Kid Moments . . .

While I have been sick, I have been "trying" to stay in bed a little longer than normal. The kids would still wake up at the crack of dawn (of course). I have been trying to teach them to be a little more independent about getting their breakfast, and they have done really well. Then, we ran out of their normal cereal. . .

One morning I was lying in bed, listening to them in the kitchen (I can hear them from my room). They were making oatmeal. They were not happy with the flavors that were left in the pack, so they kept trying different ones (very wasteful!). Then I smelled a really weird spicy smell in the air, and I heard, "this tastes yucky!" So, I dragged my limp body out of bed, all fuzzy-eyed, and fuzzy-headed -- to see what was going on. "Mom, this cinnamon taste weird!" Daniel said. "Cinnamon?" I asked. I then asked them to show me what cinnamon they had used. They did not want to show me. I insisted that they did -- so they did. :-) It was not the ground cinnamon that they thought it was, it was ground cumen! Yuck! They amply applied it to their oatmeal, and dug into spicy mexican oatmeal! Gross! It was a good effort on their part to fend for themselves. :-) Yuck! The smell was in the air all day!

A similar moment occurred the next morning. Daniel always wakes up way early, and wants breakfast right away. We still did not have their normal cereal of choice (Honey-Nut Cheerios). So, Daniel got out the regular Cheerios, and thought he would make them better by adding sugar (ick!). Anyway, Charles walked into the kitchen after getting out of the shower, and he found Daniel with the bag of "sugar" (which was really flour) and a large spoonful in hand, ready to drop into his bowl. Charles stopped him just in time! Another total ick!

I am glad to know I am needed. :-)

House Pictures

Mom requested some house pictures awhile back, so here they are. :-)

We find that we are quite comfortable here. We keep things simple, and clutter-free, and it makes a "smaller" space quite pleasant and lovely. :-) We sure love it!

Pictures . . .

Stuff and Things

Sickness: I have been sick for the last few days. It started with just feeling a little weird. I ran three days last week, and on the third day I ran up a hill (pushing all three kids) and I felt unusually winded. I felt like I had inhaled dirt, smoke, or something. I was even slightly wheezing, which I have never done before. There was smoke in the air from nearby fires, but not too bad. It was a weird, icky feeling. Anyhow, I continued on walking a bit, then slowly jogging the rest of the way home. I felt fine for the rest of the day. The next day I got ready to go for a run and I walked out the front door, but I felt slightly dizzy, and low-energy. I opted not to run, instead I just walked to a near-by park. As the day dragged on, so did I. I felt dizzy, unusually sweaty (even for hot summer) -- we are talking buckets! It has been a few days now, and I am still not great, I have a cough, and I feel very drained. I manage by taking Day-Quil and other lovely products. It is just so lame to be sick when you are a mom. There is no rest for the weary! I think that is perhaps the hardest thing. All you want to do is sleep, and recover, and that is just what you cannot do. However, I actually feel worse when I lay down, all the junk runs down my throat. Oh well . . . I will get better soon, I am sure. :-) Sickness is always humbling, and allows greater empathy for those who truly suffer with ailments. The silly thing is the very day before getting sick I said to Charles, "You know it has been a long time since I have been sick, with a cold or anything." I will never make such a dumb statement like that again. . . I was just asking for it! :-)

Spiders: I HATE spiders. I am also not very fond of this time of year, because it is spider season! All the spiders start looking for a mate, which means they start stumbling inside my house! Yuck! Ever since we have moved down to the lower 48, I have formed a new fear of the little lovelies. The fact that some of them are highly poisonous terrifies me. Anytime I see a spider I kill it, then go to the on-line identification chart to make sure it was not a killer. So far, so good. But, I know there are Black Widows, and Hobo spiders, which are both very dangerous. I have had such a fear of them lately (I think my sickness has magnified my fear) but I have had a hard time sleeping without feeling like there is something crawling on me. It happened in our other house. A spider crawled on my face while I was asleep, it woke me up, freaked me out, and then I saw it crawl into William's crib!! (next to our bed). After that, I just get seriously freaked out if I feel anything crawling on me!! Icky! I can remember the first time I saw Lord of the Rings, I thought nothing of the spider scene -- spiders had never bothered me in Alaska -- they are not deadly there. Now, I get it! I understand the fear a little spider can create! Yikes!

Along with this fear is great fascination. We have some pretty nice webs in the backyard. Last night, Charles was finding bugs for the spiders, and throwing them in their webs so we could see what kind of spider it was. It was amazing to see how quickly they move, attack, and kill their prey! As we were watching this little web spider (not a deadly one) we then saw a trap-door spider (huge!) which dwells under a hole then sneaks out to grab its prey, and then quickly (lightning speed) pulls it into the hole. It was amazing! We started feeding both of them hoping to rid of some of the bugs in our yard. So, I am trying to make peace with the spiders, because, generally, they are of great worth to the ecosystem in our yard. If they just mind their own business, stay out of my house, I will call a truce. Otherwise, it will be war, and I will call the exterminator!! :-)

Swings: We got some swings for the tree in the backyard. It is really fun for the kids. I should have taken pictures of Charles hanging them from the large branch. He climbed the tree, scaled the branch, and was hanging on for dear life. Meanwhile, I go and get the ladder, climb to the top, and hand him his tools -- he did not NEED to climb the tree. He said it would be more fun for the kids to watch daddy hang the swings that way. I was only a little worried about him hanging there. :-) Silly guy.

I will have to charge my camera's batteries so I can post some picture! I know a post without pictures is about as fun as a hug without a kiss. ;-) wink!

Love ya!
Mari

Movie Night

We have been watching the Horatio Hornblower series for the last few evenings. It has been amazing to watch it on the projector! I am SO glad Charles was bold enough to "request" that our home sellers would leave it -- as part of the deal. It is SO awesome! We are big time movie-fans. We do not watch TV (with the exception of the news, occasionally). I love movies, mostly because you have control over what you are seeing (no commercials, etc). Anyhow, I have really enjoyed watching Horatio on such a grand scale! It is a such a great series. A&E just does AMAZING work. I highly recommend it -- unless you are squeamish as far as violence and war goes. It can be graphic at times.

Yesterday, I hooked up the projector to the internet and pulled up You-Tube videos of Disneyland (parade, fireworks, Fantasmic) it was SO fun! The kids were in Disney-paradise! I enjoyed it too. :-) Lots of fun! :-)

Before Charles and I were married, we would talk about how many children we wanted to have. We settled on the number 12. :-) He even made sure that there were 12 tiny diamonds in my wedding ring -- to symbolize each child. Well, with 3 already here, and only 9 more to go (that is frightening!) . . . I think I may have to decrease my number just a bit! Perhaps a half dozen? :-) I suppose we will see what the future holds for our family! Perhaps, if we win the lottery, strike oil in the backyard, or have a rich relative leave us millions as their dying wish . . . maybe I would not hesitate to just go for it! For now, 12 seems like such a tall order! I (we) have also been "trying" to "purposefully" put a few years in between children -- for the healing of the body, which I have been grateful for. :-)

Cheaper by the dozen? Well, only time will tell! There are 12 diamonds . . . might as well at least try! ;-) wink!

Her birthday was actually on Saturday (the 26th). :-) She is our big girl now! I cannot believe how fast the time goes! It is amazing! She is so thrilled because she no longer has to ride in a booster seat -- a true sign of growing up! Sammi is our silly, sweet girl. We sure love her SO much!

Pioneer Day

We decided to celebrate Pioneer day by making our own little pioneer homestead in our backyard. Originally, I was just going to make a covered wagon . . . but then it was too much fun! The kids loved it, and really got into it. Daniel was fishing in the stream, and Sammi was gathering food for the people and animals. It was a fun day!! Our backyard was perfect for this activity. :-)

Don't forget to wash your hands, and . . .

I expect our water bill will be going up for the summer -- not because I have to water the grass -- but because I have to water the kids! Yuck!