+ 0 - 9 | § ¶Blankets, Jobs, and Bubbles
It seems to me that Katrina is getting more and more attached to her blanket recently. I guess it could be my imagination, but regardless - after dragging it around after her everywhere we go (the library, my parents' house, the store...), it gets dirty really fast. Or rather, they get dirty. We have two blankets that we try to keep interchangeable, although she totally favors the polka-dot one she's had since birth. So today, it was time for them to get washed. I was going to just wash one of the blankets so she'd have the other one while the first was getting clean, but i let her help me, and as i was putting the first blanket into the machine (which was already filling with water), Katrina threw in the other one. So they both got washed at the same time. As soon as the lid closed and she realized that the blankets would be staying down in the basement while we came upstairs, she lost it. She stood in the corner in the kitchen and just cried and cried and cried. And i was unable to distract her with books or hugs or anything...until i started to read "No David!" and then she was distracted for a few minutes. And for the next two hours, she vascillated between happy and totally distraught. And when the drier finally buzzed...heaven! She was beyond thrilled.
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+ 0 - 7 | § ¶The heat, it continues.
It was another unbearably hot day today - not quite in the 90's maybe, but really humid - so i took the kids to the library this afternoon. Air conditioning! Yeah! We spent an hour or two looking at books, playing with the toys there, and generally staying cool. And then my mom invited us over to her much cooler house to hang out until bedtime. We ate pizza (Which the kids absolutely wolfed down. I think i've been forgetting to feed them in this heat.) and sat outside on their screened-in porch and it was lovely.
Katrina has really sensitive skin. Have i mentioned this before? Well, apparently it's especially sensitive to bug bites. She's got two big bites next to each other on her back, and she keeps saying "Ouch!" and trying to touch them. Poor little girl. And with the heat, we need to keep the windows open, and since we don't have screens...the bugs, they keep on coming.
Houston does not have sensitive skin, but he has an internal furnace, so he's always warmer than everyone else. And he's prone to heat rash. When he was a baby, he got heat rash a lot and spent most of the summer in nothing but a diaper. The past two summers were not bad and i don't remember him getting heat rash at all. But after the past three days? Heat rash all over his back.
So while i am enjoying the not-cold, i am looking forward to maybe having some more moderate days. Not that i'm complaining...much. Ah, who am i fooling? I'm totally whining. It needs to get cooler! Now!
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+ 0 - 7 | § ¶Memorial Day
Unbearably hot. Seriously. That's the best way to describe today. It was the kind of hot where you just can't actually accomplish anything. I was planning to accomplish things, but it was too hot to actually do much. So instead, we found lots of fun ways to amuse ourselvdes and the kids. Let me share.
We woke up really early (for us) and went to the Memorial Day parade. There were fire trucks and a couple of marching bands and lots of random weird things like supporters for a off-leash dog park. Lots of people threw candy. I'm not a fan of candy at parades, honestly. Kids stop caring about the actual parade in the face of free candy that they're just throwing at you. The free candy lying on the ground...it mutates kids from sweet little darling children into masses of sugar-craving beasts. Or something. I'd just as soon have no candy thrown and then go to the store to buy something for the kids later. So we tried hard to encourage Houston to stay back and just pick up the candy that was actually thrown to him rather than running out into the street and trying to snatch it up before other kids could get to it. And he did pretty darn good. Even so, he got enough candy that he won't ever eat it all - most of it is yucky anyhow. Enough about the candy. Onto the other parts.
When we first arrived, there was a little private plane that flew back and forth overhead with a sign behind it advertising some restaurant. Katrina was thrilled with the plane and was a little convinced that that was going to be the entire show. Every time she see it, she'd get all excited and point it out. So when the actual parade started, she was thrilled beyond belief and was actually jumping up and down for joy. She needed to share the experience, and was either showing Daddy what was happening, sitting on Grandma's lap, or curling up on my lap (especially toward the end when she was too tired and hot to care as much anymore). Houston spent the first few minutes in his usual pose of complete paying-attention-ness, but after the candy started, he stood up with the rest of the kids in front of us. And also? The fire trucks and stuff should really not sound off their horns and sirens at parades, because it's really loud.
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+ 2 - 8 | § ¶Nature of God and stuff
Did i mention that my grandparents are in town? So we had a picnic with all the family that's in Grand Rapids. Fun! It was insanely hot - somewhere around 90 degrees and humid, so it was too hot to feel like doing too much in the way of excersize. But we did manage to play a little at the playground and play some baseball (with Houston, not with the adults). Katrina had fun fetching things like balls and frisbees. I kept trying to get her to want to catch things, but she just wanted me to throw it and let her retrieve. I felt like i was treating her like a puppy, but she was loving it, so.... Basically, we played anything that didn't involve being out of the shade for very long. The kids got filthy, as kids should in summertime, and eventually we went back to my parents' house.
And then we turned on the sprinkler and let the kids run through it. Houston jumped right in, and had a blast running all over and getting wet. Katrina was very unsure of the sprinkler and wouldn't go near it for a long time. Finally i carried her near it and let her feet get wet so she could understand the concept. And after that she was thrilled with the sprinkler and had to keep running over to us to tell us she was having fun.
So it was a good day. Ridiculously hot. But good. And now i know that i can live through hot days even though i'm pregnant.
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+ 7 - 1 | § ¶Horse!
I'm pretty sure Katrina made a joke today. Juanito asked her what her name was, and she said, "Horse!" So then we went through Houston, Daddy, and Mommy, who were all "Horse" as well - except that Juanito was "Daddy Horse." We were driving home when the joke was made, and when we pulled up to our house, Houston said, "It's the chicken store!" We said, "I think it's the horse house!" and then realized that maybe that was not a good name for it. Go ahead. Say it out loud. It doesn't sound good.
That is maybe Katrina's first made-up joke, though. She's copied our jokes, like "chicken store" before, but i don't think she's come up with one on her own. Yeah, Katrina!
As we were driving to my parents' house tonight, Houston pretended to be asleep. Katrina pointed it out to me. "Mama! Tooton seeping!" After we commented that Houston must be really tired, he finally said, "I'm not really tired. I'm resting so that when i'm at Grandma's house i am not sleepy!" I don't know where he learned that strategy, but it was fairly clever. And hilarious.
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+ 7 - 3 | § ¶Questions
One of the things i love about Houston being able to think more abstractly than he could, y'know, when he was younger, is that he asks hilarious and awesome questions. Things like:
Will we be able to move our arms in heaven? (Because if we can't move our arms, then we won't be able to play with our cars in Heaven, see. And that's important.)
What if there were no doorknobs anywhere? (Because without doorknobs, we wouldn't be able to go in or out of anywhere! We'd get stuck in the bathroom! Hahahaha.)
What if a bird flew into our house while we were sleeping? (What do you think it would do? Because we'd all be sleeping.)
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+ 2 - 5 | § ¶Bunk beds
We rearranged the kids' rooms today. Or rather...we started the rearranging process. The beds are now in the opposite rooms from where they used to be. It's part of this whole long procedure that i have worked out in my mind:
1. Switch Houston into Katrina's room and Katrina into Houston's room, putting the bunk beds together (with Houston on the top bunk, safely out of Graham's reach, since Graham loves to sleep on that bottom bed) and leaving Katrina in her crib.
2. Once she's used to the new room, switch Katrina to a "big girl" bed (really a mattress on the floor).
3. After Baby is born and ready for a crib, move Katrina into Houston's room on the bottom bunk and put Baby into Katrina's room.
So. Step #1 is nearly complete. The bunk beds are up. The crib is in the other room. Everything else in the rooms - disaster. Juanito had to leave for work before he could actually help me move the other furniture (like dressers), and normally i'd do it myself, but with that whole "no heavy lifting" rule.... I guess i shouldn't try it. Tomorrow we'll finish that all up.
As soon as the beds were both in place, i said, "Right. Katrina! Time for a nap!" Katrina snatched up her blankets and ran straight to the right room, never even hesitating. Houston immediately asked, "Can i take a nap too? Please? Up here on my bed???" Uh...ok! I doubt he'll sleep, but WOOHOO! Actual rest time!
The bunk bed is the newest best toy in our house. Houston is beyond thrilled to get to sleep on it. Initially he was worried that he might fall off, until we showed him the board that would protect him. And since then, his attitude has been one of sheer joy. Katrina is equally thrilled about the new bunk bed. She's been climbing up (and then requesting to get down, since i won't let her climb down just yet) again and again and again. It makes me a little bit nervous, actually.
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+ 5 - 2 | § ¶Please, please go to sleep
For the past week, my kids have NOT gotten enough sleep. Katrina has been slowly and steadily catching up (except last night, when she was awake far too long) by sleeping long nights and taking good naps. Katrina's always been my sleeper. I say, "Let's take a nap!" and she grabs her blanket. Houston is the opposite. And he is slowly getting himself farther behind in sleep. It's 10:30 right now, and he's still awake. Awake and calling down every few minutes about bumping his head and needing a kiss or dropping his pillow or whatever he can think of to get us to come upstairs. The same thing happened yesterday. If only he'd sleep. He'd be so much happier....
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+ 2 - 5 | § ¶Turtles and the Arch
Well, we're home again. We pulled up to our house somewhere around 4:00 this morning - yawn. This morning, Juanito was the best husband EVER and let me sleep while he got up with the kids, and i just slept and slept and slept until around 12:30. Getting a good night's sleep feels good. And waking up really late makes for a short day. The kids were great today, and Graham seemed just really happy to be home as well. Everyone got along, Graham didn't pester the kids, the kids didn't pester each other.... It was lovely. But since nothing else exciting happened, i'll talk about yesterday.
Yesterday morning, Travis spent an hour or so talking with Houston about hunting. He showed him all his hunting gear, explained y'know...hunting stuff, let him look at the guns. Houston just drank it all in. And then for the rest of the day, Houston spent his free time outside hunting bears and bugs with his stick guns. And playing with his bottle caps. (At the party on Sunday, he collected all the bottle caps he could find, saved them, played with them, counted them, laid them out in interesting ways, used them as bullets for his stick guns, and just walked around with them clenched in his hand or stuffed in his pocket. He has now lost most of them, but the ones he still has he kind of loves a little bit.)
We all (Brooke, Travis, Beth, Juanito, the kids, Travis' mom, and i) went out for lunch at a yummy pizza buffet place that has great pizza AND delicious dessert pizza. The dessert pizza is what makes it worth it to me. Mmmmm. And then we went to see Turtle Park. We've gone there before, but it's always fun to go again. I took a zillion pictures. Pictures of Houston, of Katrina, of both kids, of random people - and we had Juanito take a picture of Beth and me, but you can't see the turtle.
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+ 7 - 1 | § ¶St. Louis
We didn't go anywhere today - just hung out, played, and attended Travis' party. For some reason, Katrina was feeling extremely photogenic today, so i have lots of cute pictures of her. Here's a few of the cute ones. Juanito took the kids to the park across the street for a little while, and poor little Katrina got a bee sting right on the corner of her eye. So for the rest of the day, she kept remembering the bee sting and pointing to it and asking for kisses. Poor little girl.
Houston, poor little boy, woke up at around 4:30 this morning, told me he had a bad dream about Puppy growing a third eye and talking to him, and a minute or two later threw up. I poked Juanito, who groggily mumbled, "Hrmaapgh."
"Houston just threw up, and i need you to deal with it," i told him.
Immediately his eyes flew open and he leapt to my rescue by bringing Houston upstairs, washing him off, cleaning up the mess, and all that was involved with that whole process. Houston then snuggled into bed with me, and i spent the rest of the night smashed between my two favorite guys. Sweet, but not entirely comfortable. Houston woke up once and threw up again into the little whipped cream container that Juanito had supplied. Nothing like being smooshed up next to a little boy with throw-up breath. This morning, Houston went through a few pairs of underwear due to some diarrhea, so Juanito ran to the store and bought some nasty chalky stuff that Houston was barely willing to drink. But it seemed to fix the problem. And the rest of the day he was fine.
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+ 8 - 2 | § ¶Zoo!!
We went to the zoo today! The St. Louis zoo is just awesome. Especially as compared to the zoo in Grand Rapids. It's huge. We walked for a thousand years. Or several hours. Whatever. Houston was most excited to see the big cats, but they're just not that exciting to actually see, i'm afraid. There were lions and tigers and cougars and stuff...but they were all sleeping and hiding out. I don't think we even ever saw the lions. So what really excited the kids were animals that i was not expecting. The penguins were a huge hit. It was one of the first things we saw, and you can be right up there next to the penguins. Close enough to touch them. In fact, there are signs saying, "Do not touch the penguins!" The other thing that was enormously thrilling for our kids was the herpetarium (the snakes and stuff). We were in there forever. Katrina was just flipping out from excitement for every single snake. Houston loved it too, but he walked around with Juanito. We ate a picnic lunch, and then walked around for a long time looking at lots of other animals that the kids enjoyed but didn't go crazy over. And, near the end of the day, we went to see the hippos, which was the third thrilling animals for the kids. So i have lots more pictures - and i don't feel like trying to explain them all, so i'm just going to put them here. Here's our family, Katrina, and Houston - all pictures that Beth took. And then there's more pictures of Houston. And Katrina.
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+ 8 - 4 | § ¶Grant's farm and Travis' graduation
Here we are in St. Louis! Yeah! So (this should have been posted yesterday, so i'm going to pretend it was) today we went to Grant's farm, which was totally fun. There were goats that you could pet. Someone gave us a bottle their kid didn't want (like, a goat bottle - not the child's bottle), so our kids got to feed the goats. And the goats got to try to eat everyone's clothes. And we got to feed and pet the camels and the llamas. The camel liked Cheerios, but refused to eat Shredded Wheat. He actually spit out the Shredded Wheat. So the kids fed them lots of Cheerios. We watched a show all about birds and other random animals and saw a roller skating parrot and a huge python (Houston's favorite part of the show) and rats and an eagle and ..... All kinds of things. We saw an elephant show, and part of the show was the elephant blowing up a balloon. Houston was lucky enough to be given that balloon, which he was thrilled about. A balloon filled with elephant air! Woohoo! But then he was looking at the donkey, and shortly after this picture was taken, Houston dropped the balloon into the donkey pen and it popped, causing many tears. And the elephant-air-filled balloon was no more. But Juanito was given permission to jump into the donkey pen and retrieve the balloon skin so we can save it for Houston. And there was lots of other stuff we saw, but we're about to leave for the zoo.
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+ 4 - 6 | § ¶Morning conversations
I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and all they do at this point is listen to the baby's heartbeat. So i decided that Houston would probably really enjoy hearing that the "heartbeep," as he calls it. For some reason, he got it into his head that today the doctor was going to take the baby out, so we got there and i asked, "Do you know what we're going to do??" And he confidently replied, "The doctor is going to take the baby out!" Unfortunately, no. The doctor did not take the baby out. But i brought my little recorder with us to document the moment, and it went something like this: "bum-bump, bum-bump, bum-bump, bum-bump." And then Houston says, "Hee hee. I love you!" I'm pretty sure the "i love you" was directed at the baby. So cute.
And the rest of the day was spent gathering and packing the remaining needed items and then cleaning the house. Which was already almost pristine, anyhow. What?
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+ 6 - 1 | § ¶Readying
Today was a day of getting ready. We went to the library this morning for some DVD's to bring on the road (this is the first time we'll ever be able to watch movies while driving - thanks to our laptop!) and return some books. Then, after naps we went shopping for food to bring along. I finished up the laundry, and Houston helped me to choose his clothes to pack. Some of his choices were surprising to me - but proof that he's developing a style of his own. And tomorrow, we hit the road for St. Louis. I've been talking this trip up like crazy to Houston (and Katrina, although i don't think she really understands), and he's all excited about it.
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+ 2 - 8 | § ¶Bedtime should be at 6:00, I think
One thing i've learned about Houston - the more tired he gets, the more wild and hyper he gets. This morning, he and Katrina woke up at almost the same time, so Houston came and asked for permission to go to Katrina's room and talk to her. And then for permission to get into her crib. Permission for both was granted (because hey! That gave me an extra 15 minutes to doze!), so he talked and played and entertained Katrina very sweetly until i got up. We came downstairs, and he managed to play nicely without any pestering for the entire morning! Until lunchtime when i went upstairs to get changed and totally zonked out until Juanito came to wake me up and say goodbye. But. Then we went to the mall with my mom, and it got later than i realized...and by the time we got home, he was all worked up into a frenzy. Not intentionally being naughty, mind you. Just unable to calm down and focus on what needed to be done. "Please just eat your snack!" needed to be repeated every couple of minutes until i finally brushed his teeth and threw him into bed. Or tucked him in. Whatever.
Meanwhile, Katrina totally responds to what Katrina does. So when he's being kind to her, she's all friendly with him. She actually shared one of her blankets with him this morning! He can be silly and a little wild, and she just plays along. But when he gets wild and pestery, she just doesn't put up with a thing. If he looks at her funny, she bursts into screams and cries.
So by the time evening has arrived, Houston is loud and wild, Katrina is loud and screamy, and my patience is wearing pretty thin. So i'm really happy when bedtime comes along.
+ 4 - 8 | § ¶Trucks and Airplanes
We had a busy day today. Full of fun things to do. First we went to my dad's work so the kids could see the trucks and the whole cement-making process. They loved it. There were lots of buttons to push. My dad let Houston push the buttons to start the process for a couple of loads, and let him put the paper in the little vacuum tube sending system once. We got to go up and see where the cement is made, and the kids got to look down the drum to see the cement all getting made and stuff. Houston got to kick rocks down a grate, which was a highlight for him. And then my dad took each of the kids on a ride in the loader. Houston got to go first, and he totally enjoyed it. But then Katrina went and absolutely loved it. She had an enormous smile on her face the entire time she was up there. (Until i wanted to take a picture of it, of course.)
From there, we drove over to the viewing area at the airport, where you can watch planes take off and land. It was really cool. Not a ton of planes went by, but enough to keep Juanito and me interested. The kids, alas, were more interested in the dandilions that covered the hill. Katrina wandered around, picking, blowing, tossing, and picking more. Houston alternated between flinging himself down the hill and finding new and exciting ways to decapitate the dandilions. Eventually we dragged the kids back up the hill to watch one more plane before we left. And then, Katrina finally actually watched the plane land and was completely thrilled.
And then we stopped so i could get a TB shot (ick) before going home. Have you ever noticed that everything takes about 10 times longer with two little kids who want to stop and look at everything? If not, let me tell you - everything takes longer. I had to get shot at work, so we knew most people we met there. And pretty quickly Katrina figured out that the people we would meet would be friends. So she started saying hello to everyone she saw, causing everyone to say, "Awww. She's so friendly!" Houston was a little fascinated with the whole "Mommy getting a shot" process (because i'm a wimp and can't just sit there and pretend nothing is happening. Because HELLO! They're putting a foreign substance into my arm! And that's just gross.), so he had questions for the nurse like, "What do you use to do the shooting?"
And finally we were on our way back home. Long past someone's naptime. So she fell asleep on the way home. And Houston, after three huge yawns in a row, declared that he was NOT sleepy. "Are you sleepy?" he asked Juanito and me. We both said we were. And he got his little near-tears voice and said, "But i need someone to help me get the things i need!"
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+ 3 - 4 | § ¶Hi Mom!
It's mother's day today! So happy mother's day to ... well, me. And Mom, and Mumu, and any other people who are reading this who are moms. I've been trying to decide whether to write a sappy post wherein i write about all the reasons that my mom is the best. And there are lots of reasons. But i'm just not good at that kind of thing, so instead, i'll just point out that really? My mom was the best. Still is, for that matter.
So today we all went to the parents' house for dinner. Jill and Todd made ham - two ways! Chellie made potatoes, Jim made bread, and we made corn on the cob. So dinner was a group effort, and tasted delicious. I don't think dessert was planned at all, but Juanito and Jill both made tirimisu. I think that's the first time we've ever had tirimisu on a Sunday, and we just happened to have two kinds. The both had coffee in them, so i didn't eat any, but they looked great.
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+ 6 - 4 | § ¶Grumpy. And Pregnant.
That picture is courtesy of Houston's photo-taking skills.
A lot of the time i seem to fool myself into thinking that i don't get moody when i'm pregnant. And then i'll have a day like today, where i'm just grumpy all day long. And then i'll start thinking back over the past few days and remember that i've been pretty grumpy then too. So either i'm just a total grouch or i am, indeed, affected by the pregnancy hormones that affect all those other women. And i thought i was so special.
I do think that i have reason to be grumpy today. First of all, we have Alaska. I've been psyching myself up for a no, but i think that deep down i really believed that Juanito would be hired. Mostly because i really wanted to go, and i usually get what i want. (Really, i do. Whenever i've really wanted a job, i've always gotten it.) And then, this morning, i got an email from my teacher asking me if i was supposed to be listed as auditing. UM...NO! So i tried to call LCC to figure out why i'm listed as an audit rather than as an actual student, and i sat on hold. For well over 2 hours. And finally hung up. Aaaaaaaargh.
But. The kids were really sweet and cute today. For the most part, they got along and played really well together. And Juanito came home from work and took them out shopping for several hours so i got to veg out and do nothing at all (except watch CSI). And now i'm going to go eat Chinese food. At 11:00 at night. Because i'm pregnant and allowed to do that.
+ 4 - 3 | § ¶Rainy Days
It was the second rainy day in a row, so it seemed like a great opportunity to pull out the umbrellas and Houston's rain gear and head out for a walk in the rain. Houston had a blast, running around, flinging his umbrella from side to side, and generally making it impossible to get non-blurry pictures of him. Katrina was just quietly enthralled with this new experience of actually using her new umbrella. She was a lot slower, so i did get some cute shots of her.
Yesterday was rainy and windy and just generally yucky weather. And just for kicks, it knocked out our electricity. So rather than hang out and see if it would come back on, after half an hour of semi-darkness i packed up some stuff and headed out to my parents' house to sleep. The kids always love spending time at my parents' house (Katrina asks several times a day if we can go to Grandma's house), and actually sleeping there is absolutely thrilling.
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+ 4 - 3 | § ¶Chicken Store
Juanito started this thing a long time ago - he'll just say random silly things in the place of the normal word. So songs like "Twinkle twinkle little star" become "Twinkle twinkle little puppy." And phrases like "Let's put your socks on your feet" becomes "Let's put your socks on your monkey." While it annoys me to change songs (they should just be kept the way they originally were...), i've picked up the habit of changing normal phrases at random times. Most commonly, this occurs when we're driving. I'll pull up somewhere (let's say the grocery store), and say, "Well! Here we are at Grandma's house!" Houston and Katrina will say, "Noooooo." So i'll say, "Oh! Of course. We're at the zoo." And eventually Houston will say, "We're at the grocery store!" And everyone is happy.
But recently i've noticed something. When we pull up to our house, Katrina will say "chicken store!" And while occasionally i say, "Here we are at the chicken store," i switch it up a lot. But i do say it sometimes. And i know Juanito says "chicken store" a lot. I think there's something just innately funny about chickens, so they come up a lot. Problem is...i wonder if Katrina is starting to get confused about what home is actually called. Either that or she just thinks "chicken store" makes for a great joke.
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+ 3 - 4 | § ¶Don't want it
Setting: Dinner time in the dining room
Cast: Houston, Katrina, me
K: All done goulash. Don't want it.
H: I would like some more goulash!
M: Katrina, are you going to eat your goulash?
K: No! Don't want it! Don't want it!
M: Houston, you may eat the rest of Katrina's goulash.
K: NOOOOOO!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
M: Uh, ok. Katrina, do you want to eat it?
K: Don't want it.
M: Ok. Here you go Houston.
H: Mmmm.
K: (Throws a 5-minute-long temper tantrum)
Moral of the story: Even if something is completely unwanted by you, your brother is NEVER allowed to have it.
The unfortunate thing is, this is not the first time this scene has played out. It was not the last either. The whole scene was repeated almost verbatim this evening, but with "crackers" substituted for "goulash." I'm not sure exactly why she's so opposed to Houston eating the remainder, but it is clearly the worst thing ever.
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+ 6 - 1 | § ¶Eats, Shoots, and Leaves
What is it about boys and guns? I am not a fan of guns. I don't really get a thrill from shooting them, and i'm really not crazy about the whole idea of guns in general. I'm not opposed to hunting per se, but i'm also not a big proponent of it. I, myself, would never be able to actually shoot an animal. I've never taught Houston anything about guns, and i don't know where he's really ever seen them. But he definitely has seen them. Because he regularly makes "guns" out of legos or other random toys. He talks about hunting, and whenever we see a picture of a deer, he says, "Uncle Todd likes to shoot deer." He's already making plans to talk to Travis all about hunting when we go to St. Louis. I've never forbidden guns, but Houston knows that i don't like them. Today, he picked up this stick and asked me, "Is it ok if i pretend this is a gun?" I asked him what he wanted to use it for, and he said, "Um, to shoot plants and sticks. But not to shoot any people."
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+ 6 - 2 | § ¶Exhaustion
So today. I was exhausted. All day at work, if i sat down for more than 5 minutes, i struggled to stay awake. I took guys to church, and i think i managed to stay awake the whole time, but it was by the skin of my teeth. So when i got home, Juanito was kind enough to let me take a nap. So i missed Mars Hill today, which was sad. But i think that if i'd gone, i would have slept through it anyhow. And this evening i've been mostly working on school stuff. Speaking of which...exams tomorrow. Gotta study and stuff.
+ 8 - 3 | § ¶Bemmer!
After a full day of working, which included getting my butt almost kicked in Risk - i would have had it totally kicked, but it was time for me to leave, so another staff took my place and probably got creamed, unless he was a much better player than i am, which is highly possible - we went to our friend Keith's graduation party. (That was an extremely long and gangly sentence.) Katrina was napping when i got home, so we waited for her to wake up before we left. As i was brushing her hair to get her all presentable, i told her that we were going to see S, B, and Z. She got all excited, and as soon as i was finished she ran to tell Juanito, "Bemmer!" And then, for good measure, whispered it his ear again. The whole way to their house, she said over and over, "Bemmer! Babel! Sssseeke!" And when we got out of the car, Bemmer and Sssseeke were standing looking out the window. Katrina's eyes lit up and she started walking with a spring in her step. I love it that she has friends. Friends that she recognizes and likes. I feel bad that Houston has never really had friends. He's had cousins, and that's great - but he doesn't have proper friends. And that makes me sad.
The other day i took the kids to Burger King (in the hopes that they would play and i could study, which didn't actually work out very well), and there happened to be another 4-year-old boy there at the same time. Not only was there a 4-year-old boy, but that was the only other child there at the time. So he and Houston befriended each other. As they were climbing up a little ladder thingy, the boy (i think his name was Seth) asked Houston if he had a two-wheeler. Houston said, "No, i don't think so." I told Houston that that meant a bike like his new one, and that sparked a whole conversation between the two. They got to the little netted-floor area, plopped down cross-legged facing each other, and talked about their training wheels and their flat tires and how Daddy had to fix the spokes on the wheel because they were broken. It was the first time i've seen Houston have a conversation with another kid his age, and it was awesome. I need to find that kid a friend.
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+ 0 - 7 | § ¶But do they know sign language?
I let Houston watch a movie of his choice today, and he chose "A Bear Named Winnie." I thought it was going to be about Winnie The Pooh, but turns out - it wasn't. It was live action and a cute movie, but occasionally over Houston's head. He really got into it though, and fell in love with the bear cub. And then, at one point, the people who have been taking care of Winnie (the bear) go to return her to the wild. So they bring her to the woods, tie her to a tree, and walk away. And at this point, Houston burst into tears. Great big sobs of despair for the little bear cub who was being abandoned in the woods. It was so sweet and sad and adorable. He has such a tender little heart.
So here's an interesting little tidbit of information i learned today. Houston's Little People are deaf. Who knew? "They" were driving their cars and banging into each other. Houston told me, "They're not being very safe." I told him, "Well, you should tell (ahem) "them" to drive more carefully so they don't bonk each other." And Houston informed me, "Well, if i tell them, they can't hear me. Because really, they're deaf." Ah! Good to know.
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 1 | § ¶I Too Dandilions!
Katrina likes to join in conversations now, especially in the car when Houston and i are talking. Her main contribution is to repeat whatever we say, adding "I too...." So today our conversation went something like this:
Me: In a couple of weeks, we're going to go to St. Louis, and we're going to visit the zoo!
Katrina: I too zoo!
M: We're going to see lots of animals!
K: I too animals!
Houston: What kind of animals are we going to see?
M: Giraffes and monkeys and .... What do you want to see?
H: Lions!
K: I too lions!
H: And tigers!
K: I too tigers!
H: And jaguars!
K: I too jaguars!
M: You like the big cats the best, huh?
K: I too cats!
H: I like them because they eat other animals.
K: I too eat other animals!
i'm still talking...
+ 5 - 3 | § ¶Me and my addictive personality
I've never smoked or done any drugs. I can easily count the number of alcoholic drinks that i've had, and i've never been even close to drunk. In fact, when i was in college, a group of "friends" of mine had this whole elaborate scheme to get me totally drunk one time. Fortunately, i foiled their plans by having an obnoxious personality wherein i will not just go along with things quietly, but must question everything and know why we are doing what. I also forgot about the weekend plans and made other plans instead. So i'm doubly obnoxious, i guess. (The questioning and knowing part of my personality totally ruined a surprise party for my birthday 4 years ago. Sigh.) But that's not the point.
The point is, it's probably a good thing i never got into smoking or drinking or drugs, because seriously? I have a totally addictive personality. I may not be hooked on crack, but give me a season's worth of CSI DVD's, and i cannot stop watching. Ditto for a season of Monk or Alias or ... i'm sure there are more good TV shows out there that i have not discovered. Books are the same way. If i start a good book, i have to read the whole thing as fast as humanly possible. I need to know what happens. I must just finish it so i don't have to read it anymore. But then, once it's finished, i'm immediately looking for my next fix - "What can i read next? Les Miserables? Well, i've read it 5 times and it's several thousand pages long, but ok! Look! It's right here, and i already know it's good!" Games? Games are the worst, because they seem so innocent. "I can play this one round of Sudoku, and that's only 10 minutes or so." And then, 12 games and 2 hours later, i realize that it's now 1:00 in the morning and i'm beyond exhausted and there is no earthly reason i should still be awake, except that i'm a moron. Nothing is safe. There may even hypothetically have been times in the past couple of weeks when i've watched a DVD and played Sudoku at the same time, while possibly eating some chocolate just for good measure. But i won't admit to it. Look over there! Something shiny!
i'm still talking...
+ 6 - 4 | § ¶Bright is the best weather
Today was a good, fun, relaxing kind of day. I maybe shouldn't be relaxing, what with exams coming up next week and a huge project i still have to finish and then insane amounts of homework we have to do for next semester that's starting already.... But nevertheless, i didn't do anything for school today. Yet. This afternoon we went out for lunch for my birthday (fun!), then came home and had nap/quiet time. And then this evening we (the kids and i) met Beth at the mall to walk around. We brought some food to eat dinner there, then were planning to y'know...walk. But we ended up getting distracted by all different stores, and probably didn't get a lot of exersize in. And then we got ice cream before coming home. Yeah!
Katrina wins the award for the neatest child i have ever seen eat an ice cream cone. She would take a lick and then carefully wipe her face off. Then take another lick and wipe herself off again. If any ice cream dripped to the table, she'd clean it up. Ditto for her hands. This was a great system except for one fatal flaw. To eat ice cream this carefully means you're also eating slowly. And ice cream melts. So pretty soon she was doing more cleaning than eating. The biggest mess occurred, however, when Beth "helped" her take a bite and spilled a huge glob all down her shirt. Katrina looked down in shock and horror, and Beth and i both kind of cracked up. Houston was considerably neater than he was previous years, which was good. And he was fast. So then he got to sit there and watch while saying, "I wish i could have another ice cream cone."
i'm still talking...
+ 3 - 4 | § ¶Hippo Birdie
Today was my birthday. Happy birthday to me. This is what i used to look like on my birthdays: my first, (my second is up there), my third, my fourth, and my ninth. I skipped a few, but i don't figure anyone wants to see a birthday picture from every single year of my life until now. Besides which...i don't have that much free time.
My birthday was good. It started last night already. Beth and Karla (whose birthday is tomorrow - Happy birthday, Karla!) and i went to Chili's for dessert, where we had an extremely grouchy waitress. But we still had fun. This morning i went to breakfast with my mom. This afternoon i hung out with Juanito and my kids (or rather, Houston, since Katrina slept most of the time). They gave me presents. Houston specifically picked out and gave me post-its. Sweet. And then i had class for most of the later afternoon and evening. So that was my day.
i'm still talking...