen, left him and the other kids at home while I took Julianne to her soccer game that started at 9 am.  Trent in the meantime got the other kids ready and met us at the field at 9:45.  He was able to see the end of Julianne's game and then he left at 10 with Adam for the 2 of them to get haircuts.  That left me at the park with Julianne, Catherine, Madelyn, and Owen.  After Julianne's game we went to the van (we had a 15 minute break before Madelyn's game started) and I nursed Owen in the car.  As I went to change his diaper, I realized he had a huge blowout.  I checked the diaper bag (which Trent brought) and there wasn't any change of clothes.  I got him all cleaned up, put on a new diaper, wrapped him in a blanket, put him in my sling, zippered my own coat around both of us and then wrapped a blanket around that and headed out to see Madelyn's soccer game.  With 10 minutes left of Madelyn's game, Trent and Adam came back and then I left with Owen and Julianne to take Julianne to the dress rehearsal of the musical she was in.  When I got back to the park, I watched about 10 minutes of Catherine's game and since by now Adam and Madelyn were freezing I took them and Owen and we headed home.  Trent brought Catherine home after her game and waited in the car to take Madelyn to a birthday party.  When he got back, I hopped in the car to pick Julianne up from the dress rehearsal, go to a photo shoot, and then pick Madelyn up from her party.  Now it is 6 o:clock and the kids wonder why Mom is so tired! 

Really??? Really??

While I think Saturday Night Live isn't very funny very often, I love the segment during the Weekend News Update with Seth Meyer called "Really?"

So here is my version of that segment.

My doorbell rings at 2:00 in the afternoon today and I answer it to find a uniformed police officer standing there. Really?

My first thought was that someone died. Kind of scary really.

But she (the officer) quickly states that she is here to deliver a citation for our dog being off his leash at a local park.

Really???

I don't have a dog I replied.

"Well ma'am it is your yellow lab" the officer replied.

Really?

Because not only do I not have a dog, I definately don't have a yellow lab.

The officer replied, "But we traced the plates from your husband's black mercedes -- a Mr. Trent Handy -- to this address."

Really???

Because I not only don't have a dog, but we do not have a black mercedes.

She asked, "What kind of car does your husband drive?"

I replied a 99 Honda Civic, white.

She laughed.

Really????

She then asked if I would check our cars to make sure the plates were not stolen.

Really???

I checked the minivan. Both plates were there. I told her I would have trent check his car when he got home as it is parked at the train station right now.

I did state that I was willing to pay the citation if I got to keep the black mercedes. Really.

She laughed. Again.

Apparently here in my town, the cops don't have a lot going on. Home visits for dogs off their leash -- that is pretty serious stuff.

Really. Someone could have been licked.

Really.

Karma???

So . . .

to recap for the sake of this story

Julianne got glasses in October (frame A).
Catherine got glasses in November (also frame A -- because her mom can't be trifled with such small details)

Julianne got new glasses in April (frame B) (meaning I have an extra frame A pair of glasses lying around the house)

On Monday, Catherine came home from school, having been tackled at recess by a group of boys who wanted a ball she was holding, and her glasses were broken in the incident. (maybe at some point I will write about the "incident", but I am still too mad about it.)

However as luck would have it, despite her frames being completely ruined, the lenses were somehow unscathed.

I called the glasses place and they said since the frames were identical and I had purchased both of them there that they would put the good lenses into the good frames (julianne's old frames) for FREE!!!!

So my little lack of attention to detail saved me $250 bucks!!!!

It made the "incident" not quite as bad.

Rachael Ray Ticket Gods,

Dear Rachael Ray TV Show Ticket Gods,

I signed up to get tickets to see Rachael Ray's show when I found out that I would soon be moving to the greater NYC area 2 years ago. A lot has happened in those 2 years like the fact that I completely forgot I had signed up to get tickets. So it was with great surprise and excitement that I read the email I recieved from you this past Friday at 3:08 p.m. informing me that my long awaited ticket request had not fallen on deaf ears. The email gave me the choice of 2 dates (May 6 and May7) and requested that I reply back with the following information.

My name
Number of tickets desired (up to 4)
Date I wished to attend
Ages of persons attending
email
phone numbers
etc. . . .

The email did remind that this was not a "guarantee" of tickets as they would be distributed in a first come first serve fashion and that I would recieve my ticket confirmation by Monday April 19.

I called my friends, told them to start planning and sent my reply at 3:28 p.m. (yes, just 20 minutes later).

Well, Monday came and went with no email confirmation of tickets . . . so it makes me wonder???? Were we too old??? too young??? did you google my profile and decide I was not worthy??? were there only 3 tickets available???? or is this just some sick game you play to get stay at home mom's to watch the show (at least for a day to see what i would have seen had we gotten tickets???)
I guess I'll never know.

Thanks for nothing.

jamie

What have I been up to

Be Prepared, this may be long, will definately be random, but hopefully you will laugh along with me.

Q. How does a busy mother of four read 5 books in a week?
A. You start out with 2 really sick kids (4 ear infections, strep throat and pneumonia), then you sit on the couch with them holding them, letting them watch all the TV they want (since they can't do anything else) and you try, try to do something else, but they just whine unless you sit right next to them so you finally pull out all the books you want to read and get some reading done during the days of soothing.

Q. Do I believe in spring cleaning?
A. Absolutely, just last week I thought, "do you think if I start a spring cleaning routine it will hasten the onset?" and then I laughed and looked at the weather forecast (which by the way has predicted anywhere from 12-24 inches of snow for my area in the next 48 hours) and pushed all thoughts of spring and cleaning out of mind. However, you know the phrase, "Some people are born with greatness, others have greatness thrust upon them" Well here is my version, "Some people are born with desires to spring clean, Others have spring cleaning thrust upon them." So thank-you to the school nurse for calling and requesting I come pick up all 3 girls from school due to lice. (mind you this was within 20 minutes of being back at school after a week and a day break, and the snow day, and the sick day -- so they had already been home for a week and a half solid).

Q. How do you treat lice?
A. You cry a little (OK a lot). Then you spend a small fortune on toxic chemicals, and then a large fortune on "homeopathic" remedies, and you plan on sitting and combing hair for hours and hours and hours.

Q. What are the ideal circumstances for getting lice?
A. 1. Warm sunny weather (so you can comb for nits outside with the help of the sun to see those suckers and the knowledge that the little nits are falling on the ground outside not on your couch or chair.
2. When you only have boys living at home. (just give them a buzz and save the time and money)
3. Warm sunny weather (so each bed does not have 3 quilts on it, 2 extra blankets and a few stuffed animals)
4. Warm sunny weather (so that each child had not been wearing a long sleeved shirt, a sweater, a hoodie, a winter coat, a scarf, a hat, and gloves)
5. When your dryer is working! (mine was, but everytime I called my mom to complain about how bad I have it she would remind me that when we all got it as kids, our dad was out of town and the dryer was broken -- so I always felt like I couldn't complain too much -- oh but I wanted too!)

Q. How many of these ideal circumstances did I have?
A. Only the dryer.

Q. In the meantime, Trent had a birthday, did you celebrate?
A. Trent ended up having to travel to Cleveland on his birthday and the day after, so on the night before (when he was working late in the city) I put all the kids in the car along with some cupcakes and we drove straight to Times Square (where a dear co-worker of Trent's whom I had never met and who has no kids) greeted me at the curb and graciously took all 4 kids and the cupcakes into the lobby while I braved the NY parking scene.

Q. Is that co-worker ever going to have kids now, or did this experience teach him a thing or two about the need for prevention?
A. I haven't asked him, but I am sure the thought crossed his mind, as he ended up waiting for me in the lobby for a long time.

Q. Why so long, did you get pulled over by any NY cops?
A. Yes, but the kids were not in the car so it doesn't count because no one need ever know.

Q. Why did you get pulled over?
A. For relying too heavily on the GPS, which clearly said, "Turn left on 7th Avenue." So I turned left on 7th avenue . . . but I failed to notice the small white sign that prohibits left turns between 6 and 7 P.m. Unfortunately the cop did not fail to notice. After looking at my license, registration, and insurance (which he first asked if i chose to carry insurance . . . What???? don't you have to have insurance???? Apparantly not in NY -- silly me-- that sure explains a lot of cabs reckless driving), he did not give me a ticket-- just a very stern and loud, "Read the signs, LADY!"

Q. Did you do anything else for Trent?
A. To help his co-workers get to know him better I provided them with this 36 question True False Quiz. You may feel free to try it too.
36 True False Questions to Learn more about Trent Handy
1. Trent was born in 1974.
2. Before Ernst & Young, Trent worked for a multi-level marketing company.
3. Trent hasn’t been fly fishing in more than 10 years.
4. Trent lived in Houston for 9 years before relocating to CT.
5. Trent speaks Swedish.
6. Trent’s first Ebay purchase was a Mister Mister CD.
7. Trent is the oldest of 7 kids.
8. Trent grew up in a small suburb of Salt Lake City called Taylorsville.
9. Trent never had a microwave growing up.
10. When scheduling his wedding, the most important thing for Trent was making sure he was back from the wedding, reception, and honeymoon in time for the Pigskin Classic football game between BYU and Texas A&M.
11. Trent has 4 kids.
12. Trent loves college football (especially BYU games).
13. Trent has been married for nearly 14 years.
14. Trent hung dead fish and smeared icecream on the windows of his future wife’s apartment to get her attention.
15. Trent has built an entire house (start to finish) and not a little house either (a 4500 sq ft one).
16. Trent has been on a plane that was diverted because of a bomb threat.
17. Trent has seen the following Broadway shows – Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, Shrek, and Guys & Dolls.
18. Trent knows how to change his own brake pads.
19. Trent is famous for winning contests at work.
20. Trent drives a 99 Honda Civic.
21. Trent is a Disneyland fan – he knows the park forwards and backwards.
22. Trent posed naked for a medical journal.
23. Trent’s High School Prom theme song was “Save the Best for Last” by Vanessa Williams.
24. Trent’s favorite apples are Granny Smiths.
25. Trent gave his wife a dozen red roses for Valentine’s day this year.
26. One of Trent’s favorite music groups is Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band.
27. If Trent were to participate in any Reality TV show it would be The Amazing Race.
28. Trent took Jamie to an opera for their first date.
29. Trent let a flight attendant do a lap dance for him on a flight.
30. The last book Trent read was The Count of Monte Christo.
31. Trent has eaten turtle.
32. Trent cheers for the Yankees.
33. Trent passes out anytime he gets blood drawn.
34. Trent’s favorite game to play is called Bohnanza.
35. Trent is very supportive—he even watches the Bachelor with his wife (although he makes fun of it the whole time).
36. Trent enjoys washing cars.

A Small Lack of Attention to detail

I really don't know why I can't focus on small details.  The first time I remember it being a problem was in my junior year of high school.  My English class was reading The Ox-Bow Incident.   I actually read it.  (I will freely admit that Cliff's notes got me through many a book -- but this was not one of them).  I even liked it.  In fact I had a hard time putting it down.  I was confident to take the test because I knew I had done the work.  I got a 46%.   The whole exam was quotes from the book and you had to match it to the character that said it.  There were seriously like 50 characters in the book.  They were split into 2 groups (the good guys and the bad guys) and I could easily classify them into the 2 groups -- but paying attention to each one of their little reasons for being there was a waste of my brain space.  NO, I do not have a clue which one always brings up the railroad in conversation -- I just know it was one of the good guys.

Anyway, this is a trait where Trent and I are completely opposite.  I even already wrote a post about it.  But I proved myself yet again yesterday. 

Catherine failed her eye exam at school and I took her in on Wednesday to the eye doctor.  Yep, she needed glasses.  Yep, her eyes were worse than Julianne's and she is a year younger than Julianne was when she first got glasses and I felt like a lousy mom for not noticing Julianne -- so now I felt even worse about not noticing Catherine needing glasses. 

After the appointment we headed to Lenscrafters.  Catherine was immediately drawn to this large, bulky red frame.  I did not like them.  It looked like she had an injury between her eyes.  I suggested she try on every pair they had and see if she liked them better than the red ones.  One after the other she said, "NO, I still like the red pair".  Finally with only 2 or 3 left she put on a very simple frame -- silver with a hint of blue, rimless on the bottom and she smiled so big into the mirror.  She turned and faced the technician who was helping us and he just said, "Wow, those look amazing on you.  It makes your eyes so blue.  It fits the shape of your head perfectly!" 

I was so relieved.  We got them, they had the lenses ready in an hour and I took her back to school.  Julianne went to a birthday party after school so it was nearly 6:00 pm when we picked her up and the two girls saw eachother for the first time . . .  and  . . .  they have the exact same pair of frames. 

This is something that would NEVER have happened if Trent had been in charge.  But to me . . .  glasses are glasses, most look about the same (except for the bright red ones).  So please don't feel bad if I don't notice something about you someday -- like new glasses, or a hair cut, or new tires on your car, or something else . . .  I really can't help it.  I have always been like this. 

I justify it to myself that my brain is just too full of other worthless dribble  interesting facts. 

Don't worry.  I will post pictures soon. 

My Favorite Party

For the second year in a row, I have thrown a Ladies Christmas party with my good friend Alyssa. We call it "My Favorite Things." We stole the name from Oprah. We take all the ladies who RSVP yes and divide them into groups (this year it was 2 groups of 7 and 3 groups of 8). Each person then brings a gift of one of their "favorites" for each person in their group. We set up bags for each group so that as each person arrives, they find their group section and place their gifts in everyones bag (but their own). At the end of the night everyone leaves with fun new gifts.

This year we randomly selected one person from each group to open all the presents at the party so we could all see what they all were. It is so much fun. So much fun that I did not even think for a moment to go and grab the camera and take a picture.

In case you were wondering, my favorite thing is to not have to make dinner. So I made and froze lasagna for each person in my group so that they would have a dinner ready for sometime when they needed it! And this is what it looked like in my kitchen when I started. I started out planning to make 8 -- but then had enough stuff to make 10. And it took me just under 1 hour start to finish.

The only tricky thing was fitting them all in my freezer. I stacked the foil pans alternating direction -- and learned this valuable lesson. . . the bottom foil pan can support 2 lasagnas on top, if you put a third on top the weight is too much and the foil bends and the top three crash down onto the bottom one and the weight displaces the sauce and cheese and stuff all over your freezer -- so-- unless you really want to clean your freezer -- remember that important fact.

Another bird episode

 

I sent Madelyn outside to get a ball that had been left on the porch. She came in and said, "Mom, there is sure a big bird in the sun room." I thought I misunderstood her. "What??? a big ball???"

"NO, Mom a BIIIIG BIIIIIIRRRRRRDDDDD."

I opened the door and yep, a hawk or falcon of some kind is frantically flying through the screened in porch.

How????


No idea. The only thing I can think is that it was scared by the lawn crew yesterday and flew so hard into one of the screens that it pushed through, as there is one screen now where the corner is loose. And It was not loose before.

Well, I am off to clean the screened in porch. There are feathers and bird crap and regurgitated mouse entrails all over. Sounds like fun huh

So my ornithology classes are a good decade in the past -- but I am not sure what it is --

not a cooper hawk, not a peregrin, not a harris hawk

I am thinking maybe a red tailed juvenile? as it did not have the red tail??

come on Carrie or Dad. . . I expect identification . . . soon

Good Ole' Regular Life

Nothing near as exciting as running to Boston has happened in the last week. I must say that the race really did wipe me out. The week before with all the getting ready and the week after trying to recover from not sleeping and just getting back to the routine of life seemed to take it out of me.

Not to mention the school library volunteer trainings, class coffees, open houses, enrichment, soccer practices, activity days, soccer games, homework, and a major decision about Trent's job looming over me.

And on top of that the kids still expect 3 meals a day and clean clothes plus lots of story time and laying with them at night.

And of course the occasional tantrum by the pre-pubescent teenage wannabe.

I was tired. I even for the first time in my whole life hired a housekeeper.

I liked it. Probably a little too much.

There were some funny moments. Like this one.

Adam was watching me get ready to go somewhere and I had just finished "beautifying" myself. I quickly picked him up to race down the stairs and he put both hands on the sides of my cheeks and looked at me and said, "Mom, you have dirt on your eyes."

Wow, if that doesn't make me feel good about the make-up I am wearing I don't know what will.

Then later that day at dinner. I had made cilantro chicken pot stickers from Trader Joe's and an asian noodle side dish (which was very yummy too, I might add). I was encouraging all the kids to try the wontons and Catherine after eating one said, "Mom-- you can have all the rest of my tampons -- I just don't like them that much."

Let's just say they didn't seem so appetizing after her mis-labeling. I politely corrected her trying not to laugh since she doesn't even know what a tampon is, but she proceeded to use the wrong word about 3 more times during dinner. Thank goodness we did not have any company.

Another great moment happened with Madelyn today. Today was the first day that Kindergartners could by lunch. I told her this morning that I would be packing bagels with cream cheese, fruit roll ups, a drink, chips, and apples or she could buy chicken fingers, salad, and fruit from school. She opted for the chicken fingers. I figured it would be good to buy on the first day when they were sure to have lots of helpers to help the kids figure it out. We don't buy lunch at school too often as it is kind of pricey ($3.50 a day). But since I don't ever send chicken fingers in their lunch boxes I figured it would be fun for her.

As soon as she got off the bus she said the best part of her day was buying her lunch. I asked her how the chicken was and she replied, "Oh, when I got up there I saw that if you don't like what they are having that day you can just get a bagel with cream cheese and since I love bagels i just got one of those instead!"

I started cracking up. She chose to pay $3.50 for something she could have had in her lunch for maybe $0.25. I let her know that in the future we would not be over paying for bagels. If she wanted a bagel she could take one from home.

For all the good laughs, there have been a few not so great moments too. Like Julianne chipping a tooth, the nurse calling with Catherine sick at school, 6 days of a healthy Catherine followed by her throwing up today all morning, Adam spilling lots of water (not that that is so terrible but today he spilled 4 large glasses of water in under 2 hours), and (as always) Trent's long hours in the city.

But we are surviving. Sometimes I'm not sure which is more exhausting -- regular life or running through the night with 11 other girls to boston. Sometimes it's a virtual tie.

Things that go together

In Shrek--the musical there is a whole song devoted to things that go together. It is one of my kids' favorites

You and me, we belong together.
Like butter and grits
Like, kibbles and bits!
Like, yin and yang,
Sturm and Drang,
Like Eng and Chang attached at the hip, but not an old lady hip that might break.
I'm gonna be on you like a fat kid on cake!

Like Cupid and Psyche,
like pop rocks and Mikey,
we’ll stick together like that Velcro stuff, I’m the fuzzy side; you’ll be the spiky.
Ooh! Like little kids and pajamas with those funny things at the bottom, you know, feeties.
Like donuts and… oh, what goes with donuts?

Donuts and . . . diabetes~!


So let me add my own thing that goes together

BOYS AND DIRT

Why is it?

that alarms can never malfunction at . . . say 2:00 on a Wednesday afternoon?

Last night, our Explosive Gas alarm went 85 dB blaring at 2:50 in the morning. Wow, that will really wake you up. We ran frantically through the house. We could not smell any gas. We opened all the windows (to let in the 98% humidity air into the house) and then I looked up the owners manual for the alarm on the internet.

Mainly it states, "Never ignore an alarm." Also, if it is an alarm for GAS (as opposed to CO) we should evacuate immediately and not even use the phone or any electric appliance and then call the fire department.

So, that is why I was on the computer. We just could not smell anything (and our heating oil and propane both have that dead animal smell added into them.)

Then I got to remembering chemistry (from way back in the day) that propane is denser than air. Meaning if you have a leak it will be along the floor or sinking down to the basement. Since it is our stove on the main floor that is the only propane appliance we have -- it began to seem unlikely that the propane gas could float up the stairs.

Same goes for the heating oil which was way down in the basement.

So . . . being pretty certain that we weren't about to explode, we called the fire department. I explained to them that our GAS alarm was going off -- (although now it had stopped) and that we opened the windows and never smelled anything and how it was the alarm upstairs and the propane stove was on the main floor and the heating oil in the basement. And they asked if we could smell anything. We said NO. They said, yeah, those alarms malfunction all the time. Go back to sleep.

Too bad we had just spent one adrenalin filled hour running frantically through the house with screaming children or maybe we could have gone back to sleep.

The kids were back asleep fairly quickly. Not me. Not Trent.

3:30 a.m.
3:45 a.m.
4:00 a.m.
4:15 a.m.
4:30 a.m.

at 4:35 Trent finally sounded like he was asleep.
at 4:45, I gave up. Seeing as my alarm was going off at 4:50 to go running. Trent said I woke him as I left and so he got up after that.

When I got back from running, Trent was ready to head out the door. I figured the kids would sleep in some and was hoping that after a shower I might get a little nap.

Just as Trent walked down the stairs, Adam started to cry.

I got him back to sleep and hopped in the shower. As soon as I was dressed, Madelyn came bopping in at 6:30 -- wide eyed, ready for morning.

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Why????

Why me?????

On the plus side, all the kids have been really good so far this morning. Sometimes I think they can just sense that mom cannot put up with too much. Maybe they have an internal Mom explosion alarm????

Guess what happened today?????

I had to turn on the air conditioner for the first time!!!!!!!

Oh, Baby, this is such a different world than Texas!

Re-doing the bathroom

This was our powder bathroom. Pretty wild wallpaper. Without the aid of the camera's flash, the room is actually quite dark. I did not like it. So a few weeks ago while the owner was here he asked what I thought about the bathroom and commented that he did not care for it.

I sure hope he meant it -- because as soon as he said that I knew that the wall paper would be gone SOON~! I spent the week stripping the wallpaper -- (I should say right now, that I am not a huge fan of wallpaper -- it seems that it is so easily dated and very hard to update and refresh without major work. )

Underneath the wallpaper were lots of holes in the wall and this lovely paint color -- apparently this color must have been a favorite!

And here it is now!!!! We went with the same plain khaki color and swapped out the 80's polished brass light fixtures. (One funny thing -- when I got back from Sherwin Williams, Madelyn asked me if I got the paint. I said, yes and then she said, "did you get purple?" I laughed and said no -- she cried and asked what color I got? I said Khaki -- and she replied, "Khaki is so BORING!" But she likes it now, she has told me it is her favorite bathroom now!)
I am still looking for more wall art and a few more accessories, but this is so much better to work with!

Not quite what I had in mind

Today after lunch my two sweet little ones (Madelyn & Adam) proceeded to dump 8 wooden puzzles, 5 floor puzzles (each about 24-30 large pieces), and 3 150 piece puzzles into a big pile. Trying hard to maintain my good humor in the situation, I called them over and explained that when we make big messes we have to do lots of cleanup. So we started the sorting. 30 minutes later we were finally finished. Madelyn exclaimed, "That was so fun, let's do it again!"

I have talked her out of it for now, but I won't be surprised if I walk into the room again and find the puzzles all mixed. Sorting is at least a good skill, right?

How many ways to change a light bulb?

I googled "light bulb changing jokes" (because isn't that why google was invented? to find out really irrelevant information?). Did you know there are whole web pages devoted to these kind of jokes? I read a number of them and some were quite funny. Here were two of my favorites

Q: How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?

A: One, but the light bulb really has to want to change.

Q: How many believable, competent, ``just-right-for-the-job'' presidential candidates does it take to change a light bulb?

A: It's going to be a dark 4 years, isn't it?

There is even a wikipedia entry on light bulb jokes.

What it really comes down to is this. We all know that changing a light bulb is a simple task. And yet, twice now I have come face to face with a light bulb that defies changing.

The first time was in our home in First Colony. We had a light bulb about 25 feet high in the middle of a staircase with walls on both sides. On one side about 16 feet up there was a large window with about a 2 inch window sill. Trent and I tried everything. We are lucky to still be alive. We tried putting the ladder on the stairs (using textbooks and phonebooks to level the stairs) and I would hold the textbooks and Trent would climb the ladder. At one point, I remember that Trent had one foot on the top of the ladder and one foot on the windowsill and I could just see him falling, landing on the stairs, rolling down and taking me and the ladder with him. It was after that vision that I put an end to our ridiculous ways. I was 8 months pregnant with Adam and did not want him to lose his father before he was even born.

Several nights later, we were playing games with some good friends, Andy and Laura, and we were retelling our feeble efforts. Andy asked to look at it and the next thing I knew, Trent had hoisted him so that his fingers could reach the window sill. Andy did a pull up (with just his fingertips) and managed to stand on the window sill (with out going through the window) and then putting one foot on the other wall did this crazy spider man thing and got the bulb changed. (I think Laura and I were both having heart attacks). But in the end, Andy made it down in one piece and we sold that house so we would never again have to change the light bulb (well, that was just one reason). Trent and I still laugh about it; In our mind Andy will always be "spider man."

So with this memory fresh in our mind, we noticed a couple of months ago that one of two flood lights high on the exterior of our house had gone out. Naturally, within a few weeks the other one went out. We were trying to come up with how to go about changing it when Trent suggested that the next time I talk to Peter (the owner of our house) that I should ask him how (if ever) he had changed those light bulbs. When I asked him about it, he volunteered to change them. (and I was not about to argue otherwise) So, yesterday was the day. Peter had bought one of those telescoping light bulb changing poles that reaches 11 feet. (the box even assures that "You too, can change a light bulb in minutes!" )

The first bulb went relatively well, It only required hanging halfway out a 2nd story window, 20 minutes, and my saying "please, don't fall out the window" 10 times.

But the second one was a little more problematic. The angle was all wrong for being able to get to it from the window. So we tried a 7 foot painters ladder, in an uneven flower bed with a birch tree right in the way. As Peter climbed the ladder, it would start to lean, so I grabbed the ladder, and he grabbed the tree. If he stood on the very top (which the ladder explicitly states in one of its bright red labels that you should not do) and put one foot in the tree, with one arm holding the tree, and the other arm holding the pole, he could reach it. I actually thought for a moment that this was not so bad after all.

But then the new light bulb would not fit because there was a fitting ring that was stuck in the socket. He tried to knock it out using the other end of the pole at which point he commented that it probably was not the best idea to jam a metal pole into a live socket. It was then that I noticed another warning sticker on the ladder that stated "This Ladder conducts electricity."

After much trying, and even with Peter and the tree becoming very, very close and personal. The new light bulb just would not go in. It serves me right for buying the "green" fluorescent bulbs that use less electricity, because as it turns out, they are shaped just slightly different than the traditional light bulb.

Peter was going to head to the store to get another light bulb, when I asked him about one other light bulb that I was unsure how to change (this time buried in the garden). He commented that he had just changed that light bulb and was surprised that it was already burned out. And in a funny turn of events, we determined that the whole socket was bad and perhaps even that light bulb still worked. We checked it, and it did. And IT was the same kind he would have gone to the store for. So he climbed back up the ladder, made a little more love to the tree and . . .

Let there be light! I think we were just as happy as God was on the first day!

Only the happiness was for two things . . . the light and the fact that no one was harmed in the changing of this light bulb.

A silly argument

Adam (age 2) is really coming into his own when it comes to communicating with everyone. It really makes him seem so grown up.

Yesterday, while I was in the shower, Madelyn and Adam were standing outside the bathroom door not so patiently waiting for me to finish. This is the conversation/argument I overheard.

Madelyn : "Adam, you are the littlest so get behind me. I am the biggest."

Adam : "No, Mommy is the biggest."

Madelyn : "No, Daddy is the biggest."

Adam : "No, Mommy is the biggest!"

(I am thinking, No I am not!!!! Is this how you see me?????)

Madelyn : "No, Daddy is the biggest!"

(I am thinking, Thank you Madelyn for defending my size!)

Adam : "No, Mommy is the biggest!"

Madelyn : "No, Daddy is the biggest in our family!"

Adam : "but Daddy is on the choo choo, mommy is the biggest here!"

I started laughing. They were both right, they were just looking at different parameters. I was glad that Adam recognized that I was not bigger than Daddy. And I was glad he had the verbal skills to defend his position. Then I laughed, because isn't that how most arguments really are. Both people are right -- from their perspective.

My Little Green Thumbs

While at the store several weeks ago, I came across a temporary cardboard display box selling seeds. I realize that there are many, many of you out there that meticulously plan your gardens, shop around for seeds, build fancy boxes and the like, but I just want to let all of you know that I am not one of them; But the seed display was tempting. All those pictures of colorful flowers. All that yummy produce. All the things that the miserable winter had allowed you to forget right in one place. I closed my eyes and decided right then that I would just get a few.

Seed buying is apparently addictive behaviour. The rush of potential from one packet of seeds is suddenly not enough to keep you feeling euphoric, so you haphazardly toss another packet into the cart. I tried to walk away, but then I thought -- if my pizza is going to have home grown tomatoes in the sauce, I ought to at least get basil so that part can be fresh too. And then I remembered how much better Mexican food is with cilantro and added it to the cart too. I concluded with parsley figuring that I could always garnish the plates with it (you know, like I always do????)

But now, I had a new problem. Madelyn was holding pumpkin seeds; Adam was holding 20 or 30 varieties of flowers seeds. I would put some back and one of them would grab another.

They too, apparently were longing for spring and summer and using the seed display as an outlet. I figured what can it hurt? It's just a few seeds. They are only about a dollar a packet.

And before I knew it, $30 dollars was gone and my kids are talking about what they will carve into their pumpkins.

Well, here is my fly by the seat of your pants, try not to spend any more money, try not to have it all be deer food garden plan.

First I read the back of all the seed packets.

The sugar snap peas and the snow peas needed to be planted outdoors right away. So the kids and I moved a lot of rocks and got those planted. They are 2 inches high (and I will post photos soon). So far the deer have not found them.

The tomato seeds need to be started in a green house. (Really??? too bad I don't have a green house!) and the herbs (cilantro, basil and parsley) can also be started in a green house.

The rest cannot be planted until the danger of frost has passed. I looked it up online, and that means not until mid May. And though, that fact is rather depressing to me it is at least a gardening instruction I can follow. I happily put the pumpkin, zuchinni, yellow squash, corn, and sunflowers away in a drawer.

Now, I needed a cheap version of a green house. So I put a large banquet table in front of 2 doors we don't use, that have lots of sun and called it a green house. Then I used leftover egg cartons, filled them with dirt, and designated 1 for tomatoes, 1 for basil, 1 for cilantro and 1 for parsley. I called the kids over, and they had so much fun dropping a seed or 2 or 3 or 9 in each hole. We sprayed them with water, set them in the "greenhouse" and waited. I warned them not to be disappointed if they did not all grow, I mean afterall the seeds were kind of cheap and our methods not exactly orthodox.

But, darn it, all of them, I REPEAT -- ALL OF THEM -- sprouted and grew. And the kids love it. They love spraying them with the spray bottle, they even talk to them. In short, my kids are emotionally attached to them. My great plan of plant genocide is not going to work. They are simply not going to go away. And worst of all -- my kids have learned to count and they know how many of all of them there are. I explained how when 2 or 3 or 9 sprouts are all sharing one little egg hole that they will not be able to grow very well. I described how we would just pull out or snip all but 1 plant so that it can grow healthy. (from the shock in their eyes, you would have thought I was explaining to them selective abortion). Madelyn even cried a little, and so now I feel obligated to find a way to make this work.

I started looking online for a cheap place to buy little planter pots (there aren't any cheap ones in my range of cheap) but I did find lots of tutorials on you tube for how to make planter pots out of newspaper. I envisioned teaching my kids how to make all of these and I did. Julianne and Catherine can do it, but somehow I have now made well over 100 all by my lonesome. We carefully exhumed the little seedlings from their egg hole bed and pulled apart the 2 or 3 or 9 growing together and replanted them. I (again, very hopefully) explained how the transplant process might be a little rough on some of our plant babies and that they all might not make it.

But, darn it, all of them, I REPEAT -- ALL OF THEM -- have transplanted successfully. I am starting to wonder how anyone manages to kill their plants, they seem to be pretty resilient suckers.

The picture above is when I was halfway done transplanting them. I have now finished all the basil, cilantro, and the tomatoes. I just can't seem to get the energy to make another 75 newspaper pots to house all the little parsley babies. I mean who was I kidding when I thought I might want to garnish my plates with them???????

But it all comes back to my sweet kids. Especially my little Madelyn who has a plan for me each day. "Mom, today is the day. I have the newspaper, and the tin can all ready for you. We just need to make a hundred or so. I will count them for you." And she does. I figure that not only will we have fancy garnished plates, wonderful tomatoes, spectacular cilantro jalapeno ranch dressing, I am going to have kids that count -- REALLY WELL!

I wish I could tell you what I am going to do with all these plants. I just have this sick feeling that I have a lot of yard clearing, dirt hoeing, rock moving, and weed picking in my future.

I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and if you happen to see me someday in the future buying a bow and arrow or even maybe a gun -- please now that my children are perfectly safe, but the deer are in big, BIG, BIG trouble.

An accounting of my 12 tulips!

One day they were all there and growing beautifully! The next day they were gone. Those blasted deer. (click on the picture and you will see it big enough to read the words)

This post needs a name -- Please vote from the list of 10 below!

I have been writing this post in my head for days. The first thing with any post is to have a decent title. I have been rolling around titles and been unable to settle in on one. Here are some other titles -- and if their meaning is not clear to you, you will just need to keep reading. Please leave a comment and vote for which title you like best!

1. All's well that ends well.
2. It isn't fun if there isn't a little blood
3. Heidi, Aaron, their 3 boys, and some of their stuff come to visit
4. Lesson's learned
5. Check, check, and double check
6. Humanity not lost, honest people still abound
7. Live right because someday you may really need a few miracles
8. Don't worry about losing something -- you will always get it back
9. Lost and Found, well actually Lost, Lost, and Found, Found
10. Lost in the Big apple

There is just a sampling of post titles in the running.

First, let me say what a great time we had. My kids are in heaven when their cousins are here.

The Baker family arrived Wednesday night at JFK. Trent picked them up. They were all excited to be in NEW YORK CITY to see the hustle and bustle -- everyone except their DVD player, case, dvd's, and IPOD touch which must have a social anxiety disorder so they hid on the plane in a bag together and were able to go unnoticed. Heidi and Aaron disembarked and only while waiting at the baggage claim did they realize their important "surviving a plane with 3 small kids" bag was missing. Thus began a series of phone calls which nearly always lasted too long and accomplished too little.

On Thursday we laid low, got re-acquainted, watched the kids play, took them to the Stamford museum and nature center (with the awesome park my kids love), had pizza and a movie (Journey to the center of the earth). Aaron got to spend a fair bit of time on the phone (with little or no progress on finding out if anyone found the bag).
Here are some pictures from the park.


On Friday, we caught the 7:27 am train in to the city. (yes AM! -- for all of you in the family who over the years have given Heidi a hard time for being late -- you should be ashamed -- we made the train with time to spare!) We saw -- grand central, rode the subway, went to ground zero, saw wall street and the New york stock exchange, trinity church and then went on the staten island ferry so we could see the statue of liberty, ate lunch, walked through battery park, rode the subway to 86th street, walked through central park, saw the met, the pond, the castle, took the subway back to grand central terminal and rode the train home. In the morning I waited in line at the 1/2 price place to get tickets to Saturday's matinee of The little mermaid. (Aaron still spent some time on the phone, but by Friday evening, he had word that they had found the bag, but he had to call and identify it)



On Saturday, we took the 10:27 train in to the city. The advantage for going on the early trains during the week is that you don't change trains, but on Saturday you always have to change trains in Stamford. We were all so excited about the day. Everyone, but Adam, Jared, and I were going to The Little Mermaid. Trent and I were then bringing all the kids home while Heidi and Aaron went to dinner and to see Wicked. We got on the train. We successfully changed trains and the train was so crowded we all had to stand. Right after the train started, Aaron looked around and said, "I left our backpack on the first train!"

Now, in that backpack was Heidi's wallet, credit cards, photo ID's (so she can take the plane home on Monday), diapers and wipes for the baby, changes of clothes for the boys, bottle, formula, Heidi's cell phone, Heide's makeup, and more! I started calling the MTA police to see if they can help us. Trent and Aaron are looking at the train schedule trying to see how quickly they can get someone back to that other train. I finally found a very kind police officer on the phone who agreed to try and reach the conductor of that train on his cell phone. Right then, Trent suggested we call some of our friends who live close to the train. It all worked out -- the train was headed back to New Canaan, the conductor was looking for the bag, our friend was at the train station and he was able to find it and take it to their house. It just left us in the city without any of those things. But we survived!

We ate lunch and then in the pouring rain the big group made their way to the Little Mermaid and I took the babies to Madame Toussaud's wax museum. We met up and went up to Trent's office and then headed back home. Trent and I took all the kids home and had a fun evening. Heidi and Aaron had a great time at dinner and Wicked.

We had a beautiful Sunday. The kids looked for Easter Eggs, we went to church where we were reunited with the lost train backpack. After church we had a yummy dinner, did another easter egg hunt outside and then Trent and Aaron drove to JFK to pick up the missing luggage. By Sunday's end -- everything had been found. Not one thing was missing. Just like Easter is the celebration of Christ's spirit reuniting with his body -- we had our own celebration of the reuniting of missing stuff with the owners. (OK, that may be stretching the analogy of Easter, just a bit!)


On Monday, the kids just played while Heidi and Aaron packed up. Julianne and Catherine were back in school. At one point Andrew got bonked in the head and bled profusely everywhere, but it turned out to be just a small gash. He was just fine, but it did look scary when Heidi rounded the corner holding him with the blood dripping everywhere.

We really had a good time. The kids are missing their cousins. We are missing the company. So everyone, come visit us.

Spring Break 2009

Spring break. The title alone holds such high hopes -- that it will in fact be spring and that it will in fact be a break. In Texas spring break is held in March (slightly before the actual first day of spring) and you can see how my extended family spent their "spring" break at this previous post -- they came to see us in CT and return to winter.

But now it is April, and surely, surely if they call it spring break it ought to feel like spring, right?

I planned the whole week out with outside activities and adventures.

Monday's plan -- Go to the Beardsley Zoo with neighbors, leave at 9:30 a.m.

Monday's reality -- Watch the rain fall, give thanks that it is not snow even though the temperatures were hovering near freezing. Play with the neighbors at their house all morning and then at our house all afternoon. While the kids played, I checked the weather -- cold and rainy all week. Uuggh! Can I really do this all week? So I started searching for activities that were indoors. Thank heavens for the internet. While I searched, the kids were bouncing off the walls and I thought, "I really need to find a bouncy place, like pump it up, or bounce U or something for them to give all this energy a location other than my house." I found a bounce U in Stratford, CT (35-40 minutes away) and they had a open bounce on Tuesday! Yeah!!!!!

Tuesday -- go to bounce U and play with friends



Wednesday -- we went to the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven (about an hour away)with our neighbors. It was cold -- but that didn't stop the kids from dressing like it was spring. Trent called from the city to tell me it was snowing; I was happy to report that even though it was cold, we were not having snow.

I had printed out some pictures from the Yale website (that show in a grid- parts of their art collection) and gave them to the kids and told them it was like BINGO they had to find all the images on their sheet. They had a lot of fun doing it. Even Adam wanted to have a sheet and a pencil -- I should have known that something that would be awesome and fun for the kids and really help them look at each picture and piece would be a nightmare for me. First, if they couldn't find one, they needed my help (which I would have loved to give) but I was a little too pre-occupied following Adam and his pencil VERY, VERY closely to make sure he did not add his signature to any of the priceless masterpieces. They were all at his eye level and he just had a sneaky look to him. (or I was just exceptionally nervous). All the time, I was trying to imagine what the headline would be if he did.

"2 Year Old Defaces Picasso, Mom and Dad selling everything to raise $200 million"

"Jackson Pollack reincarnated in 2 year old"

"Andy Warhol painting gets a new shade!"

I need to give Adam a little credit, though. Not once did he try to do anything. He was absolutely great, I know, cause I was watching him the entire time. The only time we had any trouble was when my friend Moya was pointing out something in a Picasso painting to me and the security guard rushed over to inform us that we were setting off the alarms since her finger was within 1 foot of the painting.

Only the adults were reprimanded at the art gallery, isn't that fitting????

After the art gallery, we went to IKEA and had lunch, checked the kids in the play station and went shopping. I found all sorts of things I needed! (or wanted???)

We got home and then got the house all ready for Heidi & Aaron and their 3 boys who were coming to visit us from Utah that night. So I will finish writing about spring break with them in another post.