The Helper is in:

Help Desk $1.  No checks or change
The Helper is:
IN

I don't know what goes on around your house in the evenings.  But, around here you just never know what might happen.  There are evenings when Ms L can be found creating snowflakes or writing letters to her pen pals.  N can be found reading (Quelle Surprise!) or perhaps hunched over a Lego creature of some kinds.

And there there are evenings like tonight.   N set up a Help booth in the living room ala Lucy Van Pelt.    Not to be outdone Ms L sets up a help desk in her room.  N's is bar bones and overpriced  at one dollar a session.  Ms L's is lovely with mood lighting and bargain at 1 penny (fake only please).  
They are each other's best customers.  N's actually gotten L to pay two dollars for questions she needs no answers for,:

"Where's Feather (her invisible cat ) hiding, I can't find her anywhere?!!  "
"She's on top of my head!  One dollar please, " he replies.

"I forgot , Where did Daddy go again"
"He went to work"
"Oh, yeah.." she says, palm to forehead "Now I remember"
"One dollar, please," he says a little too gleefully.

Taking cash only

 Visiting Ms L's room is a different experience.  First she offers you a free pass for your first visit, after that you must pay in fake paper pennies, any size will do.  And when you ask your question she answers in the form of a riddle ala the Sphinx.

Me: "How am I going to pack for my kids super secret adventure, " I ask "when they are home and there's a light bulb out in my daughter's room?  Can I pack in the dark, when they are sleeping"

"Umm...you realize I am one of the kids, right?  Your daughter."  She replies with a slight eye roll (I swear it was there)

I assured her, yes, I was aware she was my daughter.

"Okay, then here's your help  When you are in the dark and all alone you should use 'blank' to help you pack"

"A lantern?"

"Yes!  Please hand over your free pass and have a great day."

Special mood lighting in Ms L's office

Help 1c
for fake pennys only
1c  IN

As I sit here now the help desks are closed.  (N closed for business when he realized he wasn't getting any $$ from me and Ms L said there were no more free passes for the day)  

Currently the kids are giving each other noogies.... I have a feeling I will be dispensing my own "help" in a few minutes.  

Never a dull moment. 

Pumpkins 2013

It was a rough year for pumpkins at our home this year.  We picked some out at a farm a couple of weeks ago, figured we'd keep them safe and cool on our front porch until Halloween week.  Well, out of the four we picked out one was smashed by vandals, and two went bad.  Luckily,  Ms. L got a "bonus" pumpkin went her class went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch.  Whew...we still had two viable pumpkins.
Naturally the vandals smashed the largest pumpkin and the two that rotted were the smallest of the lot. So this left a couple of medium sized pumpkins to carve.  Oh, and there was one of those teeny tiny pumpkin/decorated gourds, too.  I decided to carve the teeny tiny pumpkin, much to Patrick's chagrin.

It's always a gamble on who's going to do what when it comes to pumpkins.  In past years neither kid has had any interest in the gutting process and much interest in the carving, but very little patience or skill in that arena.  So... I was curious to see who would do what this year.

Ms. L was totally into the gutting:

N, not so much:

However, when it came to the stencil and the actual carving, that was a different story:

There are no photos of Ms. L carving, because she didn't do any carving.  Now, in her defense the stencil was being stubborn and her pumpkin was very thick and hard to carve.  But, still I don't think it was really her thing this year.   So, I did the stencil and Patrick did the carving of her pumpkin:

You'll note that it originally said L and then it said Daddy.  When Patrick's pumpkin got smashed by vandals, L wanted Daddy to have her "bonus" pumpkin.

The pumpkins turned out great and both carvers were proud of the results:

What's that?  You're wondering how the teeny tiny jack-o-lantern turned out?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  Despite the doubters in the room, I did indeed manage it:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Writing

I took a break from my normal day to day activites today and I took a writing workshop.  It wasn't quite as dynamic as I hoped it would be.  It was me and a bunch of 70+ year old women.  Now, let me tell you these women were great and they all had their own stories to tell.  And I enjoyed my time with them.  But, most of them will be back at the community center tomorrow taking another workshop on batiking (is this 1978??)   They were there for the fellowship and the chance to do something different.  I was there to get a good kick in the motivation department and maybe pick up a new writing buddy.

Good news is I got a good kick in the motiviation department and I cranked out about 9 pages of writing today.  Most of it will end up in the recylcing can one day.  But, if one paragraph or even one gem of a sentence is a keeper then it was a day well spent.

She held me in her arms and helped me off the ledge by singing songs of long ago chuch campfires.  She sang to me of bullfrogs on the banks of the Hanky Panky and of Fire and Rain.

A Few of my favorite (Autumnal) things

Canning.  Look at all that Apple Butter and Apple Pie filling.  It's gonna be a good winter.  Who knew all those years of canning tomatoes in 100 degree Iowa summers would yield the know how to do this?

Someday I'm going to go on a trip and all I'm going to do is take photos of trees.  Live trees, dead trees, tall trees, short trees...but for now I'll settle for a random tri-color tree.

Pumkins.  Let's be clear about this, I don't like  pumpkin pie or pumpkin bars.  Don't give me pumpkin scented candles or pumpkin flavored ANYTHING.  But, if you wanna see me smile, give me a pile of pumpkins for carving.  

Corn maizes.  They remind me of Iowa.  It's that simple.  

Hairy Eyeball

I'm not sure you've really lived until you spend an evening practicing your hairy eyeball  looks:

This is his Fierce Hairy Eyeball

Her Tough Girl Hairy Eyeball

The Classic, "hmmm"

The ever popular Squint!

Summer 2013

It's Summertime and the livin' is easy.   Why, you might ask, is the livin' so easy?  Because it's just a  NORMAL summer.  I mean, okay sure, we did buy our first house at the beginning of the summer and I started a new job, but other than that it's been pretty normal.  And it's been lovely.

We could be stressing out about the new house and the fact that we have basically only unpacked the essentials.  There are still piles of boxes in the garage awaiting our attention.  We could be stressing about the fact that with my new job came a few less hours and the college libraries (yes, there are two) that Patrick works for are on summer hiatus at the same time.  We could be stressing about those things.  But, for the most part we are not. (I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind, from time to time...but generally we are just living)

It's been a refreshing change from the past several summers, no one is in grad school, no one is in the hospital or cleaning out a hoarder's house.  We are all here, under one roof, laughing, loving, teasing, tickling, bickering and bemoaning like normal families.  

When asked N will say his favorite part of summer break has been the chance to stay up past dark most nights (and later than that if the pile of books and stashed book lights I find in his bed are any indication).  L will simply say, 'Everything!"

I'm telling you, it's been a good summer so far.

What have we been doing you ask?  Well there have been:

 swimming lessons

And hikes

Face Painting

Game Nights

Reading

boating

Reading

Dressing Up

S'mores!

 And more S'mores

Popsicles

reading

Time at the beach

We have had so much fun and it's only the end of July.  We have had friends and family come and help us "Break in" our new home.  Bar-b-q's and wine on the new back patio.  (Haven't been invited yet, you should just come over, we'd love to see you!)

As I look forward to the long dog days of August I wonder what's ahead?  I know what's on the calender, camping trips, and play dates.  N has a week of "Zombie Survival Camp" to look forward to and L will be attending her first sleep over.  We've got staff parties and birthday parties to attend.  It's going to be a good month.

In the back of my head I hear a tiny voice reminding me that the end of the summer gets tough ,"I'm bored" comes out of every one's mouth a bit quicker, tempers flare a little faster and tears flow more often.  I know that rehearsals and back to school meetings are just around the corner.  I know that the pile of boxes will no longer be easy to ignore and I know that rainy season will come roaring back.

But for tonight I am content to ignore all that and just enjoy the cool breeze wafting in the bedroom window, enjoy the sounds of Patrick baking a pie in the kitchen and the kids chattering back and forth (tapping out code on their common bedroom wall) despite the fact that lights out was awhile ago.

Tonight I remember it is summer, and the livin' is easy.

See you soon?

Heartbeats

Six years ago, Patrick Ms. L, and I waited a long 8 hours for  Ms  L to go into surgery.  We waited patiently at first, knowing someone, a young boy, needed to be seen right away.  But, as the day went on it got harder and harder. There is no way to explain to an almost 6 month old baby why she cannot nurse or even have a sip of water.  So, we paced and waited.  Finally we were told I could feed her, which meant surgery was postponed for a day.

And so we returned.  And the day of the surgery was long, and I had a migraine.  I refused medication, somehow I was sure that if I took the meds I would miss something important, something would happen and I would sleep through it. So, instead I curled up in the waiting room, trying to keep the nausea at bay, and we waited.

The surgery went well.  Textbook perfect, if you want more details you'll have to ask Patrick.  Because,   I don't remember much more about the surgery.  And I've written before about the hospital stay afterwards.  Reading to Ms L in silly voices articles from Rolling Stone Magazine and being chastised by an aid for not reading her children's books.  Whatever...

I am still in awe of how healthy she is today.  How full of life and joy.... just look at that face!

It used to be that I thought about Ms L's heart every day and I worried about it.  But, not any more in addition to being a healthy physical heart, that girl has a heart that is full of so much joy, love, and laughter that I know she's going to conquer the world.

Happy Anniversary Ms. L.. xxo 

Check list

We are preparing to move into a new home.  Our first house!   While were having the inspection the kids were with us, and to keep Ms L occupied I had her go around and do an inspection of what she saw and to take note of what the house needed. here is her list:

Carpet
Beds
6 Closets
door
Couch
table
Outside wood (I don't know what that is...)
Roof
Overhead light
and  the most important
FAMILY!

Romeo and Juliet 2

Ms L wrote a play today.  Or rather a treatment for a play, as we really don't have much dialogue yet.  Either way, it's delightful.  The entire cast is made up of Barbie dolls.  (full cast and crew list follows)

ROMEO and JULIET 2

Act I

Scene 1: Romeo and Juliet meet and kiss in a garden.

Scene 2:  R & J play with Fishy and Froggie at a park.  While the poisoneous dart frog spies on them.  But, they escape.

Scene 3:  After they escape they go home and they see their housekeeper.

INTERMISSION

Act II

Scene 1: They go outside and play.  The Mummy comes outside.  Instead of running away, they make friends with her.

Scene 2:  Juliet is gardening and the Vampire leaps out, but it's a sunny day so she melts.

INTERMISSION

Act II

Scene 1:  The director, (breaking the fourth wall) comes out and says, "Poisonous  Dart Frog, you need to act more better"

Scene 2:  Poisonous Dart Frog accidently gets his tongue on R & J and they die.

THE END

INTERMISSION/STAND UP and PARTY!

Cast/Crew;

Director/Costumer:  Ms L

Froggie -  Pinkalicious

Romeo - Rapunzel

Housekeeper - Explorer Barbie

Juliet - Barbie

Mummy - Blue Lagoona

Vampira - Draculaura

Fishy- Ariel

Poisonous Dart Frog - Coo-ka-ka-Choo

Partial Cast photo - Coo-ka-ka-choo, Ariel, Pinkalicious,Draculaura and Blue Lagoona 

The director and some of her cast

Romeo and Juliet in the Garden

Poisonous Dart Frog

N- 8years old

Eight years old!  That amazes me.  I can't remember much about those first days with you.  Although I vividly remember sitting in the rocking chair eating ice cream and watching American Idol the night before you were born.  But, after that it's all pretty much a blur.  And many days are still like that, a blur of activity as you  plow through your days at full speed.   Racing out the door to ride your bike or chase an invisible Pokemon, mountain troll, Ewok, Jedi, storm trooper, one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater...whatever.  They are all living in your world.

You break into fight-dancing at the drop of a hat. (random combination of karate and dance moves)  Your love of all things Dr Who and Star Wars (even the awful Clone Wars) are a great source of joy to me.  While I am not as big a fan as you and your father, I love how you fully embrace their worlds.

Despite the fact that you are no longer a morning person, once you do wake up, you usually embrace the day and all it's possibilities with your whole being.  Although, some days it maybe noon before you are truly ready to embrace.

Constant motion is how I might describe you...



And yet there are days when you are quieter and concentrating.  Days when you do things like this:

for fun.  Who knew you'd grow into the kid that built molecules for fun just days after your eight birthday?  I sure didn't.   (That comes from your father's side of the family by the way.)

Or we'll find you in a corner doing this:

 You currently love all things science.  Recently you said to me, "Mom, can you find me a college with a good chemistry program."  (Sure, I'll get right on that).  You are an amazingly smart kid. You recently tested off the charts for your grade level in both math and reading.  (okay, maybe not off the charts, but in the 98% in the nation!!!!)  While you hate to do your homework sentences, when you finally quit belly-aching and messing around your write things like, " the butterfly goes through a metamorphosis"   and " In the workshop there was a combustion".  And because you're still an 8 year old boy at heart " I hate the bathtub".

 You are a wonderful big brother.  Despite the fact that your sister's constant singing is "annoying and frustrating",  you care about her and encourage her to be her very best self.   When she falls you are the first to get to her, to see if she is okay.  When getting yourself out the last cup of yogurt you'll think about the fact that it's L's favorite, too.  (oh, you'll still eat it.  But, I love the fact that you pause for just a moment before doing so...  I also love listening to you and your sister chatter away at night, when you're supposed to be sleeping.  I don't know what all you talk about, but most nights it is pure magical joy and laughter coming from your room.  (although, there are the nights when you threaten to never speak to your sister again....ah siblings)

Awesome big brother

Have a great year, my darling first born. I wonder what awaits us...