Snippets and Sagas

Family Picture December 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 21:10:00 +0000

Yurt Camping With Friends

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:02:00 +0000

Our friends have a tradition of camping at the coast one weekend each summer. This year we joined them, as did about seven other families. We pretty much took over the campground with a group of about fifty--most of them kids. Our yurt was booked exactly nine months in advance, five minutes after the phone lines were open. That is how fast the yurts sell out. Camping at the coast is a chilly adventure, and having some thicker walls, a heater, and pseudo-mattresses are a real plus for those of us nearing age forty. Yes, we are wimpy and old, and have no shame in admitting that.

The temps in Portland were in the high 90s and triple-digits during the weekend we were gone. Generally, the temps are 20 degrees cooler at the coast, which we figured would be perfect. Unfortunately, I didn't take into account The Wind, which is always present at the coast, and lowers the temps even farther. Let's just say the one pair of pants and one fleece I had packed for each person got worn plum out over four days. I had no idea we could get as dirty as we did. Hello, camping.

Besides being a bit cold, we had a great time and the kids pretty much ran for three days straight. We stayed for three nights and four days, which was the perfect amount of time. Long enough to make the packing worth it, but short enough to not need a full chiropractic exam upon arriving home.

And now for the pics.

Here's our yurt site, which comes with a yurt (duh), picnic table, and a fire pit. The hammock is ours. Yes, we packed our hammock.

Inside the yurt, there was a futon, which could sleep two of the kids:

Plus a bunk bed for the parents on the bottom and one kid on top:

It's not camping until hot dogs are cooked over the fire. Everything tastes better when cooked outside. Especially when I'm not the one doing the cooking.

We picked up a couple of "pudgie pie makers" especially for this trip. This is a memory from Pa's childhood. It's basically a cast iron sandwich maker. We buttered some blueberry streusel bread and stuck blueberry pie filling in between. Nummy samwidge.

With nine families attending, there was no end of things for the kids to do. They mostly made up games based on whatever things were on hand. Here they had one of our parachute guys and a whole bunch of kids went running, throwing, and catching.

Friday was the sunniest day, so we headed to the coast to play. Here were are walking towards Fogarty Creek. Complete with Pa wearing long pants and the boys wearing fleece.

This was our view as we all enjoyed a picnic lunch. The whole group had ventured to the same beach, which was about a 20-minute drive from the campsite.

First critter we saw was a starfish. The water was its typical self--cold, cold, cold. This particular beach didn't have a very big shallow area, so we didn't hang out at the ocean's edge for too long.

This spot along the coast had a big-ol' wall of sand the kids could climb. Campers is the one in the gray fleece.

See?

This is what the boys looked like after playing on the wall of sand:

We also took some walks to see the waves roll in:

The temps were warm enough that day to make the sand feel hot. Yay!

We picked this spot along the coast because it had water for the kids to play in that was not the cold and dangerous ocean. The group of kids spent a long, long time in the creek.

They also spent some time covering themselves with sand:

The boys were the biggest fans of the creek. Building dams, digging for clay, making castles. They were a delight to watch, so industrious and happy.

We had tried to pack our kite, as the windy coast is a great spot to fly one. Unfortunately, one of our kids had dragged the thing through the garage, getting its string in knots and tied around a chair. I tried (in vain) for about an hour to get it undone. Fortunately, someone in our group brought a kite and the Suz was ever-so-excited to try it out. One thing she has going for her is energy--which means that kite was up in the air in no time. One thing she doesn't have is control, which means that kite nose-dived to the creek about three seconds later. Wheeee!

Here's the Suz in the creek, about to give me the what-for for not letting her wear her uncomfortable swim suit. Yeah, it stinks to be a girl sometimes.

Back at the campground, the kids played several rousing games of Skill Ball:

And the Suz got to join in on a fun round of Sequence:

Two of the nights we shared a potluck supper, with half of the families supplying one meal and the other half supplying the second meal. Handy! Plus, it was a nice way for all of us to connect at least one time a day. We'd talk, and play, and follow that up with some talking and playing.

On Saturday, the whole gang went to a nearby playground where the kids did more of the same--running and playing and then running some more:

The Suz was in her element. All people, all the time.

The introverts of the crowd headed to the campsite early to take in a little peace and quiet. The five of us spent some time resting and cleaning up and playing games at the table.

You can see that the kids are starting to wear down! I'm pretty sure they haven't spent that much physical energy ever before in their short, youthful lives.

We all had a great time, though Pa and I pretty much collapsed once we got home. Our bodies haven't been that tired since who knows when. As for my voice, it has recovered enough that I could converse like a normal person, at least for most of the day. I still can't shout or sing or talk for long periods of time. But it was a joy not having to whisper or sit quietly.

Anyway, the kids are already begging to go again, which I'm sure we'll do at some point. In the meantime, Pa and I are reacquainting ourselves with such luxuries as "comfortable chairs" and "TVs." Ahh, the good life.

The Summer I Couldn't Talk

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 22:35:00 +0000

Back in late June, I decided to be "the fun mom" and carry my girl via piggy-back. She soon decided to kick that fun up a thousand notches and drop her legs from around my waist, thus holding on with only her hands. Her hands happened to be around my neck and once she realized that was a really bad plan for her safety, she held on even more tightly and it took a great deal of effort to pry her arms off of my throat. Immediately I thought, oh yeah, that hurts, but I'll be fine tomorrow.

Well, that was over four weeks ago and I'm still not able to talk. And the "pain in the neck" is still there, which affects my eating and sleeping and what position I sit in while watching TV.

I went to my doctor and she proclaimed that everything was functioning (swallowing, breathing) and nothing was broken, but I'd need to keep whispering while my voice box healed.

Next stop was to the ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor) where I had the joy of getting a scope sent down the nose. I knew what was coming, so I'd spent a good two weeks dreading that experience. Fortunately, they numbed my airway (brought on by some snorting on my part) so I didn't feel much of the scope. Unfortunately, they numbed my airway, which felt a lot like suffocation with a side dish of Bad Taste in the Mouth. My ENT took a close look at my vocal cords, all while I got to "heee" and "hum" and contort my face into awkward positions. I should also mention there was a mirror right in front of me, so I had to spend the whole appointment averting my eyes. Really, whose idea was that? Anyway, my doctor saw from the scope that one part of my vocal cord area is pulled from the side. She said that could be normal for my voice box, or it could be from the injury. I now have to get a CT scan of my neck so they can look more closely at that issue. That's happening a week from now.

In the meantime, I've been whispering when it's necessary to talk, and writing notes when whispering can't work. Yeah, that's not odd at all at the bank / grocery store / library / pizza store / gas station / community center! For those who thought I was anti-social before--well, I'm reaching new heights of introversion now. It's impossible for me to talk on the phone, and socializing is pretty much out of the question. You'd think I'd be overjoyed, but really, solitary confinement has its downside. Thank the heavens above for Facebook and e-mail!

The kids are "ecstatic" that Mom can't talk. After all, they're not getting nagged and yelled at every ten minutes. However, it's amazing what can be accomplished with simply A LOOK. I am honing my non-verbal communication skills, FOR SURE. And we're all learning to walk up to one another when we need to "talk." Who knew we had it in us?!

My voice works, but barely. I have to speak very quietly, and about one minute of Real Speech earns me an hour of additional swelling and pain. So! Not talking. I have no doubt (and my ENT agrees) that I'll need to see a vocal coach to ease me back to normalcy. See what I get for trying to have fun?

I have no guess as to when I'll be back to normal, but as you can see from the title of this post, I have my hopes set on talking LIKE A NORMAL PERSON before August is done. So, there you have it. This is hereby been named, "The Summer I Couldn't Talk."

Snippets From The Week: The July 28, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 07:56:00 +0000

We have a bunch of Dum-Dum suckers lying around, and the Suz came up to me and asked, "Mom? Could I have some of those um... popsi... no, um... LOLLYSTICKS?

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The Suz put two sticks together in the shape of a "t" and said to me, "This is the cross that Jesus died on. He was put there by the Indians. You know, the BAD GUYS."

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Campers to his sister: "Have you ever seen a dinosaur?"

Suz: "Noooooooo, of course not! We've not even been to the zoo!!!"

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Suz: "Mom? Why are you making all this food?"

Me: "It's for a little Olympic party we're having tonight."

Suz: "Right! Well, the cat needs a birthday sometime."

Hot Pads For Sale, Hot Pads For Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:30:00 +0000

Recently I got to telling the boys how I used to make hot pads as a kid. You remember the ones--the loops and the weaving and the loops, loops, loops, loops. I used to make those by the hour, and my mom still has the (unused) hot pads to prove it. I realized that my kids were at the right age to enjoy the craft, so I've been keeping an eye out for a kit at the stores. Finally found one at Stuff Mart and all three kids have been making hot pads like they're going out of style. I'm keeping them all but not using them, because that's what a good mom apparently does.

Sure, You Can Each Have One

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 07:30:00 +0000

On the way out the door of buying our washer, the kids flew to the mowers and begged us to buy one. They said that their uncle owns one, so why shouldn't we? Well, maybe it's because we couldn't turn the machine around in our yard without doing a ten-point turn. But it would be mowed in two minutes or less, by golly!

Best Washing Gig In Town

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 07:30:00 +0000

On Memorial Day weekend, I stuck a load of laundry in my washer (that came with the house--no great deal there!) and it soon sounded like a 747 was landing at the door. Pa immediately said, "You will NOT use that washer. Ever. Again." The washer has squeaked and danced like a salsa girl since we first moved in, so we knew it was just a matter of time before the thing went kaput.

Fortunately, the stores were having great sales during the holiday weekend, so we flew out the door the next day and had a new washer picked out and bought within five minutes. Easy come, easy go.

I had to think for a minute or two if I wanted to spend the extra money to get the pedestal that sits under the machine. But when I went over to the salesman to see about the price, I couldn't think of the word "pedestal," so I simply said, "Hey, how much is the.... booster seat that sits under the washer?" Well, I wasn't really trying to be funny, but the guy got to laughing and said that was the first he's ever heard it called that. What can I say. I was channeling my mom.

Anyway. Because everyone and their mother had the same idea to shop the holiday sales--it took a few days for the washer to arrive. You should have seen our pile of laundry. Wow. Mt. Washmore, for sure. As soon as the helpful, handy men got the washer hooked up, I had that thing on super-test and got us all caught up. The kids were fascinated by the machine and watched it spin *the entire fifty-eight minutes* the first load ran. And at the end--the washer does not buzz--it jingles a little tune. I still catch them dancing to that music. Cute one, Samsung.

I'm very glad to have a front-loading machine now as our water bill is *insane.* Hundreds, people, hundreds. According to the internet, which is never wrong, my new washer will cut water usage by 63%. To which Pa replied, "Great! I can now take longer showers."

Even the cat loves the washer. He'll sit and watch the front-loader spin til he can't watch it spin any longer. You're welcome, cat. I bought it just for you.

Cello, Is That You?

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 07:30:00 +0000

The summer concert season has started in certain parks around town. I love to pack sandwiches and get out of the house in the middle of the day while the sun is actually shining. Recently, we went downtown to listen to a cello duet--two women who played Beethoven as well as the Beatles. The kids weren't embarrassed by my singing of "Michelle, My Bell," of course they weren't.

Since the concert was outdoors and the cellos weren't mic'd, the sound was a little on the quiet side. I mentioned to Campers that I was having trouble hearing the cellos and he said, "Probably cuz they're not blowing hard enough."

I love that kid.

We wrapped up the outing with a trip to a fro-yo place, because really, that's how I got the kids to the concert in the first place. Bribery. It works.

The Middle One Is Eight

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 06:25:00 +0000

Back in early spring, we all attended a silent auction where the Zig bid on a model airplane, and won. I'm not sure why he chose that particular thing to bid on, but he's always looking for things to love. Pets, bugs, stuffed animals, telephone poles, small planes. Soon after that, he read everything he could get his hands on concerning the P-51 Mustang used in WWII and quickly decided he wanted his birthday cake with that theme.

We joked for a while about Pa making a big ol' airplane out of cake, but when it was all said and done, the cake was decorated with fondant and frosting in the theme of the P-51 Mustang. Sounds simpler, but Pa and I likely put hours into that cake. Heh heh, our poor aching backs.

Regardless. My boy is eight, which is good, because I've been saying he is eight for a few months now. It's just easier. I like it when my kids' ages are all two years apart because my memory, MY POOR AGING MEMORY cannot handle so many numbers at one time!

We had a small party at home with the five of us. Pa had taken the day off of work and Zig got to spend the bulk of the day playing with his presents, which is his idea of perfection. Low stress, low on the human interaction. We did make a little outing to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, because no matter how introverted the majority of us might be, we still can't resist The Call Of The All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.

Ziggy's presents were Legos with a side of Legos, with some plane-themed gifts in there too. Each kid got a small non-tangling parachute man--great fun for all of us in the front yard. Took Pa about five minutes before he was rigging up a contraption to make the guys soar up even higher. And I'm not saying I nearly threw my arm out of joint trying to make mine fly highest--but I might have.

Happy eighth birthday, Zig!

Snippets From The Week: The June 9, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 07:30:00 +0000

We were working out in the garden one day, and I noticed that some dill had voluntarily come up all over the place. The kids wanted to know what dill was, so I explained it was the flavor they knew from dill pickles. A week or so later, the Suz was looking at the garden and asked, "Hey, Mom! Where'd you plant the pickles?"

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I keep a couple of drawing books around for the kids to use. Lately the Suz has been drawing animals, and today she brought me a picture of a "drwa tiger." I spent some time trying to figure out what a "drwa" tiger was and then it dawned on me--each page in the book is titled "draw a _____" with the animal listed after that. Ah. "Draw a tiger." The Suz had merely copied what she assumed was the animal's name.

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We're big fans of Subway around here, and recently the Zig asked if I'd buy some sub sandwich bread so we could replicate our favorites at home. I had the special sandwiches all made one day, and when the Suz saw them, she started jumping up and down and yelling "We're having BUNdles? BUNdles? Like when we have hot dogs?"

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No surprise, as we drive around town, I've got the Suz a babbling and singing, and Campers asking logical and tech questions galore. Zig sits in the back by himself (who can blame him?!) and I almost always have to double-check to make sure he's there because he's just. that. quiet.

I asked him the other night about his time in the van.

Me: "When you're sitting all quiet in the back of the van, what are you thinking?

Zig: (thoughtful pause)

Zig: "Happy thoughts."

Me: "Like what?"

Zig: (another pause)

Zig: "Like how I'll see the cat when we get home."

In all my days, I have never met anyone who lives life with such quiet content. Can I bottle that up and SELL IT?!?

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Our local grocery story is Fred Meyer, which everyone refers to as "Freddy's." I was headed there this past week, and here's my conversation with the Suz right before I walked out the door.

Suz: "Where you goin', Mom? Fred Meyer? Or Freddy's?"

Me: "Fred Meyer and Freddy's are the same thing."

Suz: "Which one?! JUST! TELL! ME! Freddy's or Fred Meyer?!?!"

Me: "Freddy's."

Suz: "Oh, okay!"

Me: "And then I'm going to Fred Meyer. And back to Freddy's. It'll be a long night."

[Neither one of us can stand to not have the last word.]

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Suz: "I saw the mainian debbil!"

Me: "The what?!"

Suz: "The MAINIAN DEBBIL!!"

After twenty questions, followed by a lesson on how to tell a story, I finally figured out she was talking about the Tasmanian devil, which she saw on TV. Of course.

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Suz: "I really liked San Francisco. When can we trabbel there again?"

Me: "It's travel."

Suz: "I know! TRABBEL TRABBEL TRABBEL!!! That's what I said!!!"

Blessings

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:12:00 +0000

My babies are now 10, 8, and 6--and each day I feel blessed, blessed, blessed. Occasionally we're stressed, and usually a mess, but when I see them all cleaned up and being BEST FRIENDS, well, there is nothing quite like it.

Snippets From The Week: The June 2, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 07:30:00 +0000

The kids and I were volunteering at our local food bank where we all had to wear hair nets. Suz took one look at them and said, "Oh, yeah! We had to wear these when we saw the DUMB SUCKER place!" [Dum Dum Suckers]

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The Suz is starting to read signs as we drive around town. Today she said with the joy of discovery, "Ooooooooh! It's Taco BELL, not Taco BILL!!! I didn't know that!"

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I pulled out the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" book and the Suz soon announced, "Oh. This is where the caterpillar turns into a RACCOON." [cocoon]

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Recently, we toured our local public TV station where the Suz got to hug an adult-sized Clifford. I asked her if that was the real Clifford. She stated, "No. That was just a person dressed up as Clifford. The real Clifford lives inside our TV!"

I then asked her if we cut open our TV if Clifford would be inside. She's still mulling that over.

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Since the girl is starting to spell / read, the rest of us in the family have to be smarter about how we talk to each other. For example, it's not uncommon for us to spell the word C-H-I-N-A because if the Suz hears that word, she goes off like a game show contestant who just won the jackpot. Well, now if we want to talk about China (or some other trigger word), we have to either spell it backwards or add some extra letters.

Campers (OF COURSE) loves this game, and he's been know to shout out, "Mom!?! Are we going to the P-Q-A-R-Z-K today?" Poor Suz. She's never going to forgive us for misspelling all these words.

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By some miracle, all three kids were quiet *at the same moment* in the van. Soon enough, though, I heard the Suz shout out, "WALL-uh!! wall-UH!" I had no idea what she was saying, but by about the fifteenth time, I figured out she was trying to say, "Voila!" We tried, in vain, to get her to say it correctly. She finally got exasperated and said, "Oooohhh. This SPANISH is SO HARD."

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Campers saw a picture of someone with a Guinness beer sign hanging behind him. He said, with much surprise, "Whoa! That guy set a Guinness World Record?!?!?"

Legos From My Boy

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Mon, 28 May 2012 16:38:00 +0000

Thanks to the brilliant marketing department at Lego (see: Lego Club), my boys are always the first to know about the brand new Lego sets hitting the stores. Once I saw the Lord of the Rings Legos, I mentioned to the kids that I'd love to have my own set that I could keep in my room and put together whenever I wanted to. I would also keep all the pieces together in the box that they came in because THAT'S THE RULE OF THE UNIVERSE, PEOPLE. None of this mixing of sets! It's insane! It's... so... boyish!

I was completely being serious about having one of the sets because, come on, Pa and I love the movies and the matching Legos are just too, too cute. However, I was completely surprised when my firstborn boy actually spent his own money on me and bought me a Lego set for Mother's Day. Such fun! The best part of being around kids is that I get to be a kid myself.

I insisted on being the first one to put the set together, and all three kids watched with rapt attention as their mom (THEIR MOM!?!?) sat on the floor and played with Legos. Unheard of! But then, because I am nice and my Mama taught me to share, I let each of the kids take a turn with the assembling. The Lego set now sits on my shelf and it makes me so happy that I got little Gandalf and Frodo as a gift.

The Girl Turned Six

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:28:00 +0000

So my youngest is now six. That is hard to believe, and everyone told me that It All Goes So Fast and I guess they were right. Okay, so the baby and preschool years didn't go so fast and That's My Story And I'm Sticking To It.

Back to the girl. We talked her into a ladybug-themed party even though she requested a princess-heart-flower-Dora-magical-rainbow party. Each time we'd pass the decoration aisle in the store, she'd ask for more things to have at her party. More characters! More sprinkles! More flavors! More! More! More! It's how she rolls.

This year was the first time she got to have a "friend" party. She colored her own invitations and walked them to the mailbox which in itself was a party. "I'm sending mail? I'm sending mail!!! In the mailbox! Will my friends get them today? Can I go to their houses to see?!"

On the day of her birthday, we had a field trip with our homeschool friends to the local Krispy Kreme. Hooray for free donuts! A friend of mine knew it was the girl's birthday, and she was thoughtful enough to bring a candle and lit it up for the Suz to blow out. It was like CHRISTMAS DAY for my girl when all her friends were singing "Happy Birthday" to her, because she loves the attention and the party and the whole store looking at her and the WHEE!!! ISN'T THIS THE BEST THING EVER?!?!?!? We left Krispy Kreme with her love tank full and our bloodstreams shocked with sugar. OH THE RUSH.

We held her party later that same day, which meant for seven straight hours I was asked, "Is it time? Is it time for my party? Time for my friends? When is my party? What will we do again? When will we eat cake? When do I turn six?"

It took some convincing on my part to explain to the girl that she was now age six. I mean, for so long she woke up every day as a five-year-old and then sha-zow! The next day she was six. And because I like to mess with her mind, I told her that since she was born in China, she had actually turned six the day before. Ha! That kept her quiet for at least three seconds.

Back to the party. The girls (three of them plus the birthday queen) sat at the table and painted for a bit, and then colored for a bit. That in itself showed me the difference between a "girl party" and a "boy party." Huh. Who knew that paint could stay on the paper it was meant for?! We then played "stick the ladybug on the tree" which was just your standard variation of "pin the tail on the donkey." The girls then got to guess how many "ladybugs" (red and black candies) were stuffed in a jar, and they guessed hugely big numbers like "nine" and "sixteen." The answer was 35, which was INCONCEIVABLE.

Once outside, the girls searched for little paper ladybugs that the boys had hid quite expertly around the backyard. Next, the girls ran to keep the "ladybugs" (big red balloons) from landing on the ground. Then they moved to the front lawn to play "ladybug hullabaloo," which was a lot like musical chairs, minus all the losing and crying and pushing each other around.

The last outdoor game involved carrying the ladybugs (spotted water balloons) on a spoon to their "homes" (a bin). During that relay game, the rather busy birthday girl accidentally tripped on the bin of water balloons, thus flipping it over and popping every last one of her team's "bugs." She went from zero to ballistic in about two nanoseconds, which makes for great party entertainment any day. After that, I decided to change the game and have the kids "fly" the ladybugs home, which involved flinging those water balloons at the bin. MUCH BETTER.

Once inside, the kids each got their own little pizza that they got to decorate like a ladybug. Black olives for eyes, green peppers for antenna, and pepperoni for the spots. While the pizzas were baking, I read the kids a couple of ladybug stories. Then there was dinner, and presents, and finally: the ladybug cupcakes. Kudos to the Pa for making The Cutest Ladybugs Ever, I mean seriously, GO CUTE OR GO HOME, WIN WIN WIN. Almost too cute to eat, ha ha, just kidding. The girls coated themselves in cake and frosting. For friend parties, I always plan the cake and ice cream for the last ten minutes. Here's your sugar, there's the buzz, and GOODBYE! THANKS FOR COMING!!!

Happy sixth birthday, my funny China girl!

Snippets From The Week: The May 19, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 19 May 2012 07:27:00 +0000

Suz, while sitting on the tire swing at the park: "Mom? Would you spin me like a TOMATO?!" [tornado]

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Pa, on Mother's Day, to the kids: "Why don't you go give your mama a hug?"

Zig: "Sure. But first I have to fart."

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The Suz had a temporary tattoo that she wanted put on her arm. She asked, "Mom, would you put my tic-tac-toe on today?"

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I was reading aloud a Shel Silverstein poem about "catching the moon in a net," and just for kicks, I decided to ask the Suz if it was possible to catch the moon in a net. In a very exasperated tone she answered, "Nooooo! Don't be ridiculous!" And just when I thought we might be getting somewhere in her growth, she went on excitedly, "We'd need a plane! And then we could catch the moon in a net."

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Wahclella Falls

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:55:00 +0000

Within a 30-60 minute drive from our house are all these waterfalls, just waiting to be walked to and gawked at and photographed and such. My Mother's Day gift to myself was to take a hike with the fam to my favorite falls in the area: Wahclella Falls. These falls are perfect to walk to on a hot, sunny day. The walk leading up to the falls is mostly in the sun, and just when you think one mile uphill is just--too--much, SHAZAM!!! The temperature drops 20 degrees and WOWZERS, there in front of you appears, like magic, one of the most massive falls in the region. It's loud, it's breezy, and it's one of the most incredible things to see.

As the trail loops back from the falls, there is also a rocky shallow area where the kids love to play. We had packed spare shoes and a towel so that they could play in the cold, super-cold water. Seeing them frolic in the stream reminds me of my very own trip through the Smoky Mountains many moons ago.

Festival Of Birds

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:58:00 +0000

I told the fam that for Mother's Day, I wanted to do a bunch of fun stuff together with nobody complaining and everyone at least pretending to have fun. I don't get a whole lot of love from sitting around and being pampered, so off we went. Oh, and I made Mother's Day last two full days because why not? I AM THE MOM AND I SAID SO SO GET IN THE VAN.

On Saturday, we started off with a bird festival, otherwise known as a "bood" festival, thanks to the Suz and her inability to say "R."

The bird festival was a whole park loaded with activities and such all having to do with the theme, BIRDS. The kids made a bird feeder by lathering a toilet paper tube with crisco and then rolling the greasy mess in seed:

They also decorated binoculars, which happened to be two toilet paper tubes stuck together:

Pa saw the amount of empty toilet paper tubes used at the event and figures someone has some potty issues they might need to attend to. Seriously. BAGS and BAGS of empty tubes. Huh.

We also learned some things about the different owls that can be found in our region. At this particular stop, there were several owls on display. Stuffed ones, that is. I spent the whole time wondering whether or not the owls' eyes were real or not. I didn't ask, because really, there's only so much embarrassment the Pa and the kids can handle in one day.

Each kid also stamped a wooden necklace--just one more thing to add to their ever-increasing box of "treasures:"

We saw some real birds too, this one being a peregrine falcon (bird on the right):

Of course, Pa had to make a joke about not seeing a pair of green falcons, and I laughed too loud, and what's new, and moving right along.

The last craft of the day involved decorating a mesh 'sock' to hold finch food:

The boys and I took a close look at sample bird eggs, trying to determine if the hummingbird's egg looked more like Tylenol or a tic-tac. We made no solid conclusions, but we did decide that it would take a lot of hummingbird eggs to make a decent breakfast:

We finished our day by having a picnic at the park with our friends, and soon thereafter watching some sort of dance that Pa assumed involved the calling of birds and mashed potatoes to the party. We never did figure out what the chanting was all about.

From the festival, we headed straight to an open house at our local public broadcasting station (OPB), where we got a tour of the station as well as free junk galore. FROM THERE, we headed to my favorite fro-yo place, and then we finished off the day with some take out from KFC. How fitting that we book-ended the day with a bird and some mashed potatoes.

Snippets From The Week: The May 12, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 12 May 2012 07:22:00 +0000

We just finished reading a story about a man who was (and still is) a missionary in South America. My boys now assume every missionary encounters naked cannibals while eating grubs and fending off tapeworms. Well, we had moved on from the book but recently the kids were playing a version of Twenty Questions and one round went something like this:

Campers: I'm thinking of an article of clothing.

Ziggy: Shirt? Socks? Pants?

Campers: It's worn somewhere from the waist and down.

Ziggy: Loincloth?

(The answer was sandals, but we had a great laugh at the word "loincloth." Oh, native people in South America, how we love what you're wearing this year.)

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We recently zipped off to OMSI (science museum) one afternoon with some of our friends. Here's my conversation with the Suz when we were getting ready for the trip:

Me: "We're going to OMSI this afternoon."

Suz: "We are? Really?! Wow! Boys! We're going to OMSI! WOO-HOOOOO!! I can't wait to go to OMSI!!!"

Me: "Do you know what OMSI is?"

Suz, very matter-of-factly: "No."

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I dropped a bar of soap on my big toe the other day and hollered "OUCH!" so the whole house could hear me. And then right after that, I hollered, "DANG-IT!" Campers was quick to point out that every time I hurt myself (which is common, too common) I holler the same thing with the very same pacing:

"OUCH!" (two) (three) (four) "DANG-IT!"

What's that phrase about how things are caught and not taught?!

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It's not unusual for the Suz to sing her heart out while she's taking a bath. Doesn't matter if she doesn't know the words to a song--she just makes them up with whatever is in her mind at the time. You can tell she's the lone extrovert in a family of introverts when this is what she sings:

"If you're happy and you know it, GO AWAY!!! If you're happy and you know it, GO AWAY!!!"

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Suz: "I can't wait til I'm grown up and people call me 'Lisa'!"

Me: "Say what?"

Suz: "Cuz then I'll be a mom!"

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I was reading yet another missionary story to the boys, and said the line, "Jesus' life, his miracles, his acts..." and Campers yelled from across the room, "Jesus had an AXE?!"

Yes. Just like Paul Bunyan. Class dismissed.

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Suz, randomly at lunch one day: "You can't see God, you know. Like, if you went to the woods you wouldn't see God. But I've seen God's picture in a book!"

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At dinner one night, the Suz started singing the ABC song, nice and loud, on and on. She got to the end and sang, "Q-R-S, T-U-V, W-X, Y-N-Z" and Pa said, "Uh, you do realize it's Y *AND* Z, right?" And she replied, "Nooooo! It's N! Like the letter! N! N! N! N!" And there was no telling her any different.

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I've been teaching the Suz to read for months, months, and...months. She's making progress, but even when she can pronounce a word, she often gets the definition wrong. Example... the word "into."

"In...to, oh! into! Like "N Tube," like if I had a tube and I put an N in it!"

See? Good times.

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I said the word "diversion" one day at lunch, as part of our read-aloud work, and the Suz stopped me to say, "What's 'diversion'?" And before I could say anything worth anything, she said, "Oh! It's like when you read about the "di-verzhe in a yellow wood!"

Never dull. Never dull. She goes from talking about N Tubes to quoting Robert Frost.

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Snippets From The Week: The May 5, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:13:00 +0000

I was looking at a book about planes and the Suz came up and said, "What's that, Mom?" And I said, "It's a Concorde." She replied, "Oh! Concord! Like the church song, 'Concord the grapes!'" And then she went on to sing, "He concord the grapes, Jesus concord the grapes!"

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"Ravioli" has long been a favorite word at our house. With the boys it was "rall-ee-OH-vee" or some variation thereof. Not for the Suz. If she can't think of or pronounce a word, she just replaces it with another.

One night we were having ravioli and corn for dinner and Campers shouted out, "Hey, can I have some corn?!" And the Suz quickly added to that, "And some PILLOWS too!"

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While we were in San Francisco, we'd be out and about and the Suz would ask over and over again, "When are we going to San Francisco?" or "Can we go to San Francisco?" It took me a day or so, but I finally realized she thought "San Francisco" was our hotel. All week long she kept asking the same inane question, thus driving me nuts *and yet* delighting the strangers all around us. Finally, by the last day, when I said for the eighteenth gazillion time, "SAN FRANCISCO IS A CITY," she said, "Oh! Yeah! A city!" And then I finally had the satisfaction that the concept had sunk in.

Fast-forward a few weeks. I must have been talking to the boys about this-and-such which we saw in San Francisco, and the Suz flew out of her room and hollered, "MOOOOOOOOMMM!! SAN FRANCISCO IS A HOTEL!!" And then she huffed a bit and went back to her room.

And now you see that there's indeed an alternate universe and she's living smack dab in the middle of it.

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Recently we had a homeschool event where the five-and-under crowd stayed back to play while the older kids went off and had an art class. Part of the play time included stories, show-n-tell, and crafts about hats. When one of the hats was displayed for the kids to guess what it was, Suz buzzed up her hand and answered, "It's a PARLOR hat!" To which I muttered to the gal sitting next to me, "Sure. For when we sit in our parlor." I had no idea what she meant by "parlor hat," but that's nothing unusual. [See: alternate universe.]

A few days later, we got to talking about the Suz's upcoming birthday, and she asked, "Will I get to wear a parlor hat?!" And then we realized, AH YES, a "parlor hat" was really a "party hat" that you wear when it's someone's birthday. CASE CLOSED.

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I caught a conversation between the boys when they clearly didn't know I was listening in.

Zig: "I finally figured out what Mom and Dad do after we go to bed."

Campers, with great interest: "What?!"

Zig: "Eat cereal."

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Susie is still working through the story of how she and other babies have come into the world. Tonight she gave me the latest life plan.

"First I'll get married. Then I'll find a baby and take it to China. Next the baby'll get needles in its head* and then I'll bring it back!"

And just when I was taking a breath to explain that the little trip to China wasn't all that necessary, the girl went on with her plan.

"I wonder how many kids I will have?! Oh! Millions! Millions of kids!"

[*Suz has pictures of us with her at the orphanage with IV antibiotics going in through her scalp.]

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Snippets From The Week: The April 28, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 07:30:00 +0000

It's a well-known fact around here that the Suz talks in order to think. I frequently have to sequester her away in her room so the introverts can do their long division in peace. One day the Suz was doing a workbook page of her own, talking and talking and talking her way through each step. She kept moving to different parts of the house, trying to find a place "quiet" enough to get her work done. She finally hollered out to the rest of us, "WILL ALL OF YOU BE QUIET?! I'M TRYING TO FOCUS-TRATE!!!"

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Back when the Zig was just a squishy-squashy toddler, he called the "conveyor belt" at the grocery store a "conveyder belt." I corrected him several times back then, but for whatever reason the word stuck. Now it's too cute and I refuse to correct it because if I don't correct it I'll still have my witty-bitty toddler boy, right?! RIGHT?!

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One game the Suz and I like to play is "Memory." I usually pick about 16-20 cards from the pile to make the game more manageable for both of us. We've played it enough times that she knows the routine of picking out a pile of sets, and then setting them out in a grid. Recently she set the game up herself, all while I gave her instructions from the next room. I sat down to play and after a few minutes thought, "Wow. This game is more challenging than usual." Campers and I soon realized that we were playing Memory with a whole pile of cards missing their match. Good times.

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I've been teaching the Suz to read for several months now. Each time she sounds out a word, she feels the need to tell me a story about that word. Now, had I asked the boys to do the same, they would have protested with placards and pouts. But the Suz, you know, always relates everything back to her world and the people therein. Examples.

"N--e--c--k. Neck! Like Neck who lives next door to us!" [Nick]

"A--r--e. Are! Are friends came today! Oh! That's not right?! Okay! Oh! It's are! In one are we'll go to the park!" [Our, hour]

Before I get a chance to correct her, she's off on a tangent about the neighbor boy and his dog and I'll bet we're going to the park today because it's so sunny, yeeessssss!!!

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Campers: "I love candy, aaaall kinds of candy. Even candy that has gone past its exclamation point, like..."

*he explodes into a fit of giggles*

"Oops, I mean, expiration date..."

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Suz, running out of the bathroom: "Mooommmm! Is comp'ny comin'? Cuz I see you cleaned the toilets!"

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I had a Scott Joplin song playing and the Suz was happily dancing around to the ragtime tune. She came up to me and asked what the name of the song was, and I said, "Maple Leaf Rag." She replied, "Oh! Make Believe! Like the people in my radio!!!"

Yes. Just like that.

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Snippets From The Week: The April 14, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 07:29:00 +0000

A regular theme of the Suz's life is "practicing self-control." Bless her heart, she's quick to move now and ~~not~~ think later. Same goes for her speech, no surprise. I never knew that parenting my complete and total opposite was going to take me to my wit's end and back, and this is where my mother laughs loudest, as she is laughing last.

I digress.

We were walking up and down hills and up and down hills all around San Francisco, which required a firm grip on the Suz's hand--especially when going downhill. She has but two speeds: fast, and asleep. I had to give her speech after speech about what would happen if I let her walk downhill by herself, and let me assure you, the speech included such theatrical phrases as "slamming into a car" and "bloody mess."

This past week, when we were walking in downtown Portland, Suz took on a mild hill of her own, walking all deliberately and exaggerating how careful she could be. She eventually shouted back at me, "Look, Mom! I'm self-controlling!"

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Our cat is one of the most long-suffering felines I've yet to know. Bless his heart. It's a household rule that we don't trap the poor thing in the kitchen cupboards, and you guessed it, we had to make that guideline after the cat had been put in a cabinet that was then shut tight.

I caught the Suz sticking the cat in one of the kitchen cupboards and trapping him there, so I said, "Hey! No putting the cat in the cabinets!" To which she replied very matter-of-factly, "But I've got to cook him in my oven!"

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I had each of the kids dictate to me their memories of San Francisco so I could print them out and keep them as memorabilia. Well, it was also a school writing assignment, but I didn't tell the boys that. Ha! I win again.

Anyway, I let the Suz loose to talk her fool head off about whatever she wanted to talk about. She finally got tired after I'd typed two full pages. (Two full pages!) This was her take on Alcatraz, and I quote her, word for word:

"One time all five of us had headphones and we were in the room where the guys were in their cages. That's where they were sleeping, eating, going potty, washing their hands, and sitting down. Those were the bad guys that were there a long time ago. Now they are out of their cages. Plus, I don't like bad guys cuz they'll shoot us and kill us and I'll be sad the rest of my life cuz I'll never see my mom again. But the good part of the story is I'm still with you and the bad guys are gone cuz they took them away in the 1940s." [1963 is the actual date the prison closed down. She was no doubt pulling a date out at random.]

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And from Ziggy's report on San Francisco:

"We got to go to the Transamerica Pyramid, but not in it because it's an office. We were like 50 steps away from it and Mom couldn't find it, so I said, 'Mom. It's right there.'"

[It's true. I couldn't find the building and it was just around the corner from where we were. Then once we were standing right next to the this very tall and highly-recognizable skyscraper, we started asking for directions to the Transamerica Pyramid, thinking we were SO FUNNY. Giddy was more like it.]

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Campers latest game he likes to play is "the anagram game." For example, he walks around the house mumbling, "steak is an anagram of stake." [short pause] "Ropes. Hmm, ropes. Prose is an anagram of ropes." He alternates this verbal whatnot with the old standby, "Look at the time what does it say, 2:48, 8 divided by 4 is 2." And on and on, and on and on, all day and I'm guessing, all night. What a goof. What is he ever going to turn out to be?!

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We took the subway from downtown San Francisco when heading back to the airport. It's a 30-minute ride, and while I was attempting to find my Quiet Happy Place, the Suz was chatting up the lady beside her. Suz went on and on about how she had to get shots, "here! and here! and here! and here!" Bless the lady's heart, she was giving Suz every non-verbal clue to say, "SHUTSKY UPSKY, I AM DONE WITH THE TALKING." But, like her true extroverted self, Suz just read that as a challenge and chose to fill the silence with even more details about her thrilling five-year-old life, and when that got old she did what all talkative people do best: she over-shared. Next thing I heard out of her mouth was, "When my mom was little she got shots IN HER BUTT!"

That got the lady's attention. Chalk one point up for the Suz; minus fifty points for the Ma who apparently hasn't told her girl enough not to share that story with the public.

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Re-Entry From Our Travels

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 03:54:00 +0000

I told the kids we'd take it easy with school the week we got back from San Francisco. I mean, for all intents and purposes, our week in San Francisco was far more educational than some of our days at home. But I digress. We needed time to decompress and make sense of all that we did on our trip.

While making plans to check out the Wells Fargo museum in San Fran, I discovered that there was a Wells Fargo museum in my very own city that somehow, somehow I'd never even heard of. I informed the kids that we'd have to check the place out to see how it compared to the one in San Francisco.

So on our first day "back to school," I told the kids we'd visit the local museum the next time the frozen yogurt place nearby had their double-punch day. I mean, doesn't everybody plan their outings around food?! Of course! Ten minutes later, I saw on Facebook that double-punch day was that very day, and that's all the motivation we needed to get our work done in the morning.

The Wells Fargo museums are well done, and require about an hour to take in the exhibits. I love that these places are generally staffed by people who love their jobs and love to answer questions. We had the place to ourselves and learned all sorts of things that tie in with our current studies in history.

Oh, and for those who are wondering--the museums are similar, but by no means identical. Each has local history incorporated with the main theme of Wells Fargo and their stagecoach experience.

We did end our afternoon out with a stop by our favorite fro-yo place in town, which definitely helped with our re-entry into Normal Life. Yay, museums and treats!

I Left My Heart In San Francisco

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 03:47:00 +0000

Since moving to the Pacific Northwest, it's been on My Bucket List to go to San Francisco. Much to our delight, Pa was approved to attend a conference there just last week, and we got to tag along for the ride. I already had a file several papers thick on things to do in San Francisco, so I was well on my way to creating an itinerary for our week-long stay. There are a few things in the city we missed, but we covered as many bases as we could while we were there.

San Francisco is indeed a very charming city. It has a similar feel to the Pacific Northwest, but it also has these fun add-ons like the Golden Gate Bridge (HELLO, THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE), cable cars, the crookedest street, Alcatraz, and the list goes on and on. Add to that a whole bucket full of interesting history, and the city is a TREAT to visit. No surprise, then, that everywhere we went, we bumped into people from all over the world.

I uploaded 118 pictures to my Facebook account, complete with captions and such, so I'll just refer you to there if you haven't seen the album already.

Needless to say, we all loved San Francisco and feel so fortunate that we got to spend so much time there. Yay for marking an item off the bucket list!

Snippets From The Week: The March 17, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 07:34:00 +0000

Pa and I have a few favorite cereals that we eat after the kids go to bed. I know. Livin' it up. We happen to keep these boxes on the top shelf of the top cupboard in the kitchen. Out of the kids' reach, if you will.

Couple of days ago, I saw the Zig climbing all over the kitchen cabinets like a monkey, hanging on an open cupboard door and desperately trying to reach the peanut butter cheerios. All the while he was muttering to me, "Why do you put the cereal waaaay up here? I can't reach it! This is not a very safe place to keep the cheerios."

Dang it. Now I gotta find a different hiding spot.

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The Suz came running up to me (as she has just two speeds: running, and asleep) and started telling me a story, which was the standard shouting-slash-doesn't-know-when-to-stop story: "Mom! I went up to your room! And I knocked! And there was my bruther! And he was playing Legos! And I walked in and he said 'get out'! And then I came down the stairs and saw you!"

To which Cam replied by shouting through the heat vent in the floor, "TMD! TMD! TOO! MANY! DETAILS!!!"

Like mother, like son -- I finally asked the Suz, "Was there a point to this story?" And she, of course, said quite happily, "No!"

[I am totally gonna start a group called Introverts Anonymous. And I'll have meetings by myself and invite no one besides myself. NO ONE!!!]

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Suz, looking at a picture of Zig with a dum-dum sucker in his mouth: "Mom! He has a CIRCLE in his mouth!"

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Snippets From The Week: The March 10, 2012 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Ma) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:52:00 +0000

The girl and I were self-checking our books out at the library, all the while she was chatting to herself. "I have eight books. I am checking them out myself! Wait! I will count them! 1-2-3-4-5, oh wait, gotta start again, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8! Now I will put them in my bag! Hey where's my bag? Oh there it is! I'll put my books in my bag!" The whole time this stream of consciousness was going on, an Asian lady was beside us, watching the show. She finally asked, "Is she your daughter?" And I said, "Yes, she's adopted from China." And before I could get another word in edgewise, the Suz shouted out for all to hear, "MY MOM'S TEACHING ME TO SPEAK ENGLISH!!!!!"

And aren't I doing a great job.

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I got after the Suz for playing with her glasses. Her reply? "Oh, that's right! They're so expensible!"

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The boys spent part of one afternoon seeing how many times and how fast they could say "Uncle Andy's Undies." And giggling like a couple of goofballs at their attempts.

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Back when the Suz was having such a hard time learning her colors, I started her on the Signing Time videos. She loved them, of course, because they mix learning with movement and songs. So when it came time for her to learn her letters and her numbers, I was sure to put the ABC / 123 DVD on repeat and voila, she was signing and singing her facts with ease.

Fast-forward a year or two, when the Suz is learning to add. She worked very hard one day to come up with 6 + 1, with her answer being "4." Took me a long time to figure out how she could be so far off on what (to me) seemed like a pretty simple problem. And then I realized she was using her "sign language fingers" to add--in sign language, the number "6" is the middle three fingers raised on one hand. So, three fingers ("six") plus one finger equals, YOU GUESSED IT, "FOUR."

Huh. Who else but the Suz would take me down such an interesting path with math?

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I was doing a little tracking of our field trip group's outings over the past four years, and as part of that, this random conversation came up:

Me: Do you guys remember the trip to the art place where you made crafts out of scrap materials?

Boys: No.

Me: Oh, you know, you made magnets and name badges and stuff like that.

Boys: No.

Me: I stayed home with the group of little kids and you rode with your friends so-and-so, remember?

Boys: Nope.

Me: That's when your friend so-and-so got carsick and puked out the window.

Boys: OH!!! WE REMEMBER THAT TRIP!!!

Yep. Makin' memories.

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We were talking one lunchtime about the ladies we know who are pregnant. From the Suz, "When someone's fat, that means there's a baby inside!"

To which I replied, "Do NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT say that the next time we're out and about."

Which means she absolutely will.

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During piano lesson:

Me: Well, you got the notes right on that song but why'd you skip all the rests?

Campers: It saves time.

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