Where Ya Been?

In the blurry haze of culture shock that results from adding a teenager to an already busy household, that's where I've been.

We are really enjoying H and the new things we are learning about what we do differently, what we have in common, her country's traditions, our country's traditions, parenting teenagers, having a big sister, and making the most of every opportunity.  I've told several friends that the culture shock of adding a teenager has really been greater than that of introducing a different country.  And she has been such a trooper when early bedtimes or nap time or early risers have complicated plans.  C calls her "my BSBFF - Big Sister, Best Friend Forever."  We are all going to miss her sorely come February, so let's not talk about that right now.

So far, she has (either with us, friends or relatives)....
*tackled (and excelled at) American high school, including AP English, Pre-Cal, and Chemistry (does anyone read The Scarlet Letter outside of high school?)
*attended several high school football games (the team is now in state quarterfinals!)
*landed a free homecoming dress, made a homecoming mum, and attended homecoming dance
*experienced the most organized family reunion in the state of Texas along with a spontaneous first for said family reunion--line dancing!
*marveled at Houston roadways
*toured the Johnson Space Center
*ridden a wooden roller coaster at the Keemah boardwalk
*sampled the Houston Galleria
*performed as a sideshow freak in the high school production of "The Elephant Man"
*seen the state capitol
*had a couple of sleepovers
*cooked us German food
*loved apple pie
*spent the day at the pumpkin patch
*gone on a youth winter retreat
*served as manager for the varsity girls' basketball team
*attended lots of youth small group Bible studies
*celebrated a sweet 16 birthday, complete with seven teenage girls singing karaoke in our living room
*suffered through family photo sessions
*earned a role in the chorus for the theater production of Footloose
*overeaten at Thanksgiving dinner
*joined the crazy masses for Black Friday shopping at the mall (the mall!!)
*helped decorate for Christmas
*attended one town square tree lighting and one small-town Christmas parade


I'm sure I'm leaving out some details, but you get the idea.  Knowing this is sort of her shot at seeing this part of the world has opened our eyes to see everything fresh, and make the most of what we have around us.  It's good to shake things up every now and then so you appreciate what you've got, even if it leaves you exhausted at the end of the day.

Summer is Slippin' Away

We made a bucket list of the beginning of summer and I thought it was pretty relaxed.  No problem, I thought, we can do those.  Yikes!  There are three and a half weeks before school starts and we'll be cramming a few things in.

Our summer has been such a welcome break from the last year.  I desperately needed the break from homeschool.  With a new curriculum for a new year, I'm looking forward to it again and getting excited.

I had a whole slew of DIY projects to tackle over the summer, too, but I'm afraid I won't get many of those crammed in before school.  Something about being a ping-pong mom between small children makes it nearly impossible if not unenjoyable to try to get any projects done.

What have we been doing this summer?  The reading club at two libraries, getting more comfortable in the swimming pool, sleepovers with cousins, library story times, dinners with neighbors and friends, birthday parties, watching fireworks, and more screen time than I care to admit.

Early in the summer, J camped in the backyard with the girls.

They zipped up the tent early to keep the mosquitos out and played lots of go fish and read a big stack of books.  We were quite impressed that they made it through the night.  Of course, I took one for the team, and stayed inside with Z.

A has been to VBS and two day camps with a neighborhood church--one week of active, outside rough and tumble camp and another week of inside, creative choir camp.  It's been very interesting to see how differently each child behaves when one is taken out of the mix.  Good practice for fall when A will go once a week to co-op classes.

While A was at camp, I took C and Z to a kids' event downtown to see The Biscuit Brothers perform.  C gets really excited about The Biscuit Brothers.  I really think they are so special to her because she saw them perform at a street concert just after we moved and they were heavy on the crowd participation.  Very real, very fun and then she saw them on tv.  So when we had the chance to go see them again, I stretched out of my comfort zone (with the help of my sister) and made her day.

I know she looks a little creeped out, but she was elated.  She even mustered the courage to ask them a question and tell them her name clearly enough to be understood.  When we walked away, she looked up at me and exclaimed, "Mom!  They know my name!"  It was pretty cute.

We have a road trip planned to visit friends and family yet.  Plus a trip to the children's museum and a little party with the girls in A's class at church.  I have a few more items on the get-ready-for-school list.  All in all, it's been a sweet summer.  I know time is going to scream by once school gets going and Christmas will be here before we know it.  Going to make the most of these next few weeks and then grab school by the horns and relish that ride.

Nature Center

I promised pics from our field trip to the Science and Nature Center.  Here they are (not quite two months late).

A's "giraffe" shell that she admired in the hands-on exploration room

C showing off the rock that caught her fancy.  Yes, this was the pose she chose.

Climbing on the concrete lilypads

Following big sis

My little paleontologists

Their favorite part of the day - throwing pebbles in the pond

Train Ride

About a month ago, J suggested that he take the girls on a daddy-daughter date train ride.  The light rail commuter train runs a limited schedule on the weekends and he thought they could take it downtown, find dinner at a little restaurant, and ride home.  Sounds like fun.  Especially since kids under 6 ride free.

As the day approached, I told him I thought Z would be okay to take along.  We could make it a family event.  The stroller would fit on the train and he'd be fine if we took along enough snacks and toys to keep him busy.

This is how he spent most of the train ride...

We couldn't keep him in the stroller for the train ride because of the way the seats were arranged.  He ran out of care for snacks and toys before the train ever started moving.  He squealed/screamed most of the way, which was very embarrassing to us and irritating to fellow passengers.  And he would not be still for anything!  What was I thinking?!

He looks calm in the next photo, but notice how both my hands are engaged in keeping him from climbing over his sister's head?  And notice her displeasure at having to share her window seat with the baby who keeps kicking her?

We did survive the ride downtown and J led us to a little crepe cafe he had discovered.  We all love crepes!  What a treat!  You have to eat your savory crepe to earn a dessert crepe, which is really why we all love crepes.  Chocolate and whipped cream folded into so much carb yumminess.

C sampled her first Orangina soda, one of J's fond throwbacks to our days in France.  She told him, "Dad that orangina drink stings my tongue, but I'll still drink more for you."  He might have gotten half of it.

It was almost yummy enough to forget that mommy and daddy had to take turns eating so that one of us could pace the sidewalk with our howler monkey.  We were the poster child family for all the urbanites who needed a reason not to propagate.

The train ride back was very similar to the one going, except everyone was tired, it was close to bedtime, and mommy tried to savor the experience by forbidding iPhone play.  I changed my mind, though, after it got dark outside and I couldn't force them to watch the world whizzing by out the window.

Chalk another adventure up to "let's try that again in a year or two."

Quick Mash-Up

Sometimes when you haven't done something in a long time, it's really hard to get started again.  My apologies for falling out of the blogging habit.  Here's a quick mash-up of what's been going on at our house.

We have five days left in our school year!!  I think I'm way more excited than my children.

We leave for vacation on our last day of school!!  I also think I'm way more excited about this than my children are.

We have not all managed to stay well in April.  A and C both had ear infections and Z had a nasty cough.  As Z's cough tapered off, C had a 24-hour fever.  I'm really praying that we are all well for our vacation.

Z is into everything and has had to be contained to the living room for his own safety.  Baby gates abound at our house.

C and A run hot and cold with each other....playing nicely and enjoying each other in spades one moment, then bickering and yelling at each other the next.

We painted the dining room.  I don't like one of the colors we chose and we'll have to re-paint one wall.  Phooey.

J had a good birthday celebration over the course of multiple days.  I made cheesecake and carrot cake.  We got to spend the day with friends and family.  He played board games.  AND the kids slept over at my sister's house and we got to sleep in!!

My brother's family stayed with us for about a week while they waited to close on their new house.  We barely knew they were here.  The freedom and spontaneity they enjoy with older children gives me hope for our future.

We rode the light rail downtown as a family one Saturday.  That will earn it's own post.

The girls and I took a field trip to a local nature center.  Z stayed home with a sitter.  Best use of a field trip budget!  Pics to follow.

God is up to something interesting and unexpected over at Snoball.  I can't tell you what it is yet, because I don't know myself.  But I do know that we will look back on this spring and say, "Oh!  That's what You were doing!"

Hopefully I've overcome the inertia of not blogging for so long.  I have loads of news to share and it's been bouncing around in my brain.  I'm eager to get it all out and hope you're all still there listening.

The Spotted Mystery

Sunday morning I was pulling C's curls into ponytails as requested and noticed her right ear had a significant sore on it.  The outer edge of her ear was blue, purple and pink with dry blood crusting up on the crease.  It was really nasty looking.  She hadn't said anything about hurting her ear.  Daddy hadn't noticed anything earlier that day when she had a bath either.  I cleaned it up and found a little cut inside the crease of her ear, but I was afraid the cut had gotten infected because of the awful color of her ear.  It wasn't any better on Monday, so off to the doctor we went to make sure she wasn't breeding staph.  Nope, just a bruise in a really strange place.  But hey, while we're here, what do you recommend for the sniffles that won't go away for the better part of a month?  Nasonex?  Yes, I'll squirt something into my 3-year-old's nose once a day in the name of good health.

Tuesday night, no one slept well at our house.  C was up most of the night with classic ear infection symptoms.  Inner ear infection this time.  Thanks a lot, Nasonex.  Back to the doctor we go Wednesday morning for the predictable diagnosis and prescription.

I gave her the antibiotic around lunchtime--cefdinir.  She'd had it before for an ear infection.  Come quiet time, I knew we all needed a nap, so I did what any good parent would do and brought out the benadryl.  She took a good two-hour nap.  She was pretty puny and just wanted to curl up in my lap most of the afternoon.  I made calls to rearrange our weekend plans, since it was slightly insane to try to proceed with such a sick baby.  After I got off the phone, she came to me complaining her nose hurt.  It looked red and chapped from too much wiping, so I put some vaseline on it.  A few minutes later, she was back, telling me her hands hurt.  Sure enough, they were swollen and red.  Another look and I could tell her lips were swollen with red splotches all around and her nose was one big pink splotch.  The prescription info leaflet said to call your doctor immediately with those symptoms.  The after-hours nurse asked if I could get to an ER within 10 minutes; if not, I should call an ambulance.  After another dose of benadryl, I handed Z off to J who was just walking in the door, and raced to the ER with C.

I was totally unimpressed by this ER experience.  The doctor and nurse contradicted each other several times.  I got several "I don't know's" from the nurse on things that should have been within her realm of knowledge.  Then the doctor said it wasn't an allergic reaction at all, but hand, foot, and mouth disease.  My mommy red flags went flying, but I listened nicely.  In my mind, I was thinking of how I would keep C away from the baby for the next week; who I needed to call and break the awful news to; and how I could rearrange our calendar for the next week or two to be quarantined.

By the time we received our discharge instructions, the redness in her hands was fading.  I asked for the doctor again.  He said, "Yeah, it might do that.  Still looks like HFMD."  "Does she have any sores in her mouth?" I asked.  "No, but they don't always get that or it might take a day or two."  I texted J with the diagnosis and he wanted to start calling folks right away.  I asked him to wait.  I wasn't convinced and didn't want to start an unnecessary panic.

This morning, with all the benadryl out of her system, she was covered in splotches.  I've done hives before with A, and this looked just like hives.  I called our regular doctor to talk to the nurse.  Of course you can't diagnose over the phone.  Here we come.  "Why in the world would you think this is HFMD?" the doctor asks.  I relay the story of the ER.  She came just short of calling the ER doc a fool.  Classic presentation of hives as an allergic reaction to medication.  You're very fortunate it didn't affect her breathing.  Keep up the benadryl for 24 hours, and get this new prescription for the ear infection.

I have never rejoiced more to have one of my children covered in spots!!  We both danced out of the office to the pharmacy to resolve our week's mystery and get my happy-go-lucky baby back on the road to wellness.

Can it please be spring and the end of sniffling, sneezing, ear infection season yet?  We're a smidge done with that winter ritual and would like to try something new.  Healthy family, anyone?  Yes, we'll take two!  Never hurts to have a spare.

Catch Up

Okay, so the water leak is all contained and the ceiling is being patched up in stages as it dries.  Indoor waterfalls are sooooo last week.  Let me catch you up on what we've been doing around here.

In January, everybody in the house but me was sick for three weeks, capped off with Jeremy injuring his foot during a game of racquetball.  He was prescribed a boot for three weeks, wore it for three days, and says he's ready to play again.  I was formulating a more detailed post about all of this in my mind when the whole water leak thing happened and I decided January news was history; live in the now.

We decorated for Valentine's Day while we were sick and the girls went NUTS with the valentines for friends.  Since we were stuck in the house, they colored, taped, glued, folded, and stickered at least one ream of paper.  I have declared plain paper off limits for the rest of the month.  They must consume coloring books until then.

I tackled a couple of pinterest projects for Valentines, a paper heart wreath and a crepe paper flower ball.  Can I just say crepe paper flowers are t.e.d.i.o.u.s!  Entirely too time consuming.  I thought it would be something the girls and I could do together, but they got frustrated that their flowers didn't look like mine and gave up.  Which left me to finish covering the foam ball.  There should be a rule on pinterest that every pin list its time investment.  Sort of like nutrition facts, "Time sink....87% of your free time; mental energy....no significant value."  (FYI, the paper heart wreath was done in one nap time and turned out sort of cute.)

Otherwise, we've been learning together in school, having friends over for dinner, going on dates, and catching up with ourselves.

My mind was working well enough this afternoon to think to grab the camera while we were out enjoying the pretty weather and relative good health of our household.  I tried to ignore their sweaty hair and mismatched outfits, knowing I would take all the joy out of the day if I tried to get us "ready" to take pictures.  And it would take me a month to post them if I tried to edit out the utility box in the background.  So just focus on their smiles and look how big they're getting.

Big Week

We've had all of four showings of our house, y'all, four.  In a month.  Last weekend, I was feeling discouraged about being in limbo with the move.  My girls were bored and I wanted to start school, but I also wanted to have a cute, fun space to do it in and had already packed up all my posters and extra school stuff.  We got home on Sunday afternoon from house hunting and I went to the dollar store and spent $12 on school stuff.  I waited for the girls to go to bed and decorated our playroom as our new schoolroom.  I told Jeremy it would be Murphy's law that putting stuff on the walls again would make people come see our house.

Monday morning we started kindergarten (pics later) to mixed reviews.  More on that at another time.  At the same time we were schooling inside, landscapers were repairing our sprinkler system and prepping our yard for new sod and plants.  Our landscaping had really gone rotten with the drought and our "we're raising children, not plants" care taking.  The house had no curb appeal.

Tuesday morning started with the arrival of new sod and a forklift driving it around the backyard.  Our friends came over to play, so I planned no school for the day.  Around noon, as four little mouths were sitting down to lunch, the contractor showed up to install a new back door.  This was another sticking point on selling the house--literally, the door was rotting in its frame and would stick about 6" open.  So the next four hours were very hot as we had a huge, gaping hole in the kitchen wall.

With the major repairs done, pretty little plants in the front flower bed, and sprinklers running to beat the band, we called the realtor and told her to drop the price.  Now is not the time to be greedy or proud.  We've got to get this baby sold and get to where God has called us to go.  We had a verbal offer that night.

We received the written contract yesterday and will finalize it today.  Praise God!!  We have a buyer!!  It's the same family that made a crazy low offer two weeks ago, they were just slightly more rational this time around.  We didn't even have to get ready for another showing.  Thank you, God!

Of course that means our buying process is accelerated.  We'll make a day trip Saturday to look at the last few houses on our list.  Then we have a big decision to make.  The buyers of our house want to close on September 22.  If we want to avoid moving our stuff twice, we need to find a house and close on it a few days before.  Thanks for your prayers that have brought a buyer.  Please keep praying we'll find the house, the street, the neighborhood, the community where God is working and wants us to join Him.

Thanks!

Wow!  What a great birthday I've had this year!  J came home early on Friday to stay with Z while I took the girls to their first movie in the theater.  We saw Winnie the Pooh on the big screen and it was a lot of fun.  I had mixed feelings about our arrival time.  We were running late, so we missed the previews (good thing because you never know what you'll see) but had to find seats and get situated in the dark (bad thing).  It was a great experience and I hope to repeat it in a week or so at the dollar summer movie for kids when they play Horton Hears a Who.

Saturday morning, J stayed with all three kids (!!!) and sent me out of the house with cash in hand to spend only on myself.  He said he was going to want to see receipts and I couldn't spend any of it on the girls or homeschool stuff.  He knows me really well.  I picked up some new duds and enjoyed a silent lunch on my own.  Wonderful birthday gift!!

While I was gone, he took the girls to the grocery store to pick out a cake mix for me.  They came back and made brownies for me that afternoon and supplemented the birthday decorations still up from A's party.  The girls spent some time drawing me pictures and finding gift bags to put them in.

Sunday, we all actually made it to church on time and enjoyed being back in the groove with our friends.  We attempted a civilized lunch at a restaurant afterward.  Only missed it by one diaper blow-out.  Newborn poop is diabolical when said newborn is in a car seat.  That afternoon, J baked the chocolate cake with chocolate icing that the girls knew I wanted.  I guess I've said a few loving words about chocolate as of late.

Today (my actual birthday), a sweet neighbor friend came over to play with the girls all morning.  I wasn't expecting to get much done because Z is so unpredictable.  But he took a THREE HOUR NAP!!  Hallelujah!  I got soooo much done!  I feel lighter and happier having checked so much off my to-do list.  Since I was feeling caught up, I was able to enjoy spending the afternoon playing with the girls and reading to them while Z took another big nap.  I really believe all this time today was God's birthday present for me.

To top it all off, I've received dozens of birthday greetings in cards, emails and Facebook messages.  Icing on an already sweet day!  Thanks to everyone who made me feel so special and loved on my birthday, especially my hard-working, fast-thinking, never-a-dull-moment best friend of a husband.

Have I Mentioned She's FOUR?!

I violated at least 96 of my own personal rules of motherhood a few days ago to bring you these photos...

There is more gel in her hair and make-up on her eyes than I use in a week!  And let's just rewind that sentence because I'm referring to my FOUR-YEAR-OLD!!  And the really disturbing part is that you can't see the make-up in the photos....that means I didn't use enough and will have to apply more for the real recital!

This was our own at-home dress rehearsal for the ballet recital.  Boy, am I glad we did a walk-through.  Took me an hour to get her runway ready.  An hour.  She's four.  And for all the other ballet moms reading this, just know that I did bribe her with a new toy and let her sit in front of the tv the whole time I was doing it.  Still....an hour.

She's been begging for a "strap" swimsuit this summer and I've been so conflicted about it.  Break out the ballet costume with nude spaghetti straps, maribou trim and bunny ears.  Yes, it has a little fluff tail in the middle of her tutu.  How do we back peddle from there to a rash guard swimsuit?

The only saving grace was that she fought me tooth-and-nail on the make-up.  She was so scared to get it in her eyes or in her mouth that I don't think she's going to be asking for it on a regular basis.  We were told to emphasize that it is part of the costume so people can see her face from far away.  Really?!  That's what the zoom is for on your camera.  She's four!!

I really want to be laid back and easy-going about this.  I mean it's part of a stage performance, right?  Special circumstances call for special costumes.  I get it.  But she's four!  And she's one of the oldest ones in her class!  Surely it would be okay if her hair weren't so tight that it gave her a headache and does anyone else really care if they can't see my daughter's eyes from their seat?  Do the other little girls enjoy this more than mine?  Is that the missing piece to this puzzle?  Maybe if she were excited about it and looking forward to performing, I would be more at ease with what seems like a little much for a FOUR-YEAR-OLD!

Somewhere around the time I was telling her to make a kiss with her lips so I could put on more lipstick, I finalized the decision in my head that we're doing gymnastics next year.  Stay tuned for recital details.

Sur-prize, Sur-prize, Sur-prize!

I have been blessed by not one, not two, but three surprise baby showers in the last month!  Our home group was the first to pull it off and we really didn't have a clue it was coming.  They had a yummy buffet waiting for us and oodles of sweet gifts for our little guy.  I was really impressed that they managed to surprise us, because apparently we're kind of hard to surprise...

The wives of J's business partners were the next to attempt a surprise.  They disguised it as a "let's all get together for a pizza party after work before the guys' big product launch."  See how that was a little bit of a personal conflict for my hubby--the whole party before the launch thing?  He made a stink about how much work they had to do and how little time they had to do it and we didn't have time for parties now, wait until after.  So they had to let him in on the surprise.  When his tune changed so effortlessly, my suspicions went up.  Then I really threw a wrench in the works on the day of the "pizza party" when C came down with a fever.  I let the other wives know I wouldn't be making it and J would just have to bring me some leftovers, so sorry.  Then they had to let me in on the surprise.  Even more sorry!  It turned out to be a really fun evening, though.  The guys all went home with the kids and the ladies got to hang out and compare birth stories over pizza, presents and brownies.  Good times!

While sitting at that shower, I mentioned that my suspicions were now up for any other large gathering of my friends before the baby arrives and oh, isn't it convenient that bunko is tomorrow night?  Sure enough, this month's bunko theme was "Baby!"  More fun with sweet ladies, good food, and loads of gifts.

My dining room table is now overflowing with gifts to put away and my heart is full of the good wishes and fun memories of so many friends who are eager to welcome our son.  Thank you, Lord, for the community you have blessed me with!

Total Mommy Cleanse

For the last 36 hours I have been holed up in a local hotel room all by myself.  I'll pause a moment to let the full magnitude of those last three words fully dawn upon you.  It has been blessedly silent.  The clack of my keys is the only noise I hear as I try to document this wonderful retreat in the minutes I have before check-out.

I asked for this weekend several months ago, knowing I would need a concentrated block of time to plan next year's school curriculum for A's kindergarten year.  So I ordered my books and lugged them along and have spent my time familiarizing myself with the schedule and books, filling in extras, planning field trips, and surfing forums for great ideas.  I feel like I'm in a good place to start this fall, considering I will have minimal capacity for further planning between now and then.

But I have also relished the independence of this weekend...eating my meals whenever and wherever I wanted, not sharing the food on my plate, and being able to read a book in silence while I ate.  Waking when my body was ready, bathing at my leisure, watching tv without consideration of its audience, popping in and out of my car for multiple errands within an hour.  All these things help to detox my mind, my attitude, my motivation and fortify me to return to the hardest job I'll ever love.  It's a total mommy cleanse and I didn't have to drink anything nasty.

Many, many thanks to J for making this time possible.  Thank you for investing in our children while I was away, for caring about their education and supporting me in homeschooling, and for loving me enough to know when I need a good cleanse.  I promise to only do it once a year.

Snow Day 2011

The great arctic blast of 2011 didn't live up to all the hype (as usual).  Our predicted 3" of snow was barely a dusting.  Still, we had a great time this morning.  J stayed home from work to help us have fun.  After last year's snow day went sour, I knew I would need his help to make this one memorable.  There wasn't nearly the accumulation as last year, so we started by just making lots of footprints.

Then, A made a beautiful snow angel.  I think the key is to do it on the driveway, not the grass. And you need to have daddy home to lift you up so you don't mess it up when you're trying to stand.

Next, the snow fight commenced.  It was really hard to pack a snowball with gloves that are a little too big, so daddy found some dustpans and it turned into a shovelful-of-snow fight.

J said it was the most polite snow fight he had ever been in.  The rules of engagement require that you turn your back, stand still and wait to be hit with snow. 

After all the available snow was shoveled, it was time to come in for hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows.

Then we cracked open a package sent from Nana.  Thanks for the box, Nana!  As always, the box was way more entertaining than the contents.

And the packing peanuts were quickly turned into an indoor snow storm, which I think they both preferred to the outdoor kind that is wet and cold.

All in all, a pretty wonderful day.  I'm grateful that we don't live a little further north where they've been snowed in for days.  It's nice to get a taste of it, but it's okay with me that it's all melting away in the sunshine this afternoon.

It's That Time Again

Beware!  Or be joyful.  The wonderful little thin mint fairies knocked on my door this past weekend, selling their deliciously addictive wafers.  And I for one am joyful!  Nothing quite like a refrigerated box of thin mints to keep a pregnant mommy's sanity from inching too close to the point of no return.  Thank you, cookie fairies.  Come again soon!

What's That Smell?

This week has been a wild ride so far.  Sunday I came home from church feeling really weak and tired.  I went to bed and realized later that I was running a low fever.  I was laid out the rest of the day, couldn't eat much or stay mobile for long.  Monday I was feeling a little stronger, but still very tired.  My wonderful neighbor came over to play with the girls for a couple of hours while I took a morning nap.  I napped for almost four hours that day!!  Which explains why I laid in bed that night staring at the ceiling until 2 am.

Sunday when I was feeling so puny, I told J that we had to call somebody about the smell in our bathroom.  It was going on two months and we couldn't figure out what it was.  We thought maybe something had crawled into the wall and died.  You can understand our hesitation to investigate.  J spent a Saturday about two weeks ago taking apart the exhaust fan, hoping that whatever it was could be easily cleaned up from that pipe.  No such luck.  The smell was getting so bad that I was avoiding that room for the sake of my stomach.

Monday I called the pest control guy.  I explained the dilemma and told him I didn't know if he could help or not, but he was the first person on our list of professionals who might could help.  He showed up around 5:30 pm on Monday and said it wasn't anything dead.  He couldn't say for sure, but it might be natural gas. Hello?!!  Let me just say it did not smell like the usual sulfur, rotten egg smell you get from a gas leak, so that was not even on our radar.  Never mind that there is no gas source in that room.  It smelled more musty, earthy....I had cleaned the toilet with a toothbrush about three times hoping I could find whatever speck of bacteria was causing the odor.

J very wisely called the gas company to come check and sure enough, we've been living with a low-level gas leak for the last two months!!  We were both mortified.  God has definitely been watching over us.  It's a good thing we don't make a habit of lighting matches in that bathroom.

They shut the gas off immediately and Tuesday morning began the detect and repair process with the plumbers.  They were here all afternoon yesterday and all day today.  They finished up this afternoon, and the gas company will probably make it out to do the inspection and turn the gas back on tomorrow morning.  (Hurray for cold showers and microwave dinners!)  Turns out there were three slow leaks in the attic where the pipe sealant had started to decay, along with a couple of underground leaks between the meter and house.  So yes, they had to dig up part of the back yard.  Fun times, I tell you.

The wonderful part (no sarcasm this time)?  I felt amazing yesterday and today!!  Turns out the main side effects of exposure to natural gas are nausea and headaches.  It basically keeps you from getting the best oxygen supply you would otherwise get.  So you might also feel a little sluggish.  Who knew you could mimic the first trimester of pregnancy just by inhaling a little natural gas?!  Fortunately, the side effects are very short-lived.  I had my first prenatal appointment this morning and the doctor was not concerned about any harm to the baby and was glad that my symptoms were leveling back to normal range.  I told her time would tell if it really was the natural gas causing such intense nausea or not, but I like feeling so much better for sure!  Here's hoping the rest of the week has a little less drama.

Lazy Day

Mark it - I think today has been the closest our little family will come to a lazy summer day this year. Nowhere to go, nothing huge to do. We played trains, read books, the girls even played while I got some things tended to. We ate popsicles on the patio for snack, then I filled up the pool. The girls are swimming while I blog. Wish there were more days like this one in the foreseeable future. How did our summer fly by so fast and furious?!

Free Books!

I'm all about the free, especially when books are involved. So yesterday, we went around town collecting reading logs for our summer reading. Of course, our local library has a summer reading program. For A's age, the expectations are pretty low--just color in a train car on the log for every day that you read. There's a prize if you turn in a completely colored train by August 31. The prize was not disclosed, but it's still motivating for a preschooler.

Half Price Books has got the best deal going by far. To receive their reading reward, you read at least 15 minutes a day for 5 days and return your completed log each week until July 31. You can get a $3 Half Price shopping card for each log you turn in. (You have to turn the logs in on a weekly basis.) And, they let me take a log for C, too! So, 2 kids x 8 weeks x $3... I think that comes to $48 in free books from Half Price!! Awesome!

Barnes & Noble also has a reading program. The reading log says it is for grades 1-6, but I asked at the information desk if my preschooler could participate and they said, "Sure!" You have to read 8 books by September 7 to choose a free book from their designated list. The books are geared toward elementary-age readers, but we're reading easy chapter books to A, so she should be able to find one that looks interesting.

Happy (free) summer reading!

Two-a-Day

I don't know what is involved in a football practice two-a-day, but at my house, it refers to a really long, hot day of outdoor activities that necessitates two showers in one day.

My Saturday started with a shower so I could be presentable for a visit with a sweet friend here in town who gave birth to twins last week. Little miracle babies, they are, and so precious.

I left that visit and got home in time to swoop up the rest of the family to go sledding. Yes, we went sledding in Texas in June.

Okay, so the video isn't that good; but I think the dramatic Elton John music more than makes up for it. (The music was playing on a loudspeaker, I didn't add that lovely touch.)

It's a local phenomenon, brought to you by the university ski team. Yes, Texas apparently produces ski teams. Who knew?! I sure didn't. What's even more fascinating is that they practice on white astro turf. I kid you not. Man-made mountain, white astro turf, high-pressure water hose to get it all wet, and you can sled in Texas in June. It took a couple of rides with daddy for A to get brave enough to go by herself, but she eventually did it and had a blast! I, too, scaled the heights of artificial wonder, but that video shall remain on my hard drive.

We were all quite sweaty from our sledding adventure, so we came home to cool off and have lunch. Then we all napped quite well before getting ready for a backyard birthday party. Can I just say that these friends are going to be the coolest teenagers in high school? You know you got major mommy mojo when you fill a wading pool with red jell-o for your 3-year-old twins' birthday party.

Notice C picked the cleanest spot to get in? Notice she doesn't really want to put her toes down? Notice the lack of other children? You would think something like this would be a blast for little kids, but I think I saw more grown-ups squishing it between their toes than kids. Now, the wading pool full of chocolate pudding was another story. Neither of my girls would get near it, but a few kids did full body pudding wallowing. There were also pools full of plain water, also lots of fun.

And a slip-and-slide that would not stay plugged, no matter how hard A tried to cover all the holes.

A very gracious party guest painted lots of faces, and the superhero mask to seemed to be the most popular choice. Of course, A wanted her mask to be pink.

Top off all that fun with an ice cream sundae bar, beautiful cupcakes, and a candy buffet for filling treat bags and we were done! Back home, the girls went straight into the bath while I pulled supper together. Needless to say, I caught my second shower after the girls were in bed. Day like today only confirmed my choice to eliminate the natural deodorant. And now it's time for squeaky clean me to go to lay in my crazy comfy bed, with my climate controlled air and count my blessings. 'Night, ya'll.

Still Here

Never fear, we're still here. I've been absent from blogging for a few weeks, through no particular effort of my own. I guess that's the problem...no effort = no blog posts. I knew it had been awhile since I wrote a post when my neighbor called to check and make sure we were okay. Have I mentioned we have great neighbors? She said her granddaughter follows the blog and hadn't seen a post in a couple of weeks and now that we can park the car in the garage, it's hard to tell when we're coming or going. So she called to make sure all was well. (Thanks for looking out for us, O family.)

I remember when we first moved here and J was traveling so much, I was so lonely. I told him once that every time I came in the door I hoped someone had left a message or sent an email, someone to notice that I was here or not here, to see that I existed and mattered. I'm so very grateful to be growing relationships with my neighbors and friends, and to know that they are looking out for us and thinking about us.

Last weekend, my incredible hubby watched the girls for two nights (!!!!) while I stole away with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law for a girls' weekend away. We had a great time; saw a movie, did some window shopping, ate yummy food, did lots of talking. Pictures were taken, but they won't be posted here.

While I was gone, J was Super-Fun Daddy. He took the girls to the splashpad, over to friends' for supper, even threw a birthday party for A's teddy bear including homemade cupcakes, homemade pizza and at least two dozen balloons. And he had most of it cleaned up by the time I got home. Did I mention he's amazing?!

The weekend before last, we were out of town for my niece's birthday party. Lots of fun with family. I'm so grateful that my girls have little cousins their age to grow up with.

Somewhere in there, J started playing softball with a team from our church. He's also trying to wrap up a few final client projects at work so that he can move forward with the idea that has been funded.

See? We're still here, doing our usual thing. Not much new, just hotter. I'll try to pick up the pace a bit on posts, though, so as not to cause any further alarm. Perhaps I'll work on another right now.

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty laid back weekend this week. Saturday morning was family time, played outside together. J took the girls to run a few errands mid-morning and I got a much needed hour to finalize my curriculum order for our first year of homeschooling. Had a lunch of leftovers, then tried to take a nap. C wasn't cooperating for whatever reason. She fussed for a good half hour before finally falling asleep. Same thing happened on Friday; very frustrating because then A woke her up after she had only slept thirty minutes. Made for a long night at home group on Friday night. She did better on Saturday and we all made it out the door on time for some birthday party hopping. First to a party for one-year-old twins, then a second party for a little friend turning four. Loads of fun and sugar!

Sunday was church as usual. We were informed when we picked C up from nursery that she had snuck in a twenty minute snooze. We figured that meant we were good for another hour if we wanted to eat out, so we did. Of course, it took her a good thirty minutes of fussing again to take an afternoon nap, but she slept hard once she fell asleep. Finally had to open her door at 4:30pm so she'd wake up and be ready to go back to bed at bedtime! J worked with the girls in the garage painting something or other for my mother's day present. I spent the quiet time in the house catching up on emails, clearing my paper stacks from the kitchen counters and gearing up for a new week.

And here it is, Monday! C went to sleep without complaint today. Woo hoo! Don't want to make a habit of fussing to sleep. I think they were both pretty tired from the weekend as evidenced by a nap time long enough for me to get my work done and still have time to blog. I'll second that woo hoo! Registered A for swimming lessons this morning and ran a few errands. Laundry. Potted some mystery beans brought home from Sunday School a few weeks ago from their plastic cup into a real pot with dirt. Chatted with the neighbor about her new grandson. More laundry. Blew some bubbles. Made grilled cheese. Fought the great eat-your-fruit battle for the day. Tuned in to Little Einsteins. Put girls to bed. Updated the budget. Sent overdue emails. Wrote a blog post!! Time for more laundry. Thank you, Lord, for the calm and normal.