Run With The Fishes

To add further proof that Zoey is our resident genius and geeky girl*, last Wednesday the eye doctor told us that she needed glasses and would have to wear them full time. Between my parents and Greg, the odds were high that one of our kiddos would not have perfect vision.

We were a little worried that she would be bummed about having to wear glasses. So far that isn’t the case. On Friday afternoon after they stopped and picked up her new specs, she let us know, “”I can actually see the words at the bottom of the screen when Dad has it on ESPN!”.

It doesn’t hurt that she looks incredibly cute. The real test will be today at school. I hope no one picks on her. I don’t think they will because glasses are more common for kids then they used to be. She also seems to be pretty well-liked. Even with that, some kids can be mean. Here’s hoping that we have given her enough self-confidence to ignore the teasers.

More evidence that Zoey is a little clone of my mother.

So, this was supposed to be posted on Saturday, but the wireless network card on my laptop decided to go kaput. Sure I could have plugged it up via the ethernet port, or even used the kid’s computer but that would have made too much sense.

*I think it’s perfectly fine that she is a geeky girl. She gets it from her mother.

This week, the old picture will be postponed until Saturday. To tide you over, here are a few tidbits from this week.

Allie: “Mom, can Zoey and I play the computer?”
Me: “Sure. Zoey, do you mind playing on there with Allie?”
Allie: “Can we play five games?” as she is holding up one hand, “Because five is alot!”
Me: “I don’t see why not. You guys can play five games.”
Allie (in a state of amazement): “Zoey! We get to play FIVE games! FIVE is so many!”

Each time she she said FIVE she emphasized it by thrusting up her had with her fingers splayed out.

Nathan still loves that dog. This is not really surprising, just a statement. LT will chew on just about everything. Nathan really may be able to use “the dog ate my homework” excuse. Yesterday he was letting us know that “LT has grown at least 3 times the size he was when we got him”. He has grown a bunch, but not quite that much.

Yesterday we got another new pet. Getting pets must be like eating Pringles. Now that we’ve started, it seems like we just can’t stop. Before Easter (and before LT), we were going to get a rabbit for the girls. The problem was, we decided to do this a few weeks before the holiday, not really remembering that Easter is one of the most popular times for people to buy rabbits (and baby chicks).

The girls were trying to think of a name on which they could both agree. We don’t know how to tell if the rabbit is a boy or a girl so they decided to go with a gender neutral name. According to Allie, the rabbit’s name is Boing Boing. If you ask Zoey, its name is Max. Hopefully it won’t have split personalities.

Before, we were a strict, no pet family. Now we have two. If you look close enough, you may see the word “sucker” on my forehead.

This is the display window of one of the antique shops on the city square. Tell me you are not creeped out by this and don’t automatically hear some demented version of either Wagner’s Bridal Chorus or Pachabel’s Canon.

Last summer, when the newness of the video camera had not worn out we tried to convince the kids to make a short movie. They were not feeling very inspired so it didn’t happen. As soon as Zoey saw this she started writing her horror movie she is going to make this summer.

“Mom, can you dress up as the big bride, and Allie and I will dress up as the little ones. You will be pure evil and have us attack people and do your dirty work.”

She is already writing out her script and has recruited Nathan to be one of the people attacked. If the movie really gets made this summer, you can be sure that I will share it with you all.

Allison desperately wanted a pair of rubber boots, “For splashing in the puddles like Caillou!”. For months we searched for some “golashies”. There were never any in her size. A few weeks ago we went to visit some friends and found the perfect ones at Osh Kosh. She has worn them almost every day since we got them.

For some semi-recent pictures of the garden (Ahem, Amy) you should look here.

These pictures are from early 1975. My mother, Great-Aunt June, Great-Grandmother, and my mom’s cousin Brad made a trip from Oklahoma to California. I am about 3 months old and asleep in the RV that you can just make out in one or two of the pictures. They drove through Arizona and stopped to see the Grand Canyon on the way.

My mom says that I need to be sure and let you know a little information about my Great-grandmother. Anytime any member of her family announced that they were going on vacation, she would be there, with her bags packed and there had better have been room for her to ride with you, or you would be leaving some things behind in order to make room.

My Aunt June used to have a newspaper delivery route. One of my first jobs was helping her roll those stupid papers and put them into their (not so) waterproof plastic bags. She was one of the first people to try out new technologies. She had one of the first push button microwaves and a beta tape player. We used to hunt eggs at her house on Easter morning and everyone wanted to rare and precious money egg. I’m sure it only had 5 dollars or something, but back in the 80’s that was big money to a kid. That would buy 500 pieces of Super Bubble Bubble gum. She is also part of the reason that I like to quilt. She used to make the cutest flannel baby blankets and really beautiful quilts.

Because of TAKS testing (the standardized testing for Texas) we have had no practices or games until tomorrow night. It has been a nice break. We have been able to eat regular dinners instead of quick fix spaghetti, mac & cheese, or fast food. The kids have gone to bed at their normal times, which means there have been no morning melt downs from utter exhaustion (on my part or theirs). I have also been able to do a little work in the garden. I’ll talk a little about the garden later.

First I need to do a little bragging. What else is this blog really for if not that? I already talked about how Nathan made great grades on his report card last week, but I didn’t mention Zoey’s. Of course hers were also superb, but that’s not the real bragging part. Zoey placed first in a math contest for all of the third graders in her school. She got to have her picture taken for the paper and everything. The other big deal? She took the reading portion of the TAKS test a few weeks ago, the results came back last week with report cards and the girl did perfect. As in, she did not get one single question wrong. She is one awesome little nerd.

Okay, now on to the garden bits.
Here are the plants I have actually growing and some over 6 inches tall:
Corn
Peas
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Watermelon
Basil
Marigolds

The seedlings waiting until they are big enough to transplant outside:
Brussel Sprouts
Mint
Rosemary
an assortment of peppers (chili, cayenne, habanero, bell, and some extremely hot pepper from one of the Mexican guys at work. When I ask him the name he just tells me it’s a “pimiento fuego” and to wear gloves when I pick it. Nice!)

Seeds in the ground with no sprouts yet (ok, I did just plant these Monday so if there were sprouts, it would be amazing. I would have the most fertile soil anywhere and people would be knocking on my door begging for just a handful of miracle dirt from my garden.)
Spinach
Cabbage
Lettuce
Spaghetti Squash
Yellow Squash
Okra

I know, some of these aren’t veggie plants. They are flowers and herbs, but they are supposed to be great companions keeping pests away from some of the plants and are helpful for pollination. Each year I have planted onions and carrots, and each year we don’t actually pick them. While they seem like they should be garden staples, I don’t think I’m going to bother with them this year. What I would really like to plant is garlic, but I have no idea what it takes to get it started and I’m pretty sure you are supposed to plant it in the fall.

If it’s not raining this afternoon, I’ll run out and take some pictures to compare with a few weeks ago.

I know, these photos aren’t super old but they are appropriate. Yesterday, I asked Nathan how it felt to be a decade old. He said it was a great day, so being 10 is going to be so much fun. It was report card day and he earned all A’s. He got to play second base last night instead of catcher*. His team won their ball game by someone stealing home in the last inning (during his at bat). It was a very close game with the final score being 4-3. We had cupcakes and sodas for his team after the game. Then we went for pizza.

Too put an almost perfect end to a birthday, just as we were sitting down to our table a guy dressed like a 40’s gangster walked into the restaurant. He sat down his hat and then walked over to our table and started pulling foam balls out of Nathan’s ears. Then he did some card tricks, one where he had Zoey write her name on a card, then punched his pen through a corner, pulled the pen out and “TaDa!” the hole was gone.

As he was doing another set of tricks, Allison started heckling the guy, “Hey! I want a turn! Don’t forget me!”, but he was involved in his next setup. I hushed her and she watched entranced as he dropped some coins into an invisible change purse. Then his pizza arrived and he sat down to eat, end of show.

Or was it? As he was leaving, Allison called out to him, “Hey! Are you magic?”. Then he started to pull the foam balls from her ears and nose. She was tickled pink.

I am so glad Nathan had a good day. I can’t believe he’s ten.

Every have one of those periods where it just feels like you are constantly on the go? Get kids ready, off to school, then to work, come home from work and immediately get kids ready for extra-curricular activity of the day, rush to make sure they aren’t late getting there, home by 8 – if we are lucky, quick dinner (fast food or spaghetti if there happens to be time to cook), showers and bed.

I haven’t been to the grocery store since Saturday and that was just to get Easter goodies and milk (because I think without milk my children would die of thirst). We have been out of cereal for the past week, so each morning before school we have had to stop at the donut shop. Sure the kids love this, but the people at the donut place are beginning to call me by name.

Wednesday is usually our day off. We get to sit at home, have a semi-decent dinner and just relax (or if you are me, clean the house). Instead, tonight we are running (ok driving) to Shreveport to pick up a crate for LT. He is doing great by the way. He gets excited to see us and last night, didn’t whine or whimper all night.

It’s funny how anti-pet we were for the longest time, and now that we have one, we are totally enjoying the experience. From Allie, when she kept trying to pet him while he was sleeping in the temporary box we made as a bed, “But I love him so much Mom”. To the smile that is still on Nathan’s face, even while he had to clean up LT’s poop at the baseball park yesterday.

Wow, this started out as a post about how busy I have been the past week (or two). So much that it’s a small warning to everyone coming to see us this weekend to not be surprised if the house is a mess and there is no food to be found. I promise this won’t turn into a blog about our dog, it’s just a new and exciting event, so bear with me a few more days.

As you can see, there’s a new banner up. Nathan’s tenth birthday is on Thursday and it’s just a small glimpse of him through the years (10 of them!!!). Maybe I’ll write a blathery sentimental post on Thursday. You know, the one that says, “Where did my baby go? He can’t be in double digits already. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital with us and now, we can see glimpses of what he will be like in 10 more years. He’s such a great kid.” You know, stuff like that.

Yesterday we got Nathan a sort of early birthday present.

It’s a big change, because we haven’t had a real pet in our family. We sort of thought that three children were a houseful enough. Greg and I talked about it and feel like ten is a responsible sounding age. It doesn’t hurt that LT is awfully cute. He’s an eight week old chocolate lab and Nathan hasn’t stopped smiling since yesterday afternoon.

To see more photos you can click on each of the pictures above.

My grandmother passed away when my mother was very young so I never knew very much about her.

This is my grandmother’s senior picture. At our high school they have all of the senior pictures from when the school first opened hanging in a hallway. My brother and I graduated from the same high school. Even though it is silly, I always felt like this gave me a connection with her.