Lucas and I were driving in the car today and as usual we were playing the "Lucas asks a million questions and mom tries not to drive off the road answering" game. One of the things we talked about was how many houses have I lived in.
Tonights' road worthy pondering was...."Mom. When your old can I keep your house?" Now I may be getting up there in my years but I do know that he was in deep contemplation, worry mode. He tends to still have that survivalist, plan ahead for contingencies thought process. But he had a very well thought out process as to how we would eventually be old and someone would need to take care of the house....I'm just not sure if he's planning on taking care of his parents or if we will be evicted. He may have to take the good with the bad, house=old folks. I think we will revisit this down the road.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Face Plant
Have you ever been at work and received a call from your daughter in charge of the home front and the conversation begins like this? "Mom. He's okay. His face is okay. He had a wreck. He's okay. Is Bactine okay to put on a face?"
Yep. That was my call this a.m. at work from Sydney. When my heart restarted I was able to find out that he'd gone over the handle bars of his bike into the gravel. The picture shows some of the aftermath. I'm not sure who was more upset, Sydney or Eli. Eli was reassuring her he was alright, she was assuring him it would be okay and then they were both trying to reassure me that his face would look better before the first day of school. Right now he looks like a prize fighter. No, helmets do not help for a full frontal assault on the face.
Once I got a "face to face" with him, he patted my arm and said, "I'm okay. I only cry a little, Sydney fix me but Alison (sister of the RN variety) needs to see me....she know how to fix it." I think he thinks she possesses mystical powers of healing....she probably told him that.
I asked Eli how he managed to only get hurt on his face. His hands, arms, elbows, knees all checked out fine. He proudly explained to his obviously crash knowledge, deficient mother that, "I hang on to handles, I go over the top (handle bars), I hang on, you no let go mom!" Obviously, he was so disgusted with my lack of crash knowledge, he promptly went outside and tried to break up a fight between our dog and a stray cat and got bit. I really mean it people. I'm wrapping him in bubble wrap until school starts next week. I guess he's truly becoming a farm kid with all the milestones, good and bad, that comes with it.
For all of you out there that laughed hysterically when we told you we would be adding boys to our family...saying that I was never going to be able to "handle" the rough, tumble and injuries....I say to you, "I haven't passed out or vomited yet but do at times wonder what is it with the male species?"
Yep. That was my call this a.m. at work from Sydney. When my heart restarted I was able to find out that he'd gone over the handle bars of his bike into the gravel. The picture shows some of the aftermath. I'm not sure who was more upset, Sydney or Eli. Eli was reassuring her he was alright, she was assuring him it would be okay and then they were both trying to reassure me that his face would look better before the first day of school. Right now he looks like a prize fighter. No, helmets do not help for a full frontal assault on the face.
Once I got a "face to face" with him, he patted my arm and said, "I'm okay. I only cry a little, Sydney fix me but Alison (sister of the RN variety) needs to see me....she know how to fix it." I think he thinks she possesses mystical powers of healing....she probably told him that.
I asked Eli how he managed to only get hurt on his face. His hands, arms, elbows, knees all checked out fine. He proudly explained to his obviously crash knowledge, deficient mother that, "I hang on to handles, I go over the top (handle bars), I hang on, you no let go mom!" Obviously, he was so disgusted with my lack of crash knowledge, he promptly went outside and tried to break up a fight between our dog and a stray cat and got bit. I really mean it people. I'm wrapping him in bubble wrap until school starts next week. I guess he's truly becoming a farm kid with all the milestones, good and bad, that comes with it.
For all of you out there that laughed hysterically when we told you we would be adding boys to our family...saying that I was never going to be able to "handle" the rough, tumble and injuries....I say to you, "I haven't passed out or vomited yet but do at times wonder what is it with the male species?"
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Hard Adjustments
It's never easy when one of your kids leave home. While as a parent you are really proud to have your child succeeding in their goals and moving into adulthood, on the other hand you secretly wish they'd stay little forever....well at least the "little" part that was easy...you wish to by pass all the "unpleasant" parts of growing up.
We moved Rachel this week-end into her own apartment off campus. Lucas and Eli helped move her in and participated in unpacking by staying on the couch with their video games. Probably the safest and smartest move for little brothers at a stressful time.
We were all pretty composed until we started the 3 hour trip home. Then the boys started worrying about Rachel. How does she get food? How does she know when to go to bed? How does she know when to get up? How does she know how to get home? When will she be home? Is she ever going to live with us again? Ok. I'm trying to drive a pick up, pulling a trailer and answer questions while not running off the road or turning into a blubbering mess on my own.
Eli is not handling the adjustment to all the changes well. He doesn't trust easily or make attachments without a lot of trust...Rachel (even though he pesters and annoys her as much as he can) is one of his "special" ones. Given a chance I'm pretty sure he'd live in her closet to make sure she's okay in her new place. It may be good to grow up but it sure can stink at times.
We moved Rachel this week-end into her own apartment off campus. Lucas and Eli helped move her in and participated in unpacking by staying on the couch with their video games. Probably the safest and smartest move for little brothers at a stressful time.
We were all pretty composed until we started the 3 hour trip home. Then the boys started worrying about Rachel. How does she get food? How does she know when to go to bed? How does she know when to get up? How does she know how to get home? When will she be home? Is she ever going to live with us again? Ok. I'm trying to drive a pick up, pulling a trailer and answer questions while not running off the road or turning into a blubbering mess on my own.
Eli is not handling the adjustment to all the changes well. He doesn't trust easily or make attachments without a lot of trust...Rachel (even though he pesters and annoys her as much as he can) is one of his "special" ones. Given a chance I'm pretty sure he'd live in her closet to make sure she's okay in her new place. It may be good to grow up but it sure can stink at times.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Super Groper?
Well I've had my morning laugh before heading in to work. Rachel and the boys were watching Sesame Street this a.m. while I was working in the kitchen. I hear them talking but not really tuned in until I hear Eli holler, "SUPER GROPER!".....repeatedly.
Rachel was trying so hard to control laughing and explain that his name was Grover not Groper. Parents beware. You can not teach English pronunciation to your ELL child by using Grover as a model.....not unless you want to spend a whole lot of time explaining to people :)
Rachel was trying so hard to control laughing and explain that his name was Grover not Groper. Parents beware. You can not teach English pronunciation to your ELL child by using Grover as a model.....not unless you want to spend a whole lot of time explaining to people :)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Long Day?
Today marks day 1 of 2 very long days at work for me. Registration at an elementary school. For those parents who dread going in to school to fill out that paperwork....the secretaries dread it too.
Parents fill out a lot of forms, hey I'm a parent, I know. I'm also the secretary. I not only handle those disgruntled parents' forms, I also handle 400 other sets of parent forms. It's a long process. It's also long for school secretary families who are sitting home, fixing supper and doing nightly routines.
Tonight I came in just as the boys were headed for bed. They wanted to know, "are you home?" Hmmm I think I live here. "You going to work long time tomorrow too?" Yep, one more day. Then they summarily let me know that they are not in favor of this and that I should stop.....I don't think the school district or our banker would appreciate that......1 more day! Seriously grateful for a job but seriously grateful it's just one more day.
Parents fill out a lot of forms, hey I'm a parent, I know. I'm also the secretary. I not only handle those disgruntled parents' forms, I also handle 400 other sets of parent forms. It's a long process. It's also long for school secretary families who are sitting home, fixing supper and doing nightly routines.
Tonight I came in just as the boys were headed for bed. They wanted to know, "are you home?" Hmmm I think I live here. "You going to work long time tomorrow too?" Yep, one more day. Then they summarily let me know that they are not in favor of this and that I should stop.....I don't think the school district or our banker would appreciate that......1 more day! Seriously grateful for a job but seriously grateful it's just one more day.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Back to Work I Go
Well this a.m. I am once again off to school. We open registrations up on Tuesday and Wednesday so it will be it's usual hectic pace today.
Rachel will be "watching" the boys today...first day back is usually a long one. As they were all up late last night celebrating Sydney's 18th Birthday...Happy Birthday Syd!......I'm hoping everyone stays asleep longer this morning and gives Rachel a chance to get her feet under her.
It's funny. The longer she's in college, the more of the elementary/special ed teacher I see emerging. She already has "the voice" and it's kind of like listening to a kid when their voice changes. She moves from sister voice to teacher voice in the same sentence. Either way it usually works with the boys....let's hope it keeps working!
Rachel will be "watching" the boys today...first day back is usually a long one. As they were all up late last night celebrating Sydney's 18th Birthday...Happy Birthday Syd!......I'm hoping everyone stays asleep longer this morning and gives Rachel a chance to get her feet under her.
It's funny. The longer she's in college, the more of the elementary/special ed teacher I see emerging. She already has "the voice" and it's kind of like listening to a kid when their voice changes. She moves from sister voice to teacher voice in the same sentence. Either way it usually works with the boys....let's hope it keeps working!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Furniture Shopping with Males
What on Earth is the matter with me? Why did I ever think it was ok to take 3 males shopping for new furniture? I'm chocking it up to an ever shrinking time frame and the insanity of one going into her Senior year of high school, one moving into her first apartment, 2 boys bored and impatiently waiting for school to start, my school year starting on Monday and whew!
Rachel is moving into her Junior year of college and her first apartment. Our family room is slowly piling up with her things that are going with her. She's also going to be using our living room furniture thus us needing to replace what is here. Somewhere this summer I lost 2 weeks where I'd planned to find replacements. Now the furniture is going out the door on Saturday and we don't have anything to replace it.
I love to furniture shop...when I can find things that I like.....when I have time to look.....when I'm not dragging 10 and 11 year olds off the displays, making sure they don't touch anything glass and keeping track of Mike who seemed to be falling further and further behind. So what's a woman to do? Leave the store, feed the men and decide to return solo to finish the shopping at a later date...let's see how many days til Saturday?
Rachel is moving into her Junior year of college and her first apartment. Our family room is slowly piling up with her things that are going with her. She's also going to be using our living room furniture thus us needing to replace what is here. Somewhere this summer I lost 2 weeks where I'd planned to find replacements. Now the furniture is going out the door on Saturday and we don't have anything to replace it.
I love to furniture shop...when I can find things that I like.....when I have time to look.....when I'm not dragging 10 and 11 year olds off the displays, making sure they don't touch anything glass and keeping track of Mike who seemed to be falling further and further behind. So what's a woman to do? Leave the store, feed the men and decide to return solo to finish the shopping at a later date...let's see how many days til Saturday?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Sunflower Ranch
We are in the full out, house torn apart, pre opening of school cleaning mode. At lunch today we didn't even have chairs available to sit on as we ate tacos so we did a picnic on the floor....100 plus degrees outside...no way we were eating out there!
Lucas was on his third taco when he announces that he likes the Sunflower Ranch....huh? Ok, maybe it was the cleaning fumes or the exhaustion of keeping 4 kids cleaning in 3 separate areas but I couldn't figure it out. He gets really frustrated when he has to stop to try to make us understand. His English is pretty darn good but sometimes he doesn't refer to things by the correct name.
After trying to explain to Rachel, Sydney, Eli and myself he disgustedly puts his taco down, gets up goes over to the counter and grabs the Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing and points out, "See, I like the Sunflower Ranch sauce!" I said, "Buddy. That's called Hidden Valley Ranch." He looked at the label, sounded out the words and said, "Huh. Whatever. I like it."
Lucas was on his third taco when he announces that he likes the Sunflower Ranch....huh? Ok, maybe it was the cleaning fumes or the exhaustion of keeping 4 kids cleaning in 3 separate areas but I couldn't figure it out. He gets really frustrated when he has to stop to try to make us understand. His English is pretty darn good but sometimes he doesn't refer to things by the correct name.
After trying to explain to Rachel, Sydney, Eli and myself he disgustedly puts his taco down, gets up goes over to the counter and grabs the Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing and points out, "See, I like the Sunflower Ranch sauce!" I said, "Buddy. That's called Hidden Valley Ranch." He looked at the label, sounded out the words and said, "Huh. Whatever. I like it."
Friday, July 15, 2011
On Safari
We took a trip back to Sylvan Lake today. The boys went swimming but decided that swimming in a heated pool was better than a mountain lake...they do like some warm water. Then we went on the great buffalo hunt with no success, we did however find very friendly buros. Eli was satisfied with this discovery and demanded to be returned to the campground to play with his new $1.95 marshmellow gun. Headed back towards Iowa in a.m. bet the back seat riders are asleep before we clear the Black Hills...ahhhh the quiet. Mike says if we'd just let the boys shoot the buros in the mouth with the marshmallow guns they'd have both been satisfied. I don't think I should leave those 3 alone anymore.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Trying to nap on vacation
I tried to take a snooze while the tribe took a bike ride....yep the campground decided to mow around our trailer...no nap and the tribe returned early it made me happy...
No Internet
Our newest campsite doesn't have Internet so our posts are being dictated to Rachel at home to post.
We made it to the Black Hills of South Dakota. It only took us about an hour and a half from our last camp ground to the newest one... Lucas and Eli have talked themselves into enduring another seven hour ride so they were pleasantly surprised!
They haven't decided if this is an okay place or not. Going up is not the favorite thing to do especially as we are climbing into the Black Hills. And are realizing that there are clouds covering the tops of hills so they couldn't see. Eli thought we should stop completely as we drove into the clouds above them.
I made (tried to make) a joke on the way up that we may need them to get out and push the Yukon because it might not pull the camper up the hills. Its too bad no one had a camera ready because as I looked in the rear view mirror I couldn't help but notice the shocked and horrified look on Lucas's face! He said, "Mom. I cannot do that. I will get runned over and smashed! It would roll backwards and be bad." I then asked if he could get out and help slow us down on the downgrade.... "Mom! That would be worse! I get run over! No way!" Smart kid!
We hung out close to the campground most of the day but took a drive up Needle's Highway in the evening. The boys were sure we would drive off the edge and were amazed at the narrow tunnels. I have explained, "Why are the Bad Lands bad?" "Why are there colors in the ground?" "Why are the Black Hills black?" "Why do I have to listen to my sister?" "Why is Mount Rushmore not called South Dakota?" "Why are the roads so twisty?" "Why can't I pester my sister?" "Why is Crazy Horse crazy?" ...... you get the idea.
Lucas's quote for the day was, "Wow! The Yukon say 'I like to shake my booty!" ...... Translation: The road was a little rough.
Next amazing statement came when we were trying to show the boys Birch trees. As soon as I said the word "birch" I knew we were in trouble and waited for the "bad" words to start... Eli said, "That sound like bush!" ... whew!
The pictures are of Sylvan Lake and the view from our campsite.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
What Got Into Them?
Tuesday was the day for exploring and hiking the Badlands of South Dakota. I hiked my share but when the quartet of climbers you see below decided that they would climb the "difficult designated" trail, my bad knee and I opted to stay below and take pictures and call 911 if necessary. They all were ready for lunch and water by the time they got back to the bottom.
The photo above is interesting, thought I'd take a shot of it while they climbed...notice how tall that peak is?
Look closely. Do you see two little darker specks appear at the top?
Yep...it's them....no fear and no judgement on anyone's part.
The intrepid climbers are now ready for the Himalayans or at least a bottle of water since it looks like Lucas isn't sharing the one he has.
The photo above is interesting, thought I'd take a shot of it while they climbed...notice how tall that peak is? Look closely. Do you see two little darker specks appear at the top? Yep...it's them....no fear and no judgement on anyone's part. The intrepid climbers are now ready for the Himalayans or at least a bottle of water since it looks like Lucas isn't sharing the one he has. Mike demands that I say it is not as bad as it looks....yep stick to that story and I'll stick to my photographic proof.
The photo below is Sydney at the top confessing to the camera that it was a bad idea and how very sorry she was for following the misguided and ultimately how smart her mother was to stay below....she also said...."I'm too short to get back down."
Monday, July 11, 2011
A Few More Photos
No children were harmed in the exploration of the Badlands.....we just finally explained to Lucas and Eli that rattlesnakes were like cobras....they're not but it got our point across.
Eli is always 50 feet ahead and walks like he's contemplating the universe....works out well until he gets too close to a cliff....I'd be rich if I had a quarter for everytime I said, "Eli, not so close, get back here!2 Boys Take on South Dakota and Their Family
Mike, Sydney and myself have survived our first day as chaperons for Lucas and Eli's "Great South Dakota Adventure." They have tolerated us as a necessary encumbrance in order to arrive at their destination. Please keep in mind their own point of reference for the Badlands and Black Hills are the tourism ads on tv.
My first "mom" observation of the trip: Billboards are dangerous. Forget your standard ad placements for restaurants, the interstate across South Dakota is a mecca for kids learning to read English...they read ALL of them including those about reptiles, caves, snakes, cowboys, Mt. Rushmore, mazes.....it goes on forever. Eli spots one billboard that was definitely an oldy (I think I remember it from my trips here as a kid) it was a classic Indians chasing a cowboy and stagecoach....not on the side of today's politically correct line. Eli asked if Indians killed white people....so my wanting to give him both sides, I attempted to explain that yes and white people killed Indians a long time ago. He then asked, "did they kill brown people?" Ok. Then I had to explain that there weren't Filipinos in old west America....yep good luck there. Then to top this conversation off..."Mom. Are there Indians here now?" I must have had some sort of mental issue cause I said, "Yes there is (which there are and no I can't explain the correct terminology to him.) and there are two Filipinos. He hit the end of his seat belt so hard screaming, "WHERE?" I'm surprised he's not bruised. And so that was my revenge for having to explain 400 miles of billboards.
Once we entered the Badlands, where our campground is, the road twists and winds through the first part of the park, throw in a couple sharp turns and a vertical hillside and we hear Lucas chime in from the rear of the Yukon....."Mom! We're going to fall down!" We made it to the bottom in one piece and he didn't ask to get out and walk.
Sydney, having traveled to Manila and back when we brought the boys home, is quite a trouper when it comes to long distance traveling with them. Her only complaint today was after having endured about 120 miles of less than pristine road conditions, announced from her back seat, "I think I'm suffering from Shaken Pickle Syndrome!" She too arrive at the campsite in one piece.
The boys have played on the playground, checked out the pool, played basketball, ridden their bikes, played a board game and are now eating ice cream....yep, we'll never return to normal when we get back. We actually found time to take a hike up into the Badlands this afternoon. Mike and I are ready to fall into bed but the kids are going hard...suppose the ice cream was a mistake?
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Ready To Roll?
We head out in the morning at 4:00 a.m. for the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. Our house/pet sitters are here and are really wishing we'd clear out sooner rather than later. It's been a very loud and messy day packing the camper.
Did I mention that Pickles really aren't outdoors people. We enjoy a good hotel and restaurants but we are broadening our horizons and our pocket books by introducing/forcing ourselves to commune with nature. We've taken a lot of short 2 and 3 day camping trips and one 5 day camping trip about 12 years ago....has it really been that long? I'll have to double check with Pam and Gene to make sure.
While the homestead is being tended, we will try to keep everyone up to date on our "fun" as we go along. Lucas and Eli are very excited about the "mountain with the faces" and still do not believe me when I tell them that there is no inside and no treasure like in the movie National Treasure 2. We're looking forward to watching one of the local Boy Scout troops play taps at the flag lowering ceremony on Thursday night at Mt. Rushmore. Hopefully the weather cooperates...forecasts aren't looking good. Wish us luck!
Did I mention that Pickles really aren't outdoors people. We enjoy a good hotel and restaurants but we are broadening our horizons and our pocket books by introducing/forcing ourselves to commune with nature. We've taken a lot of short 2 and 3 day camping trips and one 5 day camping trip about 12 years ago....has it really been that long? I'll have to double check with Pam and Gene to make sure.
While the homestead is being tended, we will try to keep everyone up to date on our "fun" as we go along. Lucas and Eli are very excited about the "mountain with the faces" and still do not believe me when I tell them that there is no inside and no treasure like in the movie National Treasure 2. We're looking forward to watching one of the local Boy Scout troops play taps at the flag lowering ceremony on Thursday night at Mt. Rushmore. Hopefully the weather cooperates...forecasts aren't looking good. Wish us luck!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Transformers on the Road
Mike asked that I put in a short story about a recent road trip with Eli. They were driving down one of our local country roads when they came upon a familiar sight in rural Iowa farm country. Below is a picture of what Eli was positive was a Transformer....not a good Transformer but a Descepticon (I have no clue how to spell that and spell check doesn't recognize it...go ask the nearest person under 16 and they will explain).
Mike once again tried to explain that movies aren't real, no Iowa has not and will most likey not be invaded by either Transformers or Descepticons much to Eli's great disappointment.
Mike once again tried to explain that movies aren't real, no Iowa has not and will most likey not be invaded by either Transformers or Descepticons much to Eli's great disappointment.Friday, July 8, 2011
No Filter
Little boys and big boys for that matter, do not possess a verbal filter.....or at least not this morning when my little "cherub" of a youngest son grabs my hand and says, "Oooh mom! What happened! You have grandma hands."
Well. Where do I go to buy a mouth filter that goes around his foot which is inserted in his mouth? I have a feeling I'll be needing a steady supply for awhile or at least until I've reached a point where I am so old I am deaf and unable to hear his verbal bashing. According to Eli that will probably be next week. Good thing the kid is so dang cute.
Well. Where do I go to buy a mouth filter that goes around his foot which is inserted in his mouth? I have a feeling I'll be needing a steady supply for awhile or at least until I've reached a point where I am so old I am deaf and unable to hear his verbal bashing. According to Eli that will probably be next week. Good thing the kid is so dang cute.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Heart Attack Waiting To Happen
We are starting baseball tournaments this week.....yeah! Not! I absolutely am not a calm sports parent. It is excruciating to watch your kids put it all out there and listen to some of the less than nice comments from spectators.
Don't get me wrong, there are more positive supporters by far but those one or two obnoxious "fans" make it difficult for all the parents and the players when their comments reach the field.
Lucas is playing third base and pitching. Eli plays right field. Wednesday's game ended up as close as you can get and still win. 9 to 10. We had a rough final inning, going from 2 to 10 to the final score. I was pretty sure that my heart was going to explode at the end when Lucas was moved from 3rd to pitcher for the final out. Again, if you didn't catch it....I'm not so good at watching my kid in a difficult situation. He does great, they both do great, now if they could just have training camp for over anxious moms and a sound proof dugout for the obnoxious fans my blood pressure would be much lower thus avoiding that impending heart attack.
Don't get me wrong, there are more positive supporters by far but those one or two obnoxious "fans" make it difficult for all the parents and the players when their comments reach the field.
Lucas is playing third base and pitching. Eli plays right field. Wednesday's game ended up as close as you can get and still win. 9 to 10. We had a rough final inning, going from 2 to 10 to the final score. I was pretty sure that my heart was going to explode at the end when Lucas was moved from 3rd to pitcher for the final out. Again, if you didn't catch it....I'm not so good at watching my kid in a difficult situation. He does great, they both do great, now if they could just have training camp for over anxious moms and a sound proof dugout for the obnoxious fans my blood pressure would be much lower thus avoiding that impending heart attack.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Easter Bunny Arrives on a Go Cart
I'm getting a little slow on posting slide shows....it's a lot easier to write. This slide show was from Easter morning when the boys discovered that they Easter Bunny hadn't forgotten to fill their Easter baskets...the go cart wouldn't fit.
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Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Break It Up!
With the holiday and days off work for one or more of us in the Pickle house, we are starting to wear on each others' nerves.
You know that affliction where one person breathes and it makes three other people instantly irritated? Yep. We have arrived at that post holiday event. If I had a quarter for every time I told the boys to go play outside or the girls to stop picking on their brothers or the boys to stop pestering their sisters or to just stop, I would have a very nice vacation paid for....of course it would be a solo vacation in a blisfully quiet environment - no not the funny farm!
Don't get me wrong, I don't wish any one of these preciously obnoxious family members to leave, I just want 30 minutes without a dispute.....stop laughing a mom can dream, some days it's all we have.
You know that affliction where one person breathes and it makes three other people instantly irritated? Yep. We have arrived at that post holiday event. If I had a quarter for every time I told the boys to go play outside or the girls to stop picking on their brothers or the boys to stop pestering their sisters or to just stop, I would have a very nice vacation paid for....of course it would be a solo vacation in a blisfully quiet environment - no not the funny farm!
Don't get me wrong, I don't wish any one of these preciously obnoxious family members to leave, I just want 30 minutes without a dispute.....stop laughing a mom can dream, some days it's all we have.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Happy Independence Day!
We've been celebrating the Fourth of July for three days.....the boys think this is the American holiday that doesn't end. Eli asked me tonight what was next, what are we doing tomorrow....more fireworks? more parade? more party.
I had to say, "Sorry buddy. Tomorrow is July 5th, it's over." He wasn't a fan of that news. I think all the kids (big and little) had a great 4th of July, at least by the degree of tiredness it was a raving success. Hope everyone out there had a good one too!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Bed Check
We have probably some of the most mismatched dogs a family can have. Faye, is a German/Shepard/Huskymix who we chose at the pound. If you know her you also know she's all bluff. She loves to put on the ferocious watch dog for the Fed Ex/UPS guys and gals but she also knows they carry treats for her. She's not dumb.
Our other dog, Walley, is a basset hound, who decided he liked to visit his neighbors and chose to frequent our place so much his owner said, "Keep him, he's there more than home." Walley has the energy level of a moth just before a hard freeze. Movement is not an activity he chooses to participate in. He does, however, believe he weighs 5 pounds instead of 50 and that he is Sydney's lap dog.
These past few days my sister has been staying with us and Eli has let her use his bed for the duration. Hey. This is a huge step for him. His bed is a big deal. He's on the couch, where he's been begging to sleep for a couple weeks. He thinks he's hot stuff.
How do our pets and the musical beds tie together? With the heat index in the 90's at night, the last place a husky mix wants to be is outside. We let her in to sleep. When Faye is inside at night she does what we call "her rounds". Everyone has to be in their bed and she will not stop pacing until everyone is home and down for the count. If the girls are out, she comes and let's us know that we too should be pacing.
The first night she came in and found Eli sleeping on the couch, she tried to make it her mission to wake him up and escort him to bed. I'm not sure what would have happened if she'd found my sister asleep in Eli's bed first. Hopefully she doesn't make midnight rounds.
Our other dog, Walley, is a basset hound, who decided he liked to visit his neighbors and chose to frequent our place so much his owner said, "Keep him, he's there more than home." Walley has the energy level of a moth just before a hard freeze. Movement is not an activity he chooses to participate in. He does, however, believe he weighs 5 pounds instead of 50 and that he is Sydney's lap dog.
These past few days my sister has been staying with us and Eli has let her use his bed for the duration. Hey. This is a huge step for him. His bed is a big deal. He's on the couch, where he's been begging to sleep for a couple weeks. He thinks he's hot stuff.
How do our pets and the musical beds tie together? With the heat index in the 90's at night, the last place a husky mix wants to be is outside. We let her in to sleep. When Faye is inside at night she does what we call "her rounds". Everyone has to be in their bed and she will not stop pacing until everyone is home and down for the count. If the girls are out, she comes and let's us know that we too should be pacing.
The first night she came in and found Eli sleeping on the couch, she tried to make it her mission to wake him up and escort him to bed. I'm not sure what would have happened if she'd found my sister asleep in Eli's bed first. Hopefully she doesn't make midnight rounds.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Big Plip Plops!
Sydney and I went clothes shopping for senior picture outfits on Friday. Let me tell the parents out there that if they've done this particular shopping trip you would so very much appreciate Sydney's shopping.....one store....one hour.....lunch.....shoe store in and out in 20 minutes we were done!On to the fashion show for Mike, Rachel and the boys....it's mandatory....I shopped, they can sit and adequately ooh and ahh over this successful endeavor and like it. Mike had prepared the boys ahead of time, they immediately sat down and sat quietly (I wonder what the bribe or creative impression he left with them was in order to achieve this?)
Sydney came out with one outfit and the first thing Eli can say..."Sydney those sure are big plip plops. Can I try?" Her answer...."No, not even if you learn to say flip flops...and they aren't plip plops." So much for subjecting brothers to a style show.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Million Dollar Idea?
I'm not sure if this is really a million dollar idea but to a mother of two nail biting sons, I think I'd pay $20.00 for some type of finger nail "caps" so that these two little wood peckers can't reach their nails until they have a chance to grow and heal.
It appears to be nervous/bored/intense situations that bring them to chew away. It's driving me insane (there are truly levels to insanity ~ I've visited several and will probably continue my trek).
I just think that some little rubber sleeves for fingertips, like secretaries use to sort paper, could accomplish a lot towards healing them up. They absolutely, from day one, can not stand to have any type of finger/toe nail showing. Ouch!
Lucas informs us that if they didn't have fingernails in the Philippines that the dirt would not get in them and then they wouldn't have to scrub with the "brush". Well we don't have the "brush" here but that still hasn't convinced them to stop biting! Urgggh!
It appears to be nervous/bored/intense situations that bring them to chew away. It's driving me insane (there are truly levels to insanity ~ I've visited several and will probably continue my trek).
I just think that some little rubber sleeves for fingertips, like secretaries use to sort paper, could accomplish a lot towards healing them up. They absolutely, from day one, can not stand to have any type of finger/toe nail showing. Ouch!
Lucas informs us that if they didn't have fingernails in the Philippines that the dirt would not get in them and then they wouldn't have to scrub with the "brush". Well we don't have the "brush" here but that still hasn't convinced them to stop biting! Urgggh!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Field of Medicine
One of the areas where we've been making slow if not backwards strides at times with the boys is with needing to take medicine.
Their orphanage did not have access to a lot of things one of those being medicines that most of us take for granted. Medicines they did have were used sparingly and some out there may argue that we'd all do better if we didn't rely on over the counter meds as we do....debateable for sure.
We talk and talk to the boys about the need for them to let us know when they aren't feeling well. I hate walking in to tuck them in at night to find Lucas crying cause he has a nasty headache or the knot on his shin from baseball has doubled in size since I'd looked at it earlier. They cover any illness or injury very well. What we've learned over time from Lucas is that when you were sick in the orphanage the sick one would have to go to the infirmary which was not a good place and they were split up, they never knew for how long. It must have scared them to death because we have to play 400 questions to figure out the problem (that's assuming we catch that they aren't feeling well.)
We are making progress, Lucas now knows that a headache won't mean he suffers in silence, Tylenol is his friend and Aleve helps with muscle pain. He's not a frequent requester by any means but he no longer suffers in silence. Band aids are another matter, I'm investing in stock.
Eli....not so much progress.....the quickest way to know he doesn't feel good; he either ends up sitting as close to you as possible or has a pinched looking face. That is until the middle of supper the other night. He looked up from his plate...that by itself should have warned me.....to announce, "Mom. I need that medicine. My arm no good from baseball. I cannot move it right. I need it to feel better." We did try some ice and a warm shower which alleviated the need for a pill but hey it's progress in the field of medicine.
Their orphanage did not have access to a lot of things one of those being medicines that most of us take for granted. Medicines they did have were used sparingly and some out there may argue that we'd all do better if we didn't rely on over the counter meds as we do....debateable for sure.
We talk and talk to the boys about the need for them to let us know when they aren't feeling well. I hate walking in to tuck them in at night to find Lucas crying cause he has a nasty headache or the knot on his shin from baseball has doubled in size since I'd looked at it earlier. They cover any illness or injury very well. What we've learned over time from Lucas is that when you were sick in the orphanage the sick one would have to go to the infirmary which was not a good place and they were split up, they never knew for how long. It must have scared them to death because we have to play 400 questions to figure out the problem (that's assuming we catch that they aren't feeling well.)
We are making progress, Lucas now knows that a headache won't mean he suffers in silence, Tylenol is his friend and Aleve helps with muscle pain. He's not a frequent requester by any means but he no longer suffers in silence. Band aids are another matter, I'm investing in stock.
Eli....not so much progress.....the quickest way to know he doesn't feel good; he either ends up sitting as close to you as possible or has a pinched looking face. That is until the middle of supper the other night. He looked up from his plate...that by itself should have warned me.....to announce, "Mom. I need that medicine. My arm no good from baseball. I cannot move it right. I need it to feel better." We did try some ice and a warm shower which alleviated the need for a pill but hey it's progress in the field of medicine.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Spider Man Bites
We were outside trying to mow the yard before the next rain storm hits...seems like it's a daily occurrence lately. I'm mowing, Rachel is mowing, Sydney is fixing us lunch and Lucas and Eli are suppose to be picking up sticks and limbs from last nights storm.
What the boys were actually doing was picking up a couple sticks and then playing, picking up a few more and riding bikes, picking up some more and then playing in the mud. Little do they understand that even though I am on a riding mower I do know what they are and aren't doing. So for every round of the yard I made I'd have to scream over two mowers' noise and tell them to stay on task.....it's a whole lot of yelling going on in the Pickle yard.....pretty sure the roofers repairing our neighbors roof 1/4 mile away wondered what kind of people make so much noise.
So in one of my many stops for instructions or maybe it was when the boys flagged me down, Lucas informs me that he has been bitten by Spider Man. Ok. I had seen Spider Man in the mud puddle earlier so .....who knows. Finally he explains that no, it was not Spider Man but a spider that he picked up in the garage. Urgghh! So mowing stopped, disinfections, bandaging and observation begins. I'm waiting for Mike to get home so I can finish mowing cause it's just not happening with the help of the spider bitten, mud balls that are our sons trying to help.
What the boys were actually doing was picking up a couple sticks and then playing, picking up a few more and riding bikes, picking up some more and then playing in the mud. Little do they understand that even though I am on a riding mower I do know what they are and aren't doing. So for every round of the yard I made I'd have to scream over two mowers' noise and tell them to stay on task.....it's a whole lot of yelling going on in the Pickle yard.....pretty sure the roofers repairing our neighbors roof 1/4 mile away wondered what kind of people make so much noise.
So in one of my many stops for instructions or maybe it was when the boys flagged me down, Lucas informs me that he has been bitten by Spider Man. Ok. I had seen Spider Man in the mud puddle earlier so .....who knows. Finally he explains that no, it was not Spider Man but a spider that he picked up in the garage. Urgghh! So mowing stopped, disinfections, bandaging and observation begins. I'm waiting for Mike to get home so I can finish mowing cause it's just not happening with the help of the spider bitten, mud balls that are our sons trying to help.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Eli Has a Calling
His calling ....to become a driving instructor. Please disregard the fact that he has little judgement on the go cart. Faster the better and if he clips a few things on the way by...it's what you are suppose to do.
I have managed to curtail his back seat driving when I'm behind the wheel but he's managed to get his fix of bossing someone's driving and that would be the other people on the road.
We were headed to a baseball game and his instructions, to the "challenged driver" in front of us, went something like this...
"He is not driving right. He is all over road! He's not suppose to drive in MIDDLE! He's on the left, he's on the right. Why is he putting his brake lights on all the time. He drove off the
road! He not know how to drive! He's on wrong side, this is no passing, the sign says no passing. There is no car to pass...he's on the wrong side. URGHH! He not good driver, he needs to stop."
So. Lessons for all of us here. Never drive to a game following a challenged driver, with Eli in the back seat you will be deaf and also have to pull over as you are now laughing too hard to drive yourself. Also if you or anyone you know should come across a driving instructor in about 15 years by the name of Eli Pickle.....take a bus.
I have managed to curtail his back seat driving when I'm behind the wheel but he's managed to get his fix of bossing someone's driving and that would be the other people on the road.
We were headed to a baseball game and his instructions, to the "challenged driver" in front of us, went something like this...
"He is not driving right. He is all over road! He's not suppose to drive in MIDDLE! He's on the left, he's on the right. Why is he putting his brake lights on all the time. He drove off the
road! He not know how to drive! He's on wrong side, this is no passing, the sign says no passing. There is no car to pass...he's on the wrong side. URGHH! He not good driver, he needs to stop."
So. Lessons for all of us here. Never drive to a game following a challenged driver, with Eli in the back seat you will be deaf and also have to pull over as you are now laughing too hard to drive yourself. Also if you or anyone you know should come across a driving instructor in about 15 years by the name of Eli Pickle.....take a bus.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Dude! Be QUIET!
I wish I could figure out a way to record the conversations the boys' have between themselves....they'd probably sue me later in life.
I was sitting in the kitchen and they were playing in their room. Mom's will understand this, you know your kids are talking but you aren't tuned 100% into their conversation unless you hear that certain voice tone that warns of imminent issues? Yep. That one.
I'm noticing laughing and the ridiculous sounds only boys playing Spider Man vs. Iron Man can make. Then I hear Eli say, "Dude! Be QUIET! Stop talking!" and then silence. I waited for the explosion from Lucas. Nothing. Then Eli continues, "Dude (I don't know who taught him this word, I'd like to visit with them) you should use your brain! What? Don't you know English? Stop making so much noise!"
At this point I've decided I'm having an auditory hallucination. Eli is telling someone else to be quiet, use his brain and stop making noise? Eli who could compete with a stadium full of people for noise and pure chaos? And then to have him recognize that the volume was getting out of control? I think someone switched kids on me.
After several minutes of quiet....something that does not happen.....guess who finally broke the quiet.......me. I couldn't stand it. I had to know what the problem was that could initiate such absolute quiet.
Eli's take on the situation? "Mom. Lucas talk too much. He should be more quiet. Why does he have to talk all the time? (facing Lucas he says) "DUDE, you make my head hurt!"
My mature, motherly response. I burst out laughing. Are you kidding me. This coming from the kid who can bring on migraines and down planes with his volume. I did manage to drink an entire cup of coffee before Eli got over his need for quiet and the decibels once again reached the heavens.
How did Lucas handle this directive from Eli? I think he was in shock because he wasn't upset or mad. He just sat there, looking at Eli as if he didn't recognize him either.
I was sitting in the kitchen and they were playing in their room. Mom's will understand this, you know your kids are talking but you aren't tuned 100% into their conversation unless you hear that certain voice tone that warns of imminent issues? Yep. That one.
I'm noticing laughing and the ridiculous sounds only boys playing Spider Man vs. Iron Man can make. Then I hear Eli say, "Dude! Be QUIET! Stop talking!" and then silence. I waited for the explosion from Lucas. Nothing. Then Eli continues, "Dude (I don't know who taught him this word, I'd like to visit with them) you should use your brain! What? Don't you know English? Stop making so much noise!"
At this point I've decided I'm having an auditory hallucination. Eli is telling someone else to be quiet, use his brain and stop making noise? Eli who could compete with a stadium full of people for noise and pure chaos? And then to have him recognize that the volume was getting out of control? I think someone switched kids on me.
After several minutes of quiet....something that does not happen.....guess who finally broke the quiet.......me. I couldn't stand it. I had to know what the problem was that could initiate such absolute quiet.
Eli's take on the situation? "Mom. Lucas talk too much. He should be more quiet. Why does he have to talk all the time? (facing Lucas he says) "DUDE, you make my head hurt!"
My mature, motherly response. I burst out laughing. Are you kidding me. This coming from the kid who can bring on migraines and down planes with his volume. I did manage to drink an entire cup of coffee before Eli got over his need for quiet and the decibels once again reached the heavens.
How did Lucas handle this directive from Eli? I think he was in shock because he wasn't upset or mad. He just sat there, looking at Eli as if he didn't recognize him either.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Part of the Game
If you have kids in sports you probably prepare yourself for the occasional injury. I brace myself at each ball game.....I did this to the girls with piano contests...you never know when the piano bench could spontaneously combust :) I'm not a good, take it as it comes sports parent. Lucas pitches and plays 3rd base. Eli is playing up a grade level and plays 2nd base and center field.
It's amazing how much faster the throwing is and how much harder they hit this year over last. I anticipate the baseball plowing into them as each teams' pitchers try to perfect their aim. So far Lucas has been hit twice, Eli's shirt has skid marks from a pitch today and so far they've both walked away each game.
Unfortunately I didn't really contemplate the damage that could be wreaked by my kids on others. Now I'm having guilty parent thoughts (like I could have done anything to change these unfortunate events.) Lucas hit a line drive this past week and for some reason the other teams' pitcher took a dive for it, it hit the back of his hand and busted it. Oh my! Then in today's game Eli, who came out swinging for all he was worth, drove a foul ball right into a car's windshield and let's just say those people had to drive home with their heads half way out the side window. Yikes! This season can't end fast enough.....we have a game tonight.....let's hope everyone and their property goes home safely.
It's amazing how much faster the throwing is and how much harder they hit this year over last. I anticipate the baseball plowing into them as each teams' pitchers try to perfect their aim. So far Lucas has been hit twice, Eli's shirt has skid marks from a pitch today and so far they've both walked away each game.
Unfortunately I didn't really contemplate the damage that could be wreaked by my kids on others. Now I'm having guilty parent thoughts (like I could have done anything to change these unfortunate events.) Lucas hit a line drive this past week and for some reason the other teams' pitcher took a dive for it, it hit the back of his hand and busted it. Oh my! Then in today's game Eli, who came out swinging for all he was worth, drove a foul ball right into a car's windshield and let's just say those people had to drive home with their heads half way out the side window. Yikes! This season can't end fast enough.....we have a game tonight.....let's hope everyone and their property goes home safely.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Big Sister Tattling
Mike and I came home Friday to find the following on the computer. It's written by Sydney, aka frustrated, big sister brother sitter. It made us laugh .... and also pay her $20.00 to attend the Renaissance Fair for her hard work.
Posting from Sydney ~
I thought only parents had selected hearing; this thought process of mine was proven wrong Friday afternoon. While I was watching my brothers, there would come times for them to do chores. This entails them having to listen to me…which has never been a favorite thing of theirs, as is, I am a woman. I would find myself saying, multiple times, “Boys, it’s time to take out the trash.” Then that quickly turned to, “Boys, PLEASE take the trash out.” And not long after that, “Boys, take the trash out now, or I’ll have to call dad.” Eventually, on their own time, they would do it. This went on, and the day tended to stretch itself out as the boys like to test me. I believe Eli found the spot that really makes me tick when, at 11:00 am, he appeared before me and stated, “Make me a swammich.” Yes, he wanted a sandwich, I’m sure because they’d just finished with swimming lessons, but that is NOT the way to ask for one from his big sister who doesn’t have patience with chauvinistic men. These incidences occurred all day, and the noise level kept rising, until...it happened. For the very first time, my brothers responded to me the first time when I said, almost at a whisper, “Do you want a chip?” It made me laugh to myself, and made the entire day worth it. Selective hearing is amazing; I almost wish I could acquire it.
Mom posts ~ I hate to tell Sydney this but she developed and perfected selective listening at the age of 3. She's now just meeting her match :)
Posting from Sydney ~
I thought only parents had selected hearing; this thought process of mine was proven wrong Friday afternoon. While I was watching my brothers, there would come times for them to do chores. This entails them having to listen to me…which has never been a favorite thing of theirs, as is, I am a woman. I would find myself saying, multiple times, “Boys, it’s time to take out the trash.” Then that quickly turned to, “Boys, PLEASE take the trash out.” And not long after that, “Boys, take the trash out now, or I’ll have to call dad.” Eventually, on their own time, they would do it. This went on, and the day tended to stretch itself out as the boys like to test me. I believe Eli found the spot that really makes me tick when, at 11:00 am, he appeared before me and stated, “Make me a swammich.” Yes, he wanted a sandwich, I’m sure because they’d just finished with swimming lessons, but that is NOT the way to ask for one from his big sister who doesn’t have patience with chauvinistic men. These incidences occurred all day, and the noise level kept rising, until...it happened. For the very first time, my brothers responded to me the first time when I said, almost at a whisper, “Do you want a chip?” It made me laugh to myself, and made the entire day worth it. Selective hearing is amazing; I almost wish I could acquire it.
Mom posts ~ I hate to tell Sydney this but she developed and perfected selective listening at the age of 3. She's now just meeting her match :)
Friday, June 24, 2011
Mom. I Don't Feel Good
Another new area of difference between parenting boys and parenting girls....at least ours. Boys are just sick without the drama.
Both our boys still haven't gotten used to riding in cars, lets just say major car sickness unless we use Dramamine and then it's the same as if I'd hit them with a brick.
Because of all the road closures in our area due to flooding we are having to take a lot of windy, hilly back roads in order to travel anywhere. This is not good for the travel challenged.
Eli made it a whole 48 miles today before the dreaded, "Mom, I don't feel good." and in true boy style grabbed our travel trash can and urped. Once done he grabbed a bottle of water, swished and that was it. It made me think back to road trips when the girls were younger, one of the three inevitably got sick. The difference was the aftermath. The crying, whining and general "I don't feel good so therefore you will understand my level of misery" that everyone was subjected to.
I'm not saying that the girls didn't feel good and I too whine when sick (think I know where they acquired their whining skills) but Lucas and Eli just take it, deal with it and move on. Good for them, pretty sure that the females of the family will never surpass them in this area.
Both our boys still haven't gotten used to riding in cars, lets just say major car sickness unless we use Dramamine and then it's the same as if I'd hit them with a brick.
Because of all the road closures in our area due to flooding we are having to take a lot of windy, hilly back roads in order to travel anywhere. This is not good for the travel challenged.
Eli made it a whole 48 miles today before the dreaded, "Mom, I don't feel good." and in true boy style grabbed our travel trash can and urped. Once done he grabbed a bottle of water, swished and that was it. It made me think back to road trips when the girls were younger, one of the three inevitably got sick. The difference was the aftermath. The crying, whining and general "I don't feel good so therefore you will understand my level of misery" that everyone was subjected to.
I'm not saying that the girls didn't feel good and I too whine when sick (think I know where they acquired their whining skills) but Lucas and Eli just take it, deal with it and move on. Good for them, pretty sure that the females of the family will never surpass them in this area.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Solutions for Boredom
- Eli (big time - naughtiness seems to be his solution)
- Lucas (watching his brother get into trouble is his solution)
- Mom (determined to not let boredom or boys win)
It has rained for the past two days and being enclosed in a house with a 10 and 11 year old will give new dimensions to my ability to create distractions. Last night I threw in the towel, it was that or get out the duct tape. I threw in the mom towel and told dad it was his show.
I want someone out there to explain why it is that when dad comes on the scene of the mouthy, ornery, disobedient behaviors, they vanish....the behaviors not the children. And then the pint sized cherubs manage to convince the father figure that mom is crazy, they are perfect angels.
I don't care if it's raining tomorrow, they will go outside even if it's to take a rain shower. They always tell me that's how they took showers in the Philippines. I'm thinking it wasn't so much to get clean as it was to give the Ate's a break.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Iowa Rednecks
Father and sons bonding. What do you envision when you think about it? Playing catch, working on projects together...nice pictures, right?
On Monday evening we were once again relegated to our basement where a nasty thunderstorm with hail and possible tornado sent us...without electricity. As we sat there in the dark watching radar on our cell phones and the boys playing video games by candle light, a mom can learn a lot about her sons' daytime activities.....some of which the "oh so guilty father" would just as soon not be brought up.
You see, Mike, Lucas and Eli disappeared that afternoon to pickup some things from town...or so I thought. I knew they were gone a long time but they are after all guys, easily distracted. Apparently while they were picking up things they also helped to move some things that are going to be used at church camp.....toilets. Eli is telling me all about how they put them in the back of the pickup, how heavy they were and that they weren't dirty....for which I was grateful. Then Lucas says, "We saw Aunt Debbie. We waved to her cause she could see us. We ride in the back of pickup." Ok. Mike, Lucas and Eli know that this is not my idea of safety even though almost every kid in this farming community has done and continues to do so. But before we could once again have this discussion, Lucas continued..."It's ok mom. We sit on the toilets. We didn't stand up." WHAT! Yes. In their fathers' redneck mind, this was hilarious. Our boys riding in the back of a pickup, in the open, sitting on toilets.
Lucas and Eli continued to rave about how comfortable they were to sit on, blah, blah, blah. Until they realized that all three of their sisters were stunned silent and I did not have a pleasant look on my face, Mike was studying the floor intently. The boys finally stopped the story of the "glorious, public toilet ride" and figured out maybe we should talk about other things.....
On Monday evening we were once again relegated to our basement where a nasty thunderstorm with hail and possible tornado sent us...without electricity. As we sat there in the dark watching radar on our cell phones and the boys playing video games by candle light, a mom can learn a lot about her sons' daytime activities.....some of which the "oh so guilty father" would just as soon not be brought up.
You see, Mike, Lucas and Eli disappeared that afternoon to pickup some things from town...or so I thought. I knew they were gone a long time but they are after all guys, easily distracted. Apparently while they were picking up things they also helped to move some things that are going to be used at church camp.....toilets. Eli is telling me all about how they put them in the back of the pickup, how heavy they were and that they weren't dirty....for which I was grateful. Then Lucas says, "We saw Aunt Debbie. We waved to her cause she could see us. We ride in the back of pickup." Ok. Mike, Lucas and Eli know that this is not my idea of safety even though almost every kid in this farming community has done and continues to do so. But before we could once again have this discussion, Lucas continued..."It's ok mom. We sit on the toilets. We didn't stand up." WHAT! Yes. In their fathers' redneck mind, this was hilarious. Our boys riding in the back of a pickup, in the open, sitting on toilets.
Lucas and Eli continued to rave about how comfortable they were to sit on, blah, blah, blah. Until they realized that all three of their sisters were stunned silent and I did not have a pleasant look on my face, Mike was studying the floor intently. The boys finally stopped the story of the "glorious, public toilet ride" and figured out maybe we should talk about other things.....
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Don't Snort the Pepper
Tasting things to Eli is about as important as sniffing them...not quite...he smells everything. Food, toys, the dogs, his brother, his shoes.....we'll call him an eccentric smeller or just a little strange in regards to odors.Anyway, at lunch on Sunday, he asked for the salt and pepper. He decided that the pepper was the most interesting thing on the table. "Is it spicy, is it hot, does it smell." It did have something to do with the pepper shaker shape as it was just too tempting to resist but he had to smell it......resulting in the pepper shaker being emptied and sanitized and him with a snoot full of pepper. Another smelly lesson learned.
Monday, June 20, 2011
What I Learned At Swim Lessons
This morning was day 1 of swim lessons for Lucas and Eli. It was day 1...they did fine but this isn't about what they learned as much as what I learned.
As many of you know, you take your kids to swim lessons, some moms stay and watch, some drop and run for 30 minutes of peace. Today I stuck around as we (Lucas and Eli) seem to be experiencing a high degree of not listening....didn't want the high school swim instructor frustrated on day 1...we'll wait til day 3.
Let me start by saying we live in a small, Midwestern town. From the beginning of our adoption journey our community has been supportive, helpful and understanding. The boys arenot the only internationally adopted kids in town. As a whole it's been a very positive place for the boys.
As can be found anywhere there are those pockets of less than accepting individuals. Most of the time this hasn't been a problem...actually the hardest part in dealing with people of "diminished social awareness" is determining if it's honest interest, ignorance or prejudice. Unfortunately, having to deal with the last on the first day of swim lessons (early in the a.m., with no coffee) is probably not the best time for me to "educate" someone...fortunately I didn't have to, the educator proved to be the 6 year old girl of the offender.
This person, whom I didn't recognize, was sitting behind me and had also seen me walk in with the boys...so I would think she'd been able to connect the dots...maybe she did and it was part of her "issue". About half way though lessons I hear her start questioning about who the boys are, "where did they come from" (not in a nice way), what race they were.....now understand I'm cleaning up the language of these questions....a lot.
I'd reached my decaffeinated level of patience and started to turn to introduce myself and my boys when I hear this little girl say, "Mom, that is Lucas and Eli. They are from here, they didn't use to be. They used to be from a far away place, I think it's called Flipins (she tried but couldn't quite get it out)...They are really nice, Lucas helped me find my room. Eli is nice to me. Lucas is bigger, Eli is the littler one. They are nice, you can say hi to them. They didn't used to have a mommy and daddy they came here and now they do, they are from America now." Then she ran off to play with some other kids.
My hope is that mom learned a lesson today...yes I know it's not that easy. But better yet is that I learned a lesson. After nearly 19 months of living in our community the boys have made a mark, established themselves by their actions towards others and have "defenders" of all ages and we aren't the only ones who will help them to fit into our community. They are things a parent may know in the backs of our minds but sometimes you have to be sitting pool side while someone else takes up the battle and helps you to remember to be grateful for your home town, warts and all.
As many of you know, you take your kids to swim lessons, some moms stay and watch, some drop and run for 30 minutes of peace. Today I stuck around as we (Lucas and Eli) seem to be experiencing a high degree of not listening....didn't want the high school swim instructor frustrated on day 1...we'll wait til day 3.
Let me start by saying we live in a small, Midwestern town. From the beginning of our adoption journey our community has been supportive, helpful and understanding. The boys arenot the only internationally adopted kids in town. As a whole it's been a very positive place for the boys.
As can be found anywhere there are those pockets of less than accepting individuals. Most of the time this hasn't been a problem...actually the hardest part in dealing with people of "diminished social awareness" is determining if it's honest interest, ignorance or prejudice. Unfortunately, having to deal with the last on the first day of swim lessons (early in the a.m., with no coffee) is probably not the best time for me to "educate" someone...fortunately I didn't have to, the educator proved to be the 6 year old girl of the offender.
This person, whom I didn't recognize, was sitting behind me and had also seen me walk in with the boys...so I would think she'd been able to connect the dots...maybe she did and it was part of her "issue". About half way though lessons I hear her start questioning about who the boys are, "where did they come from" (not in a nice way), what race they were.....now understand I'm cleaning up the language of these questions....a lot.
I'd reached my decaffeinated level of patience and started to turn to introduce myself and my boys when I hear this little girl say, "Mom, that is Lucas and Eli. They are from here, they didn't use to be. They used to be from a far away place, I think it's called Flipins (she tried but couldn't quite get it out)...They are really nice, Lucas helped me find my room. Eli is nice to me. Lucas is bigger, Eli is the littler one. They are nice, you can say hi to them. They didn't used to have a mommy and daddy they came here and now they do, they are from America now." Then she ran off to play with some other kids.
My hope is that mom learned a lesson today...yes I know it's not that easy. But better yet is that I learned a lesson. After nearly 19 months of living in our community the boys have made a mark, established themselves by their actions towards others and have "defenders" of all ages and we aren't the only ones who will help them to fit into our community. They are things a parent may know in the backs of our minds but sometimes you have to be sitting pool side while someone else takes up the battle and helps you to remember to be grateful for your home town, warts and all.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Art of M&M's
During some point in this past week-end house cleaning extravaganza, I found it necessary to encourage (ok bribe) Lucas and Eli to keep moving.
In a fit of cleaning fume induced dementia, I gave them snacks of M & M's and Diet Coke. We were out of everything else... no root beer, sprite, juice....milk was not going to cut it and they'd inhaled all the fruit the day before. I cracked under the pressure ok?
The first sign that I was entering the vortex of no return was when the boys are sitting at the table counting how many M&M's they each have....11 for Lucas, 12 for Eli...oops! Then I sat there and watched Lucas consume his treat as a normal, starving (because that's what I'd been hearing for 20 minutes) boy....he wolfed. I thought, again from the vortex, great we can get back to the chores.....and then I tuned into Eli.
Eli does nothing without complete and surprising results. Apparently M&M's fall into a category of their own. First he counted them, then he sorted them by color, then he subdivided them into the number of pieces for each color, then he equalized the colors by eating the offending extra pieces....did I mention this entire event was done while simultaneously needling Lucas that he indeed had one more M&M then him.
I give credit to Lucas, he didn't rise to the bait. He simply looked down his nose at Eli and said, "So what I ate my candy, you are still counting it." And so the vortex entered the next level.
In a fit of cleaning fume induced dementia, I gave them snacks of M & M's and Diet Coke. We were out of everything else... no root beer, sprite, juice....milk was not going to cut it and they'd inhaled all the fruit the day before. I cracked under the pressure ok?
The first sign that I was entering the vortex of no return was when the boys are sitting at the table counting how many M&M's they each have....11 for Lucas, 12 for Eli...oops! Then I sat there and watched Lucas consume his treat as a normal, starving (because that's what I'd been hearing for 20 minutes) boy....he wolfed. I thought, again from the vortex, great we can get back to the chores.....and then I tuned into Eli.
Eli does nothing without complete and surprising results. Apparently M&M's fall into a category of their own. First he counted them, then he sorted them by color, then he subdivided them into the number of pieces for each color, then he equalized the colors by eating the offending extra pieces....did I mention this entire event was done while simultaneously needling Lucas that he indeed had one more M&M then him.
I give credit to Lucas, he didn't rise to the bait. He simply looked down his nose at Eli and said, "So what I ate my candy, you are still counting it." And so the vortex entered the next level.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Equality in Housework
Well. Yesterday was the first day home for myself on summer break. Yesterday was the first day of the boys' RE-education in the equality of housework. Boys need to know how to clean and not expect others (their mom, sisters or future wives) to do it for them.
In the hectic last few weeks, I've slacked off having them do their chores. I can't (or won't) make that mistake again.
It took over 2 hours this morning to "offer instructive assistance" to Lucas and Eli in the need to keep their room and the rest of the house clean and how that is achieved. Now neither one of these male life forms are incapable of reaching this goal. As a matter of fact when they first arrived home they were meticulous. With the addition of a billion toys and clothes and the same small room they can't afford to be messy....for my sanity and their possessions.
We were really good about limiting toys and things when they came home. It lasted 6 months at best. As they get bigger, their toys get bigger....unfortunately their room does not. In the mess of gutting their entire room and starting over (10 trash bags full) I expressed my displeasure in having found wrappers, trash, broken toys, dirty socks and things that I still haven't identified where upon Lucas informs me, "Mom. I very good at cleaning in Philippines." Ok. What happened? He explained, "I not have anything to pick up so my bed always clean." Well crud. I managed to dig myself out of that landmine and pulled up my mommy britches and still made them keep going....even if it was with a little more patience.
Now if you are thinking 2 hours is not bad for such a feat, please let me tell you the 2 hours I mentioned was just reminding them who was in charge and that yes the house was getting cleaned with the help of everyone. It actually took 8 hours of hard work from the entire family. Like I said I won't be making that mistake again.
In the hectic last few weeks, I've slacked off having them do their chores. I can't (or won't) make that mistake again.
It took over 2 hours this morning to "offer instructive assistance" to Lucas and Eli in the need to keep their room and the rest of the house clean and how that is achieved. Now neither one of these male life forms are incapable of reaching this goal. As a matter of fact when they first arrived home they were meticulous. With the addition of a billion toys and clothes and the same small room they can't afford to be messy....for my sanity and their possessions.
We were really good about limiting toys and things when they came home. It lasted 6 months at best. As they get bigger, their toys get bigger....unfortunately their room does not. In the mess of gutting their entire room and starting over (10 trash bags full) I expressed my displeasure in having found wrappers, trash, broken toys, dirty socks and things that I still haven't identified where upon Lucas informs me, "Mom. I very good at cleaning in Philippines." Ok. What happened? He explained, "I not have anything to pick up so my bed always clean." Well crud. I managed to dig myself out of that landmine and pulled up my mommy britches and still made them keep going....even if it was with a little more patience.
Now if you are thinking 2 hours is not bad for such a feat, please let me tell you the 2 hours I mentioned was just reminding them who was in charge and that yes the house was getting cleaned with the help of everyone. It actually took 8 hours of hard work from the entire family. Like I said I won't be making that mistake again.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Attachment
No this post isn't about how the boys are adjusting to family or community. It's not about how attached they are to their go cart or baseball. It's about their attachment to their clothing. All their clothing. From skin level out....mom's you know what I'm talking about.
Lucas and Eli have both been growing by leaps and bounds. Usually I can weed out the clothes that are too small around the waist with little fuss on their parts (they don't like to be squeezed) unfortunately this doesn't include those articles that are too short.
Eli especially has a great attachment to his jeans. I came home from work to find him in the rattiest, shortest pair of jeans you can visualize. Holes in both knees and the rear end and hitting him at mid calf. Luckily he didn't go away from home today. Mike wanted to take them to a movie and even he knew those jeans weren't going off the place. When he told Eli to change and put that pair of jeans in the trash you would have thought he said, "go shoot the dog."
Where did the jeans end up? After the guys left for a movie I extracted them from Eli's newest hiding place for all valuable things and they will not be making a reappearance. Before anyone feels too badly for him, I did tell him and then showed him that he has plenty of jeans (without the holes and shortened version). He was ok with it as long as he didn't have to actually put them in the trash can. Now. My next question lurking in the back of my mom brain....is he really that attached to his stuff or is he beginning to develop the kid mentality of it is easier to hide things than pick them up. Time will tell.
Lucas and Eli have both been growing by leaps and bounds. Usually I can weed out the clothes that are too small around the waist with little fuss on their parts (they don't like to be squeezed) unfortunately this doesn't include those articles that are too short.
Eli especially has a great attachment to his jeans. I came home from work to find him in the rattiest, shortest pair of jeans you can visualize. Holes in both knees and the rear end and hitting him at mid calf. Luckily he didn't go away from home today. Mike wanted to take them to a movie and even he knew those jeans weren't going off the place. When he told Eli to change and put that pair of jeans in the trash you would have thought he said, "go shoot the dog."
Where did the jeans end up? After the guys left for a movie I extracted them from Eli's newest hiding place for all valuable things and they will not be making a reappearance. Before anyone feels too badly for him, I did tell him and then showed him that he has plenty of jeans (without the holes and shortened version). He was ok with it as long as he didn't have to actually put them in the trash can. Now. My next question lurking in the back of my mom brain....is he really that attached to his stuff or is he beginning to develop the kid mentality of it is easier to hide things than pick them up. Time will tell.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Road Trip Pictures
Last week-end we took an overnight road trip to Missouri. The boys went along, not because they were thrilled about being in a car for a total of 19 hours (dvd players in cars...how did we survive before?) They went with Mike and I so that their sisters could have a brother break.
Rachel and Sydney have been doing tag team babysitting for us as I finish up these last 3 weeks of school. The girls do the babysitting, I think Lucas and Eli tag team antagonize their sisters. Little do they realize Mom is off work starting Thursday and their shenanigans will cease....I wish!
Anyway here are a couple photos from the road.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Bread...the Dreaded Enemy
That is once again Eli's gastronomic proclamation. I thought we'd passed his phase of all things bread related. Apparently I was wrong.
He didn't like bread when he first arrived home but that gradually faded away in those first six months. Now, after 19 months, he has once again decided bread is the enemy. If he only knew the meatloaf we had last night contained bread crumbs I'm pretty sure he'd have gone hungry.
Eli deciding to be bread deficient is not the end of all things. It's just highly irregular for our Midwestern brains and my limited culinary skills. This farm girl raised on meat, potatoes and bread can't understand what there is to not like but Eli is very good at letting us all know that there is something very wrong with eating bread. Lucas just thinks it's more for him and he finds great delight in telling Eli when something contains bread in disguise. Now Eli practically dissects his meals to make sure there isn't any bread surprises.
He didn't like bread when he first arrived home but that gradually faded away in those first six months. Now, after 19 months, he has once again decided bread is the enemy. If he only knew the meatloaf we had last night contained bread crumbs I'm pretty sure he'd have gone hungry.
Eli deciding to be bread deficient is not the end of all things. It's just highly irregular for our Midwestern brains and my limited culinary skills. This farm girl raised on meat, potatoes and bread can't understand what there is to not like but Eli is very good at letting us all know that there is something very wrong with eating bread. Lucas just thinks it's more for him and he finds great delight in telling Eli when something contains bread in disguise. Now Eli practically dissects his meals to make sure there isn't any bread surprises.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
That Is Not Correct!
One of the first couple questions we get about the boys is how their English is coming along. It always takes me a second to think...huh? Most of the time I don't hear their accents or have trouble understanding. We think they are doing remarkably well and a whole lot better than we'd be doing if the situations were reversed.
Lucas and Eli on the other hand have a very definite and loud opinion on one anothers' English. Each think they know English better than the other. Last night, Eli was correcting Lucas on a phrasing for a question he was trying to ask. It's those times of "superior brotherly knowledge" that their English is the clearest and most accurate. It is also one of the gauges we use to how well they really can speak and understand English. Eli was in rare form shouting, "That is not correct! You should say......." Unfortunately he attempted to correct his sisters' English....oops tactical error!
Lucas and Eli on the other hand have a very definite and loud opinion on one anothers' English. Each think they know English better than the other. Last night, Eli was correcting Lucas on a phrasing for a question he was trying to ask. It's those times of "superior brotherly knowledge" that their English is the clearest and most accurate. It is also one of the gauges we use to how well they really can speak and understand English. Eli was in rare form shouting, "That is not correct! You should say......." Unfortunately he attempted to correct his sisters' English....oops tactical error!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Blogging is Tough Work
I've been hearing from more than a few of you out there about why I don't blog like I used to. It's not from lack of material that's for sure. Some days this crew can give you enough ideas to fill an encyclopedia.
It's more to do with indecision. There are about a thousand different things I'd like to write about....you should read some of the posts I come up with in the car. Aren't we always brilliant when no one is around to be a witness. Unfortunately when I hit the door, my computer time is minimal if it exists at all. I will try to do better as this blog has been a wonderful link to family and friends...some of which I only meet on the internet.
I'm on summer break in a few days so that should help. Now if I can make my mind on which pictures to upload.
It's more to do with indecision. There are about a thousand different things I'd like to write about....you should read some of the posts I come up with in the car. Aren't we always brilliant when no one is around to be a witness. Unfortunately when I hit the door, my computer time is minimal if it exists at all. I will try to do better as this blog has been a wonderful link to family and friends...some of which I only meet on the internet.
I'm on summer break in a few days so that should help. Now if I can make my mind on which pictures to upload.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Bad Idea
A fact of parenting: siblings tease each other. A fact of parenting learned over time: siblings NEVER quit teasing each other.
All the kids are home right now. Alison is camping here due to flooding in western Iowa and roads and interstate closings. She lives about 25 miles from work but since the road between her place and work is closed for the foreseeable future she's bunking with us.
All the kids tease one another but when you add Alison into the mix the teasing is amped up....tremendously. One of the things they tease Sydney about was that Rachel and Alison told her (at the bus stop so I plead complete ignorance at the time) that we were returning her to the "Sydney store." Sydney totally believed the story and waited at the driveway for the store to pick her up.....yes, there was punishment for the two offenders when this was discovered.
The boys are familiar with this story because Sydney will have the last say in this story even 13 years later. Last night we went out for supper and the usual teasing was going on except with a twist.... Eli was getting the better of Alison. Those knowing Alison also know that to try to keep up with her verbally is a feat. She, in her somewhat bewildered state having not experienced this challenge fell back on an old standby. She threatened to have the Eli Store come for him.
Eli, never missing a beat, told her...."That's not a good idea. I don't think so." and then he continued to pester her to death. Alison had to concede defeat, Rachel was mysteriously silent and Sydney was laughing at finally witnessing retribution.....Lucas was smart he remained under the radar and was busy gaining knowledge of what irks which sibling for what I'm sure will be future ammunition.
All the kids are home right now. Alison is camping here due to flooding in western Iowa and roads and interstate closings. She lives about 25 miles from work but since the road between her place and work is closed for the foreseeable future she's bunking with us.
All the kids tease one another but when you add Alison into the mix the teasing is amped up....tremendously. One of the things they tease Sydney about was that Rachel and Alison told her (at the bus stop so I plead complete ignorance at the time) that we were returning her to the "Sydney store." Sydney totally believed the story and waited at the driveway for the store to pick her up.....yes, there was punishment for the two offenders when this was discovered.
The boys are familiar with this story because Sydney will have the last say in this story even 13 years later. Last night we went out for supper and the usual teasing was going on except with a twist.... Eli was getting the better of Alison. Those knowing Alison also know that to try to keep up with her verbally is a feat. She, in her somewhat bewildered state having not experienced this challenge fell back on an old standby. She threatened to have the Eli Store come for him.
Eli, never missing a beat, told her...."That's not a good idea. I don't think so." and then he continued to pester her to death. Alison had to concede defeat, Rachel was mysteriously silent and Sydney was laughing at finally witnessing retribution.....Lucas was smart he remained under the radar and was busy gaining knowledge of what irks which sibling for what I'm sure will be future ammunition.
Monday, June 6, 2011
"It's My Birthday!"
This was the battle cry from Eli for much of this past week-end. Yes, it was indeed his 10th birthday on Saturday but due to baseball games and graduations we had his party on Sunday. He totally thought that was about the coolest birthday ever.
I am hard pressed to remember any kid who enjoyed himself more and was so absolutely thrilled that people knew about his birthday and came to his party. Somewhere in the 2 day celebrations he did revise his battle cry to encompass, "It's MY birthday and it's everything I want!"
This involved gifts, playing, eating, bossing his siblings (which was more successful with some than others) and water sliding. Even though I found and heard myself pulling him off the edge of no return several times I was in awe of the absolute joy on his face. Happy Birthday Eli - hope you always have all you want!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Mom. I Need a New Brother!
Sunday was a rare day when everyone was home for dinner. Alison had the week end off, Rachel home from school, Sydney didn't have to leave for work until later, Mike, Lucas and Eli were home too.
These are hilariously fun times. Alison and I were talking later that no one will ever believe or truly understand when we try to relay the conversations that take place around the table. You just can't make these things up or do justice to the circumstances.
One such conversation from Sunday; Lucas (with the straightest face and he was serious) announces, "Mom. I need a new brother." I thought maybe I'd missed an altercation between him and Eli. Eli seemed to be delving into his fourth piece of roast beef and with a mouth full I didn't think he could earn banishment from the family. Lucas went on to explain, "I need a new brother then there would be three boys and three girls. Its not fair, more girls than boys." I guess he thought he'd even the playing field.
As a side note Sydney almost gave herself whiplash shaking her head no. I think she thinks the ratio of boys to girls is just fine.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Mom. You can have my flowers.
What mother doesn't love to get flowers from her son?
All is not as it may appear in this statement. We were walking to the Yukon after a successful (somewhat sad for the other side) baseball game. We finally quit keeping score. Lucas and Eli both had a great game, hits, scores, stealing. It was a good day for Pickle athletics.
The flowers Lucas was offering me? Sunflower seeds. No. Not fresh from the package. The chewed up gunck aftermath. Thanks for the thought Lucas but this mom would probably prefer roses, carnations or dandelions.
All is not as it may appear in this statement. We were walking to the Yukon after a successful (somewhat sad for the other side) baseball game. We finally quit keeping score. Lucas and Eli both had a great game, hits, scores, stealing. It was a good day for Pickle athletics.
The flowers Lucas was offering me? Sunflower seeds. No. Not fresh from the package. The chewed up gunck aftermath. Thanks for the thought Lucas but this mom would probably prefer roses, carnations or dandelions.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Fishing in the Zoo?
It's that time of year where schools are trying to get in their class field trips before summer break.
Eli's class trip was to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.
He was so excited. I figured I'd hear all about lions, tigers, penguins and hippos. We did hear a story about the apes throwing "icky stuff" (use your imagination). The favorite and most talked about animal in the zoo.......the much maligned and totally under appreciated......catfish.
We heard about the size, color, whiskers, eyes. How it swims, where it swims and once again how big it was. His listening skills must have been at high performance. At the very end of his story he asked, "When you take me to zoo, I'll take my fishing pole and catch him and you will cook him." Apparently we need to work on the concept of a zoo and then make sure the fishing pole stays at home.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Ingredients
Well since my last post from the "salt mines", the saga (see previous post) has continued all week. Every time the boys sit down to a table it is to demand the ingredient list for each food item......I gave up at day 2 and told them flat out....."I don't know how much sodium is in that!"
So last Tuesday when we were coming back from a late baseball game we decided to swing through McDonald's and treat the boys and one of their teammates who rode with us to ice cream cones.
Why I didn't catch the train of thought...I don't know. One minute we are talking about the game, the next I'm being asked what makes ice cream. I'm used to answering questions all day long....it's the only excuse....or extreme fatigue and baseball game dimentia.....I rattled off the ingredients or as many as I could remember. Cream, sugar, vanilla, ice, eggs, salt...."oops".
You would have thought that I'd ran over the dog, backed up ran over their bikes, turned around and mowed over the trampoline, by the volume of screams from the backseat. Lucas was sure that he'd never be able to eat ice cream again, Eli was mad because I'd not told them it contained salt earlier so they could have known and the poor friend with us was rendered comatose by the unexpected behavior, concern and screaming. He wasn't quite sure why the boys cared about salt in the ice cream and I just didn't have any more explanations in me.
Needless to say they didn't turn down the salt laced, ice cream cones so perhaps we've come to terms with it and will not be quite so worried about sodium and the food it's in....or at least until they are older adults watching their sodium and blood pressure and I'm long gone and their doctors can deal with the explanations.
So last Tuesday when we were coming back from a late baseball game we decided to swing through McDonald's and treat the boys and one of their teammates who rode with us to ice cream cones.
Why I didn't catch the train of thought...I don't know. One minute we are talking about the game, the next I'm being asked what makes ice cream. I'm used to answering questions all day long....it's the only excuse....or extreme fatigue and baseball game dimentia.....I rattled off the ingredients or as many as I could remember. Cream, sugar, vanilla, ice, eggs, salt...."oops".
You would have thought that I'd ran over the dog, backed up ran over their bikes, turned around and mowed over the trampoline, by the volume of screams from the backseat. Lucas was sure that he'd never be able to eat ice cream again, Eli was mad because I'd not told them it contained salt earlier so they could have known and the poor friend with us was rendered comatose by the unexpected behavior, concern and screaming. He wasn't quite sure why the boys cared about salt in the ice cream and I just didn't have any more explanations in me.
Needless to say they didn't turn down the salt laced, ice cream cones so perhaps we've come to terms with it and will not be quite so worried about sodium and the food it's in....or at least until they are older adults watching their sodium and blood pressure and I'm long gone and their doctors can deal with the explanations.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Salt of the Earth
You know when you are trying to teach your child a healthy eating lesson that you will only achieve success about 30% of the time if you are lucky. I was not lucky and this particular lesson landed squarely in the 70% unsuccessful bracket.
At lunch on Mother's Day, I was trying to explain to Lucas and Eli (and Mike) why they do not need to put extra salt on everything particularly when they haven't even tasted the food first.
Of course, we had the mandatory question of, "but why?" So I said, "because it's not good for your heart." Now while this isn't an in depth explanation, I'm just not up to explain high blood pressure and multiple other health issues......it's Mother's Day......I was giving myself a break....or so I thought.
Lucas' mouth dropped open, chicken half way in his mouth and he shouts, "WHAT! You not tell me this before? You always feed me salt! You not tell me it make me die! My heart will BLOW UP! I've been here a long time and you not tell me this!" Ok. None of those things were in my initial explanation and no we do not have a salt block on our table at mealtime.
Can you tell that one of our boys has a flare for the dramatic and if he knew what a blood pressure cuff was used for he'd insist on monitoring his. In the brief time since this health alert, Lucas is now the overseer of the salt shaker. If I'd known he would restrict Mike's salt intake, I'd have mentioned the heart blow up earlier.
At lunch on Mother's Day, I was trying to explain to Lucas and Eli (and Mike) why they do not need to put extra salt on everything particularly when they haven't even tasted the food first.
Of course, we had the mandatory question of, "but why?" So I said, "because it's not good for your heart." Now while this isn't an in depth explanation, I'm just not up to explain high blood pressure and multiple other health issues......it's Mother's Day......I was giving myself a break....or so I thought.
Lucas' mouth dropped open, chicken half way in his mouth and he shouts, "WHAT! You not tell me this before? You always feed me salt! You not tell me it make me die! My heart will BLOW UP! I've been here a long time and you not tell me this!" Ok. None of those things were in my initial explanation and no we do not have a salt block on our table at mealtime.
Can you tell that one of our boys has a flare for the dramatic and if he knew what a blood pressure cuff was used for he'd insist on monitoring his. In the brief time since this health alert, Lucas is now the overseer of the salt shaker. If I'd known he would restrict Mike's salt intake, I'd have mentioned the heart blow up earlier.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Big Sister Has Reentered the House
Well Rachel has arrived home from college for summer break. Actually, she's been home for about a week. I'm not sure who is experiencing more culture shock.....her or her brothers.
Lucas and Eli have come to the conclusion, even though this is her second summer break since they've arrived home, that she must be having a hard time in college as she keeps coming back. Rachel, on the other hand, wonders which is harder, the Junior year of college or moving home for the summer and readjusting to two high energy brothers.
Most of the time it goes pretty well....some of the time.....it's a lot of very loud "discussions" also known as Lucas and Eli feeling the need to instruct her on EVERYTHING. If nothing else it let's Rachel have first hand experience on elementary aged kids and their assorted behaviors...good things for a future elementary/special ed teacher to possess.
Tonight at suppertime, Eli looks across the table at Rachel and informs her that when she is old he will take care of her.....when she dies he will cry. But she will be 89 years old so it will be ok. I'm sure Rachel was thrilled to know that he would miss her by that point but somewhat disturbed that he has the year of her death planned out. What can I say little boys like to talk about gross things, make strange sounds and occasionally plan things far in advance. Wonder what's in store for Mike and I.
Lucas and Eli have come to the conclusion, even though this is her second summer break since they've arrived home, that she must be having a hard time in college as she keeps coming back. Rachel, on the other hand, wonders which is harder, the Junior year of college or moving home for the summer and readjusting to two high energy brothers.
Most of the time it goes pretty well....some of the time.....it's a lot of very loud "discussions" also known as Lucas and Eli feeling the need to instruct her on EVERYTHING. If nothing else it let's Rachel have first hand experience on elementary aged kids and their assorted behaviors...good things for a future elementary/special ed teacher to possess.
Tonight at suppertime, Eli looks across the table at Rachel and informs her that when she is old he will take care of her.....when she dies he will cry. But she will be 89 years old so it will be ok. I'm sure Rachel was thrilled to know that he would miss her by that point but somewhat disturbed that he has the year of her death planned out. What can I say little boys like to talk about gross things, make strange sounds and occasionally plan things far in advance. Wonder what's in store for Mike and I.
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