Okay, so it's not really from hell. And it probably would have been easier to put up with my dad around. But we were bound and determined to do it on our own. Well, a weekend and two afternoons and evenings later, it is almost finished. In fact, as I write, Matt and neighbor John are out there with flood lights trying to finish the darn thing.
It all started Saturday. Well, it really all started in July when my dad bought the play set for us from Menard's. It's pre-cut, pre-measured, pre everything, impossible to screw up. Not so. We did screw it up. Several times. But it is standing and it looks great in the flood lights.
I'll back up. We bought it in July. It sat in the garage for 6 weeks. Did I mention before that we are both teachers? How did we not have "time" to do it this summer? Well, if I am to be totally honest, it was me who did the dragging of the feet. I mean, Ben just turned two and has no fear. I really did not want him climbing on a structure four feet off the ground and flinging himself down a slide or rock wall and until he was at least two years and two months! Which he is now. Factor in also that we just recently got our back fence opened up to include our whole yard instead of just a portion of it. So the play set actually has a large area to sit.
Now, on to Saturday. Friday night I say, "Honey, let's get a plan so that we can start this thing in the morning and not sleep in (HA!) and then open the boxes, realize we need other things from Menard's and then finally start at 2:00."
"Umm, okay, but I have to set up my deer stand tomorrow and the Huskers play at 11:00."
Scratch the plan that was in my head, try to stick to reality. "Okay, I'll go to the Farmer's Market with the kids, let you watch the Huskers and we'll start at 2:00." No, we started at 5:30. And it morphed from "we" into Matt and neighbor John. I guess my role in getting this all done was limited to watching the kids.
A little side note here. I love my kids. I love doing things with my kids. I love talking to my kids. I also love my husband. I like my neighbor. But by the time Sunday night rolled around, I didn't like ANYONE!
Saturday progresses......sloooooowowwwwwlllllyyyyyyy. Sunday is rally Sunday at church. I take the three kids, by myself, to the last part of church, then to Sunday school and the nursery and finally home. I drive into the driveway. I see no progress. I get crabby again. Apparently, a team of carpenters can build a house in 72 hours on extreme home makeover, but Matt and neighbor John cannot build a platform with a frame in 36. The learning curve here is immense. I spend all day with the kids. Gabe has two timeouts. Ben has one timeout. I take Gabe and Lyndee to Target while Ben is sleeping. I feel as if I am slowly losing my mind and Gabe's continual conversation and questions starts to sound to me like the teacher's voice on Charlie Brown. Woh wah woh wah wonh wohn.
Sadly, not my most brilliant parenting moments occur on Sunday. At 8:00 I put all three kids down to bed. I sigh in relief. At 8:03, I start the marathon of getting the boys to be quiet and stop being silly in their now shared bedroom. I went in the first time and they were out of their beds wrestling. I threaten, cajole and bribe them back into bed. The wrestling was mildly entertaining. The next time I go in, everything that was on Gabe's bed and on the floor are now on Benjamin's toddler car bed. I can't find Benjamin, he is buried.....and laughing. I threaten, cajole and bribe them back into bed. I take Ben into our bed. I put Ben back into his bed. I take Gabe into our bed. Finally, at 9:00 pm on Sunday, I march outside and tell Matt that he has to be done, I cannot take it anymore and can he PLEASE come inside and help me get Gabe to bed?! I think he thought that he was going to have to check me in somewhere because he got very quiet and agreed to come in.
I recovered and Monday we began our week again. It was a fine day, considering that Gabe had lost all tv and bike riding privileges for his behavior the night before. Matt came home at 4:00. We did not see him again until 11:00 pm. Tuesday, Matt works over lunch, takes a continuing grad credit class, comes home at 7:00, goes to work on the play set. It is now 11:03. They are still working.
I know it will all be worth it in the end. The kids will love to play on it. I will enjoy sitting outside watching them play on it. Matt will feel proud that he built this for his kids. My dad will be happy that Matt did it by himself. Our friends and their kids will enjoy it, too. But for now, I miss my husband, my kids miss their dad, even the dogs miss him. We'll remember his hard work this weekend when we're playing on it and he's fishing for muskie up in Detroit Lakes. I guess he's earned it.
And the next project on my list? Putting together the bunk beds for the boys. Stay tuned!
Kiddos 2014
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I've given up...
Okay, don't panic. But I have given up.....on my quest for a tan. I remember my summer lifeguarding days in high school and college. I fancied myself tan, blonde and rather leggy. Now, I'm just highlighted, wearing capris to hide my veriscosities and incredibly white Norwegian. I always start the summer under the illusion that I may once again get that golden glow. After a few days spent at the pool or the lake, I achieved all that I could achieve this summer. Not a tan, not even a rosy glow, but only a minor pink hue. I've lost all my ability to turn what little melanin I have into a tan. I'm not the only one in my family to be pasty white. Both my sisters are (sorry guys), my mom used to be although she's the tannest of us all now, and my dad, well, only his forearms bear witness to the fact that he's been in the sun.
And now, it looks as if I've passed down the pastiness to my children. Gabe is a true tow head. White blonde hair in the summer, a touch of strawberry in the blonde the rest of the year. Ben, thankfully, inherited the Northrop olive tone and darker blonde. And Lyndee, well, she is perhaps the whitest baby I have ever seen! I am loyal to sunscreen and my kids have never had a burn, as white as they are. It's amazing stuff. And they really do have a bit of a tan, but only my husband and I can see the tan lines in the tub. And when the kids have declared, "It's naked time!" but that's another posting altogether. Until then, pasty whites, unite!
And now, it looks as if I've passed down the pastiness to my children. Gabe is a true tow head. White blonde hair in the summer, a touch of strawberry in the blonde the rest of the year. Ben, thankfully, inherited the Northrop olive tone and darker blonde. And Lyndee, well, she is perhaps the whitest baby I have ever seen! I am loyal to sunscreen and my kids have never had a burn, as white as they are. It's amazing stuff. And they really do have a bit of a tan, but only my husband and I can see the tan lines in the tub. And when the kids have declared, "It's naked time!" but that's another posting altogether. Until then, pasty whites, unite!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Home
We left Omaha on Monday, later than anticipated of course, and got back to Rochester at about 9 pm. Matt grumbled about having to start work on Tuesday and we set about unpacking. I unloaded the car while he readied the kids for bed. Between 9 and 10:30 I don't think I sat down. Between putting kids to bed, feeding Lyndee and unpacking, it was just a blur. Right in the middle of this Matt says, "Ready for bed?" Daggers shot from my eyes. "Ummm...no, I don't think so. Do you not see everything that has to be done before I can relax?" And in all reality, he doesn't. He could go to bed with things piled everywhere and it wouldn't bother him. Sigh, sometimes, I wish I could be more like that. Needless to say, Matt went to bed. I cleaned up a bit more, then sat on the couch, downed 4 pieces of friendship bread and a water, and read the paper. Downtime and alone time are necessary things after a togetherness weekend!
And then it was Tuesday and the first day of school. Matt made it out the door on time. I had to wake Gabe up so that he could get ready because we had Meet the Teacher for preschool. Mom came to babysit the little ones and Gabe and I were off. I had combed his hair, sprayed it and made him wear a collared shirt. What I hadn't done was prepared myself for this. I had to admit, I was nervous! And anxious. And a little sad! This was my baby, going off to school for the first time! Gasp, sob! Okay woman, get a grip. It's preschool, and it's only Meet the Teacher for crying out loud. You're not leaving him there! Deep breath, here we go.
We walked to room 7, met his teachers, found his cubby and signed in. He explored the science table (yay, bugs!), the water table, the painting table and the blocks. Then he got to go outside with one of his teachers while I and the rest of the T/Th am parents stayed to listen to the teacher. I have to say, it is quite different being on this end of the parent/teacher relationship. I admit I was a bit intimidated. And worried about how I was going to be judged as a parent. If anything, this will definitely make me approach teaching differently. During the presentation, the back door creaked open and in walked my son. He walked straight to me and said, "Mommy, I'm going to play inside now." Ummm, not you're not and I took him straight back outside. No sooner had I sat down in my preschool chair than I heard the door creak open again and heard my 4 year old sobbing. I knew before I turned around that it was him. Yep, I'd know that sorrowful, "I've been injured" cry anywhere. Turns out, he had fallen off the swing. Nope, no ice thanks, it wouldn't help anyway. As we walked off the hurt, turns out the thing he wanted most was to play in the three year old playground. It did look a bit more enticing with its brighter toys and other climbing things. And no basketballs were out in the four year old playground. My son the ball boy! We were finally calmed and able to leave without a scene. I hope his teachers didn't look at each other after we left and go, "yep, he's the one this year, he's the crier." I am a tad apprehensive about how Thursday will go. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.
The funny thing that happened today actually occurred in the van while running an errand. We have many great conversations in the van.
"Mommy, why do rotten eggs smell?"
"Well, I don't know. I guess it's because they don't hatch right or something inside goes rotten."
"Oh. Maybe they're rotten because they come from rotten birds."
You can just hear the wheels turning all the time. I mean, that would be logical, wouldn't it. Rotten eggs come from rotten birds! "No, I don't think so honey. I think the eggs just go bad sometimes."
"I think I know why Mommy. I think it's because their mommies don't take care of them."
"Oh, I don't know honey. I think sometimes it just happens."
"Yeah, and maybe it's because sometimes their mommies don't take care of them," he replies.
What could I do but agree with him. Maybe it is because their mommies don't care for them. There are so many questions to which mommies don't know the answer. Not the least of which is why rotten eggs smell bad!
And then it was Tuesday and the first day of school. Matt made it out the door on time. I had to wake Gabe up so that he could get ready because we had Meet the Teacher for preschool. Mom came to babysit the little ones and Gabe and I were off. I had combed his hair, sprayed it and made him wear a collared shirt. What I hadn't done was prepared myself for this. I had to admit, I was nervous! And anxious. And a little sad! This was my baby, going off to school for the first time! Gasp, sob! Okay woman, get a grip. It's preschool, and it's only Meet the Teacher for crying out loud. You're not leaving him there! Deep breath, here we go.
We walked to room 7, met his teachers, found his cubby and signed in. He explored the science table (yay, bugs!), the water table, the painting table and the blocks. Then he got to go outside with one of his teachers while I and the rest of the T/Th am parents stayed to listen to the teacher. I have to say, it is quite different being on this end of the parent/teacher relationship. I admit I was a bit intimidated. And worried about how I was going to be judged as a parent. If anything, this will definitely make me approach teaching differently. During the presentation, the back door creaked open and in walked my son. He walked straight to me and said, "Mommy, I'm going to play inside now." Ummm, not you're not and I took him straight back outside. No sooner had I sat down in my preschool chair than I heard the door creak open again and heard my 4 year old sobbing. I knew before I turned around that it was him. Yep, I'd know that sorrowful, "I've been injured" cry anywhere. Turns out, he had fallen off the swing. Nope, no ice thanks, it wouldn't help anyway. As we walked off the hurt, turns out the thing he wanted most was to play in the three year old playground. It did look a bit more enticing with its brighter toys and other climbing things. And no basketballs were out in the four year old playground. My son the ball boy! We were finally calmed and able to leave without a scene. I hope his teachers didn't look at each other after we left and go, "yep, he's the one this year, he's the crier." I am a tad apprehensive about how Thursday will go. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.
The funny thing that happened today actually occurred in the van while running an errand. We have many great conversations in the van.
"Mommy, why do rotten eggs smell?"
"Well, I don't know. I guess it's because they don't hatch right or something inside goes rotten."
"Oh. Maybe they're rotten because they come from rotten birds."
You can just hear the wheels turning all the time. I mean, that would be logical, wouldn't it. Rotten eggs come from rotten birds! "No, I don't think so honey. I think the eggs just go bad sometimes."
"I think I know why Mommy. I think it's because their mommies don't take care of them."
"Oh, I don't know honey. I think sometimes it just happens."
"Yeah, and maybe it's because sometimes their mommies don't take care of them," he replies.
What could I do but agree with him. Maybe it is because their mommies don't care for them. There are so many questions to which mommies don't know the answer. Not the least of which is why rotten eggs smell bad!
Weekend in the Big O
We had a great time in Omaha! Gabe and Ben love going to "Inbraksa."
Gabe and Lyndee woke up early Saturday, so we decided to let Daddy sleep and take a walk. It's a great neighborhood to walk in, and we headed down the hill. And I mean, hill! As we walked down, I wondered how I was ever going to make it back up. We walked till we got to a nice park and Gabe got down to play. He was worried that he was going to get sand in his flip flops and and I wouldn't let him take them off because of my worry of glass. So, he finally agreed that these were his "sandy shoes," and it was okay to get sand in them. He fell off the merry go round once, all because "you were supposed to stop it when I said stop Mommy!" Ooops, chalk it up to my poor mind reading ability once again!
He went up a really big slide and I said, "Be careful!"
"I know Mommy. I know to be careful, so don't say it ever again!" Little does he know that I said it again and again each time he climbed up the steps for that slide!
We were enjoying the morning when who should happen upon us but Matt's dad, out for his morning walk. "Hi Grandpa!" Gabe waved as he approached. Grandpa kept on his walk, we took a short cut and Grandpa caught up with us. We stopped to put Gabe back in the double stroller just as a very short woman came down the path with her dog. "That sure is a little lady, Mommy!"
"Quiet honey. It's not polite to point out people that are different from us."
"But I didn't point." Have I told you that my son is very literal?
Thank goodness Grandpa walked the rest of the way with us and helped me push the stroller up the big hill. We made it home in one piece!
Gabe and Ben played pretty hard in the morning, outside, inside, down the basement, you name it. In the basement they played trampoline with the spare bed and the air mattress. I didn't know what they were doing until I peeked in and Ben was sitting on the air mattress. Gabe was standing on the bed. He yelled, "Hiiiii Yahhhh!" and jumped down onto the air mattress. Ben bounced into the air, appendages flailing. I cringed, Ben giggled hysterically. Then they switched places. They're taking turns! I thought proudly. I had to interrupt the fun to tell them that lunch was ready.
They sat down at the table, red faced Gabe gulped down two glasses of milk. Then they proceeded to eat bananas and pb and j. If they ate well, then they got their chocolate muffin for dessert. Who said bribery at meal time doesn't work. Gabe had to eat one more bite of banana.
"I did it Mommy, can I be excused?"
"Don't you want your chocolate muffin?"
"Not right now."
I should have known then that something wasn't right. My son, turning down chocolate. Was it opposite day? I ate the rest of his sandwich and his banana and went to check out the new bookcase that Cheryl bought.
"Mommy?" yelled G from the kitchen. "Mommy come quick!"
Panicked, I rushed in. I found Gabe holding his tummy. "Mommy, my tummy hurts. Look how big it is."
"Uh oh, does it feel like you're going to throw up?" No sooner had the words been spoken than "Blaaaaaahhhhhhhhh......" All over the kitchen floor. Now, throw up is not my favorite thing in the world, but I have an amazing ability to close off my senses and just do what needs to be done. But Matt, well, Matt and vomit should never be in the same place. Never. Ever.
I have to say, in this instance, once his initial gag was over, Matt did an admirable job taking care of Gabe in bathroom. Other times I've had to yell at him, "Go, just go. I can't clean up after both of you!" So, I'm cleaning up and extrapolating out in my head what this means for the weekend. I imagine myself cleaning up after all three of my kids in a house that should never have anyone sick in it because it is way, way too beautiful and put together. I imagine us being sick all the way home. I imagine myself sick shortly because I did, after all, just down Gabe's sandwich and banana without a second thought. Thankfully, that was the only episode of sickness that occurred. Twenty minutes later, Gabe wanted to eat his chocolate muffin. Needless to say, I kept him in the tiled kitchen vs. the brand new eggplant colored carpet in the living room, for about two hours.
The rest of the day was fine. The Huskers crushed Nevada and Matt and I got to take a sunset drive in his parents' solstice convertible.
We went to bed and Sunday morning came quickly. It started in a hurry. About 6 am, we hear thud, scream, crying. Gabe fell out of bed and hit his head. Now my eldest son had a very low pain tolerance. If Ben had fallen out of bed, he probably wouldn't even have woken up. If he would have woken up, he would have said, "Ow," and promptly gone back to sleep. Gabe on the other hand screamed bloody murder, thereby waking Matt and me, Ben and Lyndee. After drinks, we finally got them settled again albeit in different places in the house. Matt and Ben in the end bedroom where the boys had been together and me, Gabe and Lyndee in the middle bedroom. I finally gave up trying to sleep when Lyndee and Gabe decided that 6:30 was a good time to be awake. We went for another walk, this time with Lyndee in the front snugli and Gabe walking with me. We did NOT go down the big hill. It was another exercise vs. entertainment walk. We talked about sprinklers, flags, sewers, pine trees, leafy trees, deciduous vs. coniferous, sharks vs. fish and the purpose of speed bumps. It was enlightening.
Next came church. It was very enjoyable, mostly because the boys were in the nursery. Pastor Brad talked about work, being it was Labor Day weekend. The interesting point is that we are never really away from work. Not with cell phones and virtual work space and computers. We think about how convenient it is, when in reality, it just means that when we are at home, we are still working. There used to be more of a separation between the two. We've just become such a multitasking nation, perhaps even world that oftentimes I think we always feel distracted. I know that I feel like that sometimes anyway. My advice for a day, turn off the cell phone, don't check your email, don't text anyone, go for a walk, talk with your family. You'll be surprised at how much better you can concentrate. I know that I am.
We made it successfully through breakfast at LePeep, put Ben and Matt down for nap, (just kidding honey, although he did sleep!), and then went to the zoo. I had remembered Matt's claritin, the zoo pass, some ibuprofen, juice boxes and snacks for the kids, diapers, wipes, the snugli......but not the stroller. We pulled in to the parking lot, started unloading the kids and "Oh no."
"What?"
"I forgot the stroller."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Ummm, nope."
"Well, now what?"
"I don't know, walk I guess."
"There goes your wife of the year award."
Dejected, we started up the hill to the gate. Half way up I had an epiphany. "They must rent strollers or something!" We got there and the sign posted said, "Sorry, we are out of strollers at this time. Check back later." Well, one minute later I walked up and checked. Sure enough,they had a double stroller and the best part? The attendant let us have it for free. He must have taken one look at our load and felt pity on us. We got to see everything we had planned on, except the elephants. Gabe was pretty disappointed with that, and so were we since we had walked to the far end of the zoo to see them.
But then we went to the giraffes. We saw the male in his inside dwelling. Gabe said something that I didn't hear.
"What honey? Yeah, he does have a big mouth."
"No, not mouth Mommy. He has big balls!" Oh floor, please open up and swallow me now.
Matt looked at me apologetically and said, "Yep, you're right son, he does have big balls," and shrugged his shoulders. Boy am I in trouble when the boys get older!
When we left, Gabe said his favorite part was seeing the choo choo train. Hmmm. Ben said that his favorite was seeing the gorillas. We didn't see any gorillas. Hmmm. Makes me wonder if the zoo pass is really worth it! Just kidding, we love the zoo. My favorite part? Seeing the elephants. What?! We didn't see any elephants? Oh yeah, that'll have to wait until the next visit.
Gabe and Lyndee woke up early Saturday, so we decided to let Daddy sleep and take a walk. It's a great neighborhood to walk in, and we headed down the hill. And I mean, hill! As we walked down, I wondered how I was ever going to make it back up. We walked till we got to a nice park and Gabe got down to play. He was worried that he was going to get sand in his flip flops and and I wouldn't let him take them off because of my worry of glass. So, he finally agreed that these were his "sandy shoes," and it was okay to get sand in them. He fell off the merry go round once, all because "you were supposed to stop it when I said stop Mommy!" Ooops, chalk it up to my poor mind reading ability once again!
He went up a really big slide and I said, "Be careful!"
"I know Mommy. I know to be careful, so don't say it ever again!" Little does he know that I said it again and again each time he climbed up the steps for that slide!
We were enjoying the morning when who should happen upon us but Matt's dad, out for his morning walk. "Hi Grandpa!" Gabe waved as he approached. Grandpa kept on his walk, we took a short cut and Grandpa caught up with us. We stopped to put Gabe back in the double stroller just as a very short woman came down the path with her dog. "That sure is a little lady, Mommy!"
"Quiet honey. It's not polite to point out people that are different from us."
"But I didn't point." Have I told you that my son is very literal?
Thank goodness Grandpa walked the rest of the way with us and helped me push the stroller up the big hill. We made it home in one piece!
Gabe and Ben played pretty hard in the morning, outside, inside, down the basement, you name it. In the basement they played trampoline with the spare bed and the air mattress. I didn't know what they were doing until I peeked in and Ben was sitting on the air mattress. Gabe was standing on the bed. He yelled, "Hiiiii Yahhhh!" and jumped down onto the air mattress. Ben bounced into the air, appendages flailing. I cringed, Ben giggled hysterically. Then they switched places. They're taking turns! I thought proudly. I had to interrupt the fun to tell them that lunch was ready.
They sat down at the table, red faced Gabe gulped down two glasses of milk. Then they proceeded to eat bananas and pb and j. If they ate well, then they got their chocolate muffin for dessert. Who said bribery at meal time doesn't work. Gabe had to eat one more bite of banana.
"I did it Mommy, can I be excused?"
"Don't you want your chocolate muffin?"
"Not right now."
I should have known then that something wasn't right. My son, turning down chocolate. Was it opposite day? I ate the rest of his sandwich and his banana and went to check out the new bookcase that Cheryl bought.
"Mommy?" yelled G from the kitchen. "Mommy come quick!"
Panicked, I rushed in. I found Gabe holding his tummy. "Mommy, my tummy hurts. Look how big it is."
"Uh oh, does it feel like you're going to throw up?" No sooner had the words been spoken than "Blaaaaaahhhhhhhhh......" All over the kitchen floor. Now, throw up is not my favorite thing in the world, but I have an amazing ability to close off my senses and just do what needs to be done. But Matt, well, Matt and vomit should never be in the same place. Never. Ever.
I have to say, in this instance, once his initial gag was over, Matt did an admirable job taking care of Gabe in bathroom. Other times I've had to yell at him, "Go, just go. I can't clean up after both of you!" So, I'm cleaning up and extrapolating out in my head what this means for the weekend. I imagine myself cleaning up after all three of my kids in a house that should never have anyone sick in it because it is way, way too beautiful and put together. I imagine us being sick all the way home. I imagine myself sick shortly because I did, after all, just down Gabe's sandwich and banana without a second thought. Thankfully, that was the only episode of sickness that occurred. Twenty minutes later, Gabe wanted to eat his chocolate muffin. Needless to say, I kept him in the tiled kitchen vs. the brand new eggplant colored carpet in the living room, for about two hours.
The rest of the day was fine. The Huskers crushed Nevada and Matt and I got to take a sunset drive in his parents' solstice convertible.
We went to bed and Sunday morning came quickly. It started in a hurry. About 6 am, we hear thud, scream, crying. Gabe fell out of bed and hit his head. Now my eldest son had a very low pain tolerance. If Ben had fallen out of bed, he probably wouldn't even have woken up. If he would have woken up, he would have said, "Ow," and promptly gone back to sleep. Gabe on the other hand screamed bloody murder, thereby waking Matt and me, Ben and Lyndee. After drinks, we finally got them settled again albeit in different places in the house. Matt and Ben in the end bedroom where the boys had been together and me, Gabe and Lyndee in the middle bedroom. I finally gave up trying to sleep when Lyndee and Gabe decided that 6:30 was a good time to be awake. We went for another walk, this time with Lyndee in the front snugli and Gabe walking with me. We did NOT go down the big hill. It was another exercise vs. entertainment walk. We talked about sprinklers, flags, sewers, pine trees, leafy trees, deciduous vs. coniferous, sharks vs. fish and the purpose of speed bumps. It was enlightening.
Next came church. It was very enjoyable, mostly because the boys were in the nursery. Pastor Brad talked about work, being it was Labor Day weekend. The interesting point is that we are never really away from work. Not with cell phones and virtual work space and computers. We think about how convenient it is, when in reality, it just means that when we are at home, we are still working. There used to be more of a separation between the two. We've just become such a multitasking nation, perhaps even world that oftentimes I think we always feel distracted. I know that I feel like that sometimes anyway. My advice for a day, turn off the cell phone, don't check your email, don't text anyone, go for a walk, talk with your family. You'll be surprised at how much better you can concentrate. I know that I am.
We made it successfully through breakfast at LePeep, put Ben and Matt down for nap, (just kidding honey, although he did sleep!), and then went to the zoo. I had remembered Matt's claritin, the zoo pass, some ibuprofen, juice boxes and snacks for the kids, diapers, wipes, the snugli......but not the stroller. We pulled in to the parking lot, started unloading the kids and "Oh no."
"What?"
"I forgot the stroller."
"You've got to be kidding me."
"Ummm, nope."
"Well, now what?"
"I don't know, walk I guess."
"There goes your wife of the year award."
Dejected, we started up the hill to the gate. Half way up I had an epiphany. "They must rent strollers or something!" We got there and the sign posted said, "Sorry, we are out of strollers at this time. Check back later." Well, one minute later I walked up and checked. Sure enough,they had a double stroller and the best part? The attendant let us have it for free. He must have taken one look at our load and felt pity on us. We got to see everything we had planned on, except the elephants. Gabe was pretty disappointed with that, and so were we since we had walked to the far end of the zoo to see them.
But then we went to the giraffes. We saw the male in his inside dwelling. Gabe said something that I didn't hear.
"What honey? Yeah, he does have a big mouth."
"No, not mouth Mommy. He has big balls!" Oh floor, please open up and swallow me now.
Matt looked at me apologetically and said, "Yep, you're right son, he does have big balls," and shrugged his shoulders. Boy am I in trouble when the boys get older!
When we left, Gabe said his favorite part was seeing the choo choo train. Hmmm. Ben said that his favorite was seeing the gorillas. We didn't see any gorillas. Hmmm. Makes me wonder if the zoo pass is really worth it! Just kidding, we love the zoo. My favorite part? Seeing the elephants. What?! We didn't see any elephants? Oh yeah, that'll have to wait until the next visit.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Garage Sales, Packing, and a Road Trip
Another beautiful morning. I'm starting to appreciate the early peacefulness of mornings vs. the latenight peacefulness of my post midnight life prior to the start of the school year. We got out of the house early to go garage sale shopping with Grammie. The kids were great. At one sale we stopped at there were numerous toys in a sled to look at. This occupied the kids so I could clothes shop for Lyndee. When I was ready to go, I told the boys that they could each pick out one toy from the sled to buy. I had to steer Ben away from a plastic Twins cup (I've successfully managed to rid my house of most of those "collector" items). He ended up choosing a rubber snake with a strangely missing tail. Gabe chose a light up bouncy sticky octopus squid like thing that was quite occupying for the rest of the morning.
Garage sales are a phenomenon that intrigue me to no end. Here, I'm going to put stuff I don't want in my driveway and garage, price them, and wait for you to dig through them and buy what you want of my cast offs. At some sales I'm like, "You don't want this anymore? Sweet! My gain!" At others I'm like, "Yeah, and you want a quarter for THAT?!" It always slays me when something is marked 10 cents and a buyer will say, "Take a nickel for this?" Ummm...no? I mean, it's only a dime!
I had a garage sale last Friday and the Friday before that. It was supposed to be a Friday/Saturday thing, but we had torrential rains and flooding on Saturday. So, I figured since it was already set up in the garage anyway, might as well try next week, too! It was fairly profitable for me and then none of it came back into my house so it feels great too. On the final day, I put a sticker on Gabe that said $1 and on Ben I put one that said, "Make Offer." No one bought the boys but I had several offers for cute little Lyndee.
My favorite purchase of the morning came at the end where I got an Old Navy sweater and pair of Gap jeans for myself. Seriously, I am the queen of bargains! You know those magazines where they put "affordable" outfits on models and then list prices like "Sweater - $90, Jeans - $120, Shoes - $80, Total for this great outfit - only $290!" They could put me in there with this caption "Gap Jeans - $1, Old Navy Sweater - $.50, Old Navy Flip Flops - $2, Total price - $3.50!" I love the hunt. Garage sales do kind of ruin me for the mall though, because later on I'll be thinking, "$29.99 for a pair of Gap jeans? Pshaw, I could get them for $1!"
After a successful day of shopping, we came home, had lunch and started packing for Nebraska. Gabe says, "Inbraska." It's one of those things we don't want to correct him about. That and "Happy Donald's." I called Matt and said I was packing the van and he could come home anytime. He came home while I was changing Lyndee's diaper and I told him he could change Ben's diaper and vacuum and we'd be ready to go. "What? I thought you said you were ready?"
"Well, I am except for those things, Oh and nursing the baby."
"Really, you want me to vacuum?"
Does he have to ask? I have this thing about coming home to a vacuumed house. Just one of my annoying idosyncrasies. Kind of like the use of a carpet rake for those of you who know my inlaws! I say that completely lovingly, too!
Just to appease me, my hubby did vacuum while I got the rest of us ready to go. We were packed, got some gas, and headed down the road. Sippy cups filled, diapers changed, DVD player in place, Diet Coke on hand. We had a great ride, mostly because the kids fell asleep right out of the gate and Matt and I had some quality converstation, and some opportunity to catch up on the latest Harry Potter book. I get to read them aloud as Matt drives. We've done that with all the books. The kids woke up just north of Des Moines and we stopped at Happy Donald's for a drive thru meal. It took 20 minutes in the drive thru, which would ordinarily annoy me. But it gave us a chance to go to the bathroom, change diapers and feed the baby. Oh and Gabe and I found 4 pennies!
The boys enjoyed the rest of the ride, we played I spy, read some books, and managed to only play the DVD player the last 45 minutes. Matt and I shared his Ipod to play name that tune. I'm terrible. He's the detail guy who remembers every play from every game, or one liners from movies, or statistics from any sporting event. I'm the big picture girl. Alas, I can sing the song (or the first few lines anyway) but have no idea of who sang it. He knows after the first few bars who sang it, on what album, what era, what genre, etc. etc. It can be fairly irritating to those of us who like to be right all the time!
Right or not, it was an enjoyable way to start the last weekend of our summer. Yep, it's true, Fall is upon us. Sniff, Sniff, Tear, Sigh......On to new horizons.
Like Super Target, Sonic, and Scheels. Man, I love Omaha!
Garage sales are a phenomenon that intrigue me to no end. Here, I'm going to put stuff I don't want in my driveway and garage, price them, and wait for you to dig through them and buy what you want of my cast offs. At some sales I'm like, "You don't want this anymore? Sweet! My gain!" At others I'm like, "Yeah, and you want a quarter for THAT?!" It always slays me when something is marked 10 cents and a buyer will say, "Take a nickel for this?" Ummm...no? I mean, it's only a dime!
I had a garage sale last Friday and the Friday before that. It was supposed to be a Friday/Saturday thing, but we had torrential rains and flooding on Saturday. So, I figured since it was already set up in the garage anyway, might as well try next week, too! It was fairly profitable for me and then none of it came back into my house so it feels great too. On the final day, I put a sticker on Gabe that said $1 and on Ben I put one that said, "Make Offer." No one bought the boys but I had several offers for cute little Lyndee.
My favorite purchase of the morning came at the end where I got an Old Navy sweater and pair of Gap jeans for myself. Seriously, I am the queen of bargains! You know those magazines where they put "affordable" outfits on models and then list prices like "Sweater - $90, Jeans - $120, Shoes - $80, Total for this great outfit - only $290!" They could put me in there with this caption "Gap Jeans - $1, Old Navy Sweater - $.50, Old Navy Flip Flops - $2, Total price - $3.50!" I love the hunt. Garage sales do kind of ruin me for the mall though, because later on I'll be thinking, "$29.99 for a pair of Gap jeans? Pshaw, I could get them for $1!"
After a successful day of shopping, we came home, had lunch and started packing for Nebraska. Gabe says, "Inbraska." It's one of those things we don't want to correct him about. That and "Happy Donald's." I called Matt and said I was packing the van and he could come home anytime. He came home while I was changing Lyndee's diaper and I told him he could change Ben's diaper and vacuum and we'd be ready to go. "What? I thought you said you were ready?"
"Well, I am except for those things, Oh and nursing the baby."
"Really, you want me to vacuum?"
Does he have to ask? I have this thing about coming home to a vacuumed house. Just one of my annoying idosyncrasies. Kind of like the use of a carpet rake for those of you who know my inlaws! I say that completely lovingly, too!
Just to appease me, my hubby did vacuum while I got the rest of us ready to go. We were packed, got some gas, and headed down the road. Sippy cups filled, diapers changed, DVD player in place, Diet Coke on hand. We had a great ride, mostly because the kids fell asleep right out of the gate and Matt and I had some quality converstation, and some opportunity to catch up on the latest Harry Potter book. I get to read them aloud as Matt drives. We've done that with all the books. The kids woke up just north of Des Moines and we stopped at Happy Donald's for a drive thru meal. It took 20 minutes in the drive thru, which would ordinarily annoy me. But it gave us a chance to go to the bathroom, change diapers and feed the baby. Oh and Gabe and I found 4 pennies!
The boys enjoyed the rest of the ride, we played I spy, read some books, and managed to only play the DVD player the last 45 minutes. Matt and I shared his Ipod to play name that tune. I'm terrible. He's the detail guy who remembers every play from every game, or one liners from movies, or statistics from any sporting event. I'm the big picture girl. Alas, I can sing the song (or the first few lines anyway) but have no idea of who sang it. He knows after the first few bars who sang it, on what album, what era, what genre, etc. etc. It can be fairly irritating to those of us who like to be right all the time!
Right or not, it was an enjoyable way to start the last weekend of our summer. Yep, it's true, Fall is upon us. Sniff, Sniff, Tear, Sigh......On to new horizons.
Like Super Target, Sonic, and Scheels. Man, I love Omaha!
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