The Power Of....

The stage is set -

It is 5:30pm.  The Big Boys are running around the house like idiots (and I use that term lovingly).  The living-room is a disaster, couch pillows are thrown about, the Thomas Train chair is tipped over in the middle of the floor, all of the books are off the bottom of the bookshelf.  Husband is in the kitchen going over the repairs he did to his uncle's computer with him and finding out what repairs need to be done to his cousin's computer from him cousin.  Dinner, chili; is thankfully done and simmering on the stove.

ERP and I are sitting on the couch.  I am trying to comfort nurse him; he is suckling some and then popping off and crying.  I send the Biggest Boy for a swaddler.  I plan on trying to sway and sush ERP in hopes of calming him.

ERP has been having terrible gas pains for the last hour.  Husband had gotten him calmed some and ERP took a cat nap, but that is over and he is pissed.  I've given him gas drops and let him nurse all he wants.  Gas pains suck.  Baby hates them, parents hate them more.

ERP is wailing.  Screaming.  He is not happy.

Enter stage left; my mom and her boyfriend.  Right on time for our dinner date, they come baring cornbread and double chocolate cake.

I suggest to my mom that she go across the street (yes, I live in the middle of nowhere with a liquor store across the street, convenient at times - yes.) and get some beer.  Beer goes excellent with chili and a crying baby (drink while nursing or right after nursing, never nurse if you are feeling the affects of the drink).  My mom offers to take ERP so I can go get the beer.

I step outside, the night air is warm for January.  It feels like rain, but it isn't raining.  It is quiet outside.  A few minutes later I am armed with Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat Ale and back in my house.

But now my house is different.  Husband is done taking care of the computer business, the Big Boys are quieter.  But more importantly, ERP is done crying.  My mom is rocking him and he is asleep.

I pass around beers - sorry, none for the boys; and set the table.  My mom transfers ERP to his vibrating seat, and he continues to sleep.  He sleeps through all of dinner.  And dessert.  And us sitting and talking afterwards, relaxing.

It feels like a miracle.  I know Husband or I could have gotten ERP to settle down; we have mad baby calming skills; but sometimes you just need the power of grandma.

Pen Marks

Years ago RR and I lived in a 2-family house with my mom and youngest brother.  We lived downstairs and they lived above us.  At the time my mother didn't have a clothes dryer so they would use mine.  It was new. I had bought the washer dryer set in cash, along with my other major appliances and they were something I was proud of.  They were installed in the kitchen and vented out the window to the drive-way.

One day I came home from work, and while using the dryer my brother exploded a blue pen in it.  The inside drum was no longer sparkling white and clean; instead it was smeared with pen marks.  I was mad.  Livid, is probably a better word for it.  My brother and poor mother heard more than their fair share about how upset I was with the situation.  How could my brother be so irresponsible with my things I thought?

Then my brother passed away, March 23, 2009.

I had certainly gotten over the pen marks in my dryer at that point.  But did I need to be so upset at the time?  Clearly I can't erase the past; and I am sure my brother knows how much we all loved him, despite the stupid things he would do from time to time; after all he was just a kid of 23 when he died.  Every single time I open the dryer I think of my brother.  Those pen marks are still there.

Fast-forward to about a month ago, I am taking RR's clothes out of the dryer and I notice a new substance also coating the inside walls of my dryer.  It looks like dryer lint, but it's sticky.  Turns out I washed and dried gum in RR's pants pocket.

You know I never said anything to him about it.  I cleaned up the mess, the best I could, and rewashed his clothes.  I've learned somethings in life just aren't worth loosing you're cool over.  Dryers and other appliances can be cleaned and replaced; but you can't say the same for people.

Old is New Again

The other day I posted about his TT and RR are starting to play together.

This has had more benefits that you can imagine.

Like I can say "RR go play with your brother while I make dinner/fold the laundry/sweep the floor/do other chore I would rather not be doing."  And off they go to play, sometimes with tears because someone got to rough or someone destroyed some layout - but generally they are good.

Playing with his little brother is really expanding RR's imagination . the one I thought he was loosing as he got older.  The crib becomes a pirate ship, the play tents are a carnival game, the possibilities are endless.

And then there are the toys.  The toys that RR discarded years ago as he got older and his tastes changed.  All of a sudden these toys are new to him again.  It's like a trip to the attic is better than a trip to the store, all of a sudden we have all these great "new" toys and they have TONS of pieces... no collections to build up.  Piles and piles of trains, a handful of play tents and tunnles, Duplo Legos (in both castle and Thomas sets) toys toys and more toys.

I'm so glad I kept them all (well, most of them at least).

Chores

Yesterday Turkey said to me, after I asked him to get started on his chores "You don't care about me".

I replied "I do care about you, that's why I have you do chores".

Daily he has to clean up after himself, put his clothes in his hamper and feed his fish.

Weekly, every Sunday, he has to empty the trash cans in the bedrooms and bathrooms, clean the toilets, and take out the recycling.

As I request he has to set the table, dust, vacuum, put away his clothes, feed the dog or cat, and clean his room / playroom.

Not too much in my opinion.  Reasonable for an eight-year old.

Tonight I decided it was time he learn how to do the dishes.   And by dishes I mean clear the table, load the dishwasher and wash the pots and pans.  The experience sounded something like this:

"I am going to have to dishes for the rest of my life."

"Ugh..... ugh...."

"This is so boring."

"What is the difference between place and throw?  It's in there."

"Ooooohhhhhhhh."


Clearly he needs to do more chores... ha ha ha....

A Day in the Life: Sunday

6:26am - The day begins with the sound of Monkey crying through the monitor.  I nudge Husband, "Please go and nook him, if he sees me he'll want to eat and I NEED to sleep until at least 7am."

6:59am - Turkey crawls into our bed, upside down and proceeds to kick his way into the middle.

7:05am - Alarm goes off... hit snooze.

7:15am - Hit snooze again.

7:26am - Come up with a "get out of the house in the next 30 minutes plan" with Husband and go to nurse Monkey.  Secretly wanting to have Turkey skip CCD and mass.

7:48am - Dash into the bedroom to get dressed after nursing Monkey and getting him dressed.  Throw on a dress, earrings, brush teeth and hair.

7:56am -Leave 1 minute late, only to realize we forgot the diaper bag.  Run into the house, get the diaper bag and dash out.

8:18am - Drop Turkey off at CCD 3 minutes late (thankfully there were lots of other kids late this morning as well).  Head off to get gas, the paper and coffees at the gas station.  Get bummed because the ice is broken, decide to have an ice coffee anyhow.

8:30am - Go to the grocery store to pick-up donuts for breakfast and a few groceries for the house.

8:55am - Eat donuts in the church parking lot with Husband.  He straps the baby into the carrier and I go to pick-up Turkey from CCD, and head to mass with him.

10:20am - Mass is over and Husband takes Monkey to the car while I stop to buy a chocolate pop with Turkey on the way out.  Stop get the garlic bread that we forgot.  Go to another grocery store to get the garlic bread.

11:15am - Get home and feed Monkey some whole wheat Cream of Wheat for breakfast.  Nurse him.  Help Husband fix the leg on the coffee table.  Pull Monkey away from the ceramic cat he's been sucking on while we fixed the table and haul him upstairs for a nap.  Husband offers to rock him some since he just nursed.

12:05pm - Make Turkey a hot dog for lunch and chat with him.

12:15pm - Get Husband for a client call and make him lunch as he heads off on a job.

12:45pm - Work with Monkey on his Light of Christ book for Cub Scouts.  Nook Turkey on and off for about 30 minutes, as he's having a hard time napping.

1:05pm - Nurse Monkey.

1:20pm - Send Turkey to his room for some quiet time, and curl up in bed reading waiting to make sure Monkey is fully asleep.  Close eyes and drift off into a light sleep.

2:05pm - Get woken up by Monkey crying.  Get Turkey out of his room as well and head to the kitchen.  Lunch (soy blueberry yogurt with iron fortified cereal added to it) for Monkey and hot chocolate with whip cream for Turkey and I.

2:38pm - Turkey cruises around his playpen and Monkey works on Cub Scout stuff while I start washing diapers.  Once the diapers are in the wash, I watch the boys play together with the Christmas animated toys - the singing Cow, Reindeer and Snowman.

3:05pm - Make brownies with Turkey while Monkey plays on the floor.  Husband comes home.  Monkey plays in his jumper-roo while I work on putting pictures in frames.

4pm - Nurse Monkey and put him down for a nap.  Work on a blog post.

4:30pm - Start making dinner with Turkey (chicken parmesan), and Husband.

5:02pm - Have dinner without Monkey as he's still sleeping.  Play truth or dare with Turkey while eating, it's his new favorite game.

5:50pm - Nurse Monkey when he gets up, and then take him down for dinner (what we had) and clean the kitchen while he eats.  Clean him up and make him giggle (while playing with the towel), until he can't giggle anymore.

6:28pm - Supervise Turkey washing his hair, and get his clothes put away and him settled into bed.  Put away the diapers.  Go in to say good-night to Turkey and  discuss the validity of Santa Claus (he's been a skeptic for years).

7:10pm - Take a shower with Monkey, get him ready for bed, nurse, and tuck him in.

7:33pm - Get Turkey's bag ready for school and sit down to watch some TV and work on this blog post.

8:20pm - Hang up picture frames that I made earlier in the day.  Defrost milk, wash bottles, make bottles for Husband for tomorrow and brew myself a cup of tea.  Put the dog to bed.

9:00pm - Start watching Bag of Bones with Husband... get really into it.

9:25pm - Move movie watching into the bedroom and wrap Christmas gifts (nothing like Stephen King to get you in the holiday mood).

10:15pm - Decide the movie is lame and go to give Monkey a dream feed.  

10:35pm - Watch Family Guy.... turn off the light around 11pm....

11:31pm - Get all pissed off that I am not asleep yet while listening to Husband snore.  

A New Chapter

Yesterday I started Chapter 34 in my life.  It was a good day.  And I am hoping the rest of this chapter follows suit.

Chapter 33 was a difficult one.  It started out a bit rocky with Turkey's diagnosis of Asperger's, but then quickly became joyous during the birth of Monkey.  The end of winter and early spring were quiet, but it seemed like unrest was afoot.  In July we lost my step-father, and then in September we lost my Grandmother.  It was during this time my heart and mind went to a dark place, life suddenly seemed a lot less fair than it had in the past. But I looked to my family, especially Husband and my mom, and prayed really hard on it all; and slowly but surely I am finding my way around to a more positive light.

And I think I'm off to a pretty good start for a more positive light, and a better new chapter.

Usually I am a sullen mess around my birthday.  It's not that I don't like my birthday or getting a year older; it's that my paternal-grandmother died right before and was buried on my 25th birthday. Something like that sticks with you for a while.

But this year I was better.  I was less moody, less upset... and considering all that had happened this year, I think I did pretty darn good on my birthday.  Husband was impressed by how cheerful I was compared to previous year.

The day was wonderful.  Breakfast in bed with my guys, swimming lessons for the boys, lunch (child free) with my dear friend KB (who invited my mom as an added surprise), a little holiday shopping, and then a quiet evening home with presents and ice cream cake... capped off with the Griswold's Christmas and some alone time with my honey.

It's days like that, that remind me; that while I was lost a lot, and don't have everything my heart desires; I do have a lot.... especially a lot of love. And for that I am truly blessed.

So bring on this next chapter... I KNOW it's going to be better than the last.

Timeless Darkness

My birthday is in mid-December, and having snow on my birthday isn't very typical in these parts.  Sure we'll get the occasional minor snow storm around Thanksgiving, but those are nothing really.

Don't get me wrong, in these parts come the end of November it feels like winter.  The ground is frozen solid, the sky is bleak, and you can just feel it in your bones.  But that's the end of November; not Halloween or sooner.

About this time last week, I was pleading to my step-dad above to stop doing his snow dance; that we didn't need a white Halloween.

He didn't listen.

Early in the afternoon on October 29th it started snowing.

Monkey watching the snow fall.
You can tell he's getting sick in this picture, more to come on that later.

It was a big fat heavy snow.  And before long it was sticking to everything in site.

My poor pumpkins.

Some of Turkey's Halloween decorations.

By mid afternoon we had resigned to the fact that it was going to snow, and snow and snow some more.  Turkey was thrilled and was out playing in it as quick as I could get the snow gear out of the attic.

He must have made a dozen snow angles.

Around dinner time the cable, phone and internet went out.  (Whoever thought of bundle packages for these services should be shot.)  And with that we decided to watch the 3rd Narnia movie: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, once Monkey went to bed.  Husband, Turkey and I were cuddled up on the couch watching, and just as the movie was getting good there was a "pop".  Blackness followed.  

Until this point I don't think we ever thought it was possible we would loose power during this storm.  After all we had weathered a blizzard, a hurricane and intense thunderstorms with tornado possibilities in this house never once loosing power.   But thankfully earlier in the week Husband had been getting ready for a camping trip with Turkey and had stocked up on batteries and flashlights.  

That first night we all slept in our own beds; well at least the kids slept some (Monkey was waking nearly every hour).  Husband and I were constantly being awakened by strange sounds coming from outside in the darkness.  It was around this point that the meaning of time was lost.  

Sometime before dawn Husband and I started looking outside to see what had happened over night.  We were greeted with some 17-inches of snow.

The tree that just missed Husband's car.

Our poor patio furniture.

Our tall pines.

Turkey climbing the snowy mountain, we call our back yard.

The noises we were hearing over night were the trees in our woods falling down around us.  We got lucky, a tree fell on our neighbor's house (and they left in the middle of the night), and another large branch fell just inches from Husband's car.  When you opened the door, you were greeted with a strong pine scent from all the fall trees and branches.

Once Monkey was down for his nap, Husband, Turkey and I made quick work of getting our car out in-case there was an emergency.

The hours and days that followed were a loss; and right now seem a blurry memory.  

We: 

• went for a drive to assess the situation
• waited in line for 40 (ok 50) minutes to get gas (learned a lesson on that one)
• ate tuna sandwiches for dinner by candle light
• all slept in the big bedroom, which always stays warm (Turkey has a new love for his grandpa's sleeping bag)
• watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the laptop (while praying the battery lasted)
• went to bed when it got dark
• laid in bed waiting for the sunrise, wondering what time it was
• tried to make cell calls, but the cell towers were down
• visited relatives who actually had power AND cable AND internet (lucky them)
• stopped by our church
• play Left-Right-Center by flashlight
• read lots of books by daylight (I can't believe I waited so long to share Eloise with Turkey)
  and the list goes on and on.

Some time, in the middle of the night in the blackness, on Halloween morning we heard a utility truck working on the pole outside the bedroom window.  Husband and I lay there in the dark, half expecting the lights to come on suddenly, trying not to get our hopes up.

Then around dawn it came: "We have power" Husband stated.  And we did.  All of the lights and gadgets we had left on back on Saturday night came whizzing back to life.  

We were lucky.  Very lucky, we got power back before many of our friends and family and even neighbors.  It is nearly 5 days later and some of our friends still don't have power.  In fact my work is still without it.  Unfortunately we didn't get phone, cable and internet back until last night; so we were not able to share our good fortune with everyone and offer them a warm place to stay.  (Cell service was reduced to 911 calls only for a few days as well.)

Turkey was anxious to go trick or treating with the kids up the street, but after a few houses we received word that trick or treating was cancelled.

The boys and the neighbor's being goofy.

But this was only the first half of our adventure this week.....

Seeing Blue

Today Husband and I decided to start removing the nasty old carpets in the upstairs of our house.  My Step-Dad was going to do this for us before we moved in, but then his work got busy, and one thing lead to another and now he's no longer with us.  A few weeks ago I pulled up the edge of the carpet on the stairs and I saw that our stair were painted blue.  Then curiosity got the best of me and I started looking under corners of rugs in the bedrooms upstairs, and was delighted to find hardwood floors, but saddened to see that they too were painted blue.

Our house was build in 1915, so sometime in the last 96 years someone decided blue floors would look wonderful.  My guess is they are a product of the 70s... as most things this tacky (myself included) are.

The photos do not do justice to how nasty the carpet was.  It smelled.  It was full of dirt, despite us vacuuming it weekly.  There was dirt under it, piles and piles of dirt.  And so much was stuff spilled on it over the years that some of the carpet padding is stuck to the floor.

Then once we finished the stairs we decided to do the hallway.

Gotta love the blue floors.  But in my opinion, it's way better than the carpet.  That icky, stinky, ugly, nasty, carpet.  Good riddens... I am happy to be seeing blue.

Cleaning

I need to clean.

I want to clean.  Yes, I woke up this morning and felt the want to clean.

But I can't seem to find the focus to do it.

I've had a great cup of coffee and a nice breakfast (2 eggs over easy of course; and a side of toast).

Walked around the house and picked up a few things.

I've nursed the baby a few times, and have started a few loads of laundry.

Then I picked up a few more random things.

I talked on the phone with my aunt.  Then I talked on the phone with my cousin (who is having her first baby in December, so exciting).

Then I nursed some more.

I took Turkey to the grocery store, and ate way too much for lunch.

Oh and somewhere this morning I published a blog post, and now I am writing another.

I need to clean.

I want to clean.

I cannot seem to find the focus to do said cleaning.  Maybe after another cup of coffee (decaf, of course)....

Tomatoes

The first year we lived here we didn't have a garden, we moved in in July so their simply wasn't time.

Our second summer I planted a garden in an area that originally had this huge tree stump my step-dad had ground up.  The soil was full of tree bits; which admittedly was not the best choice for a garden.  But I planted anyhow.  We had onion, peas, cucumbers, summer squash, beans and tomatoes.  

The garden last summer.

Nothing made it, except the tomatoes.  Apparently the woodland creatures felt all of the other plants and their flowers were delicious and they ate them right up.  With no real competition in the garden the tomatoes (cherry ones, bush style) took over.  It was like the attack of the killer tomato plant.  In the end we couldn't eat them all and tons of them rotted on the vines.

This summer I had big plans for the garden and Husband was going to install a fence for me around it.  I was determined to make something other than tomatoes grow.

But then life got in the way.  Between the baby and going back to work I never got around to planting the garden.  I was upset, but it happens; there was always next year.  Until one day I looked good and hard at the garden and sure enough I had tomatoes growing.  The seeds from the ones we never picked last year took root and sprouted.  There must have been a dozen or so tomato plants growing.  I picked the healthiest ones and set them up with tomato cages; and took out the rest.  Ha ha!!!  A garden without even trying, and it was the first time I ever grew something from seeds.

Why, yes.  I do need to weed again.