Fishing and St Louis

My life seems to get busier by the minute. I cannot believe how fast the summer went by and I'm not sure fall is going to hang around long.

A couple weeks ago we took the boys to a stocked pond not far from our home. It was a family fishing day. Eli got to reel in his first fish, a perch. Dylan had the privilege of catching and reeling in a bass. Without exaggeration, I would say 3.5 lb and maybe 17 inches long...maybe bigger! The smile on his face is unforgettable. Fishing for kids is not so much fun...until they catch them...then they just want to keep trying.

Last weekend we took a trip to St. Louis. We like going up there but would definitely not want the big city life. At least, not that one. There is so much to see and do and much of it is not too expensive. We went to "The Hill" to eat at Mama Campisi's. I have to say I was not impressed. Don't get me wrong the food was good, but just not great. The service was mediocre. We called ahead and the lady was just not as friendly as you would expect a hostess. When we got there we had to wait almost 5 minutes before anyone even greeted us. And, NO, they weren't busy. We got seated and no one asked us if we needed a high chair or a booster. Within minutes Eli fell out of his seat and on his head. I quickly took him to the car and we got our booster seat out of the trunk. It was fortunate we still had it in there. They brought us our water but only brought 3 and said, "Do you need an extra?" I'm thinking, extra, there are 4 of us. How about do you need enough for each of you to have a drink. Oh, wait...I guess in there business the kids don't count. They brought us some bread but had to be asked to refill it. We had to set our drinks on the edge of the table so the waiter could see they were empty. When our main dish finally came, the portions were small for the price. The food was good, but when Chris got to the middle of his lasagna...it was cold. We didn't want to say anything because we had waited forever to get the food in the first place. The kids were ready to go. After all the other tables of people left, the waiter said "It was a pleasure serving you today." He didn't do that for us. We weren't difficult, we asked for nothing special, our kids were excellent, and we were very polite. I guess it's just the fact that we brought our kids into a nice restaurant. Well, you can rest assure, we won't visit Mama Campisi's again. The last time we were there we went to Zia's. Despite the long wait, the food and service was great at Zia's.

Friday morning we visited the Arch which I actually endured quite well despite my tendencies toward claustrophobia. We then found free parking for a tour at Busch Stadium which was really cool. The boys enjoyed most of it even if they didn't understand it all. Friday night we went to a Cardinals game. Our seats were a little high and we couldn't see part of the outfield, but we got to enjoy the majority of the game. The boys enjoyed watching the major league and when they got restless we just gave them snacks which we were allowed to bring into the park without hassle. They have a family friendly policy and they allow you to bring any food items in a soft cooler and any drink items in a plastic bottle. That was a huge money saver for us.

Saturday we visited the zoo, free to all and we even found free parking not too far to walk. That day the sea lion show was free so we enjoyed it, also. We ate a small snack of french fries. They did give us a large portion but charged the usual outlandish price. Good thing we just needed a snack.

On the way home we stopped and ate at Five Guys and Fries. Their food is fresh, never frozen and pretty delicious I would say. The boys scarfed down their cheeseburger in no time and then didn't sleep a wink until 30 minutes away from home. It worked well, though! We played outside a little, took baths, and got them into bed early for church on Sunday.

St Louis is a definite replay for us. Next time we're going to try the City Museum and the Magic House. We hear both are fun for all.

Great Day

Every day we all have our own definition of what makes up a great day. Sometimes a great day is just peaceful and quiet at home. Other times it involves an activity or just good news. I just had a great day watching 35 kids run around in the back yard dripping wet and screaming. Let me explain.

Dylan had been asking to have a water gun fight and his Dad and I do good for an afternoon or for a weekend, but he really wanted to have over some of his friends for a water gun war. We talked about it and I kept saying we could have this person or that person over but the more we discussed it and the longer I thought, we decided to have a real water gun war. We invited all the kids from church that were Dylan or Eli's age and all their siblings (plus Moms).

Everyone brought water guns. We set up 5 gallon bucket filling stations at several different points in the back yard. When everyone arrived we went down to the baseball field right behind our house. We played an inning of baseball, killed a little time, and got hot and sweaty. Then, we layed down some ground rules: no shooting in the face, stay in the boundaries, don't shoot the moms, and most importantly...HAVE FUN! We had 35 kids running around with water guns or water balls...all of them got wet and everyone had fun. We then ate lunch in the shade. Everyone brought their own sandwiches and then Dylan and I had cut up lots of different kinds of fruit, provided chips, pink lemonade, water, and snickerdoodle cookies. After lunch we had more water gun wars and for those who were done getting wet they could swing, slide, jump on the trampoline, or just sit back and watch the fun. We had the usual mishaps but nothing that hampered the overall mood of the day. No one had any broken bones, nothing got broken, and no significant amounts of blood were lost. So, THAT is what I constitute as a great day.

To top it off, after everyone left I cleaned off the back porch and got all our water guns put away. I brought in all the remaining food and drink. As I was doing all this, the clouds started rolling in. The sky started to darken. The wind blew harder. I pulled my car back into the garage and just as I did, little rain drops began to wet the driveway. I came inside and put the food into the fridge, straightened up a few things and just when everything was back to normal, I looked outside and the rain began to pour. How blessed we were to have our party uninterupted by rainfall. We prayed that it would be a great day, worthy of getting wet, and would not have to be rescheduled due to the rain. God could not have answered our prayers more precisely. Thank you, Lord! What a great day!!!

Vacation

Our garden is looking beautiful. We actually have a few tomatoes growing and 2 green bell peppers. I think Aaron saw some cucumbers and my lettuce is just about ready to have its first cut. Aaron is not my brother, for those of you who might think so. Aaron is a friend who lives here in Willard. He and his wife, Kristy, are sharing the responsibility of the garden so we can share the yummy vegetables. I can't eat them by myself and there isn't much in the garden that Chris cares to eat.

Chris and I just returned last week from our 10th anniversary cruise vacation. We left out of here on Saturday afternoon and our church prison team dropped us off in Tulsa on their way to OKC. We walked several blocks to find something good to eat and ended up coming back to just across the street from the hotel and settling on good, cheap, Arby's. Then, we went back to the hotel and went to bed kinda early. We got up at 4:00am Sunday morning and headed to the airport. The seats on Continental Airlines were so uncomfortable we didn't get much of a nap on the plane. We got into San Diego around 10:00. We couldn't board the cruise ship until 11:30 so we figured we would just walk to the cruise terminal. We were told it was just barely over a mile. So, luggage in hand, we took off. We followed what we thought was the ocean line, but it stopped at the end of a pier. We could see our cruise ship but couldn't cross over so we had to walk all the way back around and followed the main road down to the terminal. All in all, I would say we walked about 6 miles that day. We got on the boat and ate lunch and then headed to our cabin for a nap. We didn't get a nap, though, because it was time for lifeboat drills and ship introduction. By the time that was over we wanted to go out and watch the ship leave port and then there were things to do on the boat. Then, we were hungry for dinner. However, by the time dinner was over...I was dragging. We finally got to bed around 9:00 and I slept so hard I don't remember the boat rocking or stopping. Keep in mind the time had rolled back 2 hours for us so technically we were up for 4am to 11pm. That's a long day for anyone, but especially me.

We woke up around 7 the next morning. Getting up early for breakfast was a good thing because the food was generally hot and the lines were minimal if any. Our favorite was the made-to-order omelettes. Monday was our only day at port. Technically, we never ported, though. We stopped way before Catalina Island and had to tender in to the pier. That's an experience in itself, but it wasn't a bad one. Catalina was very pretty but the day was overcast and misty until almost noon. We walked around in the mist and shopped and went up to the Chicago Cubs old summer training camp. We were told it was about a mile up the road. It took us almost 45 minutes just to get there. I know I'm not a fast walker, but I can do a mile a lot quicker than that. We definitely got our exercise, again. I love it when people estimate a mile. I think they ought to walk it before they estimate. We did a tour later in the afternoon and then were one of the last two boats to tender out. We had a great evening dinner of lobster and steak and met a very nice family.

Tuesday we were supposed to dock at Ensenada, Mexico but becuase of the swine flu we didn't. Instead, some kind of international law made us park in the cove because it was Mexican waters and we had to stay there 3 hours looking at a beautiful city on a very warm, summer day wishing we could get off the boat and play on the beach. Then, the Captain decided to head back into International waters where they could open the casinos and shops and the clouds came back out and the warm weather was officially gone for the remainder of our cruise. Chris and I played basketball up on the top deck one day and we ran around the track (for 1 mile :D). We really enjoyed just being together and not having the daily grind of cooking, cleaning, and all the other stuff. We went to the shows and even closed down the Karoke lounge a night or two. You know, most people in the karoke lounge can actually sing. Don't get me wrong. There were a couple people who got up there just to make fools of themselves, but in general there were some great singers. One guy sang some Frank Sinatra and I was impressed. Then, there was a lady who got up there and said something about Whitney Houston and I said, OH NO! But, after the first line of the song the crowd went wild because she had an excellent voice. We had such a relaxing vacation.

We got off the boat Thursday morning early and the rental car company picked us up right outside the gate of the terminal. We got in our car and headed to LAX. Since we got there a little early, we decided to hit the beach just outside the airport. It was a little cool but nice enough to take off my shoes and walk in the sand. Then, we ate at our favorite CA fast-food restaurant...In N Out Burger. We flew Allegiant Air back into Springfield and got to see our beautiful (or should I say handsome) boys about 8:30 Thursday night. I'm so glad to be back home.

May

April showers did not bring May flowers to my garden. As a matter of fact, I think it rained more this month than it did in April. To top that off, I think all the rain earlier this month drowned and rotted my green bean and carrot seeds. I have a weed garden where green bean plants should be appearing. On a brighter note, my tomato plants and a couple of my pepper plants are flowering. That's a good sign. It means I need to go to Wickman's Gardens and pick up some bug repellant because it won't be long before they start nibbling away at any and every good thing I've got going. I had Dylan help me weed in the garden and had there not been so many weeds, I think he would have done a pretty good job. I spent 2 1/2 hours of back breaking weeding and really only got one section done good. We had so much rain that it was too muddy until these last couple days to even get out there and pull weeds, so now the job is much bigger. Not to fear, though. I will just spread the work out over a few days so it's not so much.

Dylan and I went to Silver Dollar City on Monday. We took one of his pre-school friends, Rory, and her mom, Dawn. It was the Bluegrass and BBQ Festival. Dawn is a huge Bluegrass fan and actually plays the mandolin. We watched a little bit of several different shows and you could see how much she enjoyed it. The kids were not as enthused, especially Dylan. Even though the park was relatively empty, we spent the majority of our day there. Eli enjoyed a peaceful day at his favorite Aunt Mel's house.

Chris and I are preparing for vacation. We're only gone for 5 1/2 days, but I will enjoy every minute of it. Fun in the sun with no children tugging on my shirt. I'll miss the boys, but it will make our time when we get home that much more special.

Monday

Monday is a relatively busy day for me. We get up and as soon as breakfast is done and we are dressed for the day, we head to job #2 for a drop off/pick-up. The boys are always wound up because it is first thing in the morning and they have so much energy. I have to try to file and make copies amidst trying to calm the boys or fix their ails and woes. If you know boys they are generally getting hurt because of fighting or running or slamming a door on their head, as was the instance today. After all that drama we get in the car and head to Sears to get an oil change and the tires rotated. On the way, I call to see if JC Penney can fit in picture time for Eli. We get to the mall, drop off the car, hit the play area for a good 20 minutes to wear out some energy and then off to Penney's for some pictures. Dylan sits very well during Eli's pictures watching Sid the Science Kid. Eli cooperates quickly and I ooh and aah over pictures. After placing an order we're off to check out a shop or two and then to the food court where Dylan says he smells Chic-Fil-A. Yum, yum! We eat our lunch and run down to Sears where the car has fresh oil and the tires have been rotated. We hop in the car and head to Target to pick up some diapers and milk...all the necessities of life with young children. We pick up a box of Oreos which we snack on outside Target in the little circle part of the concrete wall. Dylan and Eli are both fascinated with that and I don't know why. We jump back in the car and drive to job #2 again to make the final pick up from the depositors and mail man and move on up the road. We figure we're going right past Daddy's work so we better stop to say Hello. We tip-toe in as if we're being sneaky but get caught, give kisses and are on our way again. We get a few miles down the road and the boys start to settle. Eli's eyes are fading and Dylan is saying "Can I stay up for 10 more minutes, please?" No wishes granted. Off to bed they go and here I am telling you about our day. Whew! Now, I must work for job #1 before I have no job.

Double Standard or Not? You Decide!

Do some Christians have a double standard for Christmas and Easter? Both holidays have religious undertone, and both holidays have been commercialized. Most Christians participate in the gift giving at Christmas and have a Christmas tree and decorations in their home. They justify it all by telling their kids the Christmas story and explaining the real "reason for the season". Then, Easter rolls around and we say "No" to Easter egg hunts, Easter baskets filled with goodies, Easter bunnies, and all the commercialized business that goes with Easter. Is that a double standard? Could we not just sit down before the Easter hunt and tell the real reason our churches celebrate Easter? Could we not tell the Easter story about how Jesus came to earth, lived as a man, performed miracles, was crucified on a cross to pay for our sins, laid in a borrowed tomb, and then rose from the dead 3 days later? Can we tell that story like Miss Patty does with different things inside an Easter Egg? Would this be an extra opportunity for churches to minister to kids who would otherwise never listen to the Gospel? What about those kids in church who already know about Easter? Is it ok for us to justify not allowing them to participate in Easter egg hunts by saying it's of the world or Easter bunnies who don't lay eggs have nothing to do with Easter?

Life, In General

It's been crazy busy around here and I've seen the insides of Cox Hospital more than I want. Mom has had several tests run; angeogram, ultrasound, CT Scan, blood work, EKGs, etc. No one can figure out what's going on with her. She has severe chest pains that sometimes radiate into her lower jaw, sometimes into her shoulder blades and around into her upper back, sometimes the pain goes down into her arms. She gets tired easily and has very little energy. They just did the CT Scan yesterday, so we're hoping it comes back with some kind of results. The sooner they can identify the problem, the sooner they can treat.

We also had a friend who recently had an accident at work that landed him in NTICU for a couple days and he hasn't gotten to get out of the hospital, yet. Although, he is in a regular room now he just underwent surgery and is on the road to recovery. His wife is pregnant and they have a young child so I've been assisting in child care as well as making sure the Mom eats occasionally.

I'm now on my own at the newest job. I do most of my work from home but make at least two trips a week into the office. It is challenging and I am learning so much but this is a good thing. It keeps my mind sharp.

My two little guys keep me very busy. Dylan enjoys pre-school but the last 3 or 4 times I've dropped him off he's begged to stay with me. I'm not sure why that is because when I got to pick him up, he's never ready to leave. I think we need a little more one-on-one attention and maybe we can elimiante problems when he's left somewhere.

Eli is developing character and becoming such a little man. He's my "can-do boy". A couple weeks ago I told him to go put his shoes in his room and I didn't see him for several minutes. When I went to see where he was, I found him standing on a rubbermaid container in his closet. I asked what he was doing and he pointed to the shelf in his closet where his shoes were. He said, "My shoes here". He had not only put his shoes in his room but he had put them on the shelf in his closet where they go. He had moved some stuff off a rubbermaid container that is in his closet and climbed up on it to put his shoes away properly. He was so proud. He likes to do things on his own and he just tries and tries until I finally force him to let me help. When I get on to him he bows his head down and then looks up at you with just his eyes. It's cute but also not cute when he's in trouble. Other times when you're trying to talk to him and he's interested in something else. He'll turn his head away from you and just cut his eyes back so you know that he hears you but he's doing something else. Crazy kid! My Mom said his personality sure is cute but it's started to get him into all kinds of trouble.

As I sit here and look outside the clouds are rolling in and I can tell it's cooling off outside. We're expecting rain tonight and possibly snow by the weekend. Today, it was in the 60s and the boys played outside. I am so ready for the spring/summer and to get outside. These roller coaster weather days aren't much fun!

My father-in-law has been here every day this week. He's building new cabinets for our kitchen. It's funny how he communicates with the boys. It's a lot of "Huh?, What did you say?, Were you talking to me?" Eli likes to talk to him but every time the saw starts or the air compressor kicks on he comes running back to me and holds on for dear life. The cabinets are almost finished and now we have to find a stainer. The stainer we had lined up just moved. I can't wait to get them done and installed.

Well, it's time for me to fix some dinner. My stomach isn't telling me what to fix. I guess I'll have to resort to asking a child.

Snow

We might be getting snow tonight and generally I don't pray for bad weather. I don't really want bad weather. I just want enough snow to either play in or no snow at all.

I'm actually looking forward to spring more than anything, but since that isn't coming for a while, I'll try to enjoy what we get before then.

Tuesday started off as any normal Tuesday does. I did the usual chores around the house and dropped Dylan off at pre-school and headed to Wal-mart to do the weekly shopping with Eli. As I finished with a cart full headed toward the check-out my cell phone rang. When I looked down it was my Dad. When my Dad calls my cell phone in the middle of the day, it isn't going to be good news. He said he was at the ER with Mom. She had been having severe chest pains and shortness of breath and they were going to keep her for observation, EKG, and possibly a stress test. Well, that tells me they think she's having or going to have a heart attack. I rush to the check-out and get out as quickly as I can but then I have to go back to Willard to pick up Dylan from pre-school and throw the groceries in the refrigerator. I do all that and get to the hospital within 45 minutes. I did pretty good. They were just leaving the ER to put her in a regular room. We sat in the hospital all day while they drew blood multiple times and ran a second EKG and then did a stress test. Finally, about 6:45 that night the doctor said he didn't know what was wrong but she had a healthy heart and could go home as long as she would do a follow-up visit with her doctor.

Throughout conversations during that day I learned Mom has been having severe chest pains for almost a month. In the last week the pains have moved from her right side into her left. She has been achey in her left arm. Her jaw and cheek bones were starting to hurt. The pain was spreading into her back shoulder blades and she's been excessively tired for some time now. She didn't tell anyone, including my Dad, about any of these things until yesterday. She has an appointment this coming Monday with her doctor to alert him of her symptoms and try to come to some conclusion. I'm sure this will not be something they figure out quickly, although I wish they would. Pray for her strength. She still works a full-time job, teaches Sunday School, teaches at the women's prison with my Dad, and is very active with all 7 of her grandchildren. She needs prayers to get back to her normal, healthy self.

What's Up

I officially started training for another new job from home. I have to do training for the next month or so at the office, but once I'm trained I will only go by to make pick ups and drop offs. I'm excited because I'm expanding my knowledge of Quickbooks. If I get enough of these stay-at-home jobs I won't have to go back in the work field when the boys both get in school. It will leave me more flexible where I can stay involved in their activities. That's what I really want. I never anticipated to be one of those Moms who didn't work outside of the home, but now all I really want is to be able to take them to school, pick them up, go on field trips if needed, drive them to any after-school activities and just in general...be available all the time. Funny how our opinions on life changes with age and circumstances.

Cold Fun

We had at least an inch of ice on Monday afternoon and Tuesday and then got an additional 2 plus inches of snow on top of that. The boys and I went out today to play in the snow. We don't have a sled so I tried to teach Dylan how to use a slick cardboard box. He couldn't hold the front up so he kept falling off but he seemed to be having fun, anyway. Eli fell face first in the snow within the first 15 minutes outside and he didn't have any fun after that at all. He wanted to be carried everywhere. We eventually put him inside to watch us out the window while we played for a little longer. Dylan did great until his glove came off and his hand got cold and then he started being a little whiny. I figured out how to dust off the snow from his glove and warm up his hand and then put his glove back on and he continued to have a great time. We all had 3 or 4 layers of clothes which made Eli look even more funny. The snow wasn't the kind for packing and making snowmen or snowballs but it was fun to roll around in and to throw the powder. I felt like a kid, again.

Happy New Year

I've been so busy with my part-time work from home job, NTCP, kids, holidays, and normal every day stuff, I haven't posted in a while. Right now I have kind of a yucky sinus infection that just started so I went to Wal-mart and spent like $30 on medicine and kleenex and herbal tea and honey and all the things I might need or want to make myself feel better.

I'm sitting by the fire and I just logged onto the computer to start working and them my boss called within just a few seconds and said, "Stop, Wait, Not Yet". She's trying to do some downloads so I'll take this brief time to tell you what's going on in our world.

Eli is starting to talk. He says Mommy and Daddy really well and Dylan sounds like Dolin to me but I know he'll get there. He says tookie for cookie and he says apple very well, but sometimes he says apple when he wants grapes so you just have to know what he wants. When he comes and points his left hand completely behind him and says iwandat, that means follow me and I'll show you what I want. He will tell you about 50% of the time if he pooped unless you notice first and then if you ask, the answer is always No. His answer to most questions is No initially and then if he sees it really is something he wants then he'll quickly change his answer to Yes, but No seems to be his first response. He does a lot of shrugging his shoulders and giving you a questioning look as if to say "I dunno". He stands with his hands behind his back whenever he's observing something or waiting for something. He has his tongue hanging out of his mouth when he's really excited or if he's concentrating on something. He absolutely loves his Dad. When he hears the truck pull in the driveway or the garage door start to open he goes and stands waiting for Dad to walk in. He runs to hug him and usually follows him around unless he thinks he's about to starve to death and then he comes back to whine at my feet until I feed him. He's in the middle of whatever Dylan is doing which requires Dylan to be a little more creative with some of his play.

By that, I mean, sometimes Dylan has to take his toys in his room and play up on his bed so Eli can't get to them. Sometimes he has to hide under a tent that has no entrance. Sometimes, he just has to learn to find something else or include his little brother. Dylan is really enjoying pre-school. He especially likes the fact that one of his classmates always chooses their art project colors after him and she always chooses exactly the same colors in exactly the same spots he already has. He doesn't really talk much about school unless you ask questions but he looks forward to going and is never ready to leave when I get there to pick him up. Dylan isn't partial to Mom or Dad on any certain occasion. One day Mom might be his favorite and the next day Dad. If he's feeling a little left out he just tries to butter you up with lots of compliments. He looks forward to his best pals Aaron and Kristy coming over and when they walk in the door he is like trying to contain a monkey in a cage. They spoil him rotten with attention. Aaron is, of course, just a big kid himself so I think he enjoys playing almost as much as Dylan does. Dylan is getting older and asking more questions and reasoning things. He's growing up like they all do. I teased him the other day about taking him to Wal-mart and selling him to another family when he turns 4. I told him Daddy and I liked little kids and we didn't want him to grow up so we were going to trade him for a younger one. He asked us to keep him and it was really funny because he had such a huge smile on his face the whole time. We explained to him that we would never get rid of him and how much love he brings to our life. It was fun! We're planning his 4th birthday party and he's already talking about it.

Chris doesn't seem to be as busy as he used to be. His side-jobs are not as many and we're thankful for the extra time we get with him. This winter has been busy but we've also had some evenings home and been able to play some board games or just run around in circles out in our sunroom. We've enjoyed having a wood stove this year which is something I never thought I would say. I am even pretty good at starting fires and getting them blazing hot. Occasionally, I even wake up in the middle of the night to add wood and keep it going. Chris thinks I'm a good partner for cutting wood. He cuts and I haul it to the trailer and stack it neatly. Then, when we get home, I throw it down to him and he splits it and stacks it. We're a great team! 2009 brings our 10th wedding anniversary. Almost makes me feel old but since I'm not 30, yet, I'll try to hold off on that feeling.

We've had a lot of ups and downs this year. It's been a really hard year. We've had a lot of firsts; some bad, some good. I think we're both looking forward to what the future brings. I know, for some, the economy is unstable, jobs are unstable, prices for everything are higher than ever, and many in the world are at war, but God is still in control. God still reigns on High and we have to look to Him for our stability, peace, and comfort. I trust you will look to Him for what you need.