Our adventures in the Pacific Northwest
Thursday, June 5, 2008
How can I be productive?
If I sit downstairs at the computer, my kids will play happily in the basement. But as soon as I go upstairs to clean or do something productive, they follow me up and commence whining about everything they can think of. Especially if I'm doing something in the kitchen, they think if I'm there it must be time to eat something. Everyone is happier when I am being completely unproductive. Has anyone figured out how to keep their kids happily engaged without sitting at their side? Or do we all do our housework followed around by a trio of whiners?
Barf Fest 2008- A week-long event
We had a blissful puke-free day on Tuesday only to have Wednesday dawn with more puking, this time from Jesse. His first one was just a dribble down his front, I caught the next one in a towel, and the last one was in his crib- gotta love those plastic mattresses! He did have some very loose stools, but at least that gets caught in the diaper every time! So, if the pattern continues, we should have a day off before the next kid starts barfing. Who will be next? It's like a game at the fair. Where do I place the puke bucket?
I would also like to Officially Declare that my four year old son is completely potty trained. We are not offering bribes- er, rewards, anymore, we don't have to ask him if he has to poo, we don't have to force him to sit on the potty as he cries, he just DOES it, on his own. In fact, he had pooped yesterday but at bedtime he told Lincoln he needed to go again. Lincoln, thinking it was a delay tactic, told him he didn't have to go right then, he could wait until morning. (Yeah, a month ago we would NEVER have said that!). But Devon told him, "I need to listen to my body, Dad." Glad to know we got that through to him. He sat on the potty and did some toots. Anyway, yeah, he's doing it. He's even learning to wipe himself. I know, I know. He's 4 and you're not that impressed, but it's been such a long struggle in our home, we're rejoicing.
And in other milestone news, Julia learned to ride a two-wheeler yesterday! She has been very reluctant to try, but lately I guess she decided she was ready. I think she got sick of running behind all the other kids on their bikes. The girls have several neighbor friends and they all get together to play. The entertainment of choice is to start in our driveway on their bikes, ride down ours, across the street, up the neighbors driveway, back down theirs, across and down the street to the next driveway, zigzagging back and forth all the way down the hill. I'd look out and see them snaking down the street with Julia in the rear, on foot. Sad, really. But she picked it up quickly. By the time I got to the cul-de-sac with the three little ones to watch, she was riding on her own. Lincoln suggested we just wait with all of our kids to teach them when they're almost 7, they pick it up fast at that point! Kennedy was the same age when she started riding. Speaking of Kennedy, she and Brandon, a boy from Julia's class who lives next door, came to watch Julia learn too. I was so proud of both of them. They were very supportive and encouraging, clapping and telling her she was doing great. They never laughed at her mistakes and they didn't try to coach her or tell her how THEY do it. She really appreciated them, I could tell.
Last night we had a doozy of a storm. A huge clap of thunder woke me up at about 2:45. Cheyenne was freaking out and had managed to push open the door from the garage and was heading to our room. Lincoln got up and put her back in the garage. He crawled back into bed and we could hear her throwing herself against the door and scratching. I remembered that all the garage windows were open so I got up to close them, thinking it might shut out the noise a bit for her. As I walked out of our bedroom I met Renie heading in for comfort. I put her in with Lincoln and went to the garage. I closed the windows and then stayed with Cheyenne for a while. She was frantic and I was pretty convinced she was going to have a heart-attack. I stayed with her for 15 minutes, until the storm subsided a bit. I went back to bed and about 45 minutes later, as I was finally drifting off again, another flash and deafening crash sent Kennedy running to our room. She was almost as frantic as Cheyenne had been. I took her back to her room and decided to just crawl into bed with her, you know, since she had me in a death grip and there was no escaping anyway. So I spent the remainder of the night in bed with her clasped tightly around me. As I lay there, trying to fall asleep, I thought, "Where did these long legs and arms come from? When did she get to be almost as big as me?" The last time I slept with her she was just little it seems. Time flies, that's for sure.
I would also like to Officially Declare that my four year old son is completely potty trained. We are not offering bribes- er, rewards, anymore, we don't have to ask him if he has to poo, we don't have to force him to sit on the potty as he cries, he just DOES it, on his own. In fact, he had pooped yesterday but at bedtime he told Lincoln he needed to go again. Lincoln, thinking it was a delay tactic, told him he didn't have to go right then, he could wait until morning. (Yeah, a month ago we would NEVER have said that!). But Devon told him, "I need to listen to my body, Dad." Glad to know we got that through to him. He sat on the potty and did some toots. Anyway, yeah, he's doing it. He's even learning to wipe himself. I know, I know. He's 4 and you're not that impressed, but it's been such a long struggle in our home, we're rejoicing.
And in other milestone news, Julia learned to ride a two-wheeler yesterday! She has been very reluctant to try, but lately I guess she decided she was ready. I think she got sick of running behind all the other kids on their bikes. The girls have several neighbor friends and they all get together to play. The entertainment of choice is to start in our driveway on their bikes, ride down ours, across the street, up the neighbors driveway, back down theirs, across and down the street to the next driveway, zigzagging back and forth all the way down the hill. I'd look out and see them snaking down the street with Julia in the rear, on foot. Sad, really. But she picked it up quickly. By the time I got to the cul-de-sac with the three little ones to watch, she was riding on her own. Lincoln suggested we just wait with all of our kids to teach them when they're almost 7, they pick it up fast at that point! Kennedy was the same age when she started riding. Speaking of Kennedy, she and Brandon, a boy from Julia's class who lives next door, came to watch Julia learn too. I was so proud of both of them. They were very supportive and encouraging, clapping and telling her she was doing great. They never laughed at her mistakes and they didn't try to coach her or tell her how THEY do it. She really appreciated them, I could tell.
Last night we had a doozy of a storm. A huge clap of thunder woke me up at about 2:45. Cheyenne was freaking out and had managed to push open the door from the garage and was heading to our room. Lincoln got up and put her back in the garage. He crawled back into bed and we could hear her throwing herself against the door and scratching. I remembered that all the garage windows were open so I got up to close them, thinking it might shut out the noise a bit for her. As I walked out of our bedroom I met Renie heading in for comfort. I put her in with Lincoln and went to the garage. I closed the windows and then stayed with Cheyenne for a while. She was frantic and I was pretty convinced she was going to have a heart-attack. I stayed with her for 15 minutes, until the storm subsided a bit. I went back to bed and about 45 minutes later, as I was finally drifting off again, another flash and deafening crash sent Kennedy running to our room. She was almost as frantic as Cheyenne had been. I took her back to her room and decided to just crawl into bed with her, you know, since she had me in a death grip and there was no escaping anyway. So I spent the remainder of the night in bed with her clasped tightly around me. As I lay there, trying to fall asleep, I thought, "Where did these long legs and arms come from? When did she get to be almost as big as me?" The last time I slept with her she was just little it seems. Time flies, that's for sure.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
WARNING: This post is gross and humiliating for me- but funny
My husband will be mortified that I'm sharing this with the world. I''ll do it as delicately as possible.
So we went to Lake Michigan a couple weekends ago. When we arrived at the park I was in dire need of a bathroom. Anyone who knows me well probably knows that I occasionally have what we non-descriptively call "Bathroom Issues" in our home. This is especially true when I have eaten out or the deadlier combination, eaten out and am traveling. So when we arrived, I was feeling crampy and anxious to get to a restroom. Lincoln had to use the restroom as well so he went ahead to go before I got there. (This was not a lack of consideration, he knows I'm often in there for a while and he wanted to get in and out so he wouldn't have to wait.) When it was finally my turn I rushed in to find a typical disappointing park restroom. Dirty, small, scratched up mirror. I quickly scanned the three available options. One door was closed with an out of order sign, one was unflushed and nasty, and one was just park restroom dirty. I chose the last. I rushed in, closed the door, and got to business. I was in there for quite some time, interrupted a time or two by other ladies coming in to use the stall 2 doors down from me. Just as I was feeling able to wrap things up, Kennedy came in to see how I was doing. It was right about that time that I flushed. It didn't really go down so I flushed again. This time the water erupted up, splashing the seat, and then proceeded to rise steadily toward the rim. As it began to spill over the edge I made a run for it, narrowly escaping the flood waters. As I came screaming and running out of my stall Kennedy said, "That's why you weren't supposed to use it, Mom." Yes, sure enough, there was an out of order sign on that stall as well. I had missed it because the door was open and I was busy looking at the toilets, not the doors. So my question is-
WHY DON'T THEY PUT A SIGN ON THE INSIDE OF THE DOOR AS WELL?????
So we made haste getting out of there- grateful that no one else was in the restroom at the time.
So we went to Lake Michigan a couple weekends ago. When we arrived at the park I was in dire need of a bathroom. Anyone who knows me well probably knows that I occasionally have what we non-descriptively call "Bathroom Issues" in our home. This is especially true when I have eaten out or the deadlier combination, eaten out and am traveling. So when we arrived, I was feeling crampy and anxious to get to a restroom. Lincoln had to use the restroom as well so he went ahead to go before I got there. (This was not a lack of consideration, he knows I'm often in there for a while and he wanted to get in and out so he wouldn't have to wait.) When it was finally my turn I rushed in to find a typical disappointing park restroom. Dirty, small, scratched up mirror. I quickly scanned the three available options. One door was closed with an out of order sign, one was unflushed and nasty, and one was just park restroom dirty. I chose the last. I rushed in, closed the door, and got to business. I was in there for quite some time, interrupted a time or two by other ladies coming in to use the stall 2 doors down from me. Just as I was feeling able to wrap things up, Kennedy came in to see how I was doing. It was right about that time that I flushed. It didn't really go down so I flushed again. This time the water erupted up, splashing the seat, and then proceeded to rise steadily toward the rim. As it began to spill over the edge I made a run for it, narrowly escaping the flood waters. As I came screaming and running out of my stall Kennedy said, "That's why you weren't supposed to use it, Mom." Yes, sure enough, there was an out of order sign on that stall as well. I had missed it because the door was open and I was busy looking at the toilets, not the doors. So my question is-
WHY DON'T THEY PUT A SIGN ON THE INSIDE OF THE DOOR AS WELL?????
So we made haste getting out of there- grateful that no one else was in the restroom at the time.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
And one week later...
Not bad huh? I'm amazed at how quickly our bodies heal. Notice in the first picture the huge welt running down the side of his face? He ran into a door casing. Seriously, there's always something!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Barf Fest 2008
I thought I had missed this year's event. While I was in Myrtle Beach Kennedy and Jesse had the barfs. I figured I was in the clear, at least for a while. But no, a month later here we are again. So this morning I had to take Devon to an eye appointment 40 minutes away. His appointment was for 9:30. He is a new patient so I knew I should arrive 15 minutes early. My target departure time was 8:30. Monday mornings are a pain in the patooty anyway. Lincoln has to be at work an hour early so I have to take the girls to school. Unfortunately, Lincoln's car is a piece of junk and it occasionally gets upset with us or something and decides not to start for a couple weeks. I think it's the car's way of getting into the shop for some TLC. Cuz here's the thing. We get it towed in, they look it over, they call us with a list of 426 things that need to be fixed, we pick a couple, they do the work, we pick up the car and then drive it for several months or so with no problems, then it does the exact same thing again. So they can't be actually fixing the problem. Yet it works fine after its rejuvenating spa week at the shop. I think right now maybe the car is sulking from me backing into it a couple weeks ago. Whatever, it was an accident and I apologized. It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "high-maintenance friend."
So anyway...
Lincoln left a little before 7. I got the girls ready and sent them down to ride to school with some friends. Then I started getting the little ones ready. (Lincoln was planning to come home and get us and we would take him back to work so we could have the car. Have I mentioned how grateful I am that we live a mile from work?) I was planning on bringing the other two kids with me until I reread my info this morning and realized that we were to "expect the appointment to take a couple hours". Ugh! With 3 kids? So I called my friend Bethanie and she graciously agreed to take Jesse. I figured Renie would be more of a pain for someone to watch, but I would be able to entertain her easier while we waited. So we dropped Lincoln at work and Jesse at Bethanie's and jetted off toward Platteville. We were just pulling up at the hospital when Renie barfed. (We were gonna make it on time too.) She threw up on her clothes and her carseat, making sure to drench the buckle area so it could dry and harden in all the little crevices, and of course make me want to vomit myself when I had to touch it to unbuckle her. As luck would have it, my car is like a junk drawer. You know, a junk drawer that you throw french fries and soccer cleats in. So I found a towel to mop up the puke with and a jacket to put on Renie after I stripped her down. The rest of the appointment was pretty uneventful, I mean, besides chasing after Renie the entire time and making a quick trip to Walmart while Devon's pupils were dilating so we could buy Renie some nonpukified clothes to wear.
Renie had a quiet afternoon, but I did have to go get Julia from school. She showed up in the office with a bucket in hand and they called me immediately. She never did throw up but played all afternoon, becoming an invalid only when there were chores to be done. We went to pick up Lincoln at 5:30 and wouldn't you know it? Just as we pulled up at work Renie puked again. I needed to stop at Piggly Wiggly on the way home and sure enough, she threw up a couple more times in the car, just for good measure. (I had spent the afternoon cleaning the car and her carseat so this time there was nothing to sop up barf with, not even a soccer cleat.) So after throwing up 3 more times around the house (and once actually in the toilet!), she finally fell asleep on the couch and I'm praying that barf fest is over.
And I'm sure Bethanie is thanking her lucky stars that I chose to leave Jesse with her and not Renie.
So anyway...
Lincoln left a little before 7. I got the girls ready and sent them down to ride to school with some friends. Then I started getting the little ones ready. (Lincoln was planning to come home and get us and we would take him back to work so we could have the car. Have I mentioned how grateful I am that we live a mile from work?) I was planning on bringing the other two kids with me until I reread my info this morning and realized that we were to "expect the appointment to take a couple hours". Ugh! With 3 kids? So I called my friend Bethanie and she graciously agreed to take Jesse. I figured Renie would be more of a pain for someone to watch, but I would be able to entertain her easier while we waited. So we dropped Lincoln at work and Jesse at Bethanie's and jetted off toward Platteville. We were just pulling up at the hospital when Renie barfed. (We were gonna make it on time too.) She threw up on her clothes and her carseat, making sure to drench the buckle area so it could dry and harden in all the little crevices, and of course make me want to vomit myself when I had to touch it to unbuckle her. As luck would have it, my car is like a junk drawer. You know, a junk drawer that you throw french fries and soccer cleats in. So I found a towel to mop up the puke with and a jacket to put on Renie after I stripped her down. The rest of the appointment was pretty uneventful, I mean, besides chasing after Renie the entire time and making a quick trip to Walmart while Devon's pupils were dilating so we could buy Renie some nonpukified clothes to wear.
Renie had a quiet afternoon, but I did have to go get Julia from school. She showed up in the office with a bucket in hand and they called me immediately. She never did throw up but played all afternoon, becoming an invalid only when there were chores to be done. We went to pick up Lincoln at 5:30 and wouldn't you know it? Just as we pulled up at work Renie puked again. I needed to stop at Piggly Wiggly on the way home and sure enough, she threw up a couple more times in the car, just for good measure. (I had spent the afternoon cleaning the car and her carseat so this time there was nothing to sop up barf with, not even a soccer cleat.) So after throwing up 3 more times around the house (and once actually in the toilet!), she finally fell asleep on the couch and I'm praying that barf fest is over.
And I'm sure Bethanie is thanking her lucky stars that I chose to leave Jesse with her and not Renie.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Look Ma! No stitches!
Well we made it. The stitches have left the forehead. I'll still need another few days to feel like it's not going to spontaneously bust open any second, but at least there are no more stitches to tear in the process.
Also, Look Ma! No pacifier! Some of you especially observant folks (my mom) may have noticed that you can now see Renie's (filthy) face in her pictures.
She and Jesse are both pacifier free. They've been clean for about 2 weeks now. It just happened one day. We couldn't find a pacifier, Renie didn't throw a conniption fit, and the rest is history.
Now for the potty...
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Band-Aids and Butt Cream...
Lincoln and I were just talking last night about how we seem to be going through a rough spot with the kids. They just keep getting hurt. Everyone knows about Jesse's head injury. We have to change the Band-aid on it every night. He's getting pretty tender on each side of the wound where the glue sticks to his head and takes off several layers of skin when we remove it. 27 hours to go until the stitches are out. Can't. Wait. So then last night at dinner Renie was "done" eating and she came over to my chair and began climbing all over it. She had a spoon she was holding, sometimes holding in her mouth as she climbed. OK, you see where this is going, right? She misstepped and fell against the table and the spoon cut her tongue. There was blood, and tears. I felt so bad for her but it was one of those moments where you're also thinking, "How many times in your short life have we said to you, 'Sit down at the table so you don't fall and get hurt!'" Seriously. Lincoln started a new policy at the dinner table. Any butt that's not flat on the chair gets spanked. Family dinner is fabulous for bonding time with the kids.
Speaking of butts, that leads me to the next incident. Jesse has had a bit of diaper rash for a couple days. I've been treating it with Desitin, or Butt Cream in our home. Last night I put him to bed and he fussed and cried for quite a while, which is unusual for him. He's really good about just settling in with no crying. Lincoln and I were watching The Jane Austen Book Club and he just kept carrying on. I thought maybe his stitches were hurting so I went up and gave him some Tylenol and a drink of water. He settled back in and we finished watching the movie. At about 1:00, he started crying again. He kept crying so i went to check on him. I was worried he might have hurt his head or that he might be stinky and it was hurting his sore bum. His Band-Aid was still in place but I could smell some stinks. I took him out to the living room to change him. It required Lincoln and I both to hold him down and get him cleaned up because he was so raw down there. His poor little tushy was bleeding and even very gentle wiping just about put him through the roof with the pain. Why, I ask you? Aren't the stitches enough? Does he really need more pain assaulting his wee little person? I'm very tempted to leave him bare today so his bum can heal.
So yeah- it's been rough. Add to all that Julia's blister from the monkey bars, Kennedy's knee she bashed on the floor at school after slipping in water at the drinking fountain, Devon's splinter, and Renie's biff on the sidewalk a week or so ago and hey, I should soon be nominated for parent of the year!
One last thing, completely unrelated. The girls had a soccer game last night and they were on fire! Julia has overcome her fears and she was an animal last night. She scored 2 goals and had a couple of beautiful assists. She was getting right in there and attacking the ball. She was fast and excited and happy. Kennedy scored three goals and seems to be really developing a head for the game. She's great at passing and thinking things through. She looks to pass up the side of the field instead of in front of the goal and she's figuring out movement on the field. It is so fun to watch them. I'm sad that they are almost done. I guess I've got lots of years to watch them ahead of me, right?
Speaking of butts, that leads me to the next incident. Jesse has had a bit of diaper rash for a couple days. I've been treating it with Desitin, or Butt Cream in our home. Last night I put him to bed and he fussed and cried for quite a while, which is unusual for him. He's really good about just settling in with no crying. Lincoln and I were watching The Jane Austen Book Club and he just kept carrying on. I thought maybe his stitches were hurting so I went up and gave him some Tylenol and a drink of water. He settled back in and we finished watching the movie. At about 1:00, he started crying again. He kept crying so i went to check on him. I was worried he might have hurt his head or that he might be stinky and it was hurting his sore bum. His Band-Aid was still in place but I could smell some stinks. I took him out to the living room to change him. It required Lincoln and I both to hold him down and get him cleaned up because he was so raw down there. His poor little tushy was bleeding and even very gentle wiping just about put him through the roof with the pain. Why, I ask you? Aren't the stitches enough? Does he really need more pain assaulting his wee little person? I'm very tempted to leave him bare today so his bum can heal.
So yeah- it's been rough. Add to all that Julia's blister from the monkey bars, Kennedy's knee she bashed on the floor at school after slipping in water at the drinking fountain, Devon's splinter, and Renie's biff on the sidewalk a week or so ago and hey, I should soon be nominated for parent of the year!
One last thing, completely unrelated. The girls had a soccer game last night and they were on fire! Julia has overcome her fears and she was an animal last night. She scored 2 goals and had a couple of beautiful assists. She was getting right in there and attacking the ball. She was fast and excited and happy. Kennedy scored three goals and seems to be really developing a head for the game. She's great at passing and thinking things through. She looks to pass up the side of the field instead of in front of the goal and she's figuring out movement on the field. It is so fun to watch them. I'm sad that they are almost done. I guess I've got lots of years to watch them ahead of me, right?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Oh, the stress of it all...
If I make it to 11:00 on Friday without completely losing it, it will be nothing less than a miracle. Jesse gets his stitches out then. My stomach is a tight ball of stress right now. Every step he takes I'm sure he's going to biff it and fall right on his forehead and tear his stitches. Last night Julia and Renie were in the bathtub. I had already bathed and dressed Jesse and he was wandering around while I made Devon's bed. Suddenly I heard a Bong! from the bathroom, immediately followed by his cries. I ran in to discover that somebody, apparently some invisible being from another dimension, had dumped half a bottle of baby wash all over the bathroom floor. Jesse had slipped in it and banged his head on the tub. I came very near at that moment to going off the deep end. I mean, seriously? A bottle of shampoo? On the floor? When he has 7 STITCHES IN HIS HEAD? And of course, Devon and Renie have spent the past 2 days running around like complete maniacs, nearly bowling him over about every 30 seconds. So every thirty seconds my heart drops into my stomach and I threaten them that I'm going to send them to their rooms for the REST OF THE DAY! Maybe I should just do that until Friday? I'm right on the edge, I tell you. If he would let me, I would just carry Jesse on my hip for the next 3 days so I could feel more in control of the situation. Why have my children abandoned any and all interest in sitting for hours in front of the TV? This would be the perfect week to do it. Maybe I should buy a new and exciting movie that they'll want to watch over and over. Any suggestions?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
What a weekend!
It seems ages since I last posted. I guess I'll attempt to sum up the weekend and not blather on and on, though this may prove impossible for me.
Friday night we went out with friends for dinner and a movie. You remember our week of preparation, watching the Indiana Jones trilogy. We ended up with a decent crew. The summer interns are starting to arrive at Lands' End so we had two cute couples that joined us, plus our friends the Deitrichs and the Sextons and Barb Tidball, who joined us just for dinner. Her husband was in London and they had agreed to go see the Indy movie together when he returned. We went to dinner at Fiesta Cancun in Platteville. The quickest way for them to seat a party as large as ours was to put us on the patio. The patio was in the shade and pretty chilly at 7 pm, but we braved it. Even though it was chilly, the fact that it was doable was fantastic. It was a long, cold winter.
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was fun. Typical of the franchise, there was a lot of impossible action, the enemies (commies) were terrible marksmen, the plot was thin, and Indy was sarcastic. Harrison Ford is no young buck anymore, but I think they handled that well.
Saturday morning Lincoln and Julia went fishing. They were gone about 6 hours and returned with an 18 1/2 inch bass. They caught it on Julia's pole, so she claimed it as her catch, but I don't think her participation involved anything more than her name on the pole. When we tried to take a picture of her with the fish she wouldn't come any closer to it than 2 feet, looking at it nervously out of the corner of her eye the whole time.
The rest of the day was spent tilling a garden spot in our yard. We spent a lot of time tilling and then removing sod clumps and rocks.
Sunday we went to Milwaukee. We had originally planned to be gone camping all weekend and already had people to teach our classes at church so we took off for the day. Lincoln had purchased tickets for the Milwaukee Zoo at work (Lands' End discount- gotta love it) so we drove there and checked it out. It had been highly recommended as a fabulous zoo, so we were excited to take the kids there. Or Lincoln was. I'm not a huge fan of zoos. They are kind of all the same. At the end of the trip Lincoln was feeling the same way. It was a pleasant afternoon and the kids had fun. I was pleased by the fact that we could carry in our own food so we were able to pack a picnic to eat inside. So many zoos make you buy food inside- for a small fortune- or you have to haul everybody back out to the car at lunchtime to eat in the parking lot.
After the zoo we went to Lake Michigan. We wanted the kids to see that going to the Lake would be just like going to the ocean in SC, only without the sharks. It was about 20 degrees cooler at the Lake with the wind blowing inland. It was truly beautiful, though, and the kids were pleased with the size of the waves. We are anxious to find a nice beach now so we can go when summer is in full swing. And see? The beach is only 2 hours away here. In NC we had to drive 3 1/2-4 hrs to get to it.
Monday we planted the garden. I'm very excited to have a garden this year. Last year I didn't have one and the year before I didn't get much from my garden. So many memories are triggered by scent. There soil here is rich and brown, much like the soil where I grew up. Working the earth smells and feels familiar to me, whereas the red clay in NC was very foreign. My parents always have had a garden. A huge garden. A garden that has produced canned and frozen veggies to feed a family of eight for 40 years. That's right, the garden is still huge and abundant. When I was a kid summer was defined by 3 things: swimming in the river, doing the haying, and working in the garden. I'm sure that us kids were not a huge help, but I remember working in the garden. I remember planting in the early summer. Dad would till the soil to get it ready. The dirt would be cool on your bare feet when it was freshly tilled, but the sun would warm it quickly. I loved the feeling of the dirt on my feet and the tangy-sweet scent of freshly turned soil. Mom would hoe a row for us to plant and after some quick planting instructions, us kids would follow, dropping seeds on the earth. A couple more kids would follow, covering the seeds and tamping down the dirt. Planting was just the beginning, though. We weeded, picked and cut beans, cut corn off the cob, and made dozens of trips back and forth to the garden all summer to grab vegetables for lunch and supper. I loved eating tomatoes fresh from the vine. I would grab one to eat like an apple, its flesh warm from the sun. The garden was like a huge pantry full of snacks. Peas and carrots are other fresh-from-the-garden favorites. And of course, the end of the summer was always marked by a big harvest, culminating in Mom making a huge batch of boiled dinner, consisting of lots of earthy root vegetables. I'm afraid my little garden won't be all that, but it's a good start. I planted tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions, lettuce, beans, and cucumbers. And Kennedy's cabbage she brought home from school. I'm hoping to be able to can beans and tomatoes and try my hand at pickling. Sadly peas did not happen this year. Next year for sure.
Monday evening we went to the park for a Memorial Day picnic with a bunch of friends from church. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great time. That is, until Jesse tripped and hit his head on the merry-go-round. I grabbed him and looked and he had a big gash on his forehead that was gushing blood. We grabbed wet paper towels and applied pressure and Lincoln and I jumped in the car to go to the ER. (Thank goodness for wonderful friends who we knew would take care of all our stuff and our 4 other kids.) Luckily, the hospital was only about a 30 second drive from the park (and anywhere else in town, for that matter) so were there within minutes of it happening. They knocked him out, cleaned the laceration, and put in 7 stitches- 2 down deep and five on the surface. The cut went all the way to his skull. Then they did a CT Scan to make sure his brain was OK. By the time he got back from that he was coming out of the anaesthesia. He was babbling like crazy and very restless and his eyes were darting all over with the pupils dilated. We had to wait for a while to be sure he was coming out of it okay, then we were able to go. We were there about 2 hours all told. He seems to be doing well this morning. He's our first kid to need stitches- I don't like it. Poor baby. I'm not crazy about seeing my kid knocked out either, though it definitely beats the alternative. So- a terrible end to a great weekend.
Friday night we went out with friends for dinner and a movie. You remember our week of preparation, watching the Indiana Jones trilogy. We ended up with a decent crew. The summer interns are starting to arrive at Lands' End so we had two cute couples that joined us, plus our friends the Deitrichs and the Sextons and Barb Tidball, who joined us just for dinner. Her husband was in London and they had agreed to go see the Indy movie together when he returned. We went to dinner at Fiesta Cancun in Platteville. The quickest way for them to seat a party as large as ours was to put us on the patio. The patio was in the shade and pretty chilly at 7 pm, but we braved it. Even though it was chilly, the fact that it was doable was fantastic. It was a long, cold winter.
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was fun. Typical of the franchise, there was a lot of impossible action, the enemies (commies) were terrible marksmen, the plot was thin, and Indy was sarcastic. Harrison Ford is no young buck anymore, but I think they handled that well.
Saturday morning Lincoln and Julia went fishing. They were gone about 6 hours and returned with an 18 1/2 inch bass. They caught it on Julia's pole, so she claimed it as her catch, but I don't think her participation involved anything more than her name on the pole. When we tried to take a picture of her with the fish she wouldn't come any closer to it than 2 feet, looking at it nervously out of the corner of her eye the whole time.
The rest of the day was spent tilling a garden spot in our yard. We spent a lot of time tilling and then removing sod clumps and rocks.
Sunday we went to Milwaukee. We had originally planned to be gone camping all weekend and already had people to teach our classes at church so we took off for the day. Lincoln had purchased tickets for the Milwaukee Zoo at work (Lands' End discount- gotta love it) so we drove there and checked it out. It had been highly recommended as a fabulous zoo, so we were excited to take the kids there. Or Lincoln was. I'm not a huge fan of zoos. They are kind of all the same. At the end of the trip Lincoln was feeling the same way. It was a pleasant afternoon and the kids had fun. I was pleased by the fact that we could carry in our own food so we were able to pack a picnic to eat inside. So many zoos make you buy food inside- for a small fortune- or you have to haul everybody back out to the car at lunchtime to eat in the parking lot.
After the zoo we went to Lake Michigan. We wanted the kids to see that going to the Lake would be just like going to the ocean in SC, only without the sharks. It was about 20 degrees cooler at the Lake with the wind blowing inland. It was truly beautiful, though, and the kids were pleased with the size of the waves. We are anxious to find a nice beach now so we can go when summer is in full swing. And see? The beach is only 2 hours away here. In NC we had to drive 3 1/2-4 hrs to get to it.
Monday we planted the garden. I'm very excited to have a garden this year. Last year I didn't have one and the year before I didn't get much from my garden. So many memories are triggered by scent. There soil here is rich and brown, much like the soil where I grew up. Working the earth smells and feels familiar to me, whereas the red clay in NC was very foreign. My parents always have had a garden. A huge garden. A garden that has produced canned and frozen veggies to feed a family of eight for 40 years. That's right, the garden is still huge and abundant. When I was a kid summer was defined by 3 things: swimming in the river, doing the haying, and working in the garden. I'm sure that us kids were not a huge help, but I remember working in the garden. I remember planting in the early summer. Dad would till the soil to get it ready. The dirt would be cool on your bare feet when it was freshly tilled, but the sun would warm it quickly. I loved the feeling of the dirt on my feet and the tangy-sweet scent of freshly turned soil. Mom would hoe a row for us to plant and after some quick planting instructions, us kids would follow, dropping seeds on the earth. A couple more kids would follow, covering the seeds and tamping down the dirt. Planting was just the beginning, though. We weeded, picked and cut beans, cut corn off the cob, and made dozens of trips back and forth to the garden all summer to grab vegetables for lunch and supper. I loved eating tomatoes fresh from the vine. I would grab one to eat like an apple, its flesh warm from the sun. The garden was like a huge pantry full of snacks. Peas and carrots are other fresh-from-the-garden favorites. And of course, the end of the summer was always marked by a big harvest, culminating in Mom making a huge batch of boiled dinner, consisting of lots of earthy root vegetables. I'm afraid my little garden won't be all that, but it's a good start. I planted tomatoes, peppers, carrots, onions, lettuce, beans, and cucumbers. And Kennedy's cabbage she brought home from school. I'm hoping to be able to can beans and tomatoes and try my hand at pickling. Sadly peas did not happen this year. Next year for sure.
Monday evening we went to the park for a Memorial Day picnic with a bunch of friends from church. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great time. That is, until Jesse tripped and hit his head on the merry-go-round. I grabbed him and looked and he had a big gash on his forehead that was gushing blood. We grabbed wet paper towels and applied pressure and Lincoln and I jumped in the car to go to the ER. (Thank goodness for wonderful friends who we knew would take care of all our stuff and our 4 other kids.) Luckily, the hospital was only about a 30 second drive from the park (and anywhere else in town, for that matter) so were there within minutes of it happening. They knocked him out, cleaned the laceration, and put in 7 stitches- 2 down deep and five on the surface. The cut went all the way to his skull. Then they did a CT Scan to make sure his brain was OK. By the time he got back from that he was coming out of the anaesthesia. He was babbling like crazy and very restless and his eyes were darting all over with the pupils dilated. We had to wait for a while to be sure he was coming out of it okay, then we were able to go. We were there about 2 hours all told. He seems to be doing well this morning. He's our first kid to need stitches- I don't like it. Poor baby. I'm not crazy about seeing my kid knocked out either, though it definitely beats the alternative. So- a terrible end to a great weekend.
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