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!

A Leopard, A Genie, A Wizard and A Pumpkin

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Bloggy Welcome

I was able to reconnect with two of my friends this past week and they each have a blog.

Pam and I met in college. I think she was a freshman when I was a sophomore. That would mean we have known each other for 17 years. Wow! Pam and her family made a recent move. Now we are located in between her and her extended family. I love it. When I spoke to her the other day she asked if they could stop over on their way to and from visiting their family. Yeah!! I can't wait. Pam, welcome to my blog.

Laurie and I met when we were stationed in 29 Palms. I think we probably first met when I started attending CWF (Christian Womens Fellowship) so we have known each other over 8 years. Where does the time go? Laurie has done a better job keeping up via email over the years than I have. I had managed to lose her contact information and thought I would never be able to find her. I have a couple friends who are very much into Facebook, so I set up a page. I don't use it very often at all. But the other day, I decided to type in Laurie's name and see what happened. I was thrilled to find her and she had her blog address listed. Laurie, welcome to my blog! It is so nice to be back in touch.