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!