Poor Thing

 

Called me from school the other day because she wasn't feeling well.

I always ask: "Do you feel like you need to come  home?"

And she usually responds with some form of "I don't know. I'll probably be okay."

My usual response it to tell her to go to the nurse,  have her temperature taken, and rest for a while, and then call me if she is still feeling sick.  Usually, I never hear about it again.

This time, her response was: "I don't think you want me to come home, but I don't feel well."

I told her I'd be there as soon as I could.

Half an hour later as I pulled into the parking lot, her teacher texted to tell me she'd just thrown up in the classroom.  Then she threw up in the car.

Then she and I took a nap.

Then all was well. Sometimes, you just have to throw up and take a nap. 

 

Let it Begin

After our Thanksgiving relaxation, we went to work getting ready for the next big one.

And, I didn't kill them while we did this, so we're off to a strong start.

 

Well, the start was filled with the middle on the bottom of the three part tree, followed by a too-long discussion of finding all the male and female light string ends to put together, and then many scratches on the arms from all of this work. 

 

And in the end, I gave them a box of ornaments and walked away.

Best decision ever.  It's beautiful and perfect.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving

Spent in the country with family.

 

After a little air travel with the brood.

 

But then we got down to the preferred method of travel--the golf cart.

 

And they bunked together as the first guests at grandma and grandpa airplane's new home.

 

Where sunrise never fails to amaze.

 

And we spent time with family.

 

And even snuck in a picture of the six pack.

 

And maybe a game or two of poker--with markers as our chips.

 

Arrow of Light: Crossover Camp

Saying goodbye for the weekend, as the boys attend their first Boy Scout Campout sans parents.

I was still able to get them to smile for a photo.

 

Once I was gone, their smiles apparently became huge...

 

Probably because they got to play huge Jenga.

 

And dodge ball of course.

 

And before I dropped them off and after seeing the forecast for the weekend, mommy went out and bought long underwear, hats, gloves, sweatshirts, 10 degree mummy sleeping bags... because I am still mommy.

 

And then, the rest of the Boy Scouts did not come prepared, and they all slept in the Dining Hall on the 35 degree night out.

Thankful

State Capitals East of the Mississippi...

 

I gave Patric the quiz:

 

Me: "Delaware."

Him: "Delaware.  No one lives in Delaware.  There is no capital."

 

Me: "Michigan"

Him: "Michigan.  (re-stating the question clearly a delay tactic).  That's Traverse City.

Me: "Patric, we lived in Michigan.  We camped in Traverse City; that is not the  capital."

 

Me: "Maryland"

Him: "Maryland.  Maryland?  The biggest city there is The Village.  But I think the British burned it down."

 

Me: (After I stopped laughing) "Rhode Island"

Him: "Rhode Island.  Rhode Island.  Rhode Island."

Me: "It was on the side of the U-Haul we saw the other day.  We laughed at the art."

Him: "Rhode Island.  Rhode Island.... (blank stare)"

 

Me: "Vermont"

Him: "Same thing, no one lives there. There can't be a capital. What on earth did you say to these people when they said they didn't need to learn this?!"

 

Me: "Sometimes a quiz is not about the content; sometimes a quiz is about your ability to apply yourself."

 

Once again, F for the parents on grade school content.

A Little PVC Pipe and Colored Duck Tape

In addition to paper shotguns, you can make some pretty neat blow guns--here we are shooting marshmallows around the house.

 

But then you figure out that you can make darts out of post-it notes, insert a nail, and add a touch of glue to make it all work together.  Then we moved outside for trials with a few mommy rules in place.

 

You Tube, you can teach us anything.

Party hats for forming darts doubling as a double party watching hat, purse to hold your ammunition and Elaine touch of brilliance.

 

Science Fair research on Aerodynamics, here we go.

Industrious

That is a double barreled shotgun, made of paper with a functioning trigger that shoots rubber bands.

 

You can really find anything on YouTube.

Chim-Chiminey

Taking Care of Business on the roof.

 

And then little heads joined him. 

I gave up exasperation at these findings a long time ago. At least I get the branches that are threatening the roof removed from the trees that are really too close to the house.  We had the driveway worked on the other day, and when the guy showed up he rolled his eyes at our house.  Oh yeah, he says.  We worked on this house when it was being constructed; that guy drove everyone crazy with his trees.  He wouldn't let us remove a single one from around where we were building the house.

 

And so, we remove branches from scraping the roof....

One, Two, Three

Patric found this on Facebook the other day--a pretty good pic!

Daddy's Girls

 

He and they charming the staff on a rare night out for dinner.

For the Record

This was the year and the season that your father became hooked on bow hunting, and when the décor for the space over the mantel was decided.

Sisters

Oh, Alida.

You hurt your ankle--but there is no swelling and the limping is intermittent.  Hmm.

Yes, you should get some sleep; it heals most wounds around here.

Right after Elaine gets you some ice and secures it with a sleeping mask of course.

Like Father

Like Son

Eleven Halloweens

2006

 

2006

 

2007

 

2008

 

2009

 

2010

 

2011

 

2011

2011

 

2012

 

2013

 

2013

 

2014

 

2015

 

2016

Happy Halloween!

We all went ghoulish this year.

 

And the girls are pretty darn good at getting into character.

 

And then the trick-or-treating was a blur. Except you could hear Benjamin yelling constantly, "Zombies don't Run!"

 

But we remembered to bring along water and not wear too heavy clothes in our Southern end-of-October outing. Alida did not have to ask for a glass of water instead of candy when she begged at their doors. They are in for a treat next year--we'll be doing this in Chicago...

 

And then there was the de-masking.

"Next year, mother, I want to be a ghost.  A simple, sheet over my head ghost."

 

And the candy dance.

 

And the necessary candy sorting and hoarding.