Jeff Foxworthy's Version of Michigan
If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, ou might live in Michigan.
If you're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Pellston is the coldest spot in the nation, you might live in Michigan.
If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March, you might live in Michigan.
If you instinctively walk like a penguin for five months out of the year, you might live in Michigan.
If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there, you might live in Michigan.
If your dad's suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Michigan.
If you have worn shorts and a coat at the same time, you might live in Michigan.
If your town has an equal number of bars and churches, you might live in Michigan.
If you have had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Michigan.
You know you're a true MICHIGANDER when....
1. "Vacation" means going up north on I-75.
2. You measure distance in hours.
3. You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.
4. You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
5. You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
6. You see people wearing fall formal wear (camouflage) at social events (including weddings).
7. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
8. You carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them.
9. You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
10. Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
11. You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.
12. You can identify a southern or eastern accent.
13. Your idea of creative landscaping is a deer "bow target" next to your blue spruce.
14. You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
15. "Down South" to you means Ohio .
16. A Muskrat is something you can eat.
17. Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new pole barn.
18. You go out to fish fry every Friday.
19. Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
20. You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
21. You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."
22. You drink pop and bake with soda.
23. Your doctor tells you to drink Vernors and you know it's not medicine.
24. You know what a Yooper is.
25. You think owning a Honda is Un- American.
26. You know that UP is a place, not a direction.
27. You know it's possible to live in a thumb.
28. You understand that when visiting Detroit, the best thing to wear is a Kevlar vest.
29. You actually understand these jokes, and you forward them to all your Michigan friends.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Another question...
Is it wrong that I'm sitting down to read my "Weight Loss that Lasts" book from the library while eating a chocolate bar?
Nah, didn't think so.
Nah, didn't think so.
They're on to us...
I graduated from college in June 1986. Arnel graduated from the same university the following year. We married a month later. Since that time we have moved five times by my count, something like two thousand miles away (geography is not my strong suit.) We have never, in my recollection, given them a change of address. Yet they have found us again. The alumni magazine that I have never subscribed to nor paid for once again has shown up in our mail box. Good thing we have no need of being in the witness protection or anything like that because these people...they will FIND you!!
Now I get it...
Now I understand why people use playpens...I think we are in trouble!
P.S. Went to Target and bought a baby gate yesterday!
Question for you
Okay, tell me the truth...when you see your baby sitting next to the houseplant with a mouthful of dirt, and the first thing you do is run to the camera rather than remove the dirt...has your scrapbooking obsession perhaps gone a teensy bit too far?
Nah, I didn't think so, either.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Good News!
Well, I had my appointment with the ENT guy today...first off, it was really cool as when we walked in there was a picture of Jesus with a lamb hanging up, and there were a couple copies of Our Daily Bread on the bookshelf. Then, when I went in and talked with the doctor and he reviewed my file, he didn't feel there was any need for any further testing at all at this point. He says if you took 100 people off the street and gave them an ultrasound, at least half of them would have some sort of nodule on their thyroid like I do. I don't meet any of the other criteria that make it a concern. Since we do know it is there, we will continue to monitor it just to make sure it doesn't turn into something that would require further testing. So, in another 6 or 12 months I will have another ultrasound or CT scan. On a related note, he doesn't even think my goiter (enlarged thyroid) is what is causing the feeling of a lump in my throat. He says it is a classic reflux symptom. So, if I want I can try some things to treat that but it isn't really a problem for me so changing my diet, etc., is probably more hassle than I'm willing to go through.
We had a fun weekend. Friday night we had friends over to enjoy the fire pit with us outside. (Obviously!) Saturday we went to Julia's cross-country meet and had more friends over for the fire pit that evening. (Want to get as much use out of it as we can while weather permits!) Sunday between church and youth group we decided to have "game day" and had people over again to just hang out and play games. Might sound stressful to some people but remember I'm the one with the gift of hospitality so this was a dream come true for me.
Lillian is suddenly everywhere.
And can you believe it is already time for us to sign up our kids for the Christmas pagaent!?
Oh! Some movie reviews...these will only be interesting or useful if you are really, really slow in watching movies, because we are one "really" slow, so you'd have to be "two" reallys to be slower than us and not have already seen these. Make sense? Okay, so we watched "Hitch." I was disappointed...it wasn't a bad movie, but I expected better. We also watched Hide and Seek which was good if you like scary movies. Not overly scary. But the best movie we've seen lately is really pretty old...Mel Gibson's Signs. LOVED that one! Scary, funny, and with a message to boot. I just picked up Constantine with Keanu Reeves. To be honest it looks a little too scary to me, but it was Arnel's pick out of the choices I called him with from Blockbuster. If you can't tell, we've been on a scary movie kick lately.
We had a fun weekend. Friday night we had friends over to enjoy the fire pit with us outside. (Obviously!) Saturday we went to Julia's cross-country meet and had more friends over for the fire pit that evening. (Want to get as much use out of it as we can while weather permits!) Sunday between church and youth group we decided to have "game day" and had people over again to just hang out and play games. Might sound stressful to some people but remember I'm the one with the gift of hospitality so this was a dream come true for me.
Lillian is suddenly everywhere.
And can you believe it is already time for us to sign up our kids for the Christmas pagaent!?
Oh! Some movie reviews...these will only be interesting or useful if you are really, really slow in watching movies, because we are one "really" slow, so you'd have to be "two" reallys to be slower than us and not have already seen these. Make sense? Okay, so we watched "Hitch." I was disappointed...it wasn't a bad movie, but I expected better. We also watched Hide and Seek which was good if you like scary movies. Not overly scary. But the best movie we've seen lately is really pretty old...Mel Gibson's Signs. LOVED that one! Scary, funny, and with a message to boot. I just picked up Constantine with Keanu Reeves. To be honest it looks a little too scary to me, but it was Arnel's pick out of the choices I called him with from Blockbuster. If you can't tell, we've been on a scary movie kick lately.
Friday, September 23, 2005
In case you are thinking of having kids...
Test 1
Women: to prepare for maternity, put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front. Leave it there for 9 months. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.
Men: to prepare for paternity, go to a local chemist, tip the contentsof your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself. Then go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.
Test 2
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour. Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.
Test 3
To discover how the nights will feels:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. LOOKCHEERFUL.
Test 4
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems:
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang out.
3. Time allowed for this: 5 minutes.
Test 5
Forget the BMW and buy a practical 5 door wagon. And don't think that you can leave it out on the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
2. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the cd player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5.Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test6
Get ready to go out
1. Wait
2. Go out the front door
3. Come back in again
4. Go out
5. Come back in again
6. Go out again
7. Walk down the front path
8. Walk back up it
9. Walk down it again
10. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
11. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
12. Retrace your steps
13. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
14. Give up and go back into the house.
15. You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.
Test 7
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.
Test 8
Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child. A full-grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat. Buy your weeks groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Test 9
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.
7. You are now ready to feed a 12-month old child.
Test 10
Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.
Test 11
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower beds and then rub them on clean walls.
4. Cover the stains with crayon.
5. How does that look?
Test 12
Make a recording of someone shouting "Mommy" repeatedly. Important: no more than a 4 second delay between each Mommy - occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet if required. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Test 13
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mommy tape listed above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
Test 14
Put on your finest work attire. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting. Now:
1. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
2. Stir
3. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
4. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
5. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
6. Do not change, you have no time.
7. Go directly to work
You are now ready to have kids.
Women: to prepare for maternity, put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front. Leave it there for 9 months. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.
Men: to prepare for paternity, go to a local chemist, tip the contentsof your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself. Then go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.
Test 2
Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour. Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.
Test 3
To discover how the nights will feels:
1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. LOOKCHEERFUL.
Test 4
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems:
1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang out.
3. Time allowed for this: 5 minutes.
Test 5
Forget the BMW and buy a practical 5 door wagon. And don't think that you can leave it out on the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
2. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the cd player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5.Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
Test6
Get ready to go out
1. Wait
2. Go out the front door
3. Come back in again
4. Go out
5. Come back in again
6. Go out again
7. Walk down the front path
8. Walk back up it
9. Walk down it again
10. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.
11. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.
12. Retrace your steps
13. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.
14. Give up and go back into the house.
15. You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.
Test 7
Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.
Test 8
Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child. A full-grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat. Buy your weeks groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
Test 9
1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.
7. You are now ready to feed a 12-month old child.
Test 10
Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.
Test 11
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out:
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower beds and then rub them on clean walls.
4. Cover the stains with crayon.
5. How does that look?
Test 12
Make a recording of someone shouting "Mommy" repeatedly. Important: no more than a 4 second delay between each Mommy - occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet if required. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
Test 13
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mommy tape listed above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.
Test 14
Put on your finest work attire. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting. Now:
1. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
2. Stir
3. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
4. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
5. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
6. Do not change, you have no time.
7. Go directly to work
You are now ready to have kids.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Cleaning Day
Tomorrow is cleaning day at our house (except for me...did mine today because the bug hit me and I had time.) Everyone is getting "promoted." Except Julia...it is enough for her right now to keep up with her current list of chores and school. But Laura will now add cleaning the bathtub to her bathroom cleaning, Gabe will take over cleaning the half-bath (used to be one of my jobs!) and Isaac will take over part of Gabe's dusting. We shall see how it goes.
What a sweetie
I just have to comment what a lifesaver Laura is for me. She is the most maternal, nurturing person I have ever met. I think she is my role model! Trying to cope with getting back into the swing of things with school and dealing with sleep deprivation from a teething baby...she is always right there to help with a fussy Lillian or fix breakfast and lunch...and what is more she never complains. In fact, I think she actually enjoys doing it. Like I said, I think the child is my role model. I love all my kids, of course, but I am just struck lately with the pure heart and giving nature of this one in particular at the moment.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
I'm being sabatoged
I'm being sabatoged by my own daughter. I don't know what I ever did to her in her childhood to deserve this, but Julia, the child I carried for nine months and endured 25 hours of labor for...brought home a case of candy bars today. Fundraiser for the science department.
Lucky for her we like her.
Here is her freshman class picture. Thanks, Zak, for helping me figure out why I couldn't get it uploaded earlier!
Weekly weigh-in
153 lbs today...off to a whopping start, aren't I? (No pun intended!!)
I guess it helps if you stop eating all the candy and chocolate and ice cream and...
But there has to be an easier way...
Anybody have the number of a good plastic surgeon?
I guess it helps if you stop eating all the candy and chocolate and ice cream and...
But there has to be an easier way...
Anybody have the number of a good plastic surgeon?
Monday, September 19, 2005
A couple more tidbits
Rex got out the other night. He apparently came upon a skunk who had recently sprayed, or a spot that had been sprayed. Not smelling so horrible that we can't have him around, just enough to remind us that he found that skunk. Yuck.
Lillian just pulled her stuff to standing at our fireplace hearth. (Or mantle, I always get those two confused.) Anyway, she pulled herself to standing...and then let go! She balanced for about a second and then grabbed back on the fireplace.
Isaac has been way into Balto lately. (Sled dog who delivered diptheria medicine around the turn of the century, I think. There are a series of videos about him.) We have a stuffed dog that looks a bit like him that was stored in the basement. This morning I had the kids bring up the bucket of stuffed animals. Lillian was so scared of the one that looks like Balto! (More realistic looking than the other stuffed animals.) She is okay with it if I'm holding her but when I put it in front of her on the floor her whole body shudders! I am ntot sure why...we have a dog, about ten times of this stuffed animal. The stuffed dog is about half the size of our cat! But she has a very definite aversion to being alone with it. Oddly, she smiled very big at the baby dolls that were also in the bucket, but wasn't too keen on being one-on-one with them, either. Hope this isn't a bad sign for the Cabbage Patch Doll that "Santa" has already bought to give her for Christmas.
Lillian just pulled her stuff to standing at our fireplace hearth. (Or mantle, I always get those two confused.) Anyway, she pulled herself to standing...and then let go! She balanced for about a second and then grabbed back on the fireplace.
Isaac has been way into Balto lately. (Sled dog who delivered diptheria medicine around the turn of the century, I think. There are a series of videos about him.) We have a stuffed dog that looks a bit like him that was stored in the basement. This morning I had the kids bring up the bucket of stuffed animals. Lillian was so scared of the one that looks like Balto! (More realistic looking than the other stuffed animals.) She is okay with it if I'm holding her but when I put it in front of her on the floor her whole body shudders! I am ntot sure why...we have a dog, about ten times of this stuffed animal. The stuffed dog is about half the size of our cat! But she has a very definite aversion to being alone with it. Oddly, she smiled very big at the baby dolls that were also in the bucket, but wasn't too keen on being one-on-one with them, either. Hope this isn't a bad sign for the Cabbage Patch Doll that "Santa" has already bought to give her for Christmas.
Weekend Update
No, it is not Saturday Night Live, just what happened around our house this weekend. I may have to keep it short and to the point as I think Lillian has just about had her fill of crawling around for the morning.
Saturday night we attended the youth group fundraiser and had a blast. Julia was not happy with her band's performance. Their drummer didn't show so they borrowed someone from the senior hi band that they'd never played with. Their electric guitarist has decided she doesn't like guitar and just wants to sing. So, she joined the other vocalist...neither of them having rehearsed with the band in this capacity before. The acoustic guitarist was having amp troubles and had to play electric instead. Oh, and they haven't practiced in probably close to two months...which is an awful long time for kids who only started learning to play last spring. But, as I told Julia, it can only get better from here on out!
They had nachos, popcorn, soda, cookies and quesadillas for sale and a movie room and a game room for the kids. The movies they played for the adults were Remember the Titans and The Princess Bride, both wonderful movies that I hadn't seen in a long time. Between the money they raised that night and a very generous donation from someone, they will be giving over $1800 to the Salvation Army to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
An aside...Isaac is sitting on the floor here building with Duplos. They have a set from when the girls were younger that includes some house parts, one of which is a sink (I think) but that Isaac is using as a toilet. He has this mass of blocks built up with the "toilet" piece up near the top, and has just informed me that he is building a ship and that is the poop deck. Didn't I tell you he is a funny guy?
Okay, I also did lots of shopping with birthday money from my husband and my mom. Won't bore you with details but I bought lots of wonderful scrapping goodies and have a couple more items that I am on the lookout for and have given myself permission to buy whenever I find them.
Yesterday I went to Michael's hoping to buy one of these items with their 50% off coupon. They didn't have what I was looking for but I hated to drive all the way out there and not use the coupon... I wound up buying a work station that will organize my stuff a lot more neatly than I have it now. I hope to get it put together today. I also had a coupon for a free $16 candle at Bath and Body works with a $20 purchase that expired yesterday. Considered buying a gift for someone and saving it but then Laura had me smell the Plumeria so I decided to buy a gift for myself instead...I am being very spoiled these days!!
I don't know if I already mentiond that Arnel used his birthday money to buy a backyard fire pit, something he has been wanting for a looooong time. I am so happy for him to get this "toy" as he rarely does anything for himself. He's fired it up a couple times this week. Last night we decided to play hookie from our other obligations/invitations and stay home and enoy the fire pit...not going to be too many more opportunities this fall. A few friends dropped in and out over the course of the evening. We grilled hot dogs and marshmallows, had some chips and salsa and guacamole....kids played on the swing set while it was light enough and then ran all over with flashlights after it got dark...there was just the slightest chill of fall in the air...couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening.
The one down side to the weekend...I came downstairs yesterday morning ready for church to find Arnel laying on the floor. He said he either was having muscle spasms in his back, or a heart attack. First I got him to relax his muscles and we were able to pinpoint the muscle in his back that was cramping. He wasn't able to make it to church but spent the better part of the day laying on the couch with a heating pad and taking medicine. Eventually the kink worked out but then he was left with the extremely sore muscles that accompany something like this. Though he was still sore I think the evening by the fire with friends helped take his mind off of it.
I didn't get a chance to write too much about Julia and the homecoming thing. They have not been able to arrange a group...boy's mom called last week to see what she could do to faciliate this...it took Arnel and I most of the weekend to realize that it was spiraling into becoming very legalistic, i.e., "What constitutes a group, if it is to be a group, thing," etc. So, stepping back and looking at the spirit of the matter rather than the letter...it was pretty clear that the boy was planning a date (picking out flowers for her, etc.)...and trying to find people to accompany them on a date, rather than it being a group of friends hanging out together. So, it has become a no-go. Still have to hear if Julia is going to try to gather a group of friends and go ahead and go.
I know there were a few little things I wanted to write but Lillian calls. I will add mini-updates if I think of them as time allows. Toodles!
Saturday night we attended the youth group fundraiser and had a blast. Julia was not happy with her band's performance. Their drummer didn't show so they borrowed someone from the senior hi band that they'd never played with. Their electric guitarist has decided she doesn't like guitar and just wants to sing. So, she joined the other vocalist...neither of them having rehearsed with the band in this capacity before. The acoustic guitarist was having amp troubles and had to play electric instead. Oh, and they haven't practiced in probably close to two months...which is an awful long time for kids who only started learning to play last spring. But, as I told Julia, it can only get better from here on out!
They had nachos, popcorn, soda, cookies and quesadillas for sale and a movie room and a game room for the kids. The movies they played for the adults were Remember the Titans and The Princess Bride, both wonderful movies that I hadn't seen in a long time. Between the money they raised that night and a very generous donation from someone, they will be giving over $1800 to the Salvation Army to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
An aside...Isaac is sitting on the floor here building with Duplos. They have a set from when the girls were younger that includes some house parts, one of which is a sink (I think) but that Isaac is using as a toilet. He has this mass of blocks built up with the "toilet" piece up near the top, and has just informed me that he is building a ship and that is the poop deck. Didn't I tell you he is a funny guy?
Okay, I also did lots of shopping with birthday money from my husband and my mom. Won't bore you with details but I bought lots of wonderful scrapping goodies and have a couple more items that I am on the lookout for and have given myself permission to buy whenever I find them.
Yesterday I went to Michael's hoping to buy one of these items with their 50% off coupon. They didn't have what I was looking for but I hated to drive all the way out there and not use the coupon... I wound up buying a work station that will organize my stuff a lot more neatly than I have it now. I hope to get it put together today. I also had a coupon for a free $16 candle at Bath and Body works with a $20 purchase that expired yesterday. Considered buying a gift for someone and saving it but then Laura had me smell the Plumeria so I decided to buy a gift for myself instead...I am being very spoiled these days!!
I don't know if I already mentiond that Arnel used his birthday money to buy a backyard fire pit, something he has been wanting for a looooong time. I am so happy for him to get this "toy" as he rarely does anything for himself. He's fired it up a couple times this week. Last night we decided to play hookie from our other obligations/invitations and stay home and enoy the fire pit...not going to be too many more opportunities this fall. A few friends dropped in and out over the course of the evening. We grilled hot dogs and marshmallows, had some chips and salsa and guacamole....kids played on the swing set while it was light enough and then ran all over with flashlights after it got dark...there was just the slightest chill of fall in the air...couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening.
The one down side to the weekend...I came downstairs yesterday morning ready for church to find Arnel laying on the floor. He said he either was having muscle spasms in his back, or a heart attack. First I got him to relax his muscles and we were able to pinpoint the muscle in his back that was cramping. He wasn't able to make it to church but spent the better part of the day laying on the couch with a heating pad and taking medicine. Eventually the kink worked out but then he was left with the extremely sore muscles that accompany something like this. Though he was still sore I think the evening by the fire with friends helped take his mind off of it.
I didn't get a chance to write too much about Julia and the homecoming thing. They have not been able to arrange a group...boy's mom called last week to see what she could do to faciliate this...it took Arnel and I most of the weekend to realize that it was spiraling into becoming very legalistic, i.e., "What constitutes a group, if it is to be a group, thing," etc. So, stepping back and looking at the spirit of the matter rather than the letter...it was pretty clear that the boy was planning a date (picking out flowers for her, etc.)...and trying to find people to accompany them on a date, rather than it being a group of friends hanging out together. So, it has become a no-go. Still have to hear if Julia is going to try to gather a group of friends and go ahead and go.
I know there were a few little things I wanted to write but Lillian calls. I will add mini-updates if I think of them as time allows. Toodles!
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Good News and Bad News and Good News again!
Good news is I got a call from my doctor this morning and the endricronologist agrees that I do not need the radioactive scan! Bad news is I will probably have a biopsy instead. (Type of test all based on size of nodule, thyroid blood test results, standard recommendations, etc.) My doctor is going to confer with yet another guy to see if it is necessary. Good news is that this is a very simple procedure with a local numbing and just taking out a few cells...he didn't use the term but from the description I am thinking it is a fine needle biopsy. I was worried it would involve sticking something down my throat, which would NOT be fun. (I thought I was the world's biggest gagger until Laura, and then Lillian, entered my life. I am now a distant third at best.) And.....drum roll...no radioactive iodine means not having to stop nursing Lillian! Doctor says this is just standard procedure and nothing to worry about, but if you know me, you know better. Prayers still coveted, as much for anxiety as for the actual test and results. I must say, though, that Paxil has pretty much been a wonder drug for me...I really am doing very well.
Today my house is filled with the smell of baking cookies as Julia and her friends are preparing for the Hurricane Katrina fundraiser tonight. They are also scheduled to perform with their worship band for the first time ever. I wonder if Julia will be embarrased if I video tape it? (How do you spell "embarrass"? That is one of those words I always have a mental block about, along with "calendar."
Isaac must be the skinniest five year old on the planet. While I know he is small I don't think of him as looking disproportionate or anything. But I am having the hardest time finding long pants for him! Forget about the smallest "kid" sizes. I have to get the 5T and then they are still too big, really. I am going to have to go somewhere that carries slim sizes.
Yesterday Gabe got his glasses. You should see the way Lillian looked at him when he put them on! I think she is getting used to them, finally. I'm not biased or anything...don't we make beautiful babies?
Here is a picture of Gabe with his new glasses.
Today my house is filled with the smell of baking cookies as Julia and her friends are preparing for the Hurricane Katrina fundraiser tonight. They are also scheduled to perform with their worship band for the first time ever. I wonder if Julia will be embarrased if I video tape it? (How do you spell "embarrass"? That is one of those words I always have a mental block about, along with "calendar."
Isaac must be the skinniest five year old on the planet. While I know he is small I don't think of him as looking disproportionate or anything. But I am having the hardest time finding long pants for him! Forget about the smallest "kid" sizes. I have to get the 5T and then they are still too big, really. I am going to have to go somewhere that carries slim sizes.
Yesterday Gabe got his glasses. You should see the way Lillian looked at him when he put them on! I think she is getting used to them, finally. I'm not biased or anything...don't we make beautiful babies?
Here is a picture of Gabe with his new glasses.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Now she's posting about UNDERWEAR?!?
What Your Underwear Says About You |
 You have a lucky pair of underwear. And you wear it more than you should. You're comfortable in your own skin - and don't care to impress anyone. |
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Birthday update
Had a very nice birthday dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. We chose them because Wednesday is Kid's Night. Kid's meals are just $1.99 (about half price,) and they had a clown doing balloon animals, a lady face painting, and I think they might have had a craft going on, too. We went early but there were very few people there, so crowds were not a problem, which is very nice. Huge TVs all over and because it was Kid's Night they had Disney Channel on, so the kids were all sitting still throughout the meal. Can't beat that! Oh, and they have a few vegetarian options as well, for our resident vegetarian, Laura. Our dinner out was under $45 including tip, and for yummy food for a group our size that is good.
Lillian was really checking out the clown. Funny how at her age she already has enough of a frame of reference to know that something was different about how she looked. She didn't cry or act scared or anything, just really checking her out.
After that it was off to AWANA and youth group for the four older kids. Arnel, Lillian and I went to do some birthday shopping. I struck out on the scrapbooking items I was looking for, but we got a backyard fire pit with Arnel's birthday money from my mom. He has been wanting one forever. I hope we get a chance to use it before it gets too cold.
I got the sweetest cards from my kids, all homemade. Isaac and Gabe both gave me coupons for massages. Gabe's was fancy...had an envelope attached to the inside of the card with the coupon inside. Isaac's was cute...lots of scribbles and the word "mom" amongst them. He offered to read it to me. ~grin~ Julia's was a funny card saying she was sorry she couldn't get me a gift but she didn't have any money (hint, hint.) And hers also had an offer for a free massage...from Laura! Laura offered a complete "spa day" where I don't have to do any work but can spend the day reading or scrapping or whatever I want. I told her she did that for me most days anyway! (Which is true!) Let's see...Gabe also gave me a wooden cross necklace of his and Laura gave me a scrunchie (that was mine originally way back when anyway, but I don't think she remembers that,) one of the cute little people figures she designs from pipe cleaners, and a dime. Oh, and some cards with pictures of each of her siblings. I told her tomorrow she has to make one of herself, too, to complete my collection. And, they gave me two gourmet chocolate bars...one milk chocolate and one white chocolate coconut! Yum yum!
I guess I have committed myself to trying to lose some weight. The company I am a consultant with has a weight loss support message board at their consultant's website and they just started a challenge, and I signed up for it. It is a group thing (sort of like the TV show Celebrity Fit Club,) where we will send in scrapbooking prizes and the team that loses the most wins them. So, because there are others on my team, I have to stick with something. Although I already fell off my self-imposed wagon...one of my biggest problems is eating late at night so I have said I won't eat after 8 PM or so. But it is my birthday, we didn't have cake or even dessert, and all I really wanted was an apple, so I had one at about ten. Followed by a glass of lemonade at about 11. Could have been worse. Someone on the message board said she rewards herself when she meets her weight loss goals with scrapping goodies anyway. Might have to think about that.
Gonna go try and finish a page before I go to bed and maybe tomorrow I will begin the hunt anew for the scrapbooking books I was after.
Lillian was really checking out the clown. Funny how at her age she already has enough of a frame of reference to know that something was different about how she looked. She didn't cry or act scared or anything, just really checking her out.
After that it was off to AWANA and youth group for the four older kids. Arnel, Lillian and I went to do some birthday shopping. I struck out on the scrapbooking items I was looking for, but we got a backyard fire pit with Arnel's birthday money from my mom. He has been wanting one forever. I hope we get a chance to use it before it gets too cold.
I got the sweetest cards from my kids, all homemade. Isaac and Gabe both gave me coupons for massages. Gabe's was fancy...had an envelope attached to the inside of the card with the coupon inside. Isaac's was cute...lots of scribbles and the word "mom" amongst them. He offered to read it to me. ~grin~ Julia's was a funny card saying she was sorry she couldn't get me a gift but she didn't have any money (hint, hint.) And hers also had an offer for a free massage...from Laura! Laura offered a complete "spa day" where I don't have to do any work but can spend the day reading or scrapping or whatever I want. I told her she did that for me most days anyway! (Which is true!) Let's see...Gabe also gave me a wooden cross necklace of his and Laura gave me a scrunchie (that was mine originally way back when anyway, but I don't think she remembers that,) one of the cute little people figures she designs from pipe cleaners, and a dime. Oh, and some cards with pictures of each of her siblings. I told her tomorrow she has to make one of herself, too, to complete my collection. And, they gave me two gourmet chocolate bars...one milk chocolate and one white chocolate coconut! Yum yum!
I guess I have committed myself to trying to lose some weight. The company I am a consultant with has a weight loss support message board at their consultant's website and they just started a challenge, and I signed up for it. It is a group thing (sort of like the TV show Celebrity Fit Club,) where we will send in scrapbooking prizes and the team that loses the most wins them. So, because there are others on my team, I have to stick with something. Although I already fell off my self-imposed wagon...one of my biggest problems is eating late at night so I have said I won't eat after 8 PM or so. But it is my birthday, we didn't have cake or even dessert, and all I really wanted was an apple, so I had one at about ten. Followed by a glass of lemonade at about 11. Could have been worse. Someone on the message board said she rewards herself when she meets her weight loss goals with scrapping goodies anyway. Might have to think about that.
Gonna go try and finish a page before I go to bed and maybe tomorrow I will begin the hunt anew for the scrapbooking books I was after.
A few quick thoughts...
1. Lillian is crawling officially now...alternating hands and feet...though when she is in a hurry (trying to get something she thinks we might take away from her?) she still goes to the lunge method.
2. There are a few photos of her crawling adventures on our home website.
3. Am I really doing this? Starting weight...152 pounds.
4. Curriculum night last night at the high school...about what I expected...too many students, obvious that they are short-funded, teachers all seem like reasonably nice folks. It was good to hear more about what the expectations are of her classes. We can be more help to her this way.
Will try to write more later, assuming any brilliant thoughts pop into my head!
2. There are a few photos of her crawling adventures on our home website.
3. Am I really doing this? Starting weight...152 pounds.
4. Curriculum night last night at the high school...about what I expected...too many students, obvious that they are short-funded, teachers all seem like reasonably nice folks. It was good to hear more about what the expectations are of her classes. We can be more help to her this way.
Will try to write more later, assuming any brilliant thoughts pop into my head!
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
And she's off!
Lillian is pulling herself to standing!
The bucket we have her toys in is just the right height, see-through, and great motivation.
She also is displaying her temper in new ways...now that she is mobile she will really hustle, in her lunging manner, after small toys that Isaac is playing with and gets really angry if someone takes them away from her...a certain cry that is clearly anger and frustration. We have made some changes already but I am going to have to do some serious baby-proofing around her pronto.
Julia ran in her first meet last weekend. She finished, only walking a little, so that is a great moral victory of sorts. She has another today which I don't think we will be able to make it to. Tonight is also Curriculum Night at her school...don't know exactly what that is all about but we will see. I hope it is more enlightening than the parent's meeting we had to attend for the athletic's department....the part with her team and coach was good, but for the most part we spent our time learning that they need more money and not to harass the referees.
Julia has youth group tonight...if she makes it at all she is going to be way late because of the track meet but she really wants to go as they are working on planning their Hurricane Katrina fundraiser for next weekend. Don't know yet how she is going to get there with Arnel and I at curriculum night. Another night I will only see her in passing. I guess this is what it is like having your kids in school but I'm not sure I like this aspect of it!
I think I've gained five pounds since the doctor made that off-hand comment about being in the ideal weight range. I need some sort of organized system to battle this as I have no will-power. I am still in denial which doesn't help.
Gabe has been complaining about not being able to see things far away so we finally took him to the eye doctor yesterday...turns out he was telling the truth. His vision is about 20-100 so he will be getting glasses next week. I'm feeling some mommy-guilt about waiting so long to take him in.
Haven't had as much time to blog lately as my free time is being taken up by these silly kids expecting them to teach them stuff...which I need to go do now.
The bucket we have her toys in is just the right height, see-through, and great motivation.
She also is displaying her temper in new ways...now that she is mobile she will really hustle, in her lunging manner, after small toys that Isaac is playing with and gets really angry if someone takes them away from her...a certain cry that is clearly anger and frustration. We have made some changes already but I am going to have to do some serious baby-proofing around her pronto.
Julia ran in her first meet last weekend. She finished, only walking a little, so that is a great moral victory of sorts. She has another today which I don't think we will be able to make it to. Tonight is also Curriculum Night at her school...don't know exactly what that is all about but we will see. I hope it is more enlightening than the parent's meeting we had to attend for the athletic's department....the part with her team and coach was good, but for the most part we spent our time learning that they need more money and not to harass the referees.
Julia has youth group tonight...if she makes it at all she is going to be way late because of the track meet but she really wants to go as they are working on planning their Hurricane Katrina fundraiser for next weekend. Don't know yet how she is going to get there with Arnel and I at curriculum night. Another night I will only see her in passing. I guess this is what it is like having your kids in school but I'm not sure I like this aspect of it!
I think I've gained five pounds since the doctor made that off-hand comment about being in the ideal weight range. I need some sort of organized system to battle this as I have no will-power. I am still in denial which doesn't help.
Gabe has been complaining about not being able to see things far away so we finally took him to the eye doctor yesterday...turns out he was telling the truth. His vision is about 20-100 so he will be getting glasses next week. I'm feeling some mommy-guilt about waiting so long to take him in.
Haven't had as much time to blog lately as my free time is being taken up by these silly kids expecting them to teach them stuff...which I need to go do now.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
WHAT?!?!?
Now I remember why Julia didn't go to public school before. The girl is too pretty for her own good. She has already been asked out on a date, to homecoming.
The "system" here at our house is no dating...group stuff only (a la Joshua Harrison's I Kissed Dating Goodbye if you are familiar with the book.) So, she will need to straighten those details out. But apparently (word from a mutual friend) is that this boy has had his eye on her since the first day of practice...he said that very day that he was going to ask her to the dance. She says that what is weird is that she only ever sees this boy at cross country practice when she is all sweaty and icky. So either she still looks pretty good in those circumstances, or the boy is not shallow, or both.
There is another boy that she finds kind of interesting, too. But she says she doesn't "like" him anymore because he is mean to her (teasing her about her glasses because she is out of contact lenses, etc.) I had to tell her that that is just how boys are because they are uncomfortable expressing their emotions.
Anyway, Daddy is now wandering around the house grumbling and wondering if it would be inappropriate to sic one of his senior boys from youth group on this homecoming kid.
The "system" here at our house is no dating...group stuff only (a la Joshua Harrison's I Kissed Dating Goodbye if you are familiar with the book.) So, she will need to straighten those details out. But apparently (word from a mutual friend) is that this boy has had his eye on her since the first day of practice...he said that very day that he was going to ask her to the dance. She says that what is weird is that she only ever sees this boy at cross country practice when she is all sweaty and icky. So either she still looks pretty good in those circumstances, or the boy is not shallow, or both.
There is another boy that she finds kind of interesting, too. But she says she doesn't "like" him anymore because he is mean to her (teasing her about her glasses because she is out of contact lenses, etc.) I had to tell her that that is just how boys are because they are uncomfortable expressing their emotions.
Anyway, Daddy is now wandering around the house grumbling and wondering if it would be inappropriate to sic one of his senior boys from youth group on this homecoming kid.
A funny thing...
Funny thing...at AWANA we were hanging out waiting for the kids to finish up and saw a newspaper clipping of our new doctor on the bulletin board! Turns out he attends church there, and a bit later in he walks! We got to have a nice chat with him. Not so great part...the radiologist recommends a scan of my thyroid to look at the lumps and determine if they are "hot" or "cold." Chance of it being anything are one in thousands, probably even less in my case since I have no symptoms and my blood work is fine...but it is one of those things they routinely check out. The bad part is that it is one of those things where they inject iodine and that means no nursing for a period of time. Dr. Bodrie is having lunch with a guy who is supposed to be the best thyroid doctor in the area on Friday and he said he'd run it by him and maybe he'd say to wait on the scan or something. Hopefully we will be able to do it on a Friday so that Arnel will be able to be here to tend to Lillian...she isn't a big comfort nurser in general, but if I'm around she will definitely have times when she wants to nurse. If Arnel is here it will be easier as I can just disappear from the room while he comforts her as the need arises, when she is sleepy, etc. I'll rent a breast pump and hopefully be able to store up enough breast milk to feed her that that won't be an issue, it is just the act of nursing that I'm worried about.
All that aside, though, it was very cool to find out that not only is our new doctor, whom we liked already, a Christian, but he goes to a church where we know people and will have common friends. And we managed to not even have it be awkward that the last time I saw him I was in stirrups staring at a poster on the ceiling...
All that aside, though, it was very cool to find out that not only is our new doctor, whom we liked already, a Christian, but he goes to a church where we know people and will have common friends. And we managed to not even have it be awkward that the last time I saw him I was in stirrups staring at a poster on the ceiling...
Just an update
Let's see what is up...
Lillian is mobile now, a bit. I wouldn't say she is crawling in the classical sense. Her legs know what to do but her arms don't quite have it still. Her main method of transportation is a combination of the army crawl and the lunge. She is getting good at going from sitting position to crawling and vice versa. She is also good at getting herself stuck in corners and up against chairs, etc. It is a dangerous stage as it is very hard to control where you wind up when you lunge and she never knows quite where she will be when she finishes sitting back up. It's the beginning of the age where you are afraid to take your child to the doctor (or anywhere in public for that matter) because of all the bruises. And I've noticed her siblings starting to tell her "no" about things lately...a sure sign that she is now a force to be reckoned with.
She is still not a fan of bananas but seems to enjoy zucchini as well as peaches. We have bought her a high chair to sit in when we eat dinner (since otherwise the person holding her does nothing but fight her off of their food,) and she feels entitled to food the second she is in it...she screams through our dinner prayer and until someone puts food on the tray. I guess we are skipping the pureed food altogether...we have gone straight to small cubes of soft food...because she is much more interested in the act of eating than the food itself.
Isaac, Gabe and Laura start AWANA tonight. Isaac will be moving up to Sparks (the class for K-2nd grade,) and Gabe will be moving up into T&T (Truth and Training) with Laura. Youth group at the church that hosts AWANA has youth group at the same time and Julia likes to attend that, as do a couple other girls from our church. As of this year, our former youth pastor is now their youth pastor so it will be lots of fun. Which reminds me, I guess he won't be able to go out for coffee with us anymore while all our kids (his and ours) are at AWANA.
We seem to be settling into a school routine, though it would be nice to get going a little earlier in the morning, and Lillian will continue to be a challenge. This week the kids are making a model solar system out of balloons and are beginning monitoring various plants growing, in addition to their math and language, etc. We are also learning a little about Bach. Did you know he had twenty children?! I still have to figure out which room will get the honor of the model solar system hanging from it's ceiling. Right now the kids are playing a game they've made up using the extra balloons. I don't know the rules but I do know it is noisy.
Julia is still hanging in there with the runnng and I think is over the worst of it. She still has a ways to go to be able to keep up with most of the other kids who started training earlier than she did, but she is more positive about it.
Julia's youth group (the one at our church) has decided to do a fundraiser to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They are going to show two movies and both of their bands will perfom on the 17th, charging $10 per couple and $6 per child babysitting. I am so proud of those kids.
Seems like I had more interesting things I was going to write...I'll update again if I remember them.
Lillian is mobile now, a bit. I wouldn't say she is crawling in the classical sense. Her legs know what to do but her arms don't quite have it still. Her main method of transportation is a combination of the army crawl and the lunge. She is getting good at going from sitting position to crawling and vice versa. She is also good at getting herself stuck in corners and up against chairs, etc. It is a dangerous stage as it is very hard to control where you wind up when you lunge and she never knows quite where she will be when she finishes sitting back up. It's the beginning of the age where you are afraid to take your child to the doctor (or anywhere in public for that matter) because of all the bruises. And I've noticed her siblings starting to tell her "no" about things lately...a sure sign that she is now a force to be reckoned with.
She is still not a fan of bananas but seems to enjoy zucchini as well as peaches. We have bought her a high chair to sit in when we eat dinner (since otherwise the person holding her does nothing but fight her off of their food,) and she feels entitled to food the second she is in it...she screams through our dinner prayer and until someone puts food on the tray. I guess we are skipping the pureed food altogether...we have gone straight to small cubes of soft food...because she is much more interested in the act of eating than the food itself.
Isaac, Gabe and Laura start AWANA tonight. Isaac will be moving up to Sparks (the class for K-2nd grade,) and Gabe will be moving up into T&T (Truth and Training) with Laura. Youth group at the church that hosts AWANA has youth group at the same time and Julia likes to attend that, as do a couple other girls from our church. As of this year, our former youth pastor is now their youth pastor so it will be lots of fun. Which reminds me, I guess he won't be able to go out for coffee with us anymore while all our kids (his and ours) are at AWANA.
We seem to be settling into a school routine, though it would be nice to get going a little earlier in the morning, and Lillian will continue to be a challenge. This week the kids are making a model solar system out of balloons and are beginning monitoring various plants growing, in addition to their math and language, etc. We are also learning a little about Bach. Did you know he had twenty children?! I still have to figure out which room will get the honor of the model solar system hanging from it's ceiling. Right now the kids are playing a game they've made up using the extra balloons. I don't know the rules but I do know it is noisy.
Julia is still hanging in there with the runnng and I think is over the worst of it. She still has a ways to go to be able to keep up with most of the other kids who started training earlier than she did, but she is more positive about it.
Julia's youth group (the one at our church) has decided to do a fundraiser to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They are going to show two movies and both of their bands will perfom on the 17th, charging $10 per couple and $6 per child babysitting. I am so proud of those kids.
Seems like I had more interesting things I was going to write...I'll update again if I remember them.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Doctor said a bad, bad thing...
At my check-up at the beginning of the week he commented that I was in my ideal weight range. I thought he was smoking something, but then I got a look at the chart on the wall and lo and behold, I am! I am kissing the upper limit of it, but still in it. Then today, in desperation to find the perfect outfit for my exciting trip to WalMart I tried on a pair of pants I was sure would be too small...I was just starting to be able to squeeze into them before I got pregnant with Lillian and hadn't even bothered to try them on since her birth...and they fit! Better than they did before and better than most of the things I have been wearing! Now, regardless, I know that I need to lose 20 pounds...but tell me, how motivated am I now?
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