Dear Monday Morning

Dear Monday Morning,

I have never taken a real strong stance on loving you, or hating you.  In some ways, the return of school and routines I look forward to. In other ways you make me sadly say goodbye to the weekend.  I realize that having afternoon Kindergarten this year is probably working in your favor of me not minding you much.  Next year, I may feel differently about you, Monday Morning.  Last night though, I caught the seven day forecast and I must say, Monday you are ushering a week of cold weather for us!  Ending the month and beginning February with a statement and not a positive one I might personally add.

Then this morning when my phone began to ring before Eric's alarm, the thought of what a terrible way to start a Monday Morning...gloomy weather and starting too early, unhappily crossed my mind.  All the kids felt the need to get up within minutes of Eric dragging himself out of bed, this is not a good sign.  Kjetil got a shower before 6:30 AM due to a very messy diaper and the shower already running.  Looks like today will be busy Monday.

Monday, did you conspire with the kids?

I started my Monday Morning load of laundry and thought about doing sheets, then by 8:30 AM, Monday you felt the need to strike again.  Okay, I won't put all the blame on you Monday, but you just seem to be setting the week up and I'm not loving it!  Kjetil apparently felt the need for breakfast again.

That would be an entire box of cereal he emptied into his bowl. The table kindly held the overflow.

But Monday, this wasn't enough for you or him.  A new bottle of cinnamon vanilla creamer was needed as well.  The WHOLE bottle.

What a sticky mess!

Another bath and the kitchen floor to mop.

Monday, I would also like to mention that the game of, tossing toys into the toilet is one I did not want to play.  My part is the really not the fun part!  Today Monday Morning, it is not even 10AM and you have earned your stripe of being a challenging day, to put it nicely.  Please let your friend Tuesday know that I request that we not repeat Monday.  In fact, please let Monday afternoon know that I expect a nap to happen for a certain little boy between the hours of 12-2 PM,  if that doesn't happen, I may have my own tantrum Monday evening.

Sincerely,

Just trying to put out the little fires before they become big ones, Mom.

I Scream

 What? is there something on my face? Is my hair standing on end?

 mmmm....mmmmmm

It's mine all mine!

If she doesn't protect her ice cream, her little sister will take care of it! Most of the time CJ doesn't finish her ice cream and gladly gives it to Sweetness...not this day.

Good bye

It is always so hard to say good bye, and on Thursday we did it again.  Sweetness tried to convince grandma that she would give up gymnastics and dance to be able to go with her, however, their car was FULL!  Aunt Jo Jo, will be happy to have her books and boxes back!

Grandpa caught 4 fish one day out of 6 days of fishing.  Apparently a bad day of fishing IS better than any other day.  He also hiked Picacho Peak, drove up to the top of Mt Lemmon, and fished at local state and city lakes. He also put up new shelves in our garage and fixed the old ones, THANK YOU!

Grandma was a huge help around the house and watched the little ones so I could volunteer in CJ's classroom one day.  She and I went shopping one day and did a bunch of stamping!  She learned that if she  doesn't pay close attention, Sweetness will school her (and anyone else playing) in the Memory game. Walks, games, puzzles, crafts, a good time had by all. THANK YOU.

We did a quick unexpected trip to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Park one Sunday.  And after school on Wednesday we explored Colossal Cave.  Thank you for a really good time, don't stay away too long!

They'd fit right in!

Masters of disguise! 

Books

Recently I finished a couple of books.  The non fiction work, Beautiful things happen when a woman trusts God by Sheila Walsh and the fiction book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (and was recently made into a movie that I believe won awards).

I recommend both of these books and while they are very different journeys, times and places, they are much more similar than opposite.   As I was reading Sheila Walsh's view of being in the middle of a storm and knowing that God was standing by her, the confidence that it gave her to know she was never alone and the courage it gave her to stand firm, and hold on tight, Elizabeth Edwards passed away.  She herself had weathered many storms and had a storm analogy in her book. With the strength that her faith gave her, she talked about being in the middle of the storm and having the choice of letting it get the best of her, or changing her sails to go in a new direction.

I love both of these analogies, even though they are a bit different. We each have storms that come and go, and sometimes we must stand firm and weather the storm and other storms are God's way of giving us a nudge to change directions.  Either way, armed with God by our side, we can be calm and confident that God has a plan and things will work out as they are meant to.

Hosseini grew up in Afghanistan and his book is about the turbulence that land has had over the past 30 years, but starts before that, when Afghanistan was a peaceful and unknown country.  It is ultimately about the journey of a boy growing up and eventually moving to the United States, only to return a number of years later and truly discover and embrace his Muslim faith. He comments that as an adult he can see where his father's view on religion was faulty and that in fact God is and always has been there, as in there in Afghanistan even during war, and that God has always been with him as well.

I will close this post with a prayer from Sheila Walsh.  She says this each morning when she gets up.  It requires no dissection or explanation.  It is to the point, and relevant to us all:

"Lord, I don't know where you are going today, but wherever it is, I'm coming with you."

Our new baby

While I have teased friends who have gotten brand spankin' new vehicles... we now are a part of that club.
I considered not allowing children, food, the dog or the husband in as he commented taking the kids and the van fishing, into the van, I paused and thought, well, those are exactly the reason we drive a van.

I couldn't give up stow and go seating.  And to those of you who refuse to drive a van, I have driven an SUV and when it comes to family, fuel economy and more, the van is the way to go.

Please note how fabulously shiny and clean it is. Never expect to actually see it this way.  As I transfered car seats, crumbs fell on the floor.  As I allowed the kids to look around, finger prints on the windows. Friday while we were out for the first time it even got Baptized, and I cried, because I always cry at Baptisms -I don't know why, I don't have to know the people, I just bawl through them -- Kjetil saw the whole thing happen, pointed and said "uh-oh" as my filled to the top diet Coke fell, thankfully OUT of the van.  The tires are sticky and I didn't get my Noon time treat.  Which is the reason I cried this time, plus a few happy tears it wasn't the floor of the van.

Besides trying to not be paranoid about parking or leaving it in the parking lot for someone else to park too close to it, watching the miles double each time we drive it is the hardest part right now.

Where's the guitar?

 The nights cool off, but they are perfect campfire weather.

It really wasn't as cold as it appears, the kids had just worn T-shirts all day due to the 75 degree day time temps.  Instead of putting on a sweatshirt or jacket, they found blankets to wrap up in.

 We had pulled some bushes from our yard and enjoyed them as campfire a couple of days later.

 Cuddles with the grandparents

And Daddy.

Eric gave us all an astronomy lesson. We sang songs, without a guitar, and enjoyed our evening together.  Do you play guitar? Join us for the next one!

Fishing

When Grandpa is in town, that means there is fishing to be had.  This year all the kids went.

 CJ has figured out how to cast...just be aware when she is casting!

 Grandpa showing how it's done.

 Sweetness' patience may make her the best fishing buddy.  She was content catching leaves all day.

Looks like all had fun, despite no one actually catching any fish.

All about Trains

 At the botanical Gardens

 Is the boy missing? Check the trains.

 Chooo Choooo

"Did you see the trains?" he asks.

Butterflies

We had a small birthday party at the local botanical gardens, which in the winter has a special butterfly exhibit.  We cam prepared with butterfly masks, bright clothing, and smelly lotion.

Everyone was in the spirit

 some were content with a wave

 Paper Kite

Others waited patiently for butterflies to land on them

 She was happy about this, but didn't want to move.

We even got to see the chrysalises and wiggling out butterflies.

 Oh the giggling girls.  Some of my favorite sights!

We did enjoy all of the botanical gardens, more later!

Change is hard, so are Mondays

Today is a holiday for many, but not all.  While CJ has today off of school she still has gymnastics tonight. I know others who are going to school today, but many businesses will be closed and I believe there is no mail.

So today is not a typical Monday.  However we have had an adventure packed weekend so I need a down day and say THANK YOU to having today off.  Since Eric has today off, he and Grandpa are taking the kids, ALL of them, fishing.  Making it a play day for us ladies!

If today was a typical back to work and school day, I would be feeling ill will towards this Monday.  It was hard enough to get up out of bed this morning--okay I'll admit, every morning is hard.

Change is hard too.  Change out of routine can be refreshing or challenging.  I recently made a change that I have been putting off.  For awhile Grandma has been complaining when she visits, okay for about 2 years.  This visit, she brought me a different "better" option.

I have a different keyboard on my computer.

What's the big deal?  I kinda liked my old one.

No there was nothing special or fancy about it.  That whole row of silver buttons on top...I have no idea what they could be used for.  I mostly just type.  While we are a Mac family, the keyboard was a PC.  There is one big difference, that little bump to help guide your fingers on a PC is located on the D and K keys while on a Mac keyboard has it on the F and J keys.  I know this, and I can adjust, it's just different.

I do use the bumps to guide me.  I was taught in keyboarding (the BEST "easy A" class I ever took) to not look at my fingers and learned where the letters are and my fingers just go to each one as I type.  Also years of piano and being told "don't look at your fingers" have made my fingers very capable of doing what I tell them to do with out me having to double check by looking at them.  My mom also has these skills so I really didn't understand why it was such an issue when she would use my computer.  I understand why Eric didn't care for it.  And with CJ doing more things on the computer that requires a keyboard and she wants to actually type real words to people when chatting, it was starting to become an issue, an annoyance to me.

Not everyone KNOWS where each letter is apparently.

Mom brought down an old keyboard she had, but it had a different plug in than a USB ---which means Under School Bus --I know weird, I don't know why everything has to have abbreviations that seem to have nothing to do with whatever it is abbreviated for, I think it is part of the plan to keep us dazed and confused most of the time.
So I pulled out the keyboard for our old iMac computer...it was grape if you remember that from the Nineties.  I didn't really care for that keyboard when we used it.  It is compact in size and as my pinky reaches for delete, I often hit F10 one of those randomly used unknown use buttons.  It makes whatever I'm working on, disappear.  Now you know.  Also good to know, if you hit it again, everything will come back.

This keyboard does have two advantages.  When working on something that is Mac related and I need to push the "open apple" button, I now actually have one and don't have to guess around at the PC version of the same button.

And it has letters on the keys, so I should be able to set anybody up to use it, Eric, CJ, Grandpa or whoever, and they can find the letters they need for whatever project they are working on.  But I am signing the kids up for keyboarding as soon as I can!



*^*^*^*^^*^* EDIT*^*^*^*^*
I doubled checked and you're right Ellen...both sets of bumps were on the F and J, maybe I had it backwards, but at one time I know they were different....or maybe there has been an agreement to just put them on F and J.  Thanks for pointing that out...I guess I'll do better research next time.

ps....Eric also told me the real words to USB and he distinctly said Bus for the B.

Family Pie

Here is a recipe for you to try out as a new week is dawning upon us.  A winner around here!

Family Pie

One handful of forgiveness
One heaping cupful of love
A full pound of unselfishness.
Mix together smoothly with complete faith in God.

Add 2 tablespoons of wisdom
1 teaspoon of good nature for flavor
Then sprinkle generously with thoughtfulness.

Makes a wonderful Family Pie and will serve any sized family!

A bus vs. a Prius

There is no good way to share this.

I am thankful that all are okay. There was an adult witness, besides myself.

Yesterday was beautiful, just a unbelievable wonderful winter day around here.  I do not say this to gloat to those who have snow, nor to whine that in the mornings it is down right chilly and we need to wear coats, I share because it was just the perfect day to be outside playing.

I decided to let the kids play out front on this picture perfect day.  Grandpa joined us.  Bikes were ridden, scooters were scooted, wagons pulled, and roller skates flying up and down the street.  And there was a bus.

Not the big yellow school bus and not a city bus.

This kind of bus.

In his eyes, this is a big, bad, bus.

All was going well.  He drove his bus down the street.  He drove it up the street.  He protested that we wouldn't let him leave our neighborhood in his bus.  He was seeking an adventure, a thrill, and higher insurance premiums. 

He backed it up our neighbor's drive way, because it is steeper and slightly longer, therefore a better running start!  The sidewalk levels out, then there is a gentle curb to the street.

So as Grandpa and I watched him back up the driveway and push himself free wheeling down the driveway, we both seemed to think, surely he would stop before getting close to Grandma's car. And as he kept going, thinking well it won't be more than a tap. . .

It was more than a tap.  Sure the picture looks like he only removed dirt to show a shiney white car but

there is a ding.  I would like to mention this ding is smaller and less noticeable than the corn drier ding on the rear bumper though.

We were able to stop a potential second collision involving a red wagon with Kjetil sitting in it as Sweetness pulled him down the same driveway, ending up going too fast and loosing control.  Her heel/ankle caught the tire of the wagon and I stepped in front of both to catch Sweetness and to finally stop the wagon, before hitting the car.

Sorry Grandma.  We really do appreciate you visiting!  Would you like to give the little guy driving lessons?