Dead Sea Scrolls

If you ever have a chance to go see the Dead Sea Scrolls in any kind of exhibition, do.

We expected to spend maybe a couple of hours looking at some old parchment that documented some of the formative writings of Judaism and Christianity. What I didn't expect was that the two youngest would be attentive for 3 hours and that we would spend about 5 hours total exploring, learning about and viewing the Dead Sea Scrolls.
It was an incredible experience. Not only was it incredible from a personal religious standpoint, but it was unfathomable from an historical standpoint.

Part of what we saw was a copy from Deuteronomy, specifically, the passages containing the 10 Commandments. The portion of the scroll on display was maybe three inches across and perhaps 10 inches long. It contained the 10 commandments written twice (two different copies...hard to explain) including interpretive text in the original paleo-Hebrew. The writing was positively minuscule and perfect. The condition of the parchment was impeccable. It just blew me away to see such a beautiful example of writing from so long ago.

Really, I'm struggling to put into words how much this affected me. I expected to be wowed by our visit today. I didn't expect to be so deeply moved. This was well worth every penny we spent today. I'm so glad we went.

Has anyone seen my horse?

So I'd like to get back in the saddle with the whole blogging thing. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost my drive and direction...my horse, if you will. If you see it wandering around, aimlessly and without purpose, please send it my way!

Until then, rest assured that Little Dude is recovering well from nearly breaking his nose, Monkey Boy didn't just break his foot...it just hurt like crazy, and The Lizard has a nearly functional back again. Oh, and my ankle doesn't still hurt at all. Nope, no it doesn't. Well, maybe a little. It's still purple. I think we're good on bodily injury for awhile, don't you?

Just a little update

We are home, we are safe, and our home and neighborhood are intact. We went to Yosemite and enjoyed some time away from the smoke and the stress of watching our county burn. Once my head is screwed on straight again, I promise more stories and more pictures. For now, enjoy your Halloween tomorrow night!

Going to a safer place.

If you've been watching the news much, you know that most of San Diego county is on fire. I've lost track of how many fires there are right now, last count I saw was 17. While we are miraculously not under a mandatory evacuation (as more than 600,000 are in the county), we are nonetheless leaving.

Pray for those who have lost everything and pray for a quick end to the firestorm. The smoke is thick and it's not easy to breathe. So we are headed out to cleaner air and safer surroundings.

It's a tooth!

Yep, he's four. And that's his first lost tooth. I think he's taking after his sister. Little Miss lost her first tooth at 4 and 8 months. He lost his at 4 and 5 months. Good thing the tooth fairy is loaded!

I have a hole in my head!

Listening to kids is like listening to a skipping record. (uh-oh...did I just date myself there?) Sometimes, the words come tumbling out and you listen intently, but you're still not sure what just happened. Case and point...Mighty Man at breakfast:

Yesterday, I had a hole in my head.

Do you have it today? (I asked, because as a mother, I had to know.)

No, it's gone. But if you open up my hair, you might see it. But I'm making it so you cannot take my hair apart, all right? No one made a hole in my head. Am I right? So, I am right.

Whew. So my question for you is this: does he have a hole in his head or not? Oh, and in case you missed seeing his angelic face...here he is (and yes, he regularly moves our couch...the sleeper portion...that thing is heavy!).

"My heart was screaming NO!"

It's that time of the year again. Yep, time to pack up the kids and head out to pediatrics for our annual flu shots. If you don't get a flu shot, you really should. The flu is nasty stuff. And I'm not talking about a little cold that imitates the flu, I'm talking about true influenza. A lot of people think they "get the flu every year" or have had the flu. Probably not. Lots of viruses imitate the flu virus, but few are actually as bad as the real thing.

The flu is sudden. "I got sick around 4pm on Friday." Not "I got sick a couple of days ago." The flu makes you wish you were dead, or at least totally unconscious. A cold just makes you achy and whiny. With the flu, you're so sick, you can't whine. See the difference? It's a big one, and trust me when I say, a shot (and the piddly little side effects, if you get them) is nothing compared to getting true influenza.

So, we went for our annual flu shots. Normally Little Miss pitches a fit the size of Texas on steroids. It's not pretty. At all. This year, we made her go first (nice, huh?) and made her relax. She sat, squealed a bit, but then was amazed to find out that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Whew! One down, 5 to go.

Monkey Boy sat down and took his like...well, a monkey. He giggled a bit when it was over. Not bad, this could be a record for us! Then the Lizard went (and dads don't cry) followed by me (and no, I didn't cry either). Next up was Little Dude, who, unfortunately, had fallen asleep in the car on the way over and was still sound asleep...right up until he got hit with an alcohol wipe and a needle...OUCH! Needless to say, he was a little peeved at the whole situation. Can't say as I blame him.

Now, to fully appreciate how Mighty Man took his shot, you must understand that he is very, VERY strong. And built like a brick house. When he has it in his head that something is or is not going to happen, well, then that's that. Let's just say that he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of getting a shot. At all. Not even one itty bitty, teeny tiny, little bit. So he fought, but I'm pretty good at battening down all flailing appendages. He got his shot.

Later on the way out to the car, he discussed the chain of events leading up to his inoculation. "I didn't want a fue shot, mommy."

You didn't? Why not?

"Wewl, my heart didn't want a fue shot. My heart was scweaming NO! Didn't you heaw it, mommy?"

I had to admit I didn't hear his heart screaming no. I promised to listen harder next time. And he promised to consider letting his nose get the flu medicine instead of his arm. He said he needs to ask his heart. He's always so serious about things. It really cracks me up.

Friends of Little Miss

Our daughter has many friends. Two legged friends, four legged friends, six legged friends, even some of the 8 legged variety. She's passionate about animals, insects and other flavors of critters in general. I suppose it's a good thing that lizards, crickets, spiders, snakes and katydids don't phase me. Black widows, yes. And rattlesnakes. But she can identify both of those and avoids them.

What really cracks me up is that Mighty Man has an intense disliking of all varieties of creepy crawlies, except for worms. So while his older brother and sister catch and torment study these vermin, he's howling at the top of his lungs that there's a pinchy bug, or a spider, or some other heinous beast about to attack him. Meanwhile, I just sit back and laugh. Or take pictures.

This was one particularly hoppy katydid. Darn thing would hardly sit still for a mug shot. Except on Little Miss's head. Which didn't bother her one bit.

And here's her friend, Cricky:

She was just a little disappointed that Cricky wasn't happy enough in her hand to sing. Maybe it was his one and a half antenna set up? Maybe he needed both to feel well enough to sing? I wouldn't really know, since I'm not a cricket. At least, I wasn't last time I checked.

When in doubt...

When your main line is backed up and you have no toilets and four kids who use the potty and you have to go yourself...pack up the kids, head out to the library (to use the potty, not to check out books) and then off to the beach for the day. It's a sanity saver.

For your viewing pleasure...some pictures from our trip to the beach:

This is where we went. La Jolla Shores, just north of the Children's Beach. It was a perfect day for the beach...why? Well, because there was no one else there except us, of course.

Here's Monkey Boy doing his monkey boy thing: Scoop up the water, dump in the sand, transport it somewhere, empty the bucket. Repeat.

Little Miss having a quiet moment on a rock. She needs her quiet time, you know. That special time to contemplate life away from the noise of her little brothers.

Oops! Hey! I thought this rock was high ground! Where'd all the water come from???

Little Dude, doing his little dude thing: Hi Mommy!

It really was a gorgeous day. I'll give up a rainy Saturday to do school in order to get outside and explore on a day like this. It does wonders for your mental health!

I've come to the conclusion...

I've been thinking lately. And I think I have the answer. No, it's not 42 (the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything...please tell me you "get" this one). I'll tell you what it is, though.

Homeschooling and housework are mutually exclusive. I can have a clean house and clean laundry. OR...I can teach our children and have happy kids. Tough choice, isn't it?

So if you're ever in my house and you notice the fine artwork on the carpet, you'll know I'm doing my job. And yes, that is indeed 10 colors of dry erase marker decorating our wall to wall carpet in the living room. I'm quite certain that you could sustain a small village in a third world country from the collection under the dining room table. I'm not saying it's all food, just saying you could probably sustain them for a good month or so. Maybe we should get a dog, then I wouldn't have to clean under the table quite as often. But then, that would be two (or ten) more things for me to do on a daily basis, so never mind.

Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed and over worked, all I have to do is look around me. I'm not talking about looking at the mountain ranges of laundry needing to be washed or folded or put away. And I'm certainly not talking about the piles of dishes in my sink. No, I'm talking about looking at other moms around me.

I don't mean that I pull others down to feel better about myself. I just think I feel a little more normal when I see others around me struggling to run the same race. It's like I'm not the only one. We each have our strengths. But when I look at friend X's house, and see that my disaster area is Martha Stewart's home in comparison, I feel just a touch better. But she has her laundry done. So I look at friend Y's house, and see her piles upon piles upon piles of undone laundry, and feel good that I'm two laundries from being "caught up." But her living room is immaculate. And her kitchen is clean.

So there you have it. All my dirty secrets. When my house is at its filthiest, that's when I'm working hardest with my children, and leaving them with memories to last a lifetime.

Dear Little Dude,

I'm so proud of you for using the potty without me having to ask. You're doing a great job and I really am pleased that you like to use the potty on your own. Please keep up the good work!

However...I have just two small details I'd like to clear up with you before we move on, okay?

First, let's talk about using commodities available to us wisely, shall we? When you go tinkle, you probably only need a square or two for the little dribbles. Maybe even 3 or 4 squares if things got a bit out of control. Using the whole (brand new) roll of toilet paper in one shot is a tad excessive and really a waste of our resources. I'm not saying you shouldn't use toilet paper after using the potty, I'm merely suggesting some restraint in that area.

Second...oh, how to put it. I really appreciate your screeches alerting me to the fact that you had flushed and were alarmed at the rapidly rising flood waters. Nothing brings a mommy out of a reverie faster than hearing "uh oh, mommy. Uh oh. OH NO!" That being said, once water is everywhere, it does not mean that our bathroom has now become the community swimming pool. Please, step aside, seek out higher ground, and DO NOT PLAY IN THE TOILET WATER! It's bad enough that I have to go wading, fishing and paddling through it, but to then also see you splashing and laughing...spreading the joy that is the toilet water everywhere? That...yeah, that, is just too much for my delicate senses.

Love,
Mama Lizard

Hardest part of being a mom.

The hardest part of being a mom is when your little monkeys are sick. And you know they're sick when they don't want to play in a bounce house and ask to go home. My poor little guys.

Both Monkey Boy and Little Dude have pneumonia. Unfortunately, they have the contagious, bacterial variety, so I've got my fingers crossed that the other two don't get it. Meanwhile, I hope the antibiotics kick in really soon. :o(

Science experiment

You know, teaching the kids at home always leads to some very interesting observations and questions. Take, for instance, a recent conversation I had with Little Miss.

1. Define the question.
"Mommy, is lead magnetic?"

2. Make observations/conduct preliminary research.
"What do you think? What makes you think lead is magnetic?" Is lead a metal?

At this point, she showed me her math page and clearly demonstrated how, once she wrote on it, it became "stuck" to her binder. Based on her observation, she completed the next step in the scientific method.

3. Form a hypothesis.
"Lead is definitely magnetic."

4. Make a prediction.
Each time she would peel her page from the face of the binder, she would "re-magnetize" the page by writing on it. She predicted that the page would "stick" to her binder as long as there was writing (lead) on the paper.

5. Perform experiment and collect data.
So we decided to get a new, clean sheet of paper to compare with the first sheet. She put the new sheet on her binder and held it up. The paper slid a bit, stopped and then peeled off. Then she put her math page back on and held up the binder. Same thing...it slid, then fell off.

She looked at me, devastated that her math page no longer stuck to her binder. I reached over, rubbed it around a bit and then told her to pick it back up. She lifted her binder, and was amazed to see the math page securely adhered to the binder once again. Then she peeled it off and replaced it with the clean sheet and looked to me for help. I rubbed the lead free sheet on the face of the binder and left her to ponder the curious effect this small act had.

6. Analyze data.
"Mommy, how come they both stick to my binder?"

At this point, she began to think that maybe the lead had nothing to do with the paper sticking to the binder. She finally realized that her binder wasn't made of metal, but rather of plastic. And that it didn't matter if the paper had writing (lead...really graphite, but hey, who really cares when you're 8 years old??) or was a fresh sheet. Now we were starting to get somewhere.

7. Interpret data and draw conclusions.
After rubbing the paper against the plastic a few more times and listening to the sounds of the page peeling off the plastic, I suggested that perhaps it wasn't magnetism we were dealing with. I asked her if there was anything else she could think of that might make those noises and create the appearance of the paper and binder being magnetic. She thought for a bit, while peeling the paper up, laying it down, peeling it up, laying it down....

I could see her brain working. Turning "the facts" over and over. Mulling the data and trying to find something else that could explain the attraction between the binder and the paper. She finally came up with static electricity.

So maybe this wasn't the most exciting thing you've read today, but this is my life. This is what I do, day in and day out. I love watching the cogs turning. I love asking the questions and watching the pieces fall into place. I love to see the eager excitement as we dig through layers of questions.

I love my job. I really do.

What's on the list?

"Mommy! We need to go to Toss-Toe!"

"Really? Why?"

"Betause I have a wist. Woot (look). See? We need milt, bwead, shot-a-wet, and ba-ton."

"Are you sure? Why do we need chocolate? And bacon?"

"Wewl, we need shot-a-wet for shot-a-wet milt. And we used the ba-ton for bweatfast, so we need more ba-ton."

Mighty Man has a good heart and the cutest ever lisp. If only those hard C sounds weren't such a challenge for his poor little mouth. I think I see a trip to Costco in our future, seeing as how he already has a list! Why isn't making shopping lists this easy for me?

It's a size what???

Recently I've been trying to lose the "baby" weight. You know, the magical stuff that accumulates around your middle when you're not looking. It's annoying as heck. I think my abs have been on hiatus long enough. It's time to do something about it.

So I have. I've lost about 20 pounds this year. I feel pretty darn good and am now fitting into clothes that have been long lost in the depths of my closet. I've been trading in my baggy sweats for cute capris and pants that actually fit me. It feels pretty good.

The down side of all of this, is that I don't own pants in my current size. I have bunches of size 8's and only one pair of size 10's that fit. Well, let me rephrase that. I recently pulled a pair of really nice size 10 khaki dockers out of my closet. They're practically brand new. I bought them after I had Little Miss, and before I had kid #2, 3 and 4. It was like finding money in my pocket. I thought I had hit the fashion jackpot!

Right up until I pulled those puppies on. Hmm. Um...hmm. Well. Ok, right now, fashion is having pants fall along the hip line. Makes for interesting muffin tops (you know, the fluff that spills over the belt) when you pick a pair that is too small, but otherwise, it's a very comfortable way to wear pants. Now imagine a pair of pants from fashion statements gone by...remember the pants that went up to your ribcage? You know, they gave you that fashionably tight little waist without having to have functioning abs? Yeah, that's what these particular pants do. Complete with pleats in the front. Gah.

I didn't realize that I'd grown accustomed to the new fashions, until I tried on The Pants From The Back Of The Closet. Usually, I'm not one to follow trends or demand the latest fashions. I simply go with what is comfortable and what I like without regard to what is "in."

I bet you are wondering where I am going with this...just wait. I'll get there, I promise!

So, the turning of the weather, from balmy to simply comfortable, has led me to pillage my closet in search of clothing that fits. This led me to the discovery that I had one pair of jeans that actually fit. That led me to the factory outlets here in Las Vegas in search of some relatively inexpensive pants to add to my wardrobe. My favorite jeans are Lee Riders. They just seem to fit my body well, are not tight, don't rearrange things, and are generally acceptable to my finicky little self.

Oh, and I'm short. Did I mention I'm short? "Regular" or "Medium" are a bit long, so I generally try on Petites first, then move on if a Petite isn't cutting it. So the first pair of pants I pulled off the rack were some size 10's...that could have fit me and the three ladies next to me. Holy hugeness!!! Put those back, grabbed the next pair which were clearly labeled "10P." And they weren't 5 feet wide, either. Pulled them up to see how they were lengthwise...and pulled them up some more...a little bit more...up...up...

Yeah, those won't fit either, lol! Amazon Lady might have fit in those things. Maybe. They came up to my collar bone! Despite the thrill of the hunt, with 4 kids and one very patient husband, I am not really willing or prepared to clear the rack of all size 10's in hopes of finding one pair that fits. I think I'm willing to pay a little extra to have a pair of pants that I can try the first pair on and grab two others on the way out the door, knowing that they will fit, guaranteed. There is certainly a time and a place for outlet stores, just not when I'm looking for pants!

I'm an Aunt, again!

This afternoon, my brother and his wife welcomed little girl #6 to their family:

Lillian Mae
Born 8 Oct 2007 at 1:02 PM PST

10 pounds 13 ounces
20.8 inches

Why did you eat me?

Think you know the answer? We'll see.

Let me preface the question with a little background. We're in the car. The kids are playing quite nicely, which is a rarity at times. In mid-scene, we hear Little Miss ask Monkey Boy, "why did you eat me?"

"Because you looked like purple spaghetti!" But, of course! That's why I eat people, don't you?

FYI

Just so you know, and so you don't send out search parties, we are in Las Vegas for the weekend and have limited connectivity.

Say a prayer or 95 for my sanity and safe travels this holiday weekend. My song for the weekend is "I will survive!"

Towel racks do NOT belong on the floor.

Well, apparently, I didn't have enough to do today. So I thought I would just do some basic home repairs. Let's face it, we all like a good home repair project, right? It's the perfect opportunity to slice open your finger and teach the kids a few new choice words. Because that's what I'm all about...teaching.

I am walking down the hall, minding my own business, when I notice that the towels aren't hung nicely in the kids' bathroom. In fact, they're all on the floor. Kind of like this:


And the wall...looks a little like this:


Oh, that's not good. . . "BOYS!!!" You know it wasn't Little Miss. She's too prim and proper to wreak such havoc and not say anything. Don't get me wrong, she's perfectly capable of destruction. She'd just come tell me right away, that's all. So it had to be a boy.

I find towel rack crises come along more frequently when used as jungle gyms from which to hang. Apparently 5/8 inch drywall with lightweight anchors aren't meant to sustain nearly 50 pounds of swinging weight. Who knew, right? Can you guess the culprit? That's right...Monkey Boy. He was innocently hanging towels from baths and his weight somehow magically transfered to the towel rack and brought it crashing down upon his head. Thankfully, the towel rack was ok, but the wall certainly wasn't. I didn't ask to see if Monkey Boy Extrordinaire had suffered any ill effects from his exploits, but I'm sure he'd tell me if there were any remaining injuries.

It is fixed, for now. It ain't purty, but it's fixed. At least until the next time we weight test the drywall.

Glutton for punishment

Honestly, the last time I worked out was in May. So you'd think that yesterday's foray into quasi workout land with karate would have been enough for my tender little body. Indeed, I still hurt all over. Well, not out and out pain, just "ooooh, that's sore. Mmm, and that, too. Ouch."

So, instead of taking the day off, and allowing my pathetic excuse for a fit body recuperate...I went back for more. At the gym. In a group-X class. Why? Because the scale snarled at me. It wasn't pretty. But why is it that doing a video or dvd at home doesn't create the same level of pain that a group exercise class does? Is it the bravado? The little voice inside begging you not to quit, so no one sees you in a quivery lump of giggly-ness on the floor? Perhaps it's the REALLY big mirrors blasting the truth at you from all sides. Whatever the reason, the group exercise class really works. I'm sore all over now, instead of just sore in a few places.

And I went to this particular class, because it's fun, it moves quickly and I enjoy it. It was a Pilates Pulse class. Until today. Today we had a new instructor, with new ideas. Supposedly she "took it easy" on us. I beg to differ, but maybe that's just me. Today was classic Pilates, from a classically trained and licensed Pilates instructor. Ouch. That's all I have to say. Just ouch.

At least my really awesome other half took pity on me and raced to have the hottub back online a day early. Or maybe he just did that because he knew he'd want it tomorrow after his first karate class. Nah. It's because he loves me. Right, honey? Right?

New muscles

That's right. I have new muscles. Or I have muscles I haven't used in a pathetically long time.

In case you didn't know, we do karate. Yes, me and the mouse in my pocket. No, silly. WE. Us. As a family, sort of. Two years ago my wonderful hubby started Karate for 2 with our daughter. Today was day one of Karate for 2 with our oldest boy and me. So, off we went, dressed in our most comfy, stretchy clothing. Prepared to kiai, kick, stretch, punch and block. But nobody warned me about that pesky horse stance. Ouchy mama!

Ok, so right here (points to inner thigh), here (points to shoulders) and here (points here) hurts. Well, right here. See? There and there it hurts. Fine. Just imagine that more places than I care to mention, hurt. And the hottub? Isn't an option right now. It won't be back in operation until Thursday. I guess I'll go find my friend, Icyhot. It's gotta be around here somewhere.

how rude...

Going along the same lines of my last post...here I am in IE (instead of my friend FireFox)...and lo and behold. What do I have? those lousy, no good, but I can't live without them, stinking, nutty little wysiwyg buttons. Dahgum. Give me one good reason why I can't see them in FF. Go ahead. I dare you.

Thanks for that...

Just when I get Blogger figured out and like the setup...they go and change it. Why? To anger the computer peons like me? Those of us who get it figured out once, get comfortable with it, and then OOPS! They pull the rug out from under our feet.

Bah. Where are my publishing buttons? Why must I now suddenly know these keyboard shortcuts, none of which allow me to c&p my happy little linky-do's. Doggone it. So, out of protest, I'm not posting. Well, I'm not posting much, except my disgust at my link, image, and text buttons being totally gone. Weiners.

Prayer, Playfulness, Pleasure and Passion

That's the name of the couples' retreat we went on today. Ooo la la! A whole day, from sun up to sun down with no kids. At all. Breakfast? We sat and talked like normal people, without wiping mouths, hands, heads or noses. Lunch? We sat and socialized with other couples we know and love. Dinner? Oh, let me tell you about dinner...

Dinner was at a seafood place, on the balcony, overlooking a marina and the beach. We watched the sun slowly sink into the Pacific Ocean. We talked about everything and nothing. We teased and talked, held hands and just sat silently. It was absolute bliss. Mmmm. And so was desert...we shared at Sea Turtle Sundae, YUM!

Oh, and Navy beat Air Force 31-20. Woot!

Aaaaahhhhh...

Tonight was the first night in a really long time that I didn't have to put 4 kids to bed all by myself. You have no idea how wonderful that was.

What? You expected something more? Forget it, I'm going to bed.

The Mean Red Sock

Ever have one of those days when nothing is going your way? Our littlest dude had one of those days today. Everything was wrong and nothing was right in his world. Take, for instance, this benign looking sock:
It's all fun and games, until you realize that this sock isn't an ordinary sock. It's the MEAN RED sock. And it just would not cooperate with him. He tried and tried to put this one sock on. He pulled and tugged and hollered at the top of his lungs at this sock. All to no avail.
He wanted it on so badly. Being the kind hearted, loving mother I am, instead of helping, I decided to take pictures. And try to talk him out of wearing this sock, in particular. "We have other socks, honey. Here, look! We even have another pair of RED socks, see?" No amount of explaining from me would change his desire to wear this sock, and this sock alone.

It really is my fault he was trying to put this sock on. I haven't cleaned out his sock drawer yet. During the summer, we simply don't wear socks and shoes. It's all about the sandals, flip-flops, bare feet and Crocs around here. So there are two pairs of socks in his drawer that are bitty boy socks. And they're cotton with no elastic or lycra in them. Pretty miserable on the list of comfy, soft, stretchy things, but hey, they filled a need, so they stayed. And then over stayed. Ah, well.

I'm sure his little feet have grown considerably over the summer, judging by the insanely small shoes I tried to cram his feet into on Sunday. Today I planned to take the kids shopping to get their winter shoes. Well, at least the littlest two, since they seem to have grown the most during this last growth spurt. There is one thing I consistently forget when we go shoe shopping. The socks. Every single time. Which is probably why we have these miserable, no-stretch socks in the first place! So I sent the kids to their rooms to retrieve socks from the almighty sock drawers...and thus began the hour long drama of the Mean Red Sock.

Think he'll forgive me? Maybe. Depends on how good his therapist is. Know a good one?

Best chocolate cake you'll ever make

I really enjoy cooking, but I'm definitely not a true foodie. I lack the panache, creativity and abundance of kitchen tools to really be a foodie. Take my best friend from high school...she's a foodie, and a great one at that. Me? Not.so.much. But I still like cooking, when I have the time and motivation to do it.

Last week I came across this recipe from The Pioneer Woman: "The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever." I had to try it. I like sinfully moist and decadent cakes. I loathe things that are hard and dry. That, and I needed to teach someone how to properly melt butter, but that's another story for another day.

With no proper sheet cake pan, I decided to modify a bit and see how things turned out. The verdict is in, and it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. So, without further ado, here is my version of the world's best chocolate cake.

Simply Scrumptious Chocolate Cake

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350.

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
dash of salt
2 sticks butter (not margarine)
6 tablespoons powered cocoa (I used Hershey's baking cocoa)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk, so I put 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar in a tiny bit less than 1/2 cup of 2% milk and used that instead)
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and salt. In a saucepan melt butter (go slow, you definitely don't want to to burn it!). Add cocoa and stir well. Add boiling water and allow mixture to bubble for a bit before turning off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly until mostly mixed. Don't stir to much, you don't want to make the mixture full of air or over mix it.

In a small mixing bowl, beat 2 eggs until well mixed (get rid of all the lumps of egg white). Add buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla. Mix well. Stir buttermilk mixture into the rest of the cake batter. Pour into a 9x13 cake pan (not glass) and bake for 32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. At about 28 minutes, you can begin checking the middle of the cake with a toothpick...my cake took 32 minutes to finish cooking in the center.

While cake is baking, make icing (this only takes a few minutes, so you can wait until the cake is done or almost done, if you wish):
1 stick butter
4 tablespoons cocoa
1/4 cup milk
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter (I reused the same saucepan) and add cocoa. Remove from heat and add milk and vanilla followed by powdered sugar. Mix well. Once the cake is done, pour over cooling cake and enjoy it warm with a nice glass of milk. And don't blame me if you make this more than once and suddenly don't fit in your normal clothes.

Just thinking about life

Today was such a good day. We got up, I showered, then made breakfast. After a quick check of email and chat with my extraordinary husband (who is currently in Japan), we headed out to church. While the oldest three went to children's liturgy, Little Dude and I snuggled in and listened to the mass. He was such a sweet little guy in church. He almost always sits still and quietly rearranges stickers or colors in his notebook. Today was one of those really good church days.

Of course, I believe it helped that when the older three came back, the youngest came to sit with me while the oldest two were two rows back with Jay and Darlene. And when the 4 year old tried to pick a fight with Little Dude (yeah, whose crayons were those, anyway?), Sister Mary politely leaned over the pew and said "I see you, young man." Wow. Wanna know how fast he started behaving? How is it that at his tender age, he already knows that Sister means business??

Anyway, after that, we went home and I made some peanut butter and honey sandwiches and we headed up the mountain to Lake Cuyamaca (coo-yuh-MAW-ka for you non SoCal folks) for another load of firewood for our church's Fall Festival. What an awesome day. First off, the weather is simply gorgeous right now. Low 70's, a breeze and bright sunshine. You just can't get any better than this, especially for an afternoon of invigorating manual labor. But enough of that, just trust me that it was a great day. (and Jay, thank you for dinner...I really appreciated that!)

But the best part of the day came this evening, when I was at my wits' end trying to get the kids down. The oldest had her shower, and the three youngest had their baths. We dried off, combed hair, got in jammies, brushed teeth and then snuggled in to watch Little People before saying prayers and climbing into bed. I was able to shoo the oldest three into bed without much effort. But Little Dude? Wanted nothing to do with his bed. At all. He was bargaining with me every which way to Wednesday. He wanted to be held. He wanted to be in bed. He wanted me in bed with him. He wanted water. No, chocolate milk. No just lay in bed with him. No, not in bed, over there. I finally left his room in frustration. There was no pleasing our little tyrant, and I had no patience for his incessant demands. So I walked out, brushed my teeth, fed the cat, fed the fish, got in my pajamas, only to turn around to see him standing silently behind me.

"Mommy, can I have just one hug?"

It hit me like a ton of bricks. Gone were all of my frustrations and impatience. Gone was my irritation and insistence that he just get in bed and stay in bed. He just wanted one hug. I scooped him up and he snuggled into my arms and mumbled something as he almost immediately drifted off to sleep. I sat down in the rocking chair and just held him, grateful he's alive to ask for "just one hug." I'm so very thankful that I have 4 beautiful children who are healthy and happy. Each one is a gift from heaven and each one is so very precious to me. I don't know why I deserve to have all the wonderful things in my life, and I cannot tell you how deeply touched I am to have them.

The magic number is 30

That's right: 30. The new answer to Life, The Universe and Everything and here's why. Despite my own trepidation, I decided to attempt pancakes again this morning. It was Saturday, after all, the known day that pancakes get made 2 hours past normal breakfast time, so as to serve as both lunch and breakfast. All right, I admit it, I was feeling lazy.

Thank goodness for the industrial sized bag of Krusteaz in the cupboard. I can't even begin to imagine trying to guess "from scratch" quantities for my kids. They seem to be growing these days. Either that, or they're tanking up in preparation for the onslaught. Last time I made pancakes, I made 25 just for them, and we ran out. Amidst the tears and howling, were claims of certain starvation, hunger pangs threatening to cave in their little bellies and generalized moaning about not having the 6th, 7th or 8 pancake (depending on the child). This time, I was determined to make enough.

And I did. I made the first batch: 16. They were just getting warmed up. I quickly made a second batch of 14 and then sat back and watched the stacks disappear. I was starting to get worried, but then magically, as quickly as they had appeared, the plates one by one disappeared from the table. When the dust cleared, I had 3 pancakes left. It was an amazing sight to see, and I definitely felt a sense of relief. I had survived. I made pancakes and more pancakes, and I conquered the beast!

Have I mentioned the fear I harbor for when they all hit teenage years? Because I'm afraid. Very afraid.

Today is Friday

Today is Friday. End of the work week. Time to kick back and relax for the weekend. Or, in my case, time to have another day just like all the rest of the days of the week: 6-something-am ~ get woken up by the baby who wants to snuggle, take a shower, rub eyes repeatedly whilst yawning greatly, direct kids 1-4 to get dressed, make breakfast, make breakfast, make breakfast, ask if anyone else is still hungry, make more breakfast...just another day in the life.

I'm racking my brain trying to decide if anything interesting happened today. Probably not. At least not that I can remember. Oh, except that the poor little guy got his first bee sting today. He told me "yeah, mommy, it huwts wite dere." Other than a bit of "ow, ow, ow, mommy, ow wite dere" he didn't really cry. He told me "don't poke, mommy" as I extracted the stinger. And then asked in an incredulous voice "where'd it go, mommy?" after it was out. Quite the trooper. The good news is, there was no swelling, no redness, no reaction at all. Just a stinger hanging out that I removed, then iced and gave him a bit of benedryl.

His other big statement of the day was something that just cracked me up. I always have some sort of school work out for one child or another throughout the day. Little Dude came up, plopped himself down in his chair and hollered at me, "where my school is, mommy???" This boy means business when it comes to his education!

I think the moral of this story is that I should resist the temptation to blog while I should be in bed. I'll get right on that...good night!

It might be a growth spurt when...

1. The baby asks for a fourth bowl of cereal after already consuming 2 gogurts.

2. Six gallons of milk fail to last a week.

3. Two Costco sized loaves of bread are gone before your next trip to the store.

4. You feed the kids 3 times per day, before AND after each meal, and they still claim to be hungry.

5. There are no scraps of food remaining under the table, and you don't have a dog.

6. Your stack of 25 pancakes does not outlast the kids.

7. The baby actually eats the food you've prepared.

8. The normal 11 hours of kid-free time suddenly increases by 2 or more hours.

9. The pants you had to roll last week are now capris or the shorts that were board shorts last week are now Daisy Duke's.

10. You hear "mommy, my legs/knees/shins hurt" 473,295 times in one night from one child alone. You may or may not get any sleep between these periods of intense howling.

What would you do with two black queens?

Today I headed out to Costco to do a bit a shopping. You know, get kitty litter for the next ten years, pick up enough granola and shredded wheat to feed a small army (which we happen to have, by the way), toothbrushes for 10, and enough sudafed to dry up the Colorado River for a month. Just regular stuff.

But, you should know, that I can never stick to the list. I did very well today. And of the 34 items that made it into my basket (besides the children who were in and out so much it was hard to tell them from the groceries), only ONE item (okay, actually 4...if you count the 3 pairs of pajamas that weren't on the list but were on sale/clearance and were available in the next size up...) wasn't on my list. A chess set.

Yep, in amongst the toilet tablets with bleach, soft scrub with bleach, Kleenex, 12 rolls of paper towels, 5 pounds of shredded cheese, bohemian package of string cheese, 4 gallons of milk, five 40 pound buckets of kitty litter and industrial size jug of Robitussin, was a lonely chess set. It says "PLAY TO WIN: CHESS" in bold letters across the front. There's a lovely chess board, an instruction book and a fairly indestructible looking set of chess pieces.

After we came home from shopping, I busied myself with putting away the perishables, and then focused on cleaning out the hall closet (and let me just say that I made some rather startling discoveries there...man, the things that you find in those hall closets with their inevitable 4th dimensions). Meanwhile, our bookworm set out to learn all she could about the game of chess. With the help of her curious brothers, she poured through the book and then went about setting up for a game. And that's when we discovered we had issues.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about tolerance. And equality and all the rest. But don't you think that changing the pieces in a chess set, and probably the rules, too, for that matter, is going a bit far? 8 black pawns? Check. 8 white pawns? Check. Rooks, knights, castles? Check, check, check. Kings? Queens? Um, well...

"Mommy, I think there is a problem here." Yes, I'd say that's a problem. You see, we had a white king, and a white queen. But then, all we had was two black queens. So here's my theory...black couldn't lose, right? Because it's all about the king. With no king on the board, it logically follows that your king can't be captured, and therefore you can't lose. But with two queens...man! Can you imagine all the havoc you could wreak?

So we went back to Costco this evening to return our defectively politically (in)correct chess set. As I tucked in my daughter tonight, her final words to me were, "Good night mommy, I love you. And when you teach me to play chess, can I always be white?"

"Because white always goes first?"

"Yep."

"Mmm hmm. We'll see."

Eeeeewww! Our house stinks!

Apparently vanilla extract stinks. That's what the 4 year old informed me today. Bookworm and I were quite happily doing our chemistry experiment on molecules. The experiment was fun, and consisted of putting a bit of vanilla extract into a balloon and blowing up the balloon. We discussed how the vanilla extract was inside the balloon, yet we could still smell the distinct smell of the vanilla outside the room. (and for the record, I put the extract in with a dropper in a different room...so the smell wouldn't follow me around) In any case, it was fun to learn that vanillin molecules (the smell part) are so tiny that they can penetrate a seemingly solid balloon.

However, Mighty Man didn't approve of our stinking up the house! He came in sniffing around, looking for the source. Upon seeing us at the table, he announced "Eeeeewww! What is that? Our house stinks!" So now you know; vanilla extract isn't the house warming, pleasant source of fond memories for all involved.

Revenge of the overcooked noodle

For the record, one should NOT cook macaroni noodles for 42 minutes and 13 seconds. That's how long the timer was set for. Our daughter was having her first crack at making mac and cheese from a box. Heat the water, boil the noodles, drain, add butter and milk. What could be easier?

Let me just start by saying that I was planning to make the mac and cheese. But I was also trying to give the 3 boys their haircuts. She wanted to help, so I set her to watching the water boil (such a nice mom, aren't I?). However, instead of getting me, she just went ahead, reading, following the directions (should I stir the noodles mom? Because the box says to stir the noodles) and trying to make the noodles perfect. I was trying to talk her through it, while also trying not to chop off ears or poke eyes or otherwise maim the victims, er, boys. She exuded confidence until it came to turning off the stove. Despite repeated directions on how to turn off the burner, she couldn't quite grasp that you have to turn the flame UP to get it to go OFF. She could turn it low, but never make it go away. So it cooked. And cooked. And cooked. And cooked some more while she pondered this problem.

At this point, it was definitely her project. Not mine. I came in and the timer still had 2:53 left, which perplexed me, since it should have been set for 8 minutes...and clearly more than 5 minutes and 7 seconds had gone by. Instead of turning it off, I let it run. You see, this timer resets when it's done. Usually I have it set for 15 minutes. 15 minutes to clean up, 15 minutes to play, 15 minutes to do chores, 15 minutes to get in pajamas and brush teeth...you get the idea. Anyway, I melted the butter, dumped in the noodles (um, if you could still call them that) and stirred in the cheesey stuff. It looked bad. It looked like a failed attempt to melt cheese. The noodles had no shape and were completely flat. Finally, the timer went off, I silenced it and then laughed at the number...42 minutes and 13 seconds. How this was supposed to be 8 minutes is beyond me, lol!

And just so you know, I don't recommend eating mac and cheese cooked this long, lol! It's AWFUL!

I'm taking the day off.

I've decided to take the day off. Off from pretty much everything. We did speech therapy today for the 6yo and the 4yo. Then we did all the shopping I've been meaning to do for the last week. And then we just relaxed. Why bother with school when the kids are all playing nicely and you already have your feet up?

I made chicken and cheese enchiladas for dinner. They were super easy to make and even better to eat. I'll have to make these again sometime. (and thank you, joelle, for the recipe!) Tomorrow, I think I'll make baked spaghetti. And then we'll eat left overs for the rest of the weekend. I hope you weren't holding your breath for something earth shattering from me. Like I said, I'm taking the day off! So, good night, until next time!

Blue...is pink

So our 6 year old is trying to teach our 4 year old Spanish. I don't know why. He doesn't speak a lick of Spanish himself. But I hear him telling his brother "Blue, is pink, in Spanish. See? And green...is black, over here, in Spanish." I'm not sure what has possessed him to make such wild statements, but there you have it. Blue, is definitely pink, in Spanish.

There are definitely times as a parent when you just stop and wonder at the words that come so willingly out of such innocent little mouthes. And that those words are so readily absorbed by other little sponge-like minds. Certainly not something you can predict or even necessarily follow. That's what I like so much about teaching our children at home. Their minds are so wide open, and so willing to absorb anything and everything you can teach them. Why hold them to "traditional" learning, when they can grab a hold of an idea, and take it to the moon and beyond. Why shouldn't my 8 year old be learning about molecular models and atomic numbers? Why shouldn't my 6 year old be able to solve algebraic equations in his head? Why shouldn't my 4 year old be reading? They are just ready and waiting for someone to show them the wonders of our world. I'm just there to put the information in front of them and watch them blossom into a world of their own discovery.

It says "clean," but they're still dirty

I was making lunch this afternoon, and discovered that I needed clean plates for the kids. Little light on the dishwasher proclaimed that the contents contained within were clean! So why is it, then, that the dishes I needed were still dirty? I had run the dishwasher, with soap. The cycle was complete, and in fact, the other dishes were clean. So how is it that all the utensils, all the cups, bowls and serving dishes were clean, yet the children's plates were still dirty? Am I the victim of some weird phenomenon of physics?

Apparently not. You see, the top of plate 1 was clean. And the bottom of plate 12 was clean. (Yes, we have 4 children and they like to eat three times per day. Ridiculous, isn't it?) This is what happens to me when I try to do, I don't know, say 18 things at once. I forget that I stacked the plates in the dishwasher so I wouldn't leave a mess on the counter. I think today's load will contain about 16 or 20 plates...just so I can catch up, you know.

well, that's annoying

Did you know that when you blog, but don't post until later, that it posts under the original date? Heaven help you if you have two brilliant blog ideas on one day and want to post one and save one for later. Because you can't. You can have a post started, and finish it days later, and it will still post under the day you started it.

So now I'm left with no blog for today, because my blog for today ended up being my second blog for yesterday. Are you following me here? I'm just a little annoyed. But hey, at least the kids are happy, and the fish are fed. Or I've fed the happy fish to the kids. Or something. It's late I think. Perhaps I should go to bed.

"I found my pussy!"

Sometimes, you have to take what the children say with a grain of innocence. For instance, what my daughter said today. "I found my pussy!" When I turned around, somewhat shocked and asked, "What???" she hastened to say "Look, mommy! I found my pussy cat!" And there she was. Our cat, blissfully perched under the table on a chair.

Well, I'm glad we got that settled. Oh, and in case you were wondering, and I knew you were...marker comes off the table much better *after* a fresh coat of Old English.

One more thing. What's the deal with my laundry? I usually do at least one load per day, with 3 on Friday (I change all 5 beds on Friday). So I did my usual 3 on Friday, and today is Monday (yes, I started this post Sunday, and finished it Monday) and I STILL don't have enough to do even a small load. Does this really mean that my husband produces more clothes than the entire rest of the family combined??? Where's the logic in that?

What was I thinking???

What was I thinking when I painted the kids' bathroom WHITE? Don't get me wrong. I like white bathrooms. It has such a crisp, clean quality. I like to walk into my bathroom and see where the dirt is and then irradicate it. There are two places in the house that I like to have clean: the kitchen and the bathroom. The rest can just remain under the dust deep enough to plant potatoes and the kid grime that covers every surface.

But the kids' bathroom? White? WHY??? Maybe I should have gone with a nice chocolate brown, or perhaps a deeper MUD brown with black flecks. Heck, even a dirty (country) blue with chocolate accents. That's in right now, right?

It's amazing to me how the bathroom can go from clean and sparkling, to mud flecked and dripping in under 2 minutes. See, I was catching a bit of a break while the kids were outside playing. I suppose I should have noticed how nicely they were playing together. Anyhow, I made dinner and then called the kids in to wash their hands. Next thing I know, the entry rug is brown (not blue), the carpet is brown (not gray with sundry juice and dry erase marker accents) and the bathroom is brown. The kids? Yeah, they're still brown, too. ::sigh::

I have to laugh at the colors I'm contemplating. I picked out Mississippi Mud on Behr.com. The site recommended pairing it with Coconut Husk, Yorkshire Brown and Innocence. HA! They don't know my children. Otherwise, they certainly wouldn't have recommended I use anything remotely related to Innocence...such a delicate shade of off-ivory-white. I may consider it for the ceiling, however. Or not. And while I'm contemplating color changes, I may ditch the white toilet in favor of one that is perhaps a delicious shade of dandelion yellow.

Someone please tell me...

...how it is that my baby girl is turning eight. I remember giving birth. And then, magically, without prior notification, she grew up. She has lost 10 teeth, 3 in a week a couple of weeks ago. She's turning into a beautiful young woman right before my eyes.

We celebrated her birthday last night, and everything she got was horse related. I think she is a horse lover right down to her tippy toes. It's endearing and so fascinating to watch her devour horse books, even technical books, one after the other. She has taken up learning to draw horses this summer. I think I'll try to capture her drawings electronically and then make a book. It's neat to see how she has progressed from stick figures to horses with joints and manes and detailed features.

Monkey Boy turns 6 in two weeks, Mighty Man is 4 and the baby (???) turned 2 this month. I need to start looking at getting organized for school, since we start in August. First, we'll squeeze in one round of swim lessons. This summer has been eaten alive by events outside of our control. The last month being spent in Oregon to help my parents clean out my grandmother's house. That in and of itself has been fascinating, dull, mundane, interesting and exhausting. We'll probably go back in September while my husband is overseas, but that remains to be seen.

Hopefully, I'll have a better time at updating things once we get back into a routine. :o)

Um, busy much?

Wow, I know it has been an incredibly long time since the last time I posted, but please forgive me; it’s been an exhausting month.

Let me try to update you on our life. May 31st, we finished up school for the year. That was such a huge relief to see the end and put our books to rest. I’ve finally had a chance to catch up on many projects around the house, the first of which was our front yard. I tell ya, it has been neglected for far too long. I finally ripped out all of the lamb’s ear in favor of petunias. Now the front is awash in color again and I really like it. I also replaced the plastic border with natural rock. Oh, what a difference that makes! One outdoor project down, fifteen hundred left to do!

Next came a big step up for both Mike and our daughter. They both passed their karate belt testing and on the 12th of June, put on their blue belts! I’m so proud of them! The have progressed from white, through yellow, orange, and purple, and now to blue. Next is green, then brown, then black. I’m telling you, you don’t want to mess with my 7 year old or her daddy! :o)

Let’s see. The 17th of June was Father’s Day, then the 18th was hubby’s birthday (oh, wait, he’s as old as I am now, HA!) and then on the 20th, my grandma passed away. Which brings me (rather quickly) to where we are now: Corvallis, Oregon. We left home on Friday morning (the 22nd), stayed overnight in Clovis with some good friends (hi Jen!), then spent the next night in the Castle Crags area of Northern California and arrived here last Sunday.

Since then, everything has been a blur. I’m not sure what day it is, what the date is, how long we’ve been here or anything else to do with time. If you knew my grandma, you’d know she was a young married mother during the depression and WWII. She lived through things you and I just read about in history books. She kept every single scrap of every single thing that passed her fingers. She was given new towels, but would pack them away for when her rags were totally useless. She was given gifts and tucked them away in case someone else needed them. She saved every magazine, every piece of advertising, every apropos cartoon, every interesting article. She saved every letter ever written to her (with the intention of returning them to the authors). She saved stamps and eyeglasses, and you should see her medicine cabinet. Most of it could easily be put straight into a museum.

I found a field surgeon’s kit from WWII. There are scissors, clamps and other tools in pristine condition. I found a massive vat of Vaseline for 20 cents. I found iodine in original packing from the early 1930’s. Heck, I found vinyl’s from early 20th century and a picture of my GREAT grandma when she was 16. And you wouldn’t believe the racy picture of my grandma…topless and dressed only in a grass skirt, turned and coyly looking over her shoulder at the camera. Truly, you cannot even begin to imagine what a journey I’m on. It’s emotional, draining, rewarding and interesting. You never know what you might find in the next drawer, or under the next pile of magazines.

Yesterday, the 26th, we (meaning my mom, dad and I) buried my grandma. It was also my mom’s 60h birthday. Tomorrow is the first of two memorial services. This one is at my grandma’s church, mostly for her friends here locally. Mike will take the kids to a park or something of that nature while my mom and dad and I go to the service. There is a second memorial service after the family reunion this weekend in southern Oregon, so we will have them go to that one with the rest of the extended family.

If you are the praying type, please pray for our family and everyone who was touched by my grandma. They are far flung and too numerous to count. She was a very, very special woman indeed.

That’s it for now. I do not know when I will post again, as we have a long way to go here. I’m thinking about returning home after the reunion, then coming back up for another couple of weeks while Mike is away on travel. We’ll see where God leads.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all of you who are moms, Happy Mother's Day!

Today was certainly a very special day for me. Our second graduated from Kindergarten religious education this morning. He processed into church, wearing his little white paper "cap," complete with a little white tassel. And then he came to find me, handed me a white rose and gave me a huge hug and a kiss. I love this age. I adore their open love and complete lack of embarrassment at giving hugs and kisses. I won't lie, I had tears in my eyes as he turned to go join his classmates and receive his certificate. Life is good and I'm so thankful to have our 4 beautiful, healthy and happy children.

I'm also remembering my first ever "mother's day." I was 7 months pregnant with our daughter, so I was fairly obviously at the point where I couldn't "put it back" as if I had changed my mind on the color of a shirt. My husband was deployed, and I headed off to church by myself. Well, myself and my big belly. The elders were giving out carnations to all of the mothers. As I started to walk past into church, one stopped me and asked if I had any other children, to which I replied that no, this was my first. Would you like to know what he told me? "Oh, well, then you're not a mother. You can't have a carnation."

I certainly wasn't looking for a flower, but being told that I wasn't a mother just needled me. Honestly, I was caring for this baby 24 hours a day. She was definitely part of me and my life has never been the same since the first moment we knew she would be part of our lives.

So to all who are expecting your first child, Happy Mother's Day to you as well. You're definitely a mom in my book!

two down, two to go...

As of tonight, we officially have two kids riding bikes solo, and two who still have a ways to go. Tonight, our oldest son finally learned the fine art of starting. By golly, I think he's got it! It was so fun to watch him realize that he could start all by himself. And then he did it over, and over, and over again. And then he crashed. Poor little dude! We are working on the other fine art...of crashing, and then getting back up. We have a teeny bit of work left to do in that area! Fortunately, I have quite the large supply of bandaids, so I think we're set.

In other news, our youngest (21 months) has mastered his tricycle! First he learned how to pedal backwards. Then he learned how to pedal forwards, lol! It's nice to have the handle to hurry him along when necessary, but it is also really neat to see him go all by himself! Well, right up until #3 intentionally runs him over...oops! We still need lessons in "right of way" etiquette.

Coming back to the blog

You know, it has been almost two weeks since we got home from our trip. I just reread my blog, and relived so many experiences. And then I realized that so much has happened since we arrived home, and I have neglected to post and let you in on all of the excitement!

Our week following the trip was filled with unpacking, scrubbing those horrid bugs off of the car, putting things away, doing laundry and cleaning house. It was all accomplished at a pretty break neck pace as we were expecting bunches of family the following weekend. Why, you might ask? Well, read on!

We celebrated First Holy Communion with our oldest on the 29th of April. It was a beautiful experience. Instead of having the kids take their first communion alone, each child was accompanied by their family. To witness her taking her first communion was one thing. It was another thing entirely to take communion with her. Truly, it was a beautiful celebration.

Then we followed it up with a small celebration at home with lots of family. My parents were here as well as Mike's mom, grandmother, aunt and cousins. It was a lot of fun!

The next week was spent catching up with school and beginning the end of the school year. I certainly haven't felt the April burn out as I have in years past. Instead, I'm fresh and eager to continue school and head into the summer!

Home at last!

Monday, 23 April 2007
25 days and 7,800 miles (well, really only 7,799 but it’s my blog and I can take literary license if I want to). What a trip! I have more pictures to post, but the hour is late, and I’ll leave it to another day.

In the meantime, I’ll share some final reflections. One thing this trip has given me is a greater appreciation of home. We traveled through 18 states, all 4 time zones, crossed nearly all major waterways in the United States, crossed the Continental Divide twice, explored and experienced firsthand the major climate zones in the US…all in all, we’ve definitely seen a lot in the last 4 weeks.

But when it comes right down to it, there’s no place like home. I know we are so blessed to live where we do, and I’m thankful that we have the means to remain here. Oh, I think I could go on and on about the beauty of the place we call home, but I think it is mostly because it is just that…the place we call home. Thanks for joining me on our adventure, and taking the time to read and enjoy! Until next time!

T E X A S is a big state!

Sunday, 22 April 2007
Um, so Texas? Is a really, REALLY big state. Really. We drove, and drove, had lunch and drove some more, had dinner, more driving, a potty break and more driving. We drove for 12 hours and didn’t even make it out of the state! We spent the night in El Paso, Texas, and were glad for a place to sleep.

I will tell you one thing though. Texas is beautiful and quite varied in its landscape. We started the day in the hills of eastern Texas, drove through the “flat as a pancake as far as the eye can see” central portion, and ended in the mesas of western Texas. Eastern Texas is more lush and green. The grass along the side of the road was tall, and was rippling in the wind. Central Texas boasted some fantastic wildflower displays along the way. The endless periwinkle blue blankets of the Texas bluebonnets was really something to see.

As for western Texas, well, about the only notable thing was all of the windmill farms. I guess if you get a lot of wind, you can make a lot of electricity. Honestly, it was really reassuring to see a state with dozens of oil derricks over shadowed by hundreds of monolithic windmills. I guess I really like to see us (humans and society in general) making good use of the free resources we are given (like wind and solar). Not trying to pontificate here, just saying that it was indeed a sight to see.

And, if all goes well, we should be home tomorrow! Hurray!

Heading home...one state at a time

Saturday, 21 April 2007
Today was a day for travel and more travel. Starting on the edge of the Smokey Mountains, we traveled through the woods and up and down various ridges and valleys. As we got lower in elevation, the trees went from just starting to bud to being in full foliage. Even some of the cottonwoods were putting forth their characteristic fluff. One thing I noticed, however, was the size of the bugs. Holy moly, having critters the size of small aircraft going splat on the windshield was somewhat disconcerting. It was quite the technicolor display…ick!

Since there were no family quarters available at the Little Rock Air Force Base, we pressed on to the Texas side of Texarkana for the night. It made for a long day, but it wasn’t a terribly hard drive. At this point we are ready to be home, so we are pressing on a little farther each day. We should be home by Tuesday!

First day heading west...day 22

Today is the day we head west again! I may have more to add later, but for now, I’ll share some random thoughts and reflections from the trip.

Something that the kids commented on, was the frequency and proximity of small cemeteries that we’ve seen along the way, starting in Oklahoma and continuing through our journey east. Our oldest boy calls them “Simba-terries” which I find incredibly cute. Out west, especially in the more densely populated areas, cemeteries are well away from the roads, and they do not typically bear prominent headstones. The incredibly tiny and frequent pioneer cemeteries were something of a novelty to the kids, and not really something I had considered before.

Another observation is all my own. Since we have been out here on the east coast for a couple of weeks, we have been witness to the leafing out of the deciduous trees. What is remarkable to me, is that as they leaf out, they have as many shades of green as they do of autumn colors in the fall. Looking at a hillside in the Shenandoah National Park was almost like looking at fall colors, since there were variations of red, orange, amber and green. I’d never really noticed this before, and likely wouldn’t have noticed were it not for the amount of time I spent driving from place to place as the trees were budding.

I never really appreciated the beauty of the dogwoods and red buds, until I noticed that they bloom so much earlier than the rest of the trees. So driving down the freeway, I would see the abundant bright white flowers of the dogwood breaking up the monotony of the earth tones of trees yet to leaf out. Then a few days later, the red bud became much more apparent. While it wasn’t nearly as bright and vibrant as the dogwood, it was certainly a slash of color in the muted and empty tree branches.

Then, ever so gradually, the trees began their journey into spring. First came the tiniest hint of green, really subtle flashes of color in among the highest branches. As the buds became more prominent, I could begin to see the variations of color I mentioned before. Finally, the last two days have been an incredible explosion of green as they all seem to have hit the magic point in the season and have a bountiful supply of bright green leaves. It really has been an amazing transformation to witness.

This trip has really been a blessing for me. I’ve truly enjoyed the relaxed pace and the opportunity to explore and discover new things. It was wonderful to spend some time with my parents, with friends and with my family. I think of how mundane it would have been to stay at home, and I’m so thankful I have a healthy sense of adventure. God has blessed us in so many ways, and this trip has been one enormous blessing.

So today, the final chapter of the adventure begins. We are heading west, off to see more of the world, but certainly not at the same pace. We are stepping it up and making our way home without much in the way of sight seeing. We crossed the Eastern Continental Divide today in North Carolina and then we made it to Newport, Tennessee for the night. We hope to make it to at least Little Rock, Arkansas tomorrow.

Heading south to Norfolk, Virginia

Thursday, 19 April 2007
Today I began the day at my sponsors’ house, which was really nice. Their youngest just turned 3, so he was having a blast with our boys (5, 3 and 1). It was so sad to leave, because he cried and didn’t want his new friends to leave. They really did have a good time together, and it was nice to catch up with my second “family.” We plan to come back in 2 years for Jaime’s graduation. It’s amazing how fast time flies when you aren’t there!

What is up with the grocery store names around here? IGA? Wawa? Giant? Seriously? “Hey, honey, I’m heading out to the Wawa, need me to pick up anything?” What happened to the normal named stores, like Safeway and Albertsons? Oh, and why is my Carl’s Jr. a “Hardee’s” out here? Huh? Why? I recognize the star, but why change the name? Was that to confuse the poor California girl? That’s not nice, you know.

The drive down to Norfolk was long. Honestly, I don’t remember it taking that long ever before. Everything has moved along quickly and smoothly until that drive. It was just a painfully slow evolution for me, but I’m glad it’s over and I can relax again. It was really nice to see Mike again, and share parenting again. He put the kids in bed while I reorganized the car and repacked a bit. He also did laundry for me. I love my husband!

Off to Annapolis, Maryland

After several exciting days our in the boonies well away from civilization, we decided to head back into society buy visiting my sponsors (my assigned family while at USNA). I swear I packed 10 times more stuff than I removed from my car on Sunday, but hey, at least it all fit back in!

Then I headed out to my sponsors house in Annapolis. It was wonderful to see my sponsor family again, to watch Jaime play in a lacrosse game and to just hang out. The kids had a blast, and that right there is half of the battle!

All in all, today was a good day at a slow pace. Tomorrow begins the end of our journey. It’s been a good trip and I hope to have fond memories of this for years to come!

Monticello

Well, if yesterday was winter, today was definitely spring. As we left this morning, while it was still chilly, it wasn’t cold. We had a breakfast of cereal and yogurt and then headed out to warm up in the car and search for some fresh brewed coffee for my dad. We were all pretty cold, having spent the night without heat. We didn’t know where we were going, but we hoped wherever we ended up, they would have electricity!

As we drove out of the Basye valley, we saw reason after reason after reason why we didn’t have electricity. Apparently the wind storm was just getting underway yesterday, and last night was the peak of the winds. We drove by the golf course and observed evergreens at least a foot in diameter completely snapped in half. Some weren’t even near their roots, but lay several yards down wind. The sheer power of the storm became even more apparent as we drove out and saw how many trees had come down on power lines and across the road after we drove in last night. The clean up was only just beginning. No wonder we didn’t have power all night.

We started out the day at the Meem’s Bottom Covered Bridge, which is the only covered bridge in Virginia open to vehicular traffic. It stretches 200 feet in a single span, and is quite the sight to see! The kids were impressed, and definitely enjoyed the “history” they could walk on and touch. As we got back in the car, we decided to spend the remainder of the day at Monticello, near Charlottesville, VA.

Monticello was the home of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. Let me just say that it was a gorgeous day to be out and about. Unlike yesterday, which hovered in the low 30’s, today was in the low to mid 60’s. What a difference a day makes! The kids and I wandered the grounds, took the Plantation Tour and then toured the house itself. The little guy wasn’t terribly impressed, so I took him and #3 out while the oldest two finished up the tour of the house and yakked the ear off the tour guide.

May I just say that Monticello in the spring is just breath-takingly beautiful? The tulips, dogwood trees, red bud, Virginia Bluebells and cherry blossoms in addition to the trees budding out…simply stunning! I can see why so many would settle here…so long as all you saw was spring or fall. Because winter is frigid and the summer is so awfully sticky and hot. I’d prefer not to be sticky or frozen if I can help it!

As a precaution, we ate dinner out before returning to the resort. We had no idea whether or not the power would be restored, but we weren’t holding our breath. Not after all of the destruction we saw in the morning. We got back and put the kids directly to bed and learned that the power had been restored a little more than 40 minutes prior to our arrival. The heater was still struggling to keep up and the refrigerator was still cranking away. I’m happy to have electricity again, because that means there is hot water again. Hurray for a hot shower!

Luray Caverns

Monday, 16 April 2007
Ok, what is the deal with this weather? I have seen more snowy days in the last 2.5 weeks than I have in the last 12 years. Honestly people, what’s the deal with spring around here??? Do you really need to make me experience winter day after day after day? I already regret even bothering to pack shorts and short sleeves. Obviously we had no need for those or our sandals. But I get it already, ok? Call off winter! Geez!

So yes, we woke up to snow. Again. And wind. Holy cow…gusting to 60 mph. I flew out of bed twice last night to check to see if my car was still there. I’m not joking even a little bit. The wind is crazy here. After a wonderful hot breakfast of oatmeal, we packed up and headed out to the Luray Caverns.

The drive out was a little dicey, but not too bad (you know, due to the snow and wind). The wind was enough to cut you in half the moment you stepped out of the protection of the car, but we made it inside and had a great tour! The formations were simply amazing, huge and bountiful. And my favorite part was the organ that played tuned stalactites. Amazing that someone would think of doing it, but it was beautiful to listen to.

After our cave tour, we drove on to the Shenandoah National Park to experience the Skyline Drive. What can I say other than it was beautiful? It really was. We saw ice waterfalls, deer, and lots and lots of broken trees. Remember that wind? Well, we couldn’t drive far along the Skyline Drive because a bunch of it was closed due to fallen trees. I’m not exaggerating when I say that nearly 100 percent of the trees had broken branches. The wind was really extreme, and the resulting damage was severe.

We tried our hand at a hike to Dark Hollow Falls, but just a bit into it and our middle son bit a chunk out of the trail. He had his hands in his pockets and went face first. Definitely not the worst I’ve seen, but I’m wondering if he didn’t break his nose. His nose is definitely the worst I’ve seen on one of my kids. Nothing much I could do about it except wipe away the blood, clean out the rocks and put ice on it. Thankfully, I always carry icepacks in the car, so he was able to ice it right away.

After that we finished up the last bit of the drive, then went to Wally World to replenish my emergency ice supply. Can’t have too many of those things hanging around with my boys! I had a wild hair and got the kids Burger King on the way home so I could put them in bed sooner rather than later. Thank goodness I did, because when we got back to the resort, we found we have no electricity. So I am blogging by candle light and fighting off the cold as it settles in. I’m equally glad that I bought two candles at the Yankee Candle store. It’s quite a trek into town from here, so no runs out for candles or warm food.

All in all, I’m doing well. I am really enjoying our trip and how much we are able to see. Things may get crazy on me, but it just adds spice to my life. I really enjoy reading your comments, and I am glad you are enjoying my log. I’m happy to share, and happy that I can record what we are doing for someone other than posterity. It really is gratifying to know that you all are out there following along. Until tomorrow, or when I have good internet again…

Cousin's wedding

Sunday, 15 April 2007

Today began way too early. We needed to leave extra early to make the two hour dive to DC for my cousin’s wedding. It was an easy drive once we got on the road, even though it was raining cats and dogs. It was 63* when we left Williamsburg, but by the time we got to the Potomac River, it was only 47*. Both my daughter and I had sleeveless spring dresses with sandals to wear to the wedding. Probably not the best choice of clothes for the weather.

We boarded the vessel and watched the wedding ceremony. The little guy screamed the first 45 minutes. That didn’t help a whole lot. In fact, it was rather trying. Dinner was served while the boat cruised up and down the Potomac River near the Washington Monument and Rolling Air Force Base (I think that is the name of the AFB there). It poured the entire time, even inside…there were towels everywhere soaking up where the rain was running in. It was definitely an adventure.

After the ceremony, we said good bye to Mike and the kids and I headed out to do a quick driving tour of the city. We drove passed the Washington Monument, the White House, the Capitol Building, Union Station, Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian’s near the Mall and Arlington National Cemetery. It was still fairly rainy, but fun to point out various things to the kids as we passed. It was the perfect speed for them: “hey look, it’s the (fill in the blank).” I think they are growing weary of anything historical that they can’t put their hands on.

Following our whirlwind city tour, we headed out to the country side…to Basye, VA in the Shenandoah National Forest area. It’s beautiful, and quite secluded out here. And I had to laugh at what they call a “ski area” here. It’s more of a bunny hill or a tubing hill than an actual ski area, but hey, who am I to say?

Today was a terribly long day of behaving for the kids. They spent 2+ hours in the car on the way to the wedding, were cooped up on a boat and expected to behave (which they did) for 4 hours for the wedding, then spent another 3 hours in the car for the DC tour and getting out to Basye. When we got there, I sent them to run the stairs since it was raining cats and dogs outside and there is a creek bursting out of its banks 20 yards from the condo. Really, I don’t need to lose a kid that way, you know? I’ll take my chances on the stairs, thank you very much.

May Mom BBQ

Saturday, 14 April 2007

Today didn’t unfold anything like I had planned. Our little guy woke up a bit early, but sounded pretty bad. He was having a rough time breathing, something that has been brewing for a few days. But it wasn’t bad enough that I thought I should take him in until today. Today he just sounded miserable.

I was so afraid I would go through all of the effort to find an urgent care and take him in, only to have them tell me he had a cold and that was that. I called our insurance and the advice nurse told me to take him in to the ER. There was only 30 minutes until an urgent care opened, so I opted for the urgent care instead. I really liked the facility we went to. They were very fast, very friendly, and quite good.

We got checked in and the first thing we discovered was that the little guy had an ear infection in addition to the wheezing he was doing. So I felt better about taking him in. At least I wasn’t over reacting! After two back to back albuterol treatments, he still wasn’t sounding too great. So off we went to get some chest x-rays. I’ve seen pneumonia before, but never this bad. The whole bottom third of his left lung was completely white. You couldn’t even begin to see the lung in all of the junk in there. Five prescriptions later, he’s starting to perk up a bit. They gave him a horse sized shot of antibiotics in the clinic, then put him on azithromyicin. He’s also on several other drugs to help kick the pneumonia. Poor little guy!

So after taking him in and spending several hours getting his prescriptions, we headed off for the May Mommy BBQ, woohoo! That’s what I was looking forward to, and sick kid or not, I was going to a BBQ! Here’s who was there: it was lovingly hosted by Katie (and Jonathan did the cooking, yum!), Martha, Paula, Lyn, Carie, Andrea, Emily, Kiela and I were all there. Most had the whole family, so it was quite the get together!

The kids had a wonderful time playing hide-and-go-seek, ball, playing on the swings, tag, and riding in the car. Fortunately, the rain held off until later in the evening after everything had been wrapped up. It was so much fun to see everyone, to hang out and to just talk. We had a great time, but it was certainly tough to say goodbye.

Despite the rough start to the day, it was a great day with wonderful friends and fabulous food!

Colonial Williamsburg

Today was our day to tour Colonial Williamsburg. We headed out to the visitor’s center fairly early and walked from one end of town to the other and back again. We visited the church, the Governor’s Palace, the court house, the Public Gaol (jail), and the state house. There was much to see, but after a couple of hours, the kids tired of seeing one old house after another.

Around noon, my parent’s left to head out to Bayse, VA to check into our lodging for next week. Shortly thereafter, I met up with my friend Katie and her two kids. We wandered for a bit, but then left for cheaper food. McDonald’s proved to be a much cheaper option than the $9 for a sandwich, chips and a cookie (no drink) that Williamsburg offered.

While we were out for food, my husband and brother joined us. My brother is in town for work, rather unexpectedly. He’s spending the night here before joining my parents in Bayse tomorrow. Then we all headed out to the Yankee Candle store. Wow! What a neat store! It wasn’t crowded, the kids could explore but not get lost, we didn’t have to walk far, and it snowed every 15 minutes! Best of all, it was free! After exploring and much candle sniffing, we said goodbye to Katie and kids and headed back to the resort.

All in all, it was a good day with beautiful weather, but I think the kids are ready for a break. I hope to get them all in bed rather early tonight, since tomorrow will be a full day!

Spent the day in Jamestown, VA

Today started off with heavy rain. It looked awful. I turned on the news and saw that we were under a tornado watch until noon and then the rest of the day was supposed to be beautiful. So we hunkered down and had a very relaxed morning. Nothing to do, no where to go, no schedules to keep. It was a wonderful morning. My mom made scrambled eggs, bacon and toast and life was good.

With all of the long days, short nights and napless days, the little guy was a little worn out. By 9am he was fussy, so I decided to try to get him down for a nap. I was definitely successful! We woke up at 11:45 just as my parents were leaving with the three oldest to go for a walk. I hadn’t intended to sleep, but boy did I ever feel better after my nap! With my parents and the oldest three gone, I showered and then mucked out the car. It definitely needed it. It’s like we’ve been living in it for the last two weeks or something!

After lunch, we decided to head out to Jamestown and do some exploring. That was really neat. The first thing we stopped to do was look at the Glass House. It isn’t really a literal glass house, but it is the remains of the glass kilns from the early Jamestown settlement. And lest that sound too boring, fear not, as there were skilled artisans onsite blowing glass while we watched. That was fascinating! We watched as they took molten glass from the furnace, blew it into a vase, tapped it from the blowing tube, fired it again to shape the mouth, then added a handle. Did you know that the natural color of glass is green and that they have to add cobalt and other things to get the different colors? I had no idea, so the entire visit was certainly educational!

Then we moved on to the original settlement and fort. They have several of the foundations excavated and a museum set up above some of the original Statehouse foundations. When I say over, I mean that the museum is up on pillars and you walk over a glass floor and look down to the foundation. Pretty neat if you ask me! They have recovered over 1 million artifacts from the Jamestown site, and have more than 1 thousand on display, including a skeleton, where they explain how they came to the conclusion as to the identity of the remains.

Anyhow, we saw a lot today, even though the day didn’t start out planned per se. Oh, and the weather? Was perfect…even by my lofty San Diego standards. It was a gorgeous day, 77* with passing fluffy white clouds. Simply amazing, given the rocky start!