Special Weather Statement

As J put it, "Someone over at Weather.com was having a little too much fun." Actually, around here we usually say "Someone's vida is a little too loca"--thank you, David Letterman, circa 1999.

The relevant part of our "Special Weather Statement":

... A RETURN TO WINTER LATER THIS WEEK FOR THE SOUTHLAND...

A MAJOR CHANGE IN OUR WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED DURING THE UPCOMING WEEK. A SOUTHWARD DRIFT IN THE JET STREAM WILL DRIVE AN UNSEASONABLY COLD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BEFORE THE END OF THE WEEK. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING MUCH COLDER TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION ALONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND A GOOD CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION.

WHEREAS HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING IN THE 70S AND 80S... HIGH TEMPERATURES BY THURSDAY WILL HAVE DROPPED 20 TO 30 DEGREES AND RISE ONLY INTO THE 50S. SUCH HIGH TEMPERATURES WOULD BE BELOW NORMAL EVEN IF THIS WAS A JANUARY DAY RATHER THAN THE FIRST OF APRIL. IN ADDITION... GUSTY WINDS IN MANY AREAS WILL CAUSE CONDITIONS TO FEEL EVEN COLDER DUE TO THE WIND CHILL. THE USE OF WINTER COATS AND PERHAPS UMBRELLAS WOULD FOOL ANYONE INTO BELIEVING THAT APRIL FIRST WAS REALLY A WINTERS DAY.

It goes on to warn of precipitation-- not TOO much, though--about a quarter of an inch in most areas.

I LOVE where we live!!

Not thrilled about the winter weather later this week, though :) . Hey, it will give my sunburn time to heal.

Off to Maryland

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Maryland over J' spring break to visit his parents and for him to talk a little at TFA. I'm going to try to work my way through our wonderful time there even as I try to keep up with life.

One of the fun things about traveling both this time and on our trip to GA over Christmas is how much our kids have grown. They can actually help a little bit now. "A Little"--Bud rolls his carry-on plus one of ours in parking lots and airports. It's amazing!

And Wombles was ready to help me pack. First, he asked for his backpack. Then he went to his bed and packed his loveys. Next, he walked to the other end of the house ("the airport") and over to the couch "the airplane") to sit next to Pixie. Before he sat down, though, he removed his backpack and shoved it underneath the couch. Before he turned 2.5, Wombles made the coast-to-coast roundtrip five times. Still, I found it strange that he knew what do do.

J's computer serves as our DVD player on flights. On the way out there, the plane had free internet. It was crazy to be in touch with people on the ground. We had been rerouted (a long story I have a pending blog on) and were able to let J's parents know our schedule.




I didn't have any great plane shots of Pixie, but here's Molly all decked out. She and Nite-Nite are sharing an outfit. Pixie and Molly kinda look alike. :)

Even though the children crashed and burned on either end, they were all absolute champs on the actual travel days. It's actually becoming (gulp) FUN to go places (and not just to get there).

More soon!

PSA #3

Some Saturday mornings, J meets a friend for coffee early. He usually gets home while the rest of us are eating breakfast.


Last weekend, Pixie was really, really happy to see him.

Please ignore the daffodil that died overnight. I am happy to report that it is no longer on our table.

PSA #2

Bud and Wombles love each other.


It can be nice to have a photo with no audio. When I look at this, I can almost forget the nearly incessant squabbling it seems we've had this week. And it makes me smile.

Music to my Ears

J is in the next room, practicing his trumpet, "following the deep, inscrutable desires of his heart."

It is really fun for me to hear that he is picking out some of the same hymns I turn to when I have to pull out my flute, which I haven't done since just before Christmas.

Tonight we had our supper swap friends over here at dinner. Sometimes we have challenging and thought-provoking discussions. Sometimes my mind takes an awkward turn like a cart hitting a rock and I feel insecure about everything I'm doing. Other times, like tonight, there is lots of laughter. One of the beautiful things about the regular getting-together is that one night with the kids going crazy doesn't flavor the whole relationship. Nor does sitting around, watching the kids play on the patio, musing on which one is going to get hurt first (as it so happens, there were no serious casualties tonight, and they all mostly had fun). The lots-of-laughter was really good for me tonight. I have been feeling a bit tired and disappointed, and then feel bad/sad when I take it out on the kids. Poor things. They'll probably be very glad when I go back to work.

I am in the midst of three weeks off: I start again after Easter. Which meant that today I was able to go and see Pixie's ballet class for the only time all year. It was sweet, lovely, and hilarious.

I haven't downloaded photos from our trip to Maryland yet. Maybe tomorrow? We had a wonderful time!

I can't believe that Holy Week is almost upon us already. This is the season in which I particularly miss being in Wheaton at our wonderful church.

May you find yourself with songs of praise on your lips this week!

Reason #5198 and other things

Yes, it's 10 o'clock. Which means it should feel like 1am, right? I am walking around in a haze of not knowing what time it ought to be. It has been surreal around here all day.

Tomorrow is Pixie's friend birthday party. She planned all of the details last month, and I am so thankful that they are doable. What she wants is to have pizza and watch a movie...specifically, the "Molly: An American Girl" movie. It was waiting for us when we got home (there was that little matter of buying from Netflix the one we got in December for J to watch with his class...that didn't work out, but neither one of us has seen it since it arrived). Thank you, Netflix! And thank you, Pixie, for planning a party I can do two days after flying home! Now, to write the scavenger hunt clues...

This afternoon I asked her what kind of cake she wanted. After earlier admitting that a "Tinkerbell" cake was not going to happen (sorry, Pixie!) I was hoping for something simple, like a flower (last year).

She totally surprised me with, "How about a Key Lime Cake?"

Ummm, sure?!

A quick trip to Tasty Kitchen produced a recipe that looks great.

This is a picture of what Pixie's birthday party cake will not look like.



I trust it will taste good, though. It is lovely, isn't it? I hope that Pixie's friends have palates that are Key-Lime-Cake-ready. I have a box of Joe-Joe's, just in case.

This evening I forgot all about making the cake until about 9 . Aaaagggggh!

Are you ready for #5198? J zested the limes for me. ZESTED THE LIMES. I can't stand zesting. We have a little zester for cute, and then the side of a grater for not-cute./quantity. I needed a lot of zest. After J offered to do it, I was hoping for his sake (and my guilt issues) that it wasn't as big of a pain as I remembered...it has been awhile, after all.

Nope, it was a pain.

A big pain.

Not that he said so...I could just watch while I juiced lemons and limes and know that I didn't want to be doing that.

Thank you, J!

And thank you, Boppy and Grandma, for the juicer! It was really fun to use it, even if it did absolutely nothing to help me with feeling guilty that my part of the work was easy-breezy! I just stood there, juicing lime halves that J had already zested.

Let me tell you, that frosting is goo-ood. Up there with the candied-ginger stuff.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Sunset at Supper

It was glorious.

Except for Wombles' reaction to the Thai food, but I'll talk about that later.

We are all done decorating and setting up for Pixie's birthday tomorrow. Can you believe it? Our "baby" is seven! I think she's going to love the day...it will be sad to say goodbye to the cousins and Aunt Joy, but I hope the fact that she gets to do Birthday Brunch with them will be one of the delights of her day. Maybe even enough to partially cancel out the leaving-after-brunch part. I'll let you know...

On the Chesapeake

We are on the Eastern Shore with J's parents. It is lovely, and they are wonderful! It's a bit of a family reunion with J's sister and her kids here, too.

I can tell you we're here because someone else is staying in our house. This time was MUCH easier [mentally] than when we had guests stay there over Christmas; then I had months to think about it, but this time someone asked me about 36 hours before we left. With that, there couldn't really be any expectations...my kind of situation.

J is reading the hobbit to Pixie and Bud while Wombles drops off. Yes, it's 10:30; I had not done the math that traveling over the time change weekend meant a four-hour time difference for us. It's kinda fun to feel footloose and free, staying up all late at night and sleeping in until (gasp) nine.

I have lots of fun stories that I want to share, but am feeling dry and empty at the moment. So I will post this link of where we are, and where J's parents are involved; it's a fabulous place. J is doing some teaching as scholar-in-residence early this week, and gets to teach on things he's into. I don't know whether we have the camera cable to download photos, or no; so this may or may not be the only visual.

Hey, J just told me he has it! SO, personal photos soon!

Here we are.

Saturdays a la Dad

The next couple of Saturdays will not be normal ones for us,so I thought I'd give you an idea of how Saturdays work in our house. Sometimes J meets someone for coffee early, but usually by 9 am I am working and he has kid-time. Some weeks that's running errands to Home Depot. Some weeks that is planting a garden in our yard. And every once in a while, there may be news of big waves breaking. One weekend recently he packed the children into the van and drove down to one of the major surfing breaks nearby.


I can't believe we live somewhere you can just as soon drive to this as to Costco.


No free food samples at Rincon, though.
Pixie and Bud enjoyed watching the surfers, but were soon lost in their own narrative (More on that soon...is it possible to overdose on the Chronicles of Narnia? Maybe).

Which left just J. and Wombles to take in the surfing scene.



I find it extremely weird to think of my children growing up a Californians..and not even Northern Californians (a different crew). What if one of them grows up thinking it's normal to...surf? ;)

Very grateful to be here. Very wanting to share it!

PSA #1

Wombles loves cream cheese.

PS I just Googled "PSA" to make absolutely certain I wasn't being obscure...and "Public Service Announcement" didn't come up. So either Google is wacky and you all knew what I was talking about, or it's broadcasting slang and I didn't realize it. Either way, you know what I meant.

One reason I Love PW

I've mentioned the Pioneer Woman's blog before, haven't I?

Her recipes are wonderful. They also come with the step-by-step directions (and photos) I need. You know the sort: "This is how you peel an onion." Or, "This is what blackened onion looks like." I can always count on inspiration from either her site or Tasty Kitchen.

When NBG gave me PW's cookbook, for Christmas, I was over the moon. It was SIGNED TO ME! I think that's when I was so excited that I missed NBG's little announcement that Baby Guff was on the way. Whoops.

There are other fun parts of PW's site--the photography section (Mom, your India photo should be a finalist!!), Home and Garden, Confessions...and Homeschooling.

Here's one of my very favorite quotes from that section:

Lots of people support our decision to homeschool. Some are quietly guarded. Others think we’re mentally ill. I vacillate between all three myself. Believe me, if you’re shaking your head reading this, I understand. If you think I’m a nutjob, I totally get it. If you think my kids will grow up to be weird, you’re probably right. And if you think I’m a freak? You’re right on the money.

But you know what? It works for us.

I'd read it before, but I'm really feeling it this week. It also does a good capturing what the past week has been like.

We had a great morning at school today--We started two weeks on the Persians (very cool) and I've found resources over the weekend that make it much more interesting for me...which translates to interesting for P B & W, believe it or not. I LOVE starting each day with a different Persian folk tale! OK, so we've only had one day so far. But I have enough books for all week--and after the Babylonians and Assyrians, I'm loving the color and curviness of the Persians. We happen to be at Esther in our Story Bible, which is so perfect: I read that to the children over lunch. Earlier we had read about the Medes and Persians, so when I say that the "Law of the Medes and Persians cannot be changed," P & B not only know who the Medes and Persians were but where their empire was and why their laws couldn't be changed. It's fun to watch their little brains working as they interrupt the story to "explain" things to me.

So today is a good day. In a given week we may have one of those, plus a really really bad one and three average ones.

Speaking of really really bad ones...

Today was the day J came home to be with the boys while I taught. He works during their naptime, and then they watch a movie while he works some more. WELL...

Today he spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Verizon getting our internet fixed. THEN he discovered that Bud has been peeing in a corner of the front room behind a chair--JUST FOR FUN! After cleaning THAT up, he started work--only to have L come by to pick up some things I was to give her for Bible Club tomorrow morning. They couldn't be found--J trying to MAKE some to give her--she's leaving, and they find them where I left the bag hanging on the doorknob. In the midst of all that, C.M. stops by to pick up bedding I'd promised to lend. It was in a Sterilite box by the door, but J didn't know that (I hadn't told him about that, either). There were no sheets left to lend because I'd already packed them up. Poor J. What a rotten afternoon!

I can only hope his wonderful day will be tomorrow, when he's being observed again for mid-tenure review.

I'm working tonight on Matthew 23, which is my next Bible Study assignment (seriously. I know. Look it up). I'm also doing a little planning for Pixie's birthday party. And our upcoming trip.

As J used to say when we were at WTS, "Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times!"

Speaking of WTS, the author of the new resource I'm loving for history took an M.Div. there 7 years before I went!

And, *scene*
(here ends stream-of-consciousness blogpost).

Science Friday--Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me...

Last week it was actually Science Sunday and Thursday, but I'm feeling a little nostalgic for the days when NPR and I had a closer relationship. I wonder how NPR is doing? Does NPR ever think of me? We had so many great drives together, so many afternoons while I prepped in my classroom at good old St. Joesph Grade School.

Nevermind.

I am not a very science-y person, so am I VERY glad to be around others who are. Specifically, others who are willing to teach my children. For example:

el domingo pasado, we were driving home from church and Bud wanted to know who invented cars, and then how they worked, etc. This is typical Bud. We'll be driving along, and he will pipe up: "Mom? What kinds of animals like to move around at night?" Or, "Mom? Will you tell me again how volcanoes are made?" And then he relentlessly pursues with more questions until he's exhausted my knowledge.

Fortunately, on Sunday J was driving and answering car questions. In the midst of this, J. remembered making a steam engine at home as a kid (please see "CovCov"'s hilarious comment on my last post). After naptime, they decided to try to build the thing!


I would like to say this was a family project, but I was zonked in a chair in the backyard for the entire construction segment. I made it back in for the trial, though. I just loooooove Sunday afternoons.

What do you need to make a steam engine, you may ask? A soda can, cork, candles, and something lightweight with wheels.


You put some water in the can, and then when it begins to boil the steam comes out of a little hole and propels the whole contraption forward.


That's the idea, anyway. This one didn't quite work as planned, but the kids thought it was really cool. And I love being married to someone with the initiative to give it a try. I love that the kids understand the concept, even though the "car" didn't go...and that they learned it's okay to give something a shot and not have it work out. As planned, anyway.




Then, on Thursday, my friend M. came over after a science fair promo/demonstration at the local school. She brought one for us to do! She measured in the vinegar and baking soda, and I timed how long it took to shoot the top off.

I also tried to take pictures, and sometimes my timings were not accurate (really, really not good at being a science person).


Once the cap went up on the roof. I was just going to leave the cap up there, maybe until J got home, maybe forever--seeing as how ladders and roofs and I have a very tense relationship. We really should never be in the same room.

Even though I shouldn't have let her, I forgot about that part and M. waltzed right up the steps and onto the roof. It was beautiful.

I was so relieved.

The kids thought it was awesome.


Science Thursday!


I am so thankful for the reminders--both in your kind and funny comments, and in watching my week unfold--that I am not shouldering the real burden, and I'm not doing any of this alone.

Happy Wednesday, Beta

Happy Wednesday! You know what that means!

I am in the process of working on a nice long, reminiscent post and found mid-way through that I'm too emotional and brain-fried to continue. It's too much to ask me to figure out why I'm crying over the fact that Miss Marianne closed the Athens School of Ballet back in 2005, and I didn't even know. You'd have thought someone would have let me know.

I'm seriously starting to think life might have been better before Google.

At our supper swap tonight, M. brought up preschool. It wasn't me! But I'm left wondering (again) whether I'm wrecking my children's lives by not having in them in preschool. Or normal school. Actually, if we want to get down to the heart of it, there are are more subterranean issues, such as (1) why I don't have them in, specifically, Mrs. Moody's class at Green Acres Baptist Nursery School (preferably in the early 80s, I guess), and (2) in what ways I'm ruining their lives without even knowing it.

Oh, my word. I thought I just stuck this blog in the draft file. Obviously I can't jump out of a rut quite as easily as I can hit "New Post."

Sometime I will take the time and space to hammer out my argument for the existence of eternity based on the existence of a healthy combo of nostalgia, morriña y vivid, lovely memories. But not tonight.

Instead, I will be silly. There's no one here to make funny comments to make me laugh at myself. J found out today that he's being observed for mid-tenure review tomorrow; I don't think he's stressed, but he's working hard in the next room. Very unaware that I have been teetering on the edge. Possibly wondering what on earth I've been doing in here for so long.

So, here are some funnies from our week. Here's Wombles in his very modern fashion design:



Hey--reuse, reduce, recycle--it's all there! I wish you could have heard him describing his "dress."

Bud, today at our lunch picnic. He got to "blow bubbles" (he was not at table).


And Pixie...well, I remember when Pixie did this:



I just wanted to see her curls again.

By the way, although she's not quite at ASB, Pixie is taking ballet lessons herself these days. :)

Just because I'd like to know, what is one of your favorite pre-grade school memories? I'll start: Mom driving to a preschool function already in her full costume as a clown, and all of the other drivers staring at her. Oh, David and I just howled!

Seriously?!

J was a hero tonight: dinner ready when I got home from teaching, and then he cleaned up and got the kids ready for bed while I worked on Bible study for tomorrow. Which prep I will get back to very soon.

In the first 18 minutes after J left for his Bible study, I was called in to the boys' room FOUR times. Four. Usually we don't hear from them, or maybe get one call. FOUR.

This was because Wombles kept getting out of bed, and Bud kept tattling. It's true, they are NOT allowed to get out of bed...especially not get-out-of-bed-get-a-book-throw-it-across-the-room, or get-out-of-bed-retrieve-Lightning-McQueen-cars.

Most of all, they are NOT to get out of bed and sneak into my bedroom, pulling things off of J's dresser in search of candy. Certainly NOT.

OK, back to Matthew 21. :)