Thanksgiving Week In Review

Monday night we let the kids stay up past their bed time. When we finally tucked them in, they all slept in Aaron's room...Lori and Rachel on an air mattress, Aaron in his bed, Noelle in the top bunk and Hannah on her Dora couch. They were understandably a bit wound up. We heard lots of laughs and voices. All of the kids were guilty. At least one child had come to tattle on the rest before Hannah and Noelle came down.

Noelle: Hannah won't stop singing.
Hannah: Saying "A-Doodley-Doo" is NOT singing

On Wednesday Shannon and I drug ourselves away from the Nertz table long enough to join the rest of the family at the park. It was nice to see daylight. Once we returned Doug was getting Hannah out of the car when he noticed her shoes were on the wrong feet.

Doug: Hannah your shoes are on the wrong feet. You need to change them.
Hannah: (Looks at Doug, looks down at her shoes, looks back at Doug) But we're just going over there (pointing to the front door).
Doug: Well, you still need to switch your shoes around. Wearing shoes on the wrong feet could make you pigeon toed (he then demonstrates what that looks like. Then he shows her that if the Dora on her shoes are on the outside, then the shoes are on the correct feet.)
Hannah: (Looks at Doug's Nikes which have the swoosh on the inside and outside) How do you know if your shoes are on the right feet?

Aaron and Noelle have been betrothed since Shannon and I found out we would have a boy and a girl. They were planning a wedding this week when Noelle decided she was finished. Here is what the kids decided to substitute.

Shannon and I continued our Black Friday shopping tradition this morning. We decided not to go quite as early as we have in the past, but we did make it to Target at 6:00 a.m. For us it is more about the experience of watching the other crazy people than it is about finding the best bargain ever. After Target, we went to Kohl's. We each found a little something and stood in line for about 30 minutes. There were about three people between us and the finish line where a friendly associate would direct us to the appropriate register. All of a sudden Shannon's face looked like she had sucked on a lemon and she said, "Ahhh." I look at her and then it hit me. A nasty smell nastier than either of us has ever encountered. I have changed a lot of dirty diapers in my day and none could match the smell around us. The smell just hung in the air. There was no escape. Gagging occurred. Apparently, whatever the lady in front of us had for Thanksgiving dinner created a very putrid smell when released as gas on the exiting end. Because we only had a couple things, we didn't have a cart. This meant we didn't have a free hand. The sight of us trying to balance our purchases and cover our noses with anything we could manage was hilarious. The thickness of the stench could not be waved away. We tried.

Tonight we rented a movie for the kids and let them eat leftovers and popcorn in the family room. Shannon and I had returned to playing Nertz in the dining room. Rachel comes in and says, "Aaron is sitting on his bowl of unpopped kernels to see if he can make them warm enough to pop." As a mom, this is not something I thought I would ever hear. Once I can contain my laughter (no thanks to Shannon who is laughing uncontrollably across from me, really had she been drinking anything her nose would have been a fountain)I call him to the dining room and ask him if he really did sit on his bowl of unpopped kernels hoping they would pop. And did he really think it would work? Yes, he sat on the bowl. No, he did not expect it to work. And some of you may have been wondering why Noelle backed out of the wedding.

Hello, this is the husband (P.K.) making a guest post.

A friend and I took our kids to an outdoor nature center and park. Aren't the kids cute?

Anyway, after a picnic lunch and some hiking, we arrived at the park. The main attraction for the kids was the tire swing.

The kids all cried, "Faster, faster!" The dads responded... (Notice the shoe on the ground and the hat flying off of Hannah's head.)

One child said it was better than the roller coasters at Bush Gardens. Another exclaimed that the tire swing surpassed rides at Six Flags. When the tire swing ride ended, this was the result...

All the girls said, "We feel sick."

The boy, however, couldn't understand what all the drama was about...

I especially like their post ride expressions...

This concludes my first post!

It's In the Air

The kids are off school all week. P.K. is off of work until Friday. Our friends left their home just before 5:30 this morning (They were going to leave at 5:00, but Caribou Coffee doesn't open until 5:30...priorities here) to travel to our home. We are making some last minute "company is coming" house preparations. I have 15 Bean Soup cooking in the crock pot so dinner will be waiting when our friends arrive. The house smells yummy! There is that certain feeling of excitement looming in the air and I love it!

As I often mention, I am big on traditions. One of ours is sharing Thanksgiving with Doug and Shannon and their two beautiful girls (also our Goddaughters) Lori and Noelle. We swap years. This year they are coming to us. We have been counting down for quite a while. We have no special plans. There will be lots of Nertz played. We may break it up now and then and play some Rummy. We will cook like crazy on Thanksgiving day and Shannon and I will be up before the sun on Friday morning to watch the crazy people fight for their prized sale items. The kids will put together a show. It is always worth it to watch them try to direct one another. All too soon it will be Saturday and we will have to tell them good bye as they head back home, but we will not dwell on that. We will make some memories and enjoy being together.

I have to share one unrelated thing. Yesterday I was going through a couple boxes in the basement I still had not unpacked. The boxes were full of stuff I had put off unpacking because I didn't know what to do with it. At the bottom of one of the boxes was Aaron's Bibleman Bible. If you are not familiar with Bibleman, he is a Bible super hero. My kids have several of the DVDs and love them. They teach great lessons using scripture. Aaron also has a couple of the action figures and his own Bibleman costume complete with the sword of the spirit. At some point he asked for the Bibleman Bible. It is just a kids' version of the Bible. He wasn't quite old enough to read it so last year while the kids ate breakfast I would read to them. Because I kept it in the kitchen I guess it got packed with all the last minute stuff. When I pulled it out yesterday I realized that Aaron's reading skills had improved greatly over the summer. I gave it to him and told him he was probably old enough to read it on his own. I almost cried when I walked up the stairs and heard him call P.K. to his room. He had been reading and found a scripture he wanted to memorize. He read it to P.K. and then proceeded to tell P.K. what it meant. Blessed my heart! Last night when we got ready for our night time routine, Aaron asked me if we could add something to the routine. We already do "nice thing" which means everyone goes around the circle and says one nice thing to everyone else. Then we sing a song, do prayers and tuck each child in their own individual bed. So I was thinking we really need to add one more thing. :) He asked if he could read the scripture he had read to Daddy and we could all try to memorize it. Then next Sunday he would give us a new one. Almost to tears, again!

So today as we finish our preparations for our Thanksgiving week, I am thankful that my son has a heart for God's word. I pray that the Lord will continue to grow that in him.

Gerbils and Jammies

This weekend Rachel was chosen to bring home the class pets, two gerbils named Icy and Speedy. I was very worried that one of the kids would drop one and it would run away to never be seen again. That is until it found the stuff the exterminator sprays every three months to keep us bug free. Then we would have to go to the pet store to try to find an identical one so Rachel wouldn't be known as the kid who killed the class pet. I'm not sure if the spray would really kill something as large as a gerbil, but I really didn't want to find out the hard way.

I grew up with pets. We always had a dog. There was the time my brother adopted the stray cat. He was named Tiger and then we realized he was a she when he had kittens on the back step. I remember catching a turtle that we kept in an old cooler. There was at least one hamster and a pair of guinea pigs. We had at least one parakeet.. As the family folklore goes, the parakeet would bite and I encouraged my cousin Mike to stick his finger in the cage. Luckily, my mom overheard.

P.K. didn't grow up with pets so he isn't crazy about having one. I don't mind them, but I don't want them on me. P.K. and I had a parakeet when we were first married. The kids had fish for a while we were living in California, but I couldn't keep them alive. They also had hermit crabs, but we didn't want to try to move them cross country so we gave them away. The kids are constantly begging for a pet. I think Hannah almost has her daddy talked into one. Aaron has a list of the types of snakes he wants to buy. The landlord does not allow pets in the house so we can't have one for now. We bent the rule just for the weekend.

It turned out just fine. Rachel was very responsible and cleaned up after the gerbils who loved to throw their purple shredded bedding out of the cage.

Meet Speedy

and Icy.

Each of the gerbils had a ball to run in. They could really get them going on the hardwood floor. The kids had gerbil races.

Where do the Jammies come in? Hannah had "Wear Your Pajamas to School Day" yesterday. She asked why I have to take a picture when she has a special day at school. I wanted to say, "Because I carried you for nine months, had morning sickness for almost 4 months and was cut in half to bring you into this world and I will take your picture whenever I please. " But I went with, "Because it is fun and I want to have a picture."


I should also mention that P.K. made it home on Friday night. It was a long three weeks. He was able to come home Halloween weekend, but it still seemed like a very long time. He is not allowed to go out of town again until I have at least one friend here.

What Instrument Do You Play?

P.K. plays the trumpet. I played the violin in middle school and high school. I was not an athlete so I didn't letter in a sport, but I did earn my high school letter in orchestra. Yeah, baby. I can plunk out a few things from a hymnal on the piano, but don't expect a concert. Rachel has learned to read music and will soon start to learn to play the recorder in school. We called it a song flute when I learned. I had to relearn to play it in my college music methods class. We know Aaron loves to write songs. We are not the most musically talented family, but we can talk the talk.

So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Hannah picked up these hangers this morning while I was folding laundry and started clicking them together. Then she started marching around while she clicked.

Jody: Are you making music?
Hannah: Well, somebody has to play the hooks.

How has our family survived this long without "somebody" playing the hooks? How on earth can I call myself a mom and not have assigned "somebody" to play the hooks? That child cracks me up!

The Jungle Theme Continues

Weeks ago I offered to help out with the book fair at the kids' school. About a week ago I received an email asking for people to fill specific positions. The director of the media center coordinates the book fair, but she really needed someone to decorate. When I found out the theme was a safari, I had to jump on it. I already had the ideas and props from Hannah's birthday party.

I added a tent made from cardboard boxes, tablecloths and tulle. I stuffed a green shirt with a pillow and added a pith helmet from Hannah's party. If you look closely at the picture you may be able to see a bit of blond hair sticking out from under the hat. For Halloween 2007 Rachel decided she wanted to go as Hannah Montana. The only thing I had to buy her was a wig. Now I am happy to announce that it has been recycled. The entire library (I mean, Media Center) is painted in an ocean theme so ignore the dolphins floating above the jungle. My friend Becky said it is what the person in the tent is dreaming about.

The secretary saw me at the school again (I was there yesterday to chaperon Rachel's chorus field trip to sing at an assisted living facility) and said I was going to have to start charging the school since I was there as much as the paid staff. That is where I want to be. Volunteering at the kids' school and participating in their education. Being known by the staff so if problems do arise we already have a working relationship. The librarian (oops...media center director) told me that Rachel is really good at math. I thanked her and then my husband's genes.

Road Trip

My Uncle Melvin passed away on Wednesday so I decided to make a road trip to say good-bye, visit with the family and listen to all of them re-tell family folklore (the stories that are told so many times you don't know if you remember them or have just heard them so many times you feel like you have lived them). I was back and forth on whether or not I should make the quick trip, but in the end I'm glad I did. P.K. is still out of town so the kids and I left about 9:30 on Friday morning and got back this afternoon (Sunday). I don't like to make such quick trips there because I don't get a chance to see my friends.

My dad kept the kids while I spent time at the funeral home. It was nice for them to see him and I was able to visit with the other side of the family at the funeral home without chasing the kids around.

My niece, Hailey, spent the night at my mom's house with us on Friday night. It was nice to see her and she watched the kids while my mom and I ran to WalMart on Saturday morning. My kids were so excited to see her and thought it was cool that she was in charge for a while.

I have a lot of extended family who all live in the same area. My grandmother had four siblings. Two passed away before I was born. Her brother Ralph was one I never met. He had two children, Danny Lee and Junie. My mom says I have met them once before but I don't remember. They are the only living cousins from my grandmother and her siblings who don't live in the same area. My mom's brother, Dennis, was able to get in touch with them once Uncle Melvin took a turn for the worse. They were able to make it into town as well. It was nice to meet them (or see them again as my mom claims). Junie brought pictures of her grandkids and one of them bears a striking resemblance to my niece. She looks like my grandmother and my grandmother's last living sibling. Junie's brother Danny Lee favors my Uncle Dennis (at least I think so.) Here's a picture of all the cousins at the funeral home. Three are missing because this is the most who were there at one time.

Back Row Left to Right: Danny Lee, Keith (his dad's funeral)Ralph, Steve (his dad's funeral)
Front Row Left to Right: Mary (my mom's sister who will not be happy that I published this photo, sitting), Junie, Fred, Diana (my mom), Dennis (my mom's brother)

Following are a couple things that were said that cracked me up. These may not be funny to anyone else, but it is my blog and I want to remember these conversations. You may want to stop reading here.

1. This needs a little back ground information. As I have mentioned several times, P.K. has been out of town. That means there is less actual cooking done around here. One night I was going to throw a pizza in the oven for the kids for dinner. Rachel and Aaron reminded me that they had pizza at school for lunch that day. No problem. I decided to throw something else together for them. Hannah went into total meltdown because she wanted pizza. I sent her to her room until she could calm down. I then explained to her that she should be thankful for the food she has. I don't make her eat things she doesn't like and that there are kids in this world who don't have anything to eat and they die from starvation. Yes, I stopped short of blaming world hunger on her. The point...I made it clear that she was not going to have full blown tantrums because the dinner menu happens to change. All of that for the following conversation in the car. At this point we are 1 1/2 hours into our 6 hour drive and I am determined to make it half way before we stop for lunch.

Rachel: Are we going to stop for lunch soon? I'm getting hungry.
Jody: We still have a ways to go but I have snacks packed. (At that very moment I was merging onto a new highway, twelve semi trucks appeared out of nowhere and the heaven opened up and poured rain.) Let me get out of some of this traffic and I'll pass it back.
Hannah: When are we going to eat lunch? I'm starting to starve like those little kids.
Jody: What little kids?
Hannah: Those little kids who starve and die 'cause they don't have any food.

At least now I know she listens to me when I lecture her even when she gets that glazed over look.

2. When I was leaving my grandmother's house on Friday night to go back to my mom's the conversation turned to politics. I made the comment that I was upset I even had to step foot back in Indiana since they went blue in the election (still trying to let it go). I decided to get my grandma riled up.

Jody: Grandma, what do you think about our new president?
Grandma: Well, if I would have voted, I would have voted for him because that other guy is an old man.

My soon to be 89 year old grandmother just called John McCain old. Then she continues:

Grandma: The last time I voted, I voted for Nixon and look what he did.

Ha, ha, ha!

It's Over

Kari and I talked on the phone as the election results came in. It was nice to share the thoughts of that moment with her.

What will the news media have to report now?

Election Day 2008

***Update***

We arrived at our polling station and were in line at 8:53 a.m. The line was long, but it moved. Kind of like Disney World.

This is about 1/3 of the line. It continues around to the left and into the building. By the time I got up the nerve to take a picture, there were probably about the same amount of people behind me. If you look closely toward the right quarter of the picture, there is a little girl in a white jacket with a braid down her back. This is not one of my girls, but she is standing in front of a sign that says, "Vote Here." I tried to get the kids to stand by it and let me take their picture, but Rachel is way too cool to have me embarrass her in front of that many people.

The kids brought books instead of electronics so it made me feel like a good mom. :):) Hannah brought an I Spy book which actually entertained us all while we waited.

We walked out of the polling station at 9:42 a.m. The line was a lot shorter. I drove by the church where I voted while running a couple errands and there was no line outside of the building. Since there weren't as many people on the way out, I did get the kids to stand by the sign.

Rachel was less than thrilled.

Whew! It is here and my kids have the whole entire day off of school. Maybe I should have taken advantage of early voting. Here's hoping the lines aren't too long. I will arm the kids with a Nintendo DS and two Leapsters. It will be a great learning opportunity for the kids to see this process first hand.

The kids had an election at their school yesterday. Aaron got in the car wearing an "I voted sticker." They told me who won and I tried to remain totally matter of fact when I asked them how they cast their votes. They both voted for John McCain who subsequently won their school election. (Yippee!!!! My little Republicans!) I'm not one to discuss my political views so I won't tell you if I think that is a good thing or not. :)

The thing that concerns me is that my kids were born with two volumes, loud and louder. I've discussed with them that we will keep our views and opinions to ourselves while we are at the polls. Questions and statements such as, "Mommy, did you vote for John McCain? Mommy, do you want Barack Obama to win? Mommy that man is wearing a Barack Obama t-shirt. Do we need to pray for him? Mommy you said (insert whatever they over heard me say when I thought they were sleeping) about (insert candidate)" should not be said at all while we are at the polls and definitely not in a voice that would make everyone stop and stare. Here's hoping. This may be one of the most embarrassing days of my life.

I love the rush of these crazy mornings. It is like the day after Thanksgiving Day sales. There is something about watching the other crazy people. I am not a crazy person. I just enjoy watching crazy people. Although, after I stand in line with three children, I may be a crazy person!

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." Romans 13:1

Summons, Friends, Odds & Ends...

...not necessarily in that order.

*P.K. left last Monday for three weeks of job related training. I spent most of the first week he was gone getting our furnace fixed. I think Marine Wife sent her gremlins my way.

Since he is well over 300 miles away, he wasn't planning on coming home until the end of his training. However, on Thursday he called to tell me he was going to come home and bring a friend. There is another chaplain who lives in Texas attending the training and P.K. thought it would be nice for him to come along to hang out and do his laundry. Is that what life will be like around here when the kids go off to college? I sure hope so. P.K.'s step mom once told me the greatest compliment she could receive is for someone to feel at home enough in her home that they are comfortable going through the kitchen cabinets to find what they need. I hope our kids see our home as a place of peace and refuge and a place they would like to bring their friends.

P.K. and Jarrod (his friend) didn't get in until about 11 p.m. Friday night. I got up early and made banana pancakes and turkey bacon. Jarrod said he slept really well and that he usually doesn't being in an unfamiliar home. That was a huge compliment.

The weather Saturday was gorgeous. We decided to take the kids to a park Hannah and I had driven by a couple weeks ago. The kids loved it.

I was trying to get a picture of Rachel on the monkey bars, but my camera has a delay. I think this picture is cool because it caught her in mid-air.

She's such a monkey.

The kids were giving Daddy a spin on this contraption. I think this was every one's favorite part.

Rachel and Aaron had a race up the slide. If I had a nickel for every time I have had to say, "Please go down the slide on your bottom" I would be a wealthy woman. Racing up the slide had to be a P.K. idea.

P.K. and Jarrod

*We left the park and went home for lunch. After lunch I went outside to check the mail and imagine my surprise when I found not one, but two jury summons in the mail for me. I've only been in this state for two months! I've never had to serve jury duty before. I received a summons once in California, and had to show up but the defendant decided to take the plea bargain. Thank goodness. It was going to be a six week trial! I had two preschoolers at the time, but the powers that be wouldn't excuse me. I'm hoping our current state is a little more gracious. I really do not have anyone to watch Hannah. P.K. would have to take off time from his job that he has been at for two months. I filled out the affidavit that states I am the primary caregiver for a child under the age of 6 and do not have reasonable alternative childcare. I had to pay to have it notarized and faxed. I really would like to serve on a jury at some point and see the whole process in action, but not for six weeks and not when I don't have anyone to watch my kids.

*The time change...I was thankful for the extra hour of sleep and the fact that it is no longer dark when I leave to take my kids to school in the morning. I don't like that it gets dark so early and I feel like going to bed at 5:00 p.m.

*We all attended church together on Sunday. Since P.K.'s new work schedule has him working every Sunday, this doesn't happen often anymore. It was nice to have him there and worship together. I was cracking up at my car full of hungry passengers as I was driving home. I think it started when we drove by Cracker Barrel and Jarrod asked if we have ever eaten at Cracker Barrel. Before I knew it everyone was talking about their favorite restaurants and foods. As soon as I got home I threw my chicken that had been marinating for fajitas on the grill and fed that hungry bunch. P.K. and Jarrod had to head off right after lunch. It was nice to have P.K. home, but I hated to see him go again. At least it broke up the three weeks a bit. I don't have a lot of adult conversation around here so let me tell you I'm sure I talked their ears off.

*My mom called last night to tell me my grandmother's brother is not doing well. I'm sure I don't have the details correct, but from what I understand he fell at some point this past week and broke his hip. He hasn't been in the best of health anyway. He has emphysema and now I think pneumonia on top of that. I talked to my mom this afternoon and she said his hands and feet are starting to swell. I'm not sure how old he is. He has always seemed old to me. :) My grandmother will be 89 in December and this is her younger brother. Although, it is an emotional time to know someone is near death, what really opens up the flood gates and lets the tears flow is when I think of him walking through the gates of Heaven and being greeted by his parents, his siblings who died before him, his first wife, my grandpa, my brother and
... King Jesus! To quote an old hymn, "What a day that will be."

I grew up with the majority of my extended family living nearby. I know what it is like to see my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins on a regular basis. I miss that for my kids. When I was telling P.K. about the situation with Uncle Melvin (my grandma's brother) we were talking about the benefits of having family nearby. My family (as crazy as my family may be...yes, I said it...you all know it is true...) has the integrity (the old time family values) that not only says you call every family member when someone is sick or dying and you try your best to make it to the hospital to show your respect and support for the other family members, but you work hard for what you have, you believe in God, stand up for what is right and even if one family member decides to say bad things about another family member, non family members are not allowed. :):)

Hannah and I were just talking about Uncle Melvin the other day when she had dress like a farmer day because he always wore bib overalls. That is how my kids remember him. Since before I could remember he called me Jody Blond and the Purty Flower. He would say flower in one syllable without the "w." I would have to say it to explain it. That got me thinking about other southern Indiana pronunciations and phrases:

Aint...Aunt
Warsh...Wash (as in warsh the clothes)
J'eat?...Did you eat?
Long pants...Not just pants
Supper...The evening meal

The list could probably go on and on but my kiddos are wanting some supper!