+ 3 - 2 | § ¶It's official
Houston broke his leg.
Let me back up. Remember how, two days ago, Houston jumped down some steps and fell down the rest of them and hurt his foot and cried and then was all cheerful and pleasant even though he wouldn't/couldn't actually stand or walk? And i thought, "Eh, he's obviously hurt, but he can't be in too much pain because he's not, like, complaining or anything? And he's all happy?" And then i let him scoot all over the sand dunes and left him to hang out at the campground and took him to my cousin's house for a birthday party and generally ignored his ankle (except for the fact that we had to carry him around or help him hop)? Yeah.
So this morning i called the doctor and told them that my brother-in-law PT and my cousin EMT both said that the swelling on his ankle was kind of high for a sprain, and the doctor told us to go to the hospital to have them take X-rays. The awesome thing about the hospital is that they have wheelchairs, so i didn't have to carry him any farther than the front desk.
Houston got X-rays done from five different angles, and then we waited and waited, and two hours later the person-who-informs-us came and said, "Well, it looks like he does have a break, so you'll need to go see the orthopedist tomorrow morning." And then she was done talking. So i was all, "Um...what did he break? Is it a hairline fracture like my brother-in-law thought?" And she was all, "No, it said there were bone fragments...i think in his ankle.... No, wait! It says bone fragments on his fibula." And then she closed the folder, so i figured that that was all the information i would get out of her.
So now i am studiously trying to not completely freak out until we talk to the orthopedist on Wednesday morning (which is when our appointment is). I'm not entirely succeeding, though. There are just so many things to worry about! Will he need surgery? Is the break in that spot on the bone where it will make his bone not grow anymore and he'll be all lopsided? Aaaaah! Need more information!
On the way home from the hospital, Houston was all completely cheerful. He chatted to me about how "it's so weird to think that other people have brains that can think differently than me! Other people can look at me from all different ways! Like, sometimes, people will come up to me and start talking about something, and i'm all, 'What are you talking about?' And that's just weird. And i'm probably the only person in the world right now thinking, 'I broke my leg! I have a broken bone!'" And i have to agree with him, that he is probably the only person in the world who is thinking, all gleefully, that they broke their leg.
And then, when we got home, i started calling everywhere in the world trying to find a pair of crutches that fit a 7-year-old. The first place i called, i asked, "Um, hi? I was told that you let people borrow crutches?" And the snarky lady was all, "We don't borrow them, we rent them." So i asked, "How much do you rent them for?" and she was all, "It's a $40 deposit." So then, somewhat confused, i asked, "And...when we bring them back, do we get the $40 back?" And she was all, "Well, yes. That's what deposit MEANS." So then i started to explain that she confused me with all of her talk about renting and how that usually involves actually paying money that you don't get back, but then i gave up and asked if they had anything for a 50-inch tall child, and she was all, "Sniff, snort, sigh. Well, that's just under 4 feet. Let me check." So then i had to roll my eyes at Juanito and use the term 4 feet 2 inches from then on.
I finally found some, and Houston and i went to get them. Have you ever seen anybody so happy to be using crutches? He's still getting the hang of it. He's fallen down a couple of times, and he refuses to believe that he should be using his arms instead of his armpits, but i'm sure that by the time school starts he'll be a pro.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Camping!
So, yeah. I have a million pictures today. Or 91. Whatever. But we were camping so i took more, and it's five days' worth, so ... those are my excuses.
We went camping! Back in January or whatever, we decided ("we" being all the family that lives around here) that we should take a camping trip with all of us. Sometime when it would be warm. Like August! So we reserved the campsite and planned ahead, and this week we packed up and headed to Ludington State Park, which was very beautiful and lovely and would have been perfect if, y'know, it wasn't FREEZING. And raining. Sigh. We had fun despite the cold, in-between rain showers.
We got there on Wednesday and set up camp, walked around a bit, ate s'mores, and let the kids stay up late. On Thursday a hike to the lighthouse was suggested, which was SUPPOSED to take about 2 hours. The two hours were not taking into consideration the fact that we had 6 little kids with us. We hiked through the forest (Where we saw some deer. Everyone thought it was cool except Zane, who spent the rest of the hike looking behind him and asking if the deer were following him.) and up and down sand dunes, and when we arrived at the lighthouse everyone was thrilled. The kids played in the lake, getting themselves happily drenched. A few people started to walk back (a less difficult path) to get the cars so we could drive the kids home, but then we realized that cars could not drive to the lighthouse - or anywhere near it. So we all started the long walk back to the campground. All in all, it was 4 hours of walking. And all in all, i'd have to say that my kids did pretty good.
Thursday afternoon we went to the lake to let the kids play in the water. It was way too cold for any of the adults to want to swim, but the kids had a great time floating in the current of the channel that fed into the lake.
Friday it rained nearly all day, so we went into town for lunch and ice cream, walked around a bit, and generally wasted time. Saturday morning was cold but dry, so we headed out for a walk to the nearby dam. Just off the path was a huge flight of stairs zig-zagging up a huge hill. Someone suggested, "Hey! You should see who can get up and down those stairs the fastest!" And off went most of the kids with Jim and Todd. Several minutes later they started coming down. And then there was a tremendous CRASH! and Houston started crying his "I'm seriously hurt" cry. His explanation is this: "I was running down, and i heard someone behind me, so i started jumping down the steps, and most of the flights had 4 steps or 3 steps, so i was jumping that far. But then one of the flights had 6 or 7 steps, so i jumped as far as 4, but then i fell down the rest."
Whatever happened, he landed very badly, because his ankle almost immediately started swelling up. It is either sprained or broken or...? We shall find out tomorrow. Either way, he is in pain and is unable to put any weight on it. He woke up in the middle of the night Saturday night crying in pain. He's been REALLY good-natured about it, though. Much less complain-y than i would probably be. This morning i told him, "Houston, i am so proud of how you haven't complained AT ALL." He was all, "What do you think i should complain about?" I said, "Well, because your ankle is hurt and you can't run down dunes and ride your bike and play with the other kids." And he was all, (think, think) "Moooooom!" But in a silly way. Because he's awesome.
After the walk to the dam on Friday, we ate lunch and then headed out to climb some dunes while it was still sunny. Houston rode on Juanito's shoulders. Poor Juanito. We found a HUGE dune to run up and down and jump and play on. Houston scooted himself around on his bum so that he could be near the fun. Katrina and Zane spent most of the time at the bottom of the hill - Zane playing in the sand, Katrina searching for a charm she'd found and then lost. And then, just as we were getting ready to leave, it started to drizzle again.
It rained the rest of the day Friday. Poured. The men set up a tarp over a couple of picnic tables, making it possible to make and eat dinner outside. We huddled around the fire for warmth when it slowed to drizzling, and then scattered back to our tents to sleep when it started pouring again at about 9:30. It poured and poured during the night, but by this morning it was sunny and dry. Dry enough that we could pack up our tent for real, with no need to set it up and air it out again at home. Hurrah! (Also to be thankful for: our tent performed remarkably well again. No leaks at all. Poor Jackie and Eric had to leave a day early because their tent and sleeping bags were soaked.)
Today we packed up and drove down to my cousin's house to celebrate my grandpa's 90th birthday. Ninetieth! We had pizza and cake and sang to him and took pictures. Yeah!
+ 3 - 2 | § ¶Unlucky pennies apparentlydo exist.
As we were cleaning out the car today, Houston found a penny. I was all, "Find a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck!" He looked at me, cocked his head to the side as if considering whether or not i knew what i was talking about, and then continued "helping." Approximately two minutes later, i went to hand Katrina her car seat, and Houston stepped forward at exactly the wrong time, and i slammed the hardest part of the car seat into his bottom lip. He bled. A lot.
We went back out to the car after cleaning him up and putting frozen broccoli on his lip (In the bag. Otherwise it would be weird.), and when we got to the car i found a little katydid sitting on one of the seatbelts. Houston fell in love with it, and immediately started sweet-talking to it, encouraging it to "go here" or "do this," and generally followed it around the inside of the car. And then Katrina accidentally squished it, and Houston was heartbroken. He cried and cried and cried. He gently picked it up, wrapped it in a leaf, and wept over its body. After many minutes of tears, i offered to have a funeral for it. So we did. A funeral. For the katydid. The katydid that we'd known all of about 5 minutes. There was music - classical, piped out of Houston's little MP3 player. There was praying. There was crying. The katydid was buried, dug up by Zane, and re-buried.
And then Houston turned to me and declared, "I don't think that penny was very lucky AT ALL."
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Poison Control
Katrina walked up to me, huffed, and said, "Graham was eating our vitamins!" She was all annoyed-sounding. "Huh," i said, "Go ask Daddy if Graham is going to die."
It may not have been the most sensitive thing i could have done. She looked stricken. She was terrified that he was going to drop dead any second. I called the vet, who instructed us to induce vomiting by making him drink hydrogen peroxide. Um, gross. Seriously gross. And then i had to call poison control to make sure there wouldn't be any long-term effects. And then, once he had an empty stomach, he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything until tonight. On the up side, he got his very first home-cooked meal. Rice and ground beef. Lucky dog.
Honestly, i wasn't too worried about him. Once, a few years ago, Graham ate an entire bag of M&Ms, and he was just fine. So he'll probably survive this just fine too.
My first time ever calling Poison Control, and it's for the dog.
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Meijer Gardens
Me: "Why don't i come here EVERY DAY?"
Beth: "I don't know. You should."
Me: "Probably because it's been such a cold summer."
Beth: "Today is one of the coldest days...."
Me: "Maybe because it's finally sunny?"
Beth: "It's not sunny today."
Me: "Shut up and let me have my excuses! Sheesh!" (Except i might not have said that last part out loud.)
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Old Friends
Houston has a little notebook, in which he records things that he deems important or interesting. Previous pages include things like, "It's Chrismis! I love Chrismis a lot!" and "Werd tree" (with a picture to illustrate) and "Uncle Jim and Ant Alesha's wading!!!" and "Graham went to the vet." It's really quite an enjoyable little read. In a few years, i assume that he will have a journal that he will forbid us to read, because it will say things like, "That one girl is really cute. I like her a lot," or "My mom sucks."
Today's entry was this: "Badest day ever. 1. Zane pulled my neck up. 2. Zane cut my finger. 3. Zane jumpte on my head." I'm not sure whether to giggle, to feel sorry for Houston because Zane is beating him up, or to feel sorry for Zane because Houston will never let him forget it. Of course...now that i think about it, maybe in a few years Zane will be all, "Dude. When i was THREE and you were SEVEN, i totally beat you up. Wimp."
This afternoon/evening Juanito and i got to go to the wedding of a friend of ours who really is too young to be getting married. He's 12, after all. Or at least, that's how i remember him. He was about 12 when i met him 10 years or so ago, and i've only seen him rarely in the past 8 years, so in my mind he's still a little kid. He and his bride are all cute and happy, so i'm happy for them. My favorite part of the wedding, honestly, was getting to see lots of people i haven't seen for years. Aaron and Dave and Dave's wife and kids (who are shockingly old) and Tymm's mom and Aunt Carol, with whom we traveled down to Florida. We laughed a lot and caught up a bit and laughed some more. And i remembered how much i really like them, and how much i really miss Tymm.
Oh, and ALSO! If you have Google Reader or some other blog-following-type thing, Juanito fixed my weblog so that now you can follow me! Three cheers for Juanito!
+ 1 - 2 | § ¶Not blogging.
I had a headache today. So this is me not blogging.
+ 4 - 0 | § ¶We will, We will...Rocketship!
We finished making Houston's second rocket today. I let him put on the stickers, and it was a lesson in self-restraint to let him get it all wrinkled and put the stickers in the "wrong" places. When it was finished, he was completely happy with how it looked. So...hurrah! The plan is to shoot it off tomorrow, assuming that it's not pouring rain. Or drizzling rain. I'm not a huge fan of getting wet.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Bowling
Houston picked up some free bowling passes at the Y the other day, so this afternoon we all went bowling. The place was run (and probably owned) by this cute little old man, who let Katrina and Zane bowl in their crocs rather than having to actually pay for them to have bowling shoes. Houston got to wear the cute bowling shoes, though. We were the only people there, so we didn't even have to worry about bothering anyone else. Score!
The kids loved it. They put up the bumpers, so there were no gutter balls, which helped the kids (and Juanito!) have more fun. Gutter balls aren't very fun, after all. Houston went all-out, actually displaying some decent form, considering that he's never been taught. Sadly, he came in last place. Katrina was split between kneeling and just pushing the ball and actually throwing the ball (two-handed, as it was too heavy for one hand). She did very well, except for the one time when she threw the ball over the gutter-guard-thingies and the ball got stuck and the cute old man had to come rescue it. Zane loved watching the ball-return machine, loved getting his ball, carrying it up to the line, sitting down with it, and pushing it. And sometimes we just let it go, but if it looked like it might not make it, we helped by giving it an extra little shove. So everyone had fun. Woo!
The rest of the day was spent cleaning, playing, and Zumba-ing. Not quite as exciting, but very time-filling.
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Adventures in the neighborhood
This morning we went to my parents' church's garden and picked lots of yummy corn, green peppers, green beans, zucchini, and tomatoes. The kids would have picked every ear of corn in the garden, loved hunting for tomatoes, and stuck their heads in every huge zucchini plant there was in search of a zucchini.
We hit the library, went grocery shopping (which was surprisingly easy, what with having 3 kids in tow), and then spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside. We found the first red tomato in our garden (and picked it). Houston and Katrina begged to be allowed to "go on adventures" by themselves, adventures being taking a walk around the block with just the two of them, going down to explore our (currently uninhabited) neighbor's yard, and take a walk halfway down the steps to the next neighborhood. I reminded myself sternly that crime rates are down to where they were in 1970, and that back then i was allowed to run around our neighborhood freely, took a deep breath, and let them go. And they came back shortly thereafter, very happy and proud of themselves.
On these little adventures, they collected bits of ... stuff, and then made awesome little pictures out of them.
And then tonight i went out with Beth while Juanito took the kids to teach Zumba at the YMCA. (Juanito taught. The kids just went to the childcare area. They didn't teach.) We stopped at Meijer so Beth could get some things, and while we were there, i found this. Salmon flavored cream cheese? That is just about the grossest thing i've ever heard of.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶At the lake. But not The Lake. Just a little one.
The weathermen were all, "It's going to rain today. Lots of rain! Thunderstorms!" And we decided to ignore them and go out on the boat anyhow, and it's a good thing we did, because it turned out to be a bright, sunny day. A hot, bright, sunny day. The perfect day for swimming in a lake, riding around on a boat, and getting dragged behind said boat on a tube. I wasn't actually planning to swim, but i was lured into the cool water by the hot, hot sun and my adorable little children. And once i was already in the water, my dad was all, "So, Kare! Are you going to go on the tube today?" And unlike previous years i didn't have a ready-made excuse like, "I'm pregnant," or "I have a little baby that needs me," so i went for my first tube ride in years. (And it was fun! Who knew!) It was hot enough that everyone went swimming - my mom, my sister Jackie, all the kids, Juanito - except my dad, who, i just learned, doesn't like to swim. (How can he not like to swim? He grew up on a LAKE!)
As we were driving home, talking about if we'd had fun, Zane informed me that he had a great day! Even though he didn't go on his tulip! Luckily for me, i had heard Zane talk about tulips before, and knew that he meant inner tubes. Otherwise, that would have been really confusing.
And NOW it's raining, which is kind of perfect, because it sounds lovely and my garden needed some watering anyhow.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Water balloons and going to a movie can be checked from the list
Houston woke up in an amazing mood today. He WANTED to help. He was eager to help. He cleaned his room and hung up his new shirts in his closets, cleaned up everything i asked him to, and then cheerfully ran outside to throw water balloons all over the yard. In fact, i don't think that i had to ONCE tell him to not do something or to stop pestering. It was heavenly.
The movie UP is in the cheap theater, so we took the kids to go see that this afternoon. It had me crying within 10 minutes, and then alternately laughing and crying the rest of the way through. Pixar makes really awesome movies. The kids loved it. I loved Dug, the dog. I mean, i loved the entire movie, but i really, really love Dug.
As we were leaving the movie, we saw a big hawk sitting on a railing, holding a huge dead rat in his claws. Um, awesome.
And that was our day.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Ice cream, gun shots, tree branches, and Froot Loops with salt and pepper on them
Yesterday we all (Juanito too!) went to Max & Erma's for lunch, where we used the kids' rewards from the Reading Club at the library, and then we went to get ice cream at Culver's - or "token ice cream," as the kids call it. They call it that because they got little tokens for free ice cream from the Memorial Day parade LAST YEAR, and we just yesterday finally went and used them, after the kids had been begging to go for, oh, the past year and a half. (And then everyone had to pose as though we were advertising how great Culver's is (or isn't).
Then Juanito had to go to work, so the kids and i went to a big huge park near-ish to where we were. First we went for a walk over the river and through the woods (Zane: "There is nothing scary here, Mama? There are no lions? There is nothing scary, Mama???"). I convinced most of the kids to walk very quietly (except Zane, who has exactly one volume - LOUD), and we managed to find a bit of wildlife. A toad, a huge daddy-long-legs, a slug, a squirrel, a chipmunk, and a cricket among other things. And then, just when we were about as far away from the park as i was planning to go, Zane informed me that he had just pooped in his unnerwear, and that was that.
So then the kids played like crazy on the playground. It was entirely fun, and before long everyone was very hot and sweaty. Then they all rolled down the huge hill about twenty-gazillion times. And then we all agreed that it was time to leave.
And you would THINK that after running and climbing and rolling and playing for two hours in the hot, hot sun, the kids would be tired out enough to be quiet in the library. But you would be wrong. Because even though we went there just a few days ago and they were all model children, today they were LOUD and LAUGH-Y and VERY EXCITED. Sigh.
But then i got to hand Houston off to my mom, and that was the last i saw of him until tonight. And then i came home with two kids and they quietly played and ate and took baths and went to bed. And my sister Jill came over and worked on my computer until very late, and it was all very lovely.
Until 1:23, when suddenly i heard two gunshots and kind of freaked out a little bit because they were obviously from very close by, so i called the police and they were all, "Ok. We'll send a car around." And i assume they did, but...meh. What're they really going to find?
***************************
This morning i was sitting in our front room, when suddenly i heard a very loud swoooooosh craaaaaash! I looked out the window and found a gigantic tree branch that had randomly decided to just fall off our neighbor's tree. And when i was trying to tell people that a tree branch fell off, they were all, "Eh. Whatever." But i don't think they realized that it was a Tree Branch. So i called the city and informed them, and then the kids and i all got our shoes on and i grabbed my camera (for which my neighbors teased me), and we went out to get a closer look. And in our neighborhood, nothing draws people together like trees falling down. I think that every neighbor who was not at work was out chatting it up. And pretty quickly the trucks came and sawed and wood-chipped the branch, and within an hour there was almost no trace of it.
But i did find out what got shot. Our neighbor's house. Two doors down and across the street, the police found two bullets in the back wall. Nice.
After that the day got less exciting: Playdough, Uno, Little People, books....
And then Houston got home and told me all about his day with Grandma. Here is Houston's version of his overnight at Grandma's house: We went to eat at Steak and Shake, and then we came back and i rode my bike around the circle for a while and then we went to bed. Grandma woke me up at about 6:30, and we went right to shopping. I was like, "Uhhhhh. I think i needed to sleep a little bit longer." We went from one shopping place right to another shopping place, and then we went home and ate breakfast. We had Froot Loops for breakfast. Grandma poured her Froot Loops and then put sugar on hers - either that or salt and pepper. Then we had lunch, but i don't remember what we had, but it was at a restaurant. And then we went to the theater. (They saw the movie UP.)
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Human Calendar
Ok, so i would LOVE to take credit for the fancy new calendar thingy that my weblog has up in the right-hand corner, but realistically my contribution was pretty slim.
This is what i did: Notice that there's a cool new "human calendar" and tell Juanito, "Wouldn't it be AWESOME to make one of those with pictures of our family? Could you make it?" Help make signs. Take pictures of kids with signs.
Here's what Juanito did: FIGURE OUT HOW. He also helped make the signs. I'm pretty sure he qualifies for Rock Star status for making it work. It's apparently really, really difficult.
The kids helped by coloring in the signs and also by being super-cute.
+ 4 - 2 | § ¶Adventures
Today we had "An Adventure." At least, that is how i described it to the kids.
The first thing we did was to visit the trains. There is a giant train...something, just down the highway from us. It's not a station. It's more of a parking lot? Weigh station? Place where the trains can pass each other safely? Whatever it is, there are always trains sitting around, and there is always a big engine parked in front. I told the kids that it was important that they stay right by me, and i think they were well-behaved enough that the guy up in the watch tower just left us alone rather than kick us out. Zane has been talking about trains for the past few weeks, and every time he hears the train go by near our house he begs to go watch it. So he obviously loved being able to go close up to the trains, touch the train tracks, and cling to me nervously because he was slightly convinced that he was going to get run over. I made the mistake of telling the kids that when i was little we sometimes put a penny on the tracks and the train would flatten it, and then i had to stop them from covering the tracks with rocks and bits of trash they found nearby. Both Houston and Katrina found treasures in the form of bottle caps, pretty rocks, and other tiny trash bits. And i took zillions of pictures, so i was happy too.
Then we went to a farmer's market, where we got the best peaches i've ever tasted in Michigan. Houston walked up to the table full of breads and asked the teenaged/young 20's guy, "Do you have pumpernickel?" The guy was all, "Do you LIKE pumpernickel bread? That is really remarkably COOL!" But they didn't have any, sadly. We got sourdough instead.
We stopped at the library, where Houston curled up in a chair and read quietly the entire time, making me insanely happy. Katrina and Zane happily and quietly played with the toys. And i picked out books to read with the kids. I have a new method of choosing kids' books. I sit down in front of one little section and choose all the books for that week from that section. I find a lot of really cute books that i'd normally pass right over that way. Yeah!
And THEN we went to the park, where we ate some of our farmer's market purchases and played like crazy.
And FINALLY we stopped at the fire station, where a really friendly fireman (who looked a LOT like the guy who used to be on Alias and then was on Heroes) gave us the grand tour, showing us every single little thing. The kids climbed all over the trucks. Houston asked a lot of really good questions.
And then we came home, where we pulled up right behind Juanito, who skipped BOTH Zumba classes today. Hurrah!
After dinner, we sat on the couch and taught Houston and Katrina how to tie shoes. Katrina has actually been wanting to learn, and picked it up very quickly, un-surprisingly. She's good at that kind of thing. Houston has been fighting learning it for years, and still declares that he doesn't want to learn, but i have put my foot down, because a 7-year-old needs to know how to tie shoes. It's old enough, for pete's sake. He tried and tried and got frustrated and wanted to give up and i made him keep trying, and he FINALLY got it and was all proud of himself. Neither of them are very good at it yet, but with some practice they'll improve. I forget how really difficult tying shoes is. There's a lot of steps to learn. And i never learned the whole rabbit-tree-hole thing, so after i struggled to explain in the most complicated way possible, "You need to loop it around your fingers and then grab that string and kind of let go with this finger and ... hang on....", Juanito popped in with the rabbit-thingy and that was apparently easier to understand. Go figure.
So. That was our day.
+ 3 - 2 | § ¶Differences in personalities
That's my personality type. ISFP. Juanito is an ENFP. So...we're different.
Or we could describe the differences in our personalities more easily using today as an example.
At 4:30, Juanito brought the kids home from blueberry picking, and they were all, "We're going to the YMCA pool!" And Juanito's brain (i assume) is thinking, "That would be fun! And the kids want to go! And we're going for Zumba anyhow!"
MY brain, on the other hand, immediately thinks, "Are you kidding me? We have one hour until Zumba starts, and we are going to need to get everyone's bathing suits on and get their clothes all packed to put on afterwards and then get to the YMCA and put everything into a locker and shower and swim and then get back OUT and shower and get dried off and get dressed and put all the wet suits somewhere and bring the kids to their rooms and get ourselves up to the third floor for Zumba. In an HOUR? And none of those things SHOULD take a long time by themselves, except that we are doing it with three kids and everything takes ten times longer when we're doing it with kids. Seriously?"
And then i get crabby and huff around trying to get everyone ready really fast while Juanito, um... does something else? And we swim and have fun and then i get all the kids dressed while Juanito takes a shower and i grump a little bit more. And then we're late to Zumba and i pout the entire time.
Because he is an inspirer and is nice and happy and fun, and i, apparently, am a grumpy boring person.
PS. Incidentally, my grumpiness does not necessarily reflect the personality traits of that personality type. My mom and my sister-in-law are the same type, and i'm not trying to call either of THEM grumpy or boring. For the record.
PPS. If you have not taken the Myers-Briggs test, you should totally take it and tell me what you are, because i need to know. So that i can understand you. Because apparently one of the personality traits i have is gathering information to better understand things, and THAT description TOTALLY fits. If you have already taken it, you should tell me what you are too. For the same reason.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Swimming!
I have been waiting for summer since approximately May. Today was the perfect summer day. We woke up to thunderstorms, and by about noon the sun was shining and it was getting warm. Or, rather, it was getting hot. The kids and i went outside and set up an obstacle course and ran around for a while until we were all dripping sweat and decided to quit running around. And JUST THEN, my sister Jill called and asked if we wanted to go to her in-laws' pool. Hurrah!
Houston and Katrina suddenly became somewhat fearless in the water, throwing themselves into the deep end repeatedly - jumping off the diving board, going down the slide, jumping and diving from the side.... Houston practiced diving and really wanted to dive off the diving board. Houston jumped off the diving board, kicked himself to the surface, and (with a very little help) swam back to the side of the pool. Ditto for the slide. Katrina jumped and jumped off the diving board and actually seemed to enjoy going underwater. A few times she jumped far enough away that i didn't catch her at all and she sank and sank before i finally got hold of her, and when i got her to the surface she was all, "I could see you trying to find me!" So it's nice to know that the "fear of putting their heads underwater" thing has worn off. Suffice it to say that the kids had the Best! Day! Ever!
Zane, on the other hand, continues to hate water. Hate. The closest he came to swimming was either sitting on the side with his toes in the water or sitting on the floaty-raft thingy as far away from the water as was possible while sitting in the middle of it. I put him in the Spiderman innertube and took him into the water to get him wet for a few minutes, and he cried and screamed and begged to get out of the water. He spent his entire time at the pool walking around the edges and amusing himself by throwing his innertube around and...stuff. I don't know what he did, really.
We got home from the pool (with all of the kids exhausted and falling asleep in the car while i called, "Zaney! Katrina! Don't fall asleep! Pleeeease!!!!"), and almost immediately it started pouring and thundering and lightning. Lovely!
+ 4 - 2 | § ¶Today
Today...
The kids woke up at about 6:30 with the huge thunderstorm. Thunderstorm = awesome. Kids waking up at 6:30 = blech.
We visited with our cousins Nate and Bett, who are here from Minnesota for a very short weekend. We like them.
We visited with my sister and her kids. Katrina loves having other girls who are willing to play dolls and doll house with her. As opposed to boys who mostly want to play with doll houses by setting them up and then knocking them down.
Katrina found a way to actually talk just to hear herself talk.
Juanito was tired enough that he actually fell asleep during pizza/movie night. (The nap revived him enough that he is working on his amplifier at 11:30 instead of just going to bed.)
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Slippin' and slidin'
It was one of the few warm days we've had this summer, so today i broke out the slip-n-slide. I bought the slip-n-slide new from Walgreens when they had their clearance sale, so it was only $5, and i figured, "Hey! Can't go wrong there!" Except...i set it all up and turned on the water, and there was already a hole in it. What's up with that, China? Why are so many things you make broken when they come out of the box? Huh?
Um...rant over.
So it worked anyhow, and the kids slipped and slided and had a blast for about 15 minutes. We need to find more soft, level ground to put it on, and i imagine they'll last a lot longer. Meanwhile, Zane happily played and played with his boat, not getting wet at all. And then, when everyone was cold, we moved on to other activities like lining up lawn chairs (?) and eating blueberries. The kids played with the neighbor kids (we have neighbor kids!) for a while, rode bikes for a while, and generally just spent time outside.
This evening my parents came over and we had a little mini-birthday party (a week late) for Zane. Zane was very interested in the singing, the M&Ms, and the ice cream, vaguely interested in the candles, and not at all interested in the brownie. Weirdo.
+ 4 - 1 | § ¶Blueberry picking
We went blueberry picking today. I, of course, don't even LIKE blueberries, although i did try my one blueberry per year. And i still don't like them. The rest of everybody loves them, though, so i'm guessing that for every one blueberry we brought home, one was eaten. (Juanito DID pay the cashier extra for the ones he ate.)
If you look at the pictures of Zane, you can see a horrible rope burn on his neck. Yesterday Katrina was winding up a long rope that is outside for...some reason, and it was stretching across the sidewalk. Zane was happily riding his tricycle around. And all was well with the world. Until Houston gave Zane a push and Katrina lifted the rope at the same time and Houston pushed Zane mostly under the rope except not quite and Zane started crying, and i was not nearly sympathetic enough because i thought that he was just mad that Houston was pushing him until he woke up from his nap with a huge, terrible burn across his neck, and then i felt horrible. Poor boy.
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶The school year is approaching.
My sister Jill came over today, and we did battle with Snapfish, who seemed to take offense to Jill's wanting to actually buy pictures from them. Sigh. Meanwhile the kids played together, some elaborate game with Katrina's doll house and dolls where the house was lying flat on its back and the people were being shot up in rockets. I love listening to snippets of their conversations when they're playing games like that. It's awesome.
We got the kids' letters from their new teachers today, and i assume that both are very nice and wonderful, but i have one teensy little thing i just have to say. Houston's teacher wrote in her letter that she and her husband are raising a "DOGter." Get it? A DOGter. It's a dog. I'm not sure i can get behind a teacher who calls her dog a dogter. It's just...wrong. Tomorrow we might go and check out the list of classes to see if Houston has any friends in his class. Here's hoping. Fingers crossed and all that.
So now we know their teachers names and what they need for school supplies and everything. I was reading the list for Katrina, getting all teary because, "Aw! My little girl is going to school!!!" I have to answer all the little questions like, "How does your child feel about going to school?" And "How does your child react to discipline?" I'm glad i still have a month to prepare myself.
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶He is, indeed, tall.
Zane had his 3-year checkup today. They called us back, and as we walked toward the room we would be in, Zane started saying, in his "should i panic?" voice, "Mom, i don't want to go there!" And that never really bodes well. The nurse weighed him and measured him (very slowly, with lots of persuasion on my part), and then asked, "So...he's almost 4 then?" I was all, "Um, no. He just turned 3 two days ago." And then she did a hilarious double-take and looked at the 41" that she had just written down and looked at Zane and exclaimed, "Wow! He's really tall!" Yes, yes he is.
She finished doing all of her tests, and then Dr. H came in and charted Zane's growth and said, "So...he's way up here off the charts. You have a tall boy!" (For the record: Zane is 41" and 35 lb, which puts him in the 75% for weight and off the charts for height.) And then Dr. H confirmed that Zane is healthy and brilliant and doing exactly what he should be doing. He was all, "Can Zane draw a circle?" And i said, "Um...no? I don't know. I've never asked him to. But i did ask him to draw eyes in a circle, and he just kind of scribbled all over...." So then Dr. H took a piece of paper and drew a circle and gave Zane a pen and told him to draw a circle...and Zane drew a nearly-perfect little circle. And then i realized that i am a terrible mother because i have not been encouraging my child's artistic abilities by making him draw circles.
At one point, Dr. H was all, "Do you see him using his imagination at all?" And i said, "Well, he thinks he's a cat. Does that count?" It does. It's also apparently a sign of a very vivid imagination. And there's a good chance that he'll develop an imaginary friend. Awesome. According to our doctor, it's kind of like a security blanket, except internal. Which...yeah. He does become a cat when he's upset or nervous or scared, so that makes sense.
So then i came home and posted that Zane is tall, and my friend Linda wrote me an email and told me to figure out how tall he's going to be using this thing, and according to that, Zane is going to be 6'4". And then i tried it with Houston, and he's supposed to be 6'5", which doesn't really sound right because i'm pretty sure that Zane is going to be taller than Houston. Although i guess i could be wrong, but either way, we are raising giants, y'all! Giants! I mean, yeah, maybe 6'5" doesn't technically qualify as giant-status, but when i'm craning my neck to see my children, that's what i'm going to consider it.
+ 2 - 3 | § ¶Three completely unrelated subjects
On the way home from church today, we noticed a car show setting up in a parking lot. Juanito was all, "Do you think we should stop?" But he said it in his eager, "please, please, please?" voice. So we did. The boys ran from car to car yelling, "Awesome! Look at THAT!" Zane tried to sound like he knew about cars and totally confused car owners by telling them excitedly, "That's the biggest trunk i ever saw!" while pointing at their engine. Katrina was somewhat amused (probably as much as i was), but more by things like the fancy trunks and shiny chrome bits than big fancy engines.
Houston and Zane showed me their latest trick today. Houston gives Zane piggyback rides. So far they both love it and it's been injury-free, so i'm ok with it, but i did draw the line at trying it out on the pavement. I was happy about that when a couple minutes into the riding, Houston totally dropped Zane and fell on top of him. They were on grass and both got up laughing. Juanito and i just looked at each other and went, "Um...ok, then!"
A couple of weeks ago, i was on Facebook, and i happened to glance at the bottom of the page and saw this ad. Awesome. (Um, in case you can't tell, that "Hot single" that is waiting for me? That's Juanito.)
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Zane is three!
I do have a zillion pictures from today, so i will put a slideshow at the end, but as it is Zane's birthday, he deserves his very own picture at the top today. Because he is THREE!
Zane's grown in leaps and bounds this year - both in size and ability. His 3-year-old checkup is in two days, and i can give specifics then, but i can say with full confidence that he is tall. He is taller than any other kid his age i've met, and is quite a bit taller than Houston was at the same age. Given that he's so tall, he's surprisingly coordinated. He leaps from chairs and lands on his feet. He runs and never falls. He flings himself about and rarely gets injured.
And speaking of flinging himself around.... He FLINGS himself around. If i sit on the floor, he will run over and flop on top of me. Or run at me full speed and throw himself at me, and i had just better be ready to catch him or i get collided into. His favorite activity (one that he is actually not allowed to do, but that he keeps doing because it's worth getting in trouble for) is to stand on the arm of the couch and either leap or fall onto the couch itself. If i wasn't stopping him for fear of our old couch actually collapsing underneath him, he'd do that for hours.
Despite all the flinging, Zane is really not reckless. He scopes things out before he dives in. Just like he's always been, he is decidedly suspicious of new places, situations, and people. It takes him a while to warm up to something or someone. The people he sees often, he adores. The people he sees sometimes, he loves from a distance and then talks about to me later. People he doesn't know, he will look at from under his eyebrows in his own little way of saying, "Stay back! Do not attempt to talk to me or i will meow at you!"
Ah, the year of the cat. This year, Zane has taken on an alternate identity. Sometimes he will tell you, "I am just a boy!" Other times, he will insist that i "pet the cat," meaning him. He will meow, refusing to actually use words, when he is the cat - at least when he's the cat because he's in an uncomfortable situation. Or when he's unhappy. If he's happy and being the cat, then he can still talk. Occasionally he'll even drop to his hands and knees and crawl around like a cat. And if you ask him if he's a cat, he will almost always answer in the affirmative.
When he turned 2, Zane had just barely started talking. As he turns 3, he is a complete chatterbox. He will talk and talk and talk, and if he suspects that i am not listening well enough, he will take my face and turn it to look directly at him so that he has my full attention. He loves to sing. His favorite songs range from age-appropriate ones like, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Jesus Loves Me," to the somewhat embarrassing, "Who Let the Dogs out" and "Everybody Dance Now!" He can sing all the ABC's, but if he's singing it alone the song usually goes, "ABCDEFG, Next time won't you sing with me?" He can count up to 20, but sometimes misses a number or two. He knows all his colors, although his favorite changes almost daily.
Zane has very definite opinions about some things. What he wears, for instance. There are some shirts and pajamas he will flat-out refuse to wear. If i force him, he WILL scream and cry for a long time about it. He has favorite toys, some of which actually belong to Houston, and he gets really angry if anyone else tries to play with them. The strong opinions usually boil down to what he perceives as "mine" and what he does not. If he thinks a shirt is really Houston's he Does. Not. Want to wear it. If a ball is HIS, Katrina better not try to take it away.
Overall, Zane's a really obedient child. He has a few naughty habits we are trying to break (jumping on the couch, not coming when called, and throwing his food to the dog being the biggest three), but most of the time he jumps to obey us. He walks around saying, "I'm a good boy?" and is devastated when one of the kids tells him that he's naughty. When he's happy, he is the happiest child in the world. When he's sad, you'd be hard put to find someone who can make sadder faces than he can. He's amazingly expressive, very serious, and extremely contemplative.
And utterly adorable.
So...today. This morning was Houston's last t-ball game. He got to be the first batter AND he got to play pitcher once. (The other innings, they put him back in the outfield. And with good reason.) His batting was excellent today - he made it home twice! His fielding was...not as impressive. A couple of times he ran for the ball and did some good fielding. And then there were the times he just kind of didn't notice the ball until someone else was running for it. Once, when he was pitcher, he was looking somewhere else when the ball was hit, and the ball actually bounced right in front of him and then bounced off his head before he noticed it. And all the while, Juanito and i were yelling, "Houston!!!!!!" On the bright side, i'm pretty sure that all the other parents know Houston's name. After the game the kids all got their medals, and then we there was a little picnic for the families with hot dogs and chips and lemonade, and that was all very nice except that when his game got finished it was not yet quite 10:00 in the morning, and eating hot dogs at 10:00 is really not right. But we did it anyhow.
We came home and Zane and i made his birthday cake. Zaney helped me with the pouring and the eggs and the beating and, most importantly, the licking off of all the chocolate batter-covered things. When he got to the bowl, he actually stuck his entire head into the bowl to lick it out. Awesome. He requested a car cake, and i did my best. He also requested that it be a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, and i had no problem at all agreeing to that. Mmmm.
We opened presents. When he got to the ones from Katrina and Houston, they handed him the present, he opened it, and then he tried to give it back, thinking that he was opening the present that really belonged to them. We explained that all the presents were HIS! And then we had him cover his eyes while Juanito went to get the big present, a tricycle from us and my parents, and when he opened his eyes he immediately exclaimed, "Mine!" and hopped right on. And he loves it. We played with some huge balloon things that you blow up and then let go of, and they kind of squeal as they fly around. We played with bubbles, of which he got many for his birthday.
And then, this evening, we got to go to a White Caps game. My sister and her husband invited us to join them in some box seats and to invite some friends, so we did! Our friends Andrew and Linda and their kids (except for Linda - she didn't go), and our friend Mark (who came alone without his family) all came with us. It was really fun. Jill and Todd snuck some little cakes in, so we sang to Zane again. (He sang along. He loves that song.) And we even watched the game a bit.
Fun day!