Vannice5

Emily at 10

2012-01-26T17:06:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was a "kitchen" day. Meaning I spent the entire day in the kitchen, which is not normally my favorite thing to do, but yesterday was an exception. I had a blast. I made the raw materials so that Emily could make a doggy "cake" - a unique kind cake made of rice krispie treats, wrapped in fondant, decorated with modeling chocolate and cocoa powder and placed on a giant cookie.

A few things I learned during the day -

First, fondant is pretty easy to make with a Kitchen-aide. It tastes really good, too. Not like the bucket stuff. It basically tastes like marshmallows. There's still some minor kneading and rolling out that goes on, but all in all not nearly the headache I was expecting.

Secondly, home-made modeling chocolate will freak you out until you've worked it enough. It really looks like you've ruined it, but if you keep going it turns out fine. (I'm sure there's a lesson in that, if I think hard enough about it.) Once it's set, work it like playdough to get it soft enough to do what you want it do do. Again - a job that required patience, but not nearly as much as I was anticipating.

Cake batter rice krispies - really good. 'Nuf said.

Always make more than one box of cupcakes for children's choir. There are a whole lot more kids in there than you think. On that note, a big "THANKS" to Sandra for her cupcake rescue! And Grazie Mille to all you selfless people who work with the kids on Wednesday nights! You guys are the best.

Purple frosting looks really cool.

Kitchen-aide mixers make the lightest, fluffiest batters and frostings. Ninety percent of the cooking yesterday was sponsored by Teresa. I never would have been able to make all that without "the mixer".

So the day is over, the kids ate the face off the dog (I know, they're twisted. Or maybe they just couldn't stand to have him stare at them as they slowly devoured him from the rear, I don't know) and I had a chance to play with my daughter and my Kitchen-aide while learning patience and perseverance. Joel and the boys kept things running like a machine, doing whatever needed to be done to keep things going smoothly. I have such a great family. It was a really fun day.

Oh, and then a group of friends kidnapped me and took me out for a delicious treat that I didn't make. It was so good! I really have great friends. Thanks, girls.

Why is fun so exhausting?

2010-07-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

We went to the water park yesterday. It was 900° - okay, maybe it was 115° with the heat index, but after a certain point I'm not sure I would be able to tell the difference. Even now - at 10:15 in the evening it's still registering a balmy 103°. So, anyway, off to the water park we went. We thought it was a great idea, as did the steaming mass of people who were there with us. Just a little note to tuck away - the lazy river stops being fun when it's bumper to bumper - or rather inner tube to inner tube. We stayed for a couple of hours and then headed home. May the Lord rain rich blessings down upon the anonymous benefactor who got us season tickets. It's so much easier to leave knowing you aren't "wasting" a ticket by only staying a couple of hours. Caleb didn't go yesterday. It was his day off and, strangely enough, going to the water park isn't as much fun when you work there.

We came home, oh so thankful for air conditioning, and made lunch and rested for a bit. Joel took Caleb to the base to purchase his latest toy. If you don't know what it is....well, I'm shocked because he's been posting stuff on facebook about it all day. He may, in fact, sleep with it tucked snugly in bed beside him. Anyway, when they got home Joel, Alex, Emily and I ran over to the ballet school for a "minute" to sign her up for this year's classes. I use the quotes because although that's how long I thought we'd be there, we were actually there for more than an hour. And when it was our turn - it took us less than five minutes. Alex, especially, was hating life - after all, he could have stayed home with Caleb and his new love, er toy. His sister tried to get him to join her in the fun that is ballet, but he was pretty vehement in his refusal.

Then we headed to church to go to an Upward Soccer meeting - where they fed us, so that was good. And then my day was over. How does that happen so fast?

Oh, and here's an alien that happened by our house the other day. We thought she was pretty cute so we kept her. Plus, we figured if there was an alien invasion any time in the future, she could tell them what nice people we are - or we could hold her for ransom, whatever works.

A Beautiful Wedding...

2008-10-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

Josh & Leah's wedding was wonderful! Leah is very sweet and funny - she and Josh are a great couple. They had their wedding at a beautiful chateau in the Utah mountains. There were lots of flowers and topiaries, with winding paths, bridges and stairways scattered all around the main building. Swans and geese swam in the many ornamental pools and streams while peacocks and rabbits roamed the grounds. Leah looked gorgeous- and her three sisters, who were her maid of honor and bridesmaids, were stunning - all four sisters looked like they stepped right out of a fairytale. That family has four very beautiful girls. Big brother Eric was best man, Josh's friend Kyle was a groomsman (he told a great story about how he got to know Josh at the rehearsal dinner - I'll save that for later and share with Josh's permission - or just use the idea of it to bother him, big sister style), and nephew Brendan was the other groomsman. Emily loved being the flower girl. I think, in her dreams, every day should begin in a room like the bride's room with someone doing your hair and plates of goodies at your disposal and then involve walking down a long, winding staircase with people looking at you. All my boys - Joel, Caleb and Alex - looked so handsome. Caleb and Alex looked so grown-up. Joel took most of the pictures, so I don't have a lot of him. (ahem). He also took the kids on many walks around the grounds during the reception- they loved it there. When Josh and Leah left she was wearing an absolutely stunning going away dress, and well, I have no idea what Josh was wearing. Anyway, they left by going down a staircase to a waiting car while the guests held lit sparklers - I'd love a picture of that! Of course, Emily wanted to know what they were going to do with the left over sparklers after Josh & Leah left. I guess if you take away the beautiful dress, the hair, and the the flowers, she's still just a little girl at heart. I think about that and wonder if I'll ever really be ready to see Emily - or any of my kids - do this?

Knees & Dinosaurs

2008-08-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of June, we went to Colorado to take care of my mom after she had knee surgery. It was truly an eye-opening experience! The hospital staff was incredible. Everyone on staff was caring and professional. We loved them all. The RNs kept a close eye on mom and answered all my questions and concerns. When a couple of different problems arose in the first couple of days, they dealt with the medical issues swiftly and the concerned daughter issues compassionately. The CNAs were friendly and encouraging. They chatted with us and did their occasionally difficult job cheerfully and well. And the Physical therapists were knowledgeable and fun. Both were young girls and they really liked mom. On her last day the PT told her that they had decided she needed to be roomed with another knee patient. Mom was all about doing the PT - she wanted to get back to work. Her PT told her the other patient was whiny and didn't want to do the PT - then she whispered to mom "and, she's thirty!" They loved mom's attitude. Now mom's roommate -- she was a different story! (They were remodeling the hospital - so everyone had roommates). I don't know what she was in for, but she was pretty vocal about the fact that she'd been in the hospital a lot, and she was not nice to the medical staff - at least the female medical staff. She kept her TV on pretty much the entire time she was there. She berated a nurse for something - and my mom and I both quietly told the nurse that, as we were in the room at the time, we completely disagreed with what she complained about. She was just a genuinely unpleasant person - but she helped me realize that I could never be a nurse - because I would have said something.

Mom did much better medically when she got home. There's definitely something to be said for recovering in your own home! They would have sent her to a rehab center/nursing home had we not come because they won't let you go home alone and there was no way I wanted that for my mom! I think being around her own place - not to mention her grandkids - was helpful. She had a visiting nurse and a visiting PT - and she did great. She did hate those TED hose, though. Friends came to visit and that's always a pick-me-up. She was doing so much better by the time we left. God blessed her with a very gifted surgeon and a quick recovery. And she needed to get back to work, both because she was going crazy at home and she needed to save some time off for Josh's wedding, so it was a huge blessing that she did so well so quickly.

We continue to pray for Joel's mom who had the same surgery a week before my mom. She's had a more difficult recovery, and although she's doing a bit better now - it would be great if she were back to normal!

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While we were there, a friend of my mom's gave us tickets to the Natural History Museum. Mom convinced us to take the kids one day while her friend Lorraine and her sister came and "sat" with mom. We had a ball. We didn't even scratch the surface! I tried a little aversion therapy by looking at the huge bugs - it didn't work. Palmetto bugs still give me the heebie jeebies. We took the kids to the planetarium and it was absolutely Alex and Emily's favorite (for Caleb, I think it was his second favorite. He really likes dinosaurs). They've never been to a planetarium and there's not one near us, so it's not an opportunity that they're likely to have often. I couldn't get Caleb to go into the mummy or anatomy wings. (In truth, the whole 'Caleb passing out' thing might have been a bit of a downer). We did make it into the dinosaur wing and the all kids loved that. They also had a balcony with a beautiful view of the mountains. (Alex, when we first took the turn in Colorado and the mountains came into view, blurted out, "How could anyone think that's an accident?" Indeed.) We had a great time there and hope to go back when we travel to Colorado on the way to Josh's wedding .

Emily also got her first "real" haircut while we were there from my mom's hairdresser, Julie. Unfortunately, she went after me and I got about six inches cut off. The first thing she said when she got up on the chair was "I don't want it short." She was pretty definite about it. Julie only cut about one inch off and then french braided it, so all was well in the end. That face probably freaked out the poor Julie.

Driver's License Ahead!

2008-07-31T09:26:00.000-07:00

Caleb turned 15 on May 26th. How, exactly that happened, I have no idea. I swear, it seems like just yesterday he looked like this. I don't think kids should be allowed to age another year without some sort of permission slip from their parents.

He wanted video game stuff (I know, shocking, huh?). The game he chose was Mario Kart for the Wii. The look on his face was enough to make me fear handing my car keys to this kid!

He decided that he wanted to go see Prince Caspian - which we all really enjoyed. I'm a big fan of C.S. Lewis and The Chronicles of Narnia, and so far I've enjoyed the movie adaptations. We'll see if they continue to be as good. Somehow I can't see Hollywood doing justice to The Last Battle particularly. It's a little too obviously Christian for most Hollywood types, but we'll see if the series even makes it that far. Color me skeptical.

He chose an ice cream cake and he wanted shrimp for dinner. I used to lament the fact that all he wanted to eat was pizza or hot dogs; however, now that he likes a larger variety of food it seems that he enjoys the more expensive stuff - and more of it. I have taken to referring to him - occasionally - as a stomach with feet!

Hi this is alex

2008-07-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hi since I've never said any thing on this blog I thought I should. and now my quest is complete. Good bye!

~Alex

What A Doll - And more...

2008-07-23T13:18:00.002-07:00

Wow, it's been so long since I've had a chance to update!

I guess I'll just start at the farthest date and slowly move toward current events - at least that makes some sense to me, and it'll be easier to make sure I don't leave anything out - or at least as little as possible.

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Emily had her ballet recital on May 23rd. She did so well! It was at a wonderful theatre downtown and was done so beautifully. I learned more than I needed to know about the proper way to put hair in a bun. It's very difficult to do for Emily because her hair is so long. It was easier to do when her hair was wet, but she thought it was too tight. I guess it's good to know that she's not likely to be a slave to fashion.

Here she is before the recital -

Of course, the pink crocs were not de rigueur for ballet, but then, one is not supposed to wear one's ballet slippers out on the street. And can I just say that I'm not all that fond of the little pointy hat. You can't really see it from this picture and the little fluffy pink tulle attached is pretty cute, but I really could have done without the hat.

We learned a very valuable lesson, however. You cannot video the show yourself - you can buy a video, but then it doesn't really focus on your child during the dance. And let's face it, although all the girls did a great job and a dvd would be wonderful for pure enjoyment - I want to remember my own child. So, we have video taken from the still camera at the dress rehearsal - next year, we'll be better prepared and take our own video camera to the dress rehearsal. She's easy to see if you know which one she is - if not, it's kind of like "Where's Waldo?" with a bunch of little girls in black and pink tutus. She's the last one to come out on stage from the left -

She had a ball and a half during the actual show. She did inform Joel and I that the "green" room wasn't really green, but she dealt with it.

It is tradition to give the dancers (yes, even the little ones) a bouquet of flowers after the show. Emily had told us that red roses were here favorite flowers and she really liked hers -

And I'm not really sure what she was telling Caleb here, but the boys were good sports about the whole thing and they actually enjoyed it more than they thought they would.

The whole program was very elegant and tastefully done. They opened in prayer and did several numbers from "The Prince of Egypt" which were outstanding then probably my favorite - apart from Emily's, of course - they ended with a ballet to "La Via Dolorosa". Emily's number was called "The Dolls" and it was from a ballet done to the story of The Little Match Girl. Registration for the new year is this week - it's gonna be fun!

We're Baaack!

2008-05-07T07:05:00.000-07:00

It was so wonderful to see family - better than Christmas! And the area that they live in is beautiful. When Emily first saw a rolling, green mountain she said "That's so pretty, if I had a camera, I'd take a picture!" I don't blame her, poor little flat-lander that she is - it is absolutely gorgeous there. And despite the fact that we got lost several times on the winding mountain roads, and that 2 of the kids get rather violently motion sick, Joel and I could completely invest in dramamine and live there.

Rachel looked beautiful - like she stepped right out of a wedding magazine. Jamie looked so pretty - they picked a great color for her. In fact, the whole wedding was lovely. Danny did a superb job - as did everyone involved in the planning. I loved that the whole family got to get together - the pictures hold particularly fond memories and I'll post all mine when I get a chance. I looked back and was so amused by the difference between the last get-together for Grandma & Gandpa's 50th Wedding anniversary and this time. It's amazing how five years changes everyone!

It was great to finally meet Ezra, Michael and Joseph in person - Emily had a ball with them. Seeing Becca and Nicki looking so cute made me a little nostalgic - but I got over it when I remembered that I neither looked, nor felt, cute pregnant. Hannah looked all grown up, and Josh was great - as usual. I guess he and Caleb were amused by the sheer volume of pictures taken. All that and I got hardly any pictures of my own children - I'm such a negligent picture-taking mom. I'm sort of resting secure in the knowledge that Uncle Dan is an expert photographer and will be willing to share. We were so happy to be able to spend even a little time with Uncle Dan and Aunt Denise - our chances of visiting them in Germany are, unfortunately, pretty slim. Our Chick-fil-a lunch is probably as good as it's going to get for a while! Caleb, Alex and Emily really want a back-yard like Uncle Delvin or Uncle Danny. I think it's the most fun they've had outside in a long time!

Our only grievance was that it wasn't long enough. There just wasn't enough time to visit with everyone we wanted to visit with. We could spend a week with each branch on the family tree and still not have our fill - but we were so thankful for the time we did have there!

We did make it home in time for Alex & Emily's play on Sunday night. We pulled into the parking lot at the church at around 4:05 (and if you think Alex wasn't sweating those five minutes; well, you don't know Alex). We dropped all three off (Caleb was doing the lights) and Joel and I headed home to unpack the car. I brought back a change of clothes for Alex and Emily - she was supposed to be in dark clothes (white pants and a bright blue gingham shirt didn't really work) and I picked up a new t-shirt for Alex (he was wearing Caleb's due to an unfortunate incident with hot chocolate at breakfast). He still managed to get frosting on the new shirt I gave him - which he was NOT wearing at the time, go figure - but I got it cleaned up and told him to avoid all snacks until after. (At which point he walked toward the nursery and said "oooohhhh, cookies" and started laughing - just to mess with me).

They both did great. Alex knew all his parts, cold - and he slowed way down (thanks, Becca!). His deadpan delivery was great, and he got lots of laughs. Emily did great, her little solo sounded very pretty - although I did at one point think she was going to take out one little boy who kept stepping in front of her and (as one of the other teachers told me) was elbowing her. But she kept her cool and there was no mass bedlam on stage. I'll have to see how the video turns out to get the whole story.

All together, it was a spectacular weekend! I'm so grateful that we got to go - I hope it's not another five years before we do it again.

UPDATE: OK, so I figured out how to do a slideshow in iPhoto using some of the pictures. Let's see how it works out -

...very, very busy...

2008-04-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

There's a song on one of Emily's cd's called "Busy, Busy, Busy". It's by Sandra Boynton - Check it out. (If you have kids and don't have her books or any of the cd's she's put out, you are missing out out on one of the great benefits of having children - reading and listening to silly stuff without guilt. After all, it's for the children.)

Anyway that song accurately describes our lives here lately. March was a blur - Emily was even sick on Easter. She had an adorable dress, but she had to stay home. No cute pictures for us. To be honest, we almost forgot about the, ahem, necessary supplies and ended up getting them on Saturday. (Emily asked why Caleb got a white chocolate bunny and she got a milk chocolate one. I didn't want to tell her that I had called Caleb from the store and asked what each of them would want, so I told her that next year the "Easter Bunny" would bring her white chocolate if that's what she wanted. She narrowed her eyes and asked "Are YOU the Easter Bunny?". I laughed, looked at Joel and said "Well, let's just say that the Easter Bunny and I are like 'this'" and I crossed my fingers. Joel then balled up his hands into fists, put them under his chin and hopped into the living room. Emily laughed. I guess that's the end of that.)

The weekend after that was the Passion Play at church. The entire family was involved. It goes on for 4 nights and it's a wonderful experience. This picture is from rehearsals. They recreated Da Vinci's Last Supper. It was pretty amazing. Can you find Joel? I'll post some video when Joel gets done with it. Right after that, I had some problems that entailed many medical excursions and I am now finally recovering. Add the normal every day stuff of work and school and the busy song has been our theme song! There's much to tell, so hopefully things will settle down, and posting will increase. Stay tuned!

A Good and Faithful Servant

2008-03-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've updated - partly because we've been so busy and partly because my heart just hasn't been in it. Thank you to all who prayed for Lowry's recovery - he enjoyed Easter with the King this year. The rest of his family is stuck here. Please continue to pray for his children - Melanie, Zach and Kasie and their spouses and children - and especially for his wife Kandi. She is one of the most godly women I have ever met and I've watched her give out more comfort than she took in. She gave a kind and encouraging word, a hug, a touch to the hundreds of people who came by. I really encourage you to read her latest article from Friday, March 21st linked to here. One short segment from the article -

Lowry would say to each of you, live like you believe, love as you have been loved by the Savior, hold your family as precious, your friends as treasures and never forget the words of Jesus: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'

Lowry and Kandi have often spoken of living a life filled with both God's grace and His righteousness, which can be such difficult things to hold in balance - they have made it seem attainable. I wanted to share just a flavor of Pastor Lowry's sermon, so here's a couple of minutes from Feb. 3rd. He's teaching from Exodus 33. I hope you get as much out of it as we did -

Caleb's Corner: The Acadamy Awards

2008-02-24T19:51:00.000-08:00

In theory, it sounds cool - take the best movies of the fiscal year, give them awards for things such as Best Editing, Best Original Song, Best Actor, etc. and the Best Picture Oscar goes to the best movie of the year. Throw in performances of movie soundtracks and A Lifetime Achievement Award and how could it NOT be cool? I can tell you. I'm a movie lover, call me movie buff, call me movie geek. Call me what you want, there a very few things I like more than watching a good movie; and like Leonard Maltin, famed movie critic, I have a varying tastes. I love action movies, but I'll watch a drama if Mom says it's good (she a really good judge of what I'll like) and I also am quite fond of a good comedy (and those are hard to find). The point is, I have a varied repertoire of films that I like. Enter The Academy Awards 80: This Time It's Stupid. Well, I tuned in Sunday to see who's winning and the award for best special effects was up. Now this past year some amazing effects were in the Movie Biz: TMNT, Transformers, Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Beowulf, etc. Fewer than half of those were nominated and of the nominees, I thought Transformers was the sure winner. Unfortunately, the God-hating, Narnia rip-off The Golden Compass won. The brilliant 3:10 to Yuma was only nominated for Best Sound Editing, no Best Actor for Christan Bale, or Best Picture. Live Free or Die Hard, the latest entry in the popular Die Hard series was nominated for nothing,same with Spider-man 3. I keep seeing the Academy looking like the snooty food critic from Ratatouille saying to themselves, "you plebeians don't understand true art." Well, personally I don't understand Picasso, but I know a cool movie when I see one. Enchanted, which was a wonderful movie (I think Mom already said that on a previous post, but I'm clarifying) got nominations for three of its songs, including the very theatrical "How Does She Know" and lost to a movie called Once (don't fret, I've never heard of it either). All in all, I'm losing respect for the Academy, as it is to focused on artsy movies instead of the summer blockbusters we've all come to love. But hey, at least Super Smash Brothers comes out soon for Wii. In the mean time I could try to figure out how to build a hover board...or I could just eat some candy.
Candy is nice.

(From Laura: We're going to occasionally allow Caleb to guest blog from time to time. It's good for him and we can buy cool stuff with the money we charge him. :D )

A Day

2008-02-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

You ever just have a day? I had one today. One of those doozeys when you look at the clock and think "Are you kidding? It's still today? I feel like ten years has passed!"

It started with a trip to the doctor's on the insistence of my husband and my mother - a formidable pair. But since I've been up coughing for the last couple of nights, I agreed to go. (I'm a big fan of sleep. I can do without a lot of things - sleep is not one of them). I have a great doctor, so I don't mind him so much it's just the idea of it. Especially because I was just at the doctor's (ok a different doctor, but still) two days earlier. I really do think I got sick at the doctor's office (the first doctor, I mean. sheesh - I'm not making much sense - for reasons that will soon become apparent.)

Anyway, I took Emily with me for several reasons. First, she needed new ballet shoes and since I had the van, and the shoe store is near Wally world I figured I could get any needed prescription filled and then go get her shoes while I waited - because, of course, Wally world takes forever. Second, she's good company. She likes to talk to me and she makes me laugh. And lastly, if I leave her at home with the boys while they are trying to do their schoolwork, she will pester them to death to play with her and they crumble to her will like graham crackers whacked with a rolling pin to make a pie crust. So, she came with me.

She kept me company in the waiting room by pointing out the problem with having a bookshelf that was brightly labeled "Children's Library" but had only magazines for grown ups on it. And other than scolding the Doctor for not having books for kids to read she basically just watched. I, however, was more argumentative when the doctor told me that he was pretty convinced that I had the 'flu.

"I had a 'flu shot months ago" I told him.

"Yes", he replied, "we're seeing a lot of people who've had the 'flu shot get the 'flu"

Now, I understand that there's a different strain out there and he explained that because I got the 'flu shot I'd likely have a much less severe case. I still feel gypped. I got the 'flu shot. I want immunity!

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So I came to terms with it and went to get the meds - which of course I knew would take an hour. Because it's Wal-Mart and nothing's ever easy there. We got the shoes then went back and got the meds and made it home for lunch. And at this point I started thinking -

"I feel terrible. I'm typhoid Mary. Today is ballet. I'm going to take the girls and go wait in that tiny little room with people that have smaller children - one's just a few months old. I can't take my medicine until I get back because it will make me sleepy. I'm insane"

So, I called Joel and we decided I'd go get him at work, and he could take the kids to ballet and I could stay home in a medication induced fog drinking hot tea. I just had to drive to his work at get him (see previous post about Old Faithful - still not fixed yet) and be back in time to get my little charges off the bus. I left plenty of time for error and away I went, dreaming of warm tea and cold compresses. On the way, I hit a pot hole. A nice, juicy pot hole. My tax dollars at work. It was on a narrow road that stays relatively busy and it was while going down a pretty steep hill. No place to stop immediately to check and see what the noise was, but as soon as I could, I did. My tire was shredded. I'm not even sure why I was surprised.

I pulled off onto the next side street and pondered for a moment. I hadn't taken the cell - not that I have clue number one who I'd call because pretty much everybody I know works. I had to be back home in an hour and 15 minutes (and I was still about 25 minutes away from Joel's work) and I was not feeling well.

But this is where I thank God for my family. Because when I was growing up someone, maybe my dad or my brother - I really can't remember - insisted that I know how to change a tire. And I did. I got started and got the spare down (which on our van is in a really weird place) and jacked up the van and remembered to loosen all the lug nuts before I took any off completely. Just as I was taking them off, a very nice man and his wife saw me from the main road, pulled off and stopped and then he finished. Chivalry is not dead!

I went and got Joel (who was concerned for me because he knew it shouldn't have taken so long to get there) and we made it home 5 minutes before the kids got here. He took the kids to ballet and dropped the ones that didn't belong to us off at their house and came home.

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Some women get flowers or candy, stuffed animals or even diamonds for Valentines Day. Me? I got the 'flu and a flat tire. And a husband who came home from work and ran all my errands and is even now out getting me popsicles. All that and I got chocolate, too! I have a real gem and I wouldn't trade him for anything.

My First Video Experiment

2008-02-06T13:59:00.000-08:00

OK, here's my first attempt at a video, we'll see if it works. If it doesn't - I blame Joel. He (tried) to teach me.

Emily loves ballet. It's one of her very favorite things.

Now We Are Six (Really)

2008-01-29T07:04:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I've had a chance to post. With school and birthday madness, I feel like I haven't had a moment to spare. So, Em's finally six, and has informed us that we can no longer call her a "little" kid. We are free to call her a kid, just not a "little" kid. I don't think she's been a "little" kid since she learned how to talk. Sometimes I feel like I'm living with a short 25 year old.

So Kris called (hi Kris!) and left a message on the answering machine. She said something like - since you're not home, you must be out celebrating your birthdays in some grand and exciting way. Of course. I was at Chuck E. Cheese's. I detest Chuck E. Cheese's. Now I like flashing disco lights, bad pizza and unattended, sugar-intoxicated kids as much as the next girl, it's just that when you add the never ending, ear splitting noise I feel like I've wandered into a modern Salvador Dali painting. Emily loves it though, so to the mouse hole we go. If I were of a suspicious mindset, I'd think she was doing it just to bug me...hmmm.

Tomorrow is Another Day

2008-01-15T22:38:00.000-08:00

It's been such a busy week! We tried to re-deck the attic. We had used some of the decking to put over the windows during Katrina and we could never decide whether we wanted to put it back or not. I decided to Scarlett O'Hara it (you know, "think about it tomorrow") and put the decking back up there because we needed the room. Our garage (as I may have mentioned) is being taken over. And really, winter is the only time anyone is willing to go up there. It's probably a brisk 70 degrees or so (I'm kidding, but not by much). In the summer, it's unbearable up there. And every time we put something up there I'm reminded of how many times Joel has said, "We're never moving, because I'm never taking all this back down". There's plenty of interesting stuff up there, but I agreed to NOT organize, just deck. Otherwise, I'd have spent 3 hours color-coding the old baby clothes and it still would be a disaster.

Joel and I have learned to work well together. (It was a learned skill). He's the big picture guy, I want a separate bin for every little thing. His way gets things done - mine, not so much. I must admit though, that when I see something like this -

I get all happy inside!

Where my mom lives in Colorado they actually have a store called "The Container Store". I can't even begin to imagine such a wonderful, magical place. Children may dream of a shopping spree at Toys R Us, but as for me, I cannot imagine a better place than "The Container Store".

I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere about buying stuff to hold onto stuff that you use so infrequently that you need to buy special stuff to store your stuff in. But I'll think about that tomorrow. :)

I Should Have Been A Dentist

2008-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was just one of those days. Joel stayed home so we could take all 3 kids to the dentist (see previous post about not having a second car right now) and with gas prices being what they are, it was just easier for him to stay and take them with me than for me to take him all the way to work, come home, go to the dentist, come home, go back to his work and get him and come home again. Plus, we were waiting to hear from the mechanic, so he just took the morning off and took the kids. As we're about to leave we get a phone call from the mechanic - Old Faithful is fixable - and, according to him, worth fixing because of the type of car it is. He quoted us a price (gulp) and we decided we'll do it, but not right at this moment. We have other things coming up first and then we'll handle that. So, feeling both discouraged and encouraged (I was hoping for a repair cost of about $29.95 but expecting one of about $2995.00 and it was no where near either) we headed off to our dentist.

I was pretty excited about the dentist (weird, I know, but I really like this dentist) because he's a pediatric dentist, he's great with the kids and we finally have dental insurance (yeah!). I even called the dental insurance company to make sure that I had all my ducks in a row first. The only thing they told me that was a little strange was that I had to give the dentist's office my health insurance card as well. (Our health insurance has a very tiny dental benefit accepted by a few dentists - not the one I was going to - and so I guess the health insurance has to turn it down first before the dental insurance picks it up. All new information to me, by the way) This dentist is a participating provider with my new dental insurance, so I thought no more about it. When we got there, the receptionist was on the phone so she just asked our name and said "ok" and we sat to wait. When she finally was off the phone I asked if she needed to get my insurance card, she said "no - we already have all your information from when you called". I told her that the insurance told me to make sure that they had both cards and she said, "Oh, we just file that through the Air Force". I'm thinking, "OK, fine". When the kids were finished we went the little payment office and I handed the office manager both cards and she gets this real funny look on her face and starts asking me if the health insurance was my "primary". Now, I have no idea. There's not really any dental insurance for this office on this card, so I'm thinking "How can that be the primary anything when they aren't going to give you a dime?". In case you ever need to know - primary means the one that has to be filed first (again - newly acquired knowledge for me). So, I'm still thinking, "fine file that one first, whatever you want to call it. You get paid no matter what." I'm still not really sure what the problem is until she says the magic words, "So, you're a cash pay patient then." At which point I'm thinking "Nuh Uhh" (I know it's lame, but that's what was going through my head). She had to have seen the look on my face because then she tells me that I'm going to be even more upset because the total due that day was $902.00. Yup, you read that right. That was for cleanings and x-rays for all three kids, and one had sealants. (At that point I was wondering if the sealants were golden or something). I told here "But we have insurance - that you take - that covers all this." "We don't file secondary insurance" she replied. OK, that's where I started getting irritated. I think the whole thing is ridiculous beyond belief and makes no sense whatsoever. She called my dental insurance to explain it to me (I didn't need them to explain it - I needed her to explain what the big deal was with filing a claim with my actual dental insurance - which she never did). My dental insurance was really nice, but basically it all boils down to the dentist's office policy. I have to pay first, then I get reimbursed. Well, I was--um--firm in the office because we hadn't been told any of that. She went back and talked to the dentist and he said they'd file them both because we hadn't been told before hand. I'm still irritated ... and confused. I cannot for the life of me understand what the big deal is about filing the actual dental insurance. At least the kids had no cavities and they have nice, shiny teeth now. We did tease the kids on the way home about leaving one of them there for payment.

Now We Are ... Eating a Lukewarm Dinner?

2008-01-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

Well, we started back to school today. Emily was thrilled, Alex was resigned and Caleb looked for a way to blend chameleon-like into the walls. First day back is always a long day because not only do we have to go back to what we were doing when we left; we actually have to retrace back a little to make sure everyone is up to speed, including me! I love the reading part - Emily and I were reading poems from "Now We Are Six" by A.A. Milne ("But I'm not six yet" she tells me - I don't know if she thinks the book police are going to come and get her or what) and I was helping Alex with a report on Mississippi. I've only lived here just shy of a dozen years, it may be about time I learned a tad bit about it.

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So, tonight, I have dinner in the oven, Joel's called to tell me he was stopping on the way home to get gas. Schoolwork was done and put away. It looks like smooth sailing now. (Never, ever say that. Don't even think that.) Then he calls when there's something like 5 minutes left on my oven timer to tell me that Old Faithful has died. I really don't know why I was surprised. It's just that we really hoped to pass the 200,000 mile mark. (It's at something like 199,192 right now). It could be something minor (snort). Last time he had trouble, he just needed new spark plugs. This time, though, he said it went "snap" and stopped. I'm just thinking the "snap" or "bang" or "clunk" or whatever it was, probably isn't a great sign. (There's a whole other story about how we got the old girl from where she was to where she is now by using the van as a sort of automobile-plow, but perhaps the less said about that the better.) He'll call our old mechanic tomorrow and talk to him and -- we'll see. Of course the kids have a dentist appointment Wednesday morning and Emily has ballet Thursday afternoon, so scheduling will be fun, but it will all work out. And we'll be down to a one car family again, at least for a while. Plus, we're both really wishing he hadn't put the gas in first.

A "New" Thing.

2008-01-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

So, now's the time for "resolutions". Time to try something new. I was reading a conversation about Christmas a week or so ago - that Jesus probably wasn't born in December, but sometime in the spring and that Christmas replaced some pagan holiday. I pondered on that a bit, and it occurred to me how perfect that was. It's exactly what Jesus does. He changes the old to the new. He perfects. He did it when He changed water into wine (John 2); He did it when He changed a blind man to a seeing man (John 9); when He changed the demon possessed man into a sane man (Mark 5 - I personally like the idea of the guy sitting there "fully clothed and in his right mind" There certainly are days I need that kind of intervention!). Jesus changed Saul and Simon so much He changed even their names! Then of course, there's Lazarus. Bringing the dead to life is the ultimate "new". It just made me think about all the different things I do to try to improve myself and in truth the One who can make all things new is right here willing and able to work through me! So, my own personal New Year's Resolution - Get closer to the One who makes all things "new"!

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An update on the doorknob - Joel came home from work with a shiny, brand spankin new doorknob and we installed it. It's amazing how easy those things are to install when the lock isn't stuck shut. No power tools required! Of course it was still really cold, but at least if someone makes it through the obstacle course that is our garage, they will find a locked door.

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Here's more video of Emily doing one of her Christmas songs. It's a shame she's so camera shy.

Happy New Year! (Let us in! Let us in!; Let us out! Let us out!)

2008-01-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so now it's 2008. I didn't make it up until 12:00. (I think I'm still recovering from Christmas - yeah that's it). Alex didn't either. Of course, Alex goes to bed at the same time every night, no matter what. Neither rain, nor sleet nor dark nor dark of night can keep Alex awake at bedtime. So it was Joel, Emily and Caleb -who was at a Youth thing at church until 1:00. I can't even stay awake longer than my kids. When I start falling asleep earlier than Alex, I'm really going to start feeling old!

We went and saw Enchanted (cute movie). By the way, it gets more and more difficult to see a family movie when the kids ages range from 5 to 14. One side wanted Water Horse the other would have been more than happy to see National Treasure Book of Secrets. We checked out pluggedinonline.com and then compromised.

Joel watched Illinois get pummeled by USC in the Rose Bowl while I took a nap, and then Emily just had to have a calendar for the New Year (Don't ask me why - I do not know. She certainly didn't get that particular interest from me. I don't usually know what day of the week it is even with a calendar). So, we went to Wal-Mart (sigh). We had a little bit of trouble getting out of the front door. We couldn't unlock the front door. It was very cold (ok, well cold for us - like 42 at that point). S o, we fiddled with it for a bit and then we figured we'd pick up some WD-40 and oil the lock when we got home and of course - voila - it would work like a charm. So we all tromped out the back door, made the pilgrimage to Wal-Mart and back bring the calendar and the WD-40. We sprayed it in the lock and ... nothing happened.

We spent the next hour and a half dis-assembling the doorknob - because we decided we'd just trade the front for the garage door (same key). Not nearly as easy as it looked. The whole thing ended up involving power tools. We had to cut the interior workings out of the front door and replace it with the garage door knob. By this time the temperature had dropped to 36 (and I don't care where you're from - that's cold!) and we've got the front door and the garage door open. Joel keeps saying "Any other night of the year, this wouldn't be so bad". So now we have a front door that's normal, but we had to block the doorknob hole in the garage (I wasn't worried - anyone who tried to get into the house through the garage would break a leg just trying to get to the door) and Joel has to pick up a new doorknob after work to replace the one we pilfered from the garage.

What a way to begin the New Year!

Emily's Rules of Etiquette

2007-12-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

We all went to Wal-Mart after church today (because we're gluttons for punishment, that's why) and it was every bit as busy as it usually is. We ran into some friends that we hadn't talked to in a while and heard their hurricane story. They lived far enough from the beach that it never occurred to me that they would have a lot of damage. But it was the trees that got them. It's still amazes me how many people had such horrible damage.

Anyway we're finally leaving Wal-Mart and Caleb had been watching Emily while we checked out because there were so many people there. I guess she was not on her best behavior. On the way to the car Alex and I were ahead of Caleb, Joel and Emily and the three of them were having a conversation. I didn't hear it, but when it ended Joel kind of smothered a laugh. Caleb caught up to me and told me the story. Emily had been smacking Caleb in the store. I guess he told her to knock it off, but she didn't, so when we got outside he told Joel. It seems the conversation between the three of them went something like this -

Joel - Emily! That's not nice. What would you say if Caleb hit you?
Emily - Don't hit girls! That's the rule.
Caleb - What about 'Don't hit boys'?
Emily - I don't know that rule.

I guess there was a small gap in her education that needed to be plugged.

The Calm After the Storm

2007-12-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

It's finally quiet here. It's Saturday morning and the only children at my house are mine. The Christmas tree is still up, where it will stay until New Year's Day. Then I, with a faint sense of sadness and a whole lot of "don't just shove that in there", will have the kids help me put the decorations away until next year. It really was a wonderful Christmas this year. God blessed us in ways I can't even begin to describe and years from now, when all the the toys are forgotten or handed down, I'll never forget God's tender mercies to us this year during Christmas and the love He showed us through others. I really need to remember that when I'm hunting under Emily's bed for some tiny little pet or hopping on one foot after stepping on a Transformer.

The story behind the song Emily is singing is that she sang a group of three songs with the young children at church for Christmas. It was a called Cowboy Christmas (which should explain the hat and the movements - we did not move to a ranch). Someone else at church shot the video for the dvd and didn't keep it on Emily the entire time (I know, what was he thinking) and we forgot our video camera (I blame Joel - I know he was busy editing a TV special for the church, but priorities, man, priorities!) so we had Emily re-create the songs in front of the tree. If you listen closely you'll hear that, evidently she believes that good tidings are reserved for "you and your kid". The voice you hear congratulating her after is Caleb. Poor child, she just isn't praised enough.

Now that we've figured out this blog thing - many thanks to Joel's brilliant niece Becca - we'll post more. We'll add the rest of the songs from Emily's mini concert (there are actually a couple of really sweet ones about Jesus), some of Alex's parts in the Christmas play - he was "Alfred Brown" a play on Alton Brown on the FoodNetwork, and Caleb's portrayal of David during the hay ride at the Fall Block Party at church. I also figured out how to add the latest photo album to the side as a slide show, so I will try to keep that up-dated. And so we will be dragged, kicking and screaming, into the digital age. If we get confused, we'll ask the kids.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2007-12-28T11:24:00.000-08:00