History Repeats Itself

Just when you thought your children had learned from their mistakes, they set out to prove you wrong. In January of 2009, DS had been whittling and managed to slice up his right index finger in such a manner as to require a trip to Urgent Care. Well, guess what? He did it again!

Right after school, I took DD to her piano lesson. I left DS at home, alone, as I've done many times before during DD's lessons. Upon our arrival back home, I discovered bloody bandages on the kitchen floor! I called out for DS and he came slowly walking into the kitchen....with a HUGE bandage on his left index finger (I'm pretty sure he used about 6 feet of medical tape to hold the bandage on!). Upon inspection of the obviously injured finger, I immediately had the kids get in the van and off to Urgent Care we went. At this point, it was nearing 5pm, and DD had to be at school for her musical program by 6:30pm....so I called DH to have him pick her up on his way home from work so she would be able to get supper before going to the school.

After a very long wait at Urgent Care, during which DH did come and get DD, we were finally finshed. After very nearly lopping off the tip of his finger, DS now has this lovely bandage on his finger for the next several days:Meanwhile, it was already 6:15pm....almost time to be at DD's school! So my mother-in-law met DS and me at Urgent Care so she could take him to get a quick supper before dropping him off at his Boy Scout meeting, while I quickly headed home, arriving just in time to leave for the school with DH & DD.

After watching DD's musical program, I finally arrived back home to stay at almost 8pm. It was then I started finding out just how much bleeding DS had done....and in how many places! Besides the kitchen, he had bled in his bedroom, the upstairs bathroom, the master bathroom, the carpet in my room, and on the quilt on my bed! I found bloody bandaging in the hallway, in the family room, and next to my bed. I must say, after discovering all of this, and knowing how DS reacts to blood/all things medical, I am very impressed that he remained as calm as he did during the 10 minutes after it happened before I got home. I did ask him why he didn't call me when it happened, to which he replied, "I was already busy having a conversation. I was praying!" (He said he was praying God would make the bleeding stop and heal his finger.) I must say, we must be doing something right in raising this child if his first thought in a crisis is to call on God rather than a human. :)

Hopefully, this time DS has learned his lesson. Be careful with the knife! And never whittle when he's home alone! Ah, the joys of motherhood!

It's Monday!

Yep, it's Monday. Definitely Monday. One of "those" days. Yep. What a way to start the week. I'm sure you're wondering what happened....especially as it's only 9am on this particular Monday. Well, both kids had a part in this one.

Neither child could find their sneakers this morning. And both of them have gym class today. Which, of course, means that both of them need their sneakers today. I don't know how they do it, but it seems that if they both need something on a particular day, then both of them will have "lost" that item. Go figure. So, of course, neither realized this until it was time to head out to the bus stop this morning to go to school. So there was a lot of frantic looking all over the house.....with no luck! So I sent DD off to school in her Crocs with the promise that I would continue looking for her shoes & bring them to her if I found them. I gave up looking for DS's and called my parents. We had been at their house this weekend for Easter. Guess what!!??!! YEP!! DS's shoes are at my parents' house.....an hour away from here!

So what did we do to solve this problem? Well, I sent DS to school in his sandals. For gym class? For that, I sent his very old, too-small, missing-the-shoestrings-sneakers (which are in very pitiful shape considering he used them all last summer to wear when he mowed the grass & other such stuff) in a bag with him to use just during gym class. And to solve the missing-shoestrings problem? Good ol' duct tape of course! So, yes, my son will be wearing duct-taped falling-apart shoes for gym class today (and for who-knows how long considering his better shoes are currently an hour away!). Ah, the joy of children.

Oh, and for DD? I finally remembered that she had last worn her sneakers on spring school picture day last Thursday....carrying her sandals that she was going to wear for the pictures in a bag to be able to change into them later in the day. Then I remembered that she had come home Thursday wearing the sandals, not the sneakers! I finally found her sneakers this morning in a bag under her bed and was able to take them to her at school. At least one of my children will be wearing shoes with laces for gym class today!

Spell What?!?

The things my kids learn in school never cease to amaze me. School is definitely a whole lot different than when I was a kid! After DS had the word regolith last year for a spelling word, I didn't think I would be stumped again so soon. Well, this time it was a word from DD's spelling list. What word did I not know? How many people know what triskaidekaphobia means (much less how to spell it!)? I certainly didn't! Not until this week, that is. Yes, DD's teacher assigned that word for spelling this week. So I learned from my 2nd-grader that triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. Who knew?! And yes, DD was able to spell the word correctly. Amazing. I guess that instead of asking "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" they need to be asking "Can you spell better than a second grader?"

Where Did It Go??

Wow! The summer just flew by and now the kids have already been in school for a week. Time seems to have this way of zipping past the older I get. We did have a lot of fun packed into the last month of summer break. One of the highlights was the visit of friends who moved out-of-state a couple of years ago. The kids (and I!) were excited to get to spend some time with them when they returned for a visit. My friend, J, may have a differing opinion though.....especially after DS & DD taped her eldest son to the floor of the playroom (using an entire roll of masking tape in the process!). And if that wasn't enough, DS also spray-painted him blue after that. Luckily it was only his arm.....which was still a bit blue by the end of their visit..... It must not have been too startling for J though, as she did let 2 more of her children spend the night with us later in the week. While they were visiting we also had some more "normal" adventures as well.....visits to the park, splash time in the fountain (great way to cool off on a hot day!), and a visit to the children's museum. (Please click on the pictures in this post to see the whole picture....they have been chopped off in the post somehow.)
Dale Chihuly blown glass sculpture in the stairwell:
Actual lightsaber prop used in filming the original Star Wars trilogy (temporary exhibit at the museum):Obi Wan Kenobi's spaceship prop used in filming:During this time as well was the local 4-H fair, in which DS entered 3 projects. I'm proud to say he received blue ribbon awards on all three, with his woodworking project being the best.....it scored a perfect 100/100!!
And as a final way to finish out the fun, yet very busy, summer, I took DS & DD to the state fair. We had awesome weather that day, and had a lot of fun. Even though we enjoyed the animals & exhibits, I would have to say that the best part of the experience (and it was their first time to the state fair) according to the kids was getting their first tastes of funnel cakes & elephant ears.

All in all, it was a very fun, busy summer. Now I'm just trying to come to terms with being the mother of a middle-schooler.......

Just WHAT Is That In My Washer??

I did laundry today....4 loads. In an average week I do around 8 loads of laundry. I refuse to add up how many loads I've done in the past 11 years since the kids have come along (especially since DD spit up so much as a baby that I did at least 2 loads a day for about 4 months!). It never ceases to amaze me the things I will find in the washing machine as I'm doing the laundry. No matter how many times I remind everyone to check their pockets as they sort their laundry, there's almost always something that makes it through.

I've found more rocks than I care to count (both DS & DD have at different times "collected" them), enough coins to buy any entire vending machine's worth of snacks, lip balm (thankfully found before it made its way to the dryer), a few crayons (also found before the dryer), fruit snacks (unfortunately NOT found before the dryer.....putty knife works well to remove these from the dryer drum after it's cooled), assorted candy wrappers, a handful of uneaten candy, loads of tissues (always in the dark load when they appear), rubber bands, toy jewelry, a few rubber snakes, and more things that I'm sure I've forgotten.

There are three things that are even more amusing than the rest. One time I had a wet, furry toy mouse come flying out of the washer at me as I pulled clothes out.....this was only amusing after I realized that it was one of the cat toys and not a real mouse! Last year I heard something clunking loudly in the washer. When I went to see what it was when the spin cycle finished, I found.......two full-sized screwdrivers....yes, TWO! (It was later determined that these came from DH's pockets, not the kids'!!) Today I added to the list of amusing washing machine discoveries. This is what I found:
Yes, two orange disposable ear plugs.....which at first I thought were cheese puffs (not thinking at the time about the fact that had they indeed been cheese puffs, they would have completely dissolved in the wash water). Where did these come from? My son's pockets......where most of the strange things that have shown up in my washer originated. Over the years I've determined that you just never know what strange things will be found lurking in the washing machine.

Fourth Fun

We had a fun weekend celebrating the 4th of July. Unfortunately there was rain predicted for the actual 4th (Saturday), so the kids set off their fireworks on Friday evening instead. They had a blast! (Pun intended!) This was the first year, for many reasons, that they have had a chance to do their own fireworks. Between the smoke bombs,

sparklers,

and spouting fountain fireworks,

a great time was had by everyone. Also, thanks to my parents' competitive neighbors, the we were even able to see a lot of "traditional" fireworks shooting off high in the sky. The kids are now asking if we will buy them that kind for next year. DH, of course, is just as excited as the kids......

Zoo Adventures

Earlier this week the kids & I met friends (J & P) at the zoo for a fun-filled day. We had awesome weather...not too hot, not too humid....and had a fun time. We started out the morning at the Oceans exhibit, where the kids had a chance to pet sharks. Both DS & DD declined this opportunity. DD started to but got a little freaked out when the shark came close enough to touch.We then moved on to the area where the kids had the opportunity to touch a starfish. DD did decide to do this and was amazed at how different a living starfish feels from the dead ones she's seen in gift shops.Per DD's request we then moved on to the Dessert Pavilion to view her favorite reptiles. I don't know where she got her love of these things, but she has claimed snakes as her favorite animals for years. She's quite put out with me that I won't let her have one for a pet. From there we went all over the zoo looking at various animals in their habitats. One special exhibit that the zoo has on loan for the summer is the Kimodo Dragons.
After viewing most of the animals (and DD having a chance to also pet her favorite animals), we ate lunch & let the kids play in the spray park in the zoo. We then headed over to the adjacent Gardens to check out the butterfly house. One compliant butterfly even stuck out it's tongue at us:After viewing the multitude of butterflies (which DS was thoroughly bored by!) we checked out some of the rest of the Gardens area to see the frog fountain
as well as some of the pretty flowers that abounded.Then DS & DD spotted this fella:

and quickly decided it was time to go home. All in all it was a very good day. And one of the best parts is no one got hurt, no on got sick, and no one had a total meltdown. Gotta love those kinds of days!

Gone To The Dogs

Our local art museum is sponsoring a public artwork display this summer entitled "Dog Days of Summer." Several local artists have painted/decorated life-sized statues of dogs that have been placed all over town for people to see. As a part of their kick-off celebration for this exhibit, several elementary and middle school students were invited to have their own dog artwork displayed at the museum for the next month. I am so excited and proud of DD as she was one of the kids who were selected! She is definitely a much better artist than I could ever hope to be. Congratulations, DD!

How To Get The Attention Of Lifeguards

One of the local high schools offers swimming lessons during the summer. Four days a week they offer "open swim" immediately following the lessons for the public to come and use the pool. Today was the third time I took DS & DD to open swim after DD's swimming lesson. I've always wondered just how much attention the teenage lifeguards are paying to the swimmers at times. Well, today I had the chance to find out.

We had been in the pool for about an hour when the incident happened. DS & DD were throwing diving rings out into the pool and then taking turns going out to collect them. They also decided that I needed to dive after a few as well. As I was coming up from collecting 3 of the rings I hear a loud, piercing scream. Of course it was coming from one of my children....DD. I got ahold of her and put her up on the side of the pool as I tried to figure out why she was screaming. At that point I noticed the blood dripping from her lower lip. So I climb out of the pool and walk her into the girls' locker room to check her out and clean her up. A couple of minutes later, after I had gotten the bleeding to stop, one of the life guards came in with a first aid kit to see if DD was OK. As I answered her that DD was fine, all I could think about was that the response time was not very quick. Hopefully it was just due to the fact that I had already gotten to DD and gotten her out of the pool & was obviously taking care of her.

Now you may be wondering just what happened to DD to cause the bleeding & screaming. Evidently DS had gone to get one of the diving rings and in the process kicked DD in the mouth. (He did apologize profusely when DD & I came back to the pool.) Ah, the joys of children. You just never know what will happen next.....

Always The Unexpected

I just never know what to expect during even the most mundane outings with my children. One would think that with only 2 kids, life would be a little more bland. But not with my two! We went to the bank this morning. Both kids had done chores for my mother-in-law (who currently needs extra help around the house & yard due to recent knee replacement surgery) and she had paid them for their efforts. So both DS & DD had checks they needed to deposit in their savings accounts. Now, I have taken both kids to the bank many times before without incident and had no reason to believe this time would be any different. They're 11 and 7 now....how difficult could it be? I found out the answer to that today.

I had both DS & DD fill out their own deposit slips (want to start them early on knowing the ins and outs of financial responsibility!), then we headed over to the nearest teller. DD made her deposit first. As I was handing her the receipt, I noticed that the amount listed on it as her current balance was way off....as in about $13,000.00 off!! I pointed out the error to the teller, who realized she had printed off the wrong balance. She quickly corrected her error (at this point I should have realized that things happen in threes!).

DD had picked up a sucker from the basket of suckers while making out her deposit slip and requested to be able to enjoy it at this point. She also then asked to get a drink at the water fountain. I gave her an affirmative response to both requests and let her head off for her drink while DS made his deposit. Just before he finished up, DD runs up to me saying, "Mom! Help! My sucker's caught!" I look over to see her holding out a section of her hair away from her head.....with the sucker dangling from it! I tell DS to finish up his transaction as I take DD to the bathroom to deal with the stuck sucker. (Luckily it comes out very easily by running her hair under a flow of water from the sink....so she ended up with very wet hair, but at least the sucker was out!)

One would assume that DS would be waiting for me just outside the bathroom door as he knew that is where we went. We were only in there for a couple of minutes, but when we exited the bathroom, DS was not anywhere to be seen! Someone else was at the teller's station where he had been. I started looking around (the bank is very small & it's very open with even the doors to the offices being all glass) and couldn't find him anywhere. I even looked out the door to see if he had gone to wait by the van. Nope! At this point the bank manager had come out of her office and noticed me looking around. She asked what the problem was, and when I told her I had lost my son she promptly started frantically looking around the lobby (she started by looking at the kids' area, which is stocked with paper, crayons, a small table, and little chairs....until I informed her that he was a tall 11-year-old!). At this point it dawned on me that maybe, just maybe, he had decided to go to the bathroom. So I went over to the men's bathroom door and hollered in, asking if he was in there. And yes, that is where I found my son. (And when he came out, we had a little chat about letting me know if he was going to be somewhere other than where I was expecting him to be!) I must say, I never thought I would lose my 11-year-old, especially in someplace as small as our local bank. And especially as this is the child who has never been one to wander more than 2 feet from me at any store or such, ever! But I guess that just goes to show that life will never be dull with these two around!