What a Difference a Day Makes

What a difference between today and yesterday. Woke this morning to the downstairs being a comfortable 74 degrees and a nice little breeze fromt the west(which helps our house catch the breeze). The kids played outside this morning and didn't even want to come in for lunch. Beautiful! I am playing catch up posting various 'leftover' pictures which didn't seem to have a home anywhere else or stuff I wanted to just put on and I don't have time to really write anything to go with them. Here goes......

G leftover birthday pic: Thanks for the cookies Nena and Pop, he loved them and the tin that sings

. Next is a little frightening.....me, with "long" hair. This is the only way my family gets to see me since I rarely end up in vacation photos and such. Thanks E for taking the pic. This was before I got it bobbed off. I'll try to get a new pic soon. My stylist was so proud that we have managed to grow it out so far without my going crazy. I am so proud I have hair.

Next comes our garden box. Squash is growing like crazy. Tomatoes are small as are bell peppers. Blackberry bushes are in full swing and the huckleberries could use some rain (these are in the wetlands next to our house).

Finally some pics from around the yard. It looks considering the heat and drought; of course it should since I have been draggin hoses almost every day.

First, agapanthus around the birdbath. There is rosemary behind the birdbath.

Next are the front pots with this cool little plant that has the greatest colors to it.... and I cannot remember its name.

The containers on the front porch are a little over the top. They could use a trimming.

Finally, I have always wanted to grow hydrangea and now I can. Some of these even survive full sun here (in addition to surviving my care, or lack thereof).

OK that's the end of the hodgepodge of pictures.

love and hugs! B

Run for Shelter....

It is hot and I am complaining again. I know we are blessed to at least have one room of the house where we can escape. Yesterday at Target there were people all over looking for fans.... fans at nearly 100 degrees aren't going to do much. We are also under air stagnation advisories; no wind. What I wouldn't give for a humdinger of a thunderstorm right now. Yesterday we stayed in the house as long as possible then went to run errands and go to the mall to hide out. Today we are planning to hide at the Y in the pool. Tomorrow I was planning the library but already heard from my neighbor that it looks like a shelter with people packed in wherever they can fit and the parking lot overflowing into the lot next door. Friday it looks like we will have some relief at 85... yippeee! Can't wait to put the kids back in their own beds for a night.
love and hugs and think about me as you are sitting in your nice air-conditioning, B

Is the Heat On?

While our temperatures are not nearly as high as in other places, they can be miserable. Mostly because there are few places to escape when the weather gets hot. Hot is relative; this week all week it will be low 90s. Basically a record for here. Lows go to the 70s so the time when our house should cool down, it doesn't. We actually got out the window AC unit that we brought from VA with us and put it in the bedroom (the only window in the house that it would fit in). Most homes here are not air-conditioned. Most businesses here are either not air-conditioned or the AC is low grade and not meant to actually cool for day on end. Right now we are having a camp out in our bedroom and the kids will not sleep and it doesn't feel all that cool in here. Maybe I need a nice cold bath.... maybe I need a vacation someplace with AC.
B

Happy Birthday G!!!!!

G celebrated his birthday with a full day of fun, phone calls, and friends. His big gift was a scooter which we gave him a couple of weeks ago.
He had special breakfast out and then ran errands with D and E. When they got home we opened his gifts

and before we knew it, it was time for his friends to come over and play and party. OK, it was a very low key party with the kids mostly playing with his new toys and eating cupcakes and ice cream.
It had been a gray day, but the sun came out just as the party ended and everyone ended up playing in the cul-de-sac until 8. Dinner was late and light (a cookout had been planned, but was put off until Saturday since everyone was full of party food). We did cut into G's big birthday cake after dinner: pineapple upside down cake. D and I thought it was great, but the kids did not like it. I don't know where G got the idea except that maybe since Spongebob Squarepants lives in a pineapple.... I don't know where this one gets his ideas. I guess the birthday will officially finish Saturday with G's requested cookout.

Here is a quick pic from the actual day of G's birth; this is the moment D and I will always remember because I had been quietly looking at him and he was just laying there and when I spoke to him he looked right at me with a look on his face that said "That's the voice I have been listening to". This was about 30 minutes after his birth.
I love scanning in old photos!
Today was G's check up and we figured out why E's clothes from kindergarten don't fit him. At 5 years E was 41 inches tall and 39 pounds while G is 45 inches tall and 49 pounds. I just bought G school shorts that E can share with him. E better watch out, the day is quickly approaching when his little brother will beat him up.
love and hugs and if I stack heavy books on his head will he stop growing? B

Dentists are Sadists

Apologies to all dentists out there, but you are. I got my permanent crown put on a tooth today. Getting the thing prepped was not that bad (enough Novocaine can numb anything), but the quick procedure of putting on the final piece was not so fun. There was no numbing because you have to be able to bite and make sure it feels right. So they take off the temporary crown so just the ground down piece of tooth with roots right at the surface is left and then proceed to use a METAL SCRAPER to take off the rest of the temporary cement..... WRONG! Why can't they use something plastic. Every time the poor hygienist got near a "sensitive place" I jumped like she hit me with a cattle prod. She finally was so scared of my jumping that she used a piece of cotton to rub the rest off. Then the dentist came in to put on the crown and tried it on to check fit without cement in it--- oh I'm sorry, did I forget to mention that the crown is lined with METAL. Felt very nice against a nearly exposed root. Oh well, I did live through it and hopefully in the end I will be able to eat foods of different temperatures without pain every day.
love and hugs and brush your teeth... no really, right now. Go brush your teeth so you never have to have a crown put on. Go brush. Stop reading this and go.
B

Ironic Haircuts?

Well, ironic for G who does not like attention, but really wanted to try a mohawk before it got too close to school time. M on the other hand looks right at home in the punk rock look. Pretty funny that D and I (who are kind of conservative if you hadn't noticed) would have two out of three kids with mohawks right now. Some of you are asking why...... well, why not? Their babysitter had one last summer and they have been waiting for summer so they could do it too. Plus it's hair-- it will grow back...... OK on people other than me it grows back.

Too Funny! B

Cool New Blog Feature

I came across this on someone else's blog and thought it was pretty cool. So now I can see where people are logging on from.....or not. I keep wondering if it is worth it to keep the blog going, but D does enjoy it a lot and it gives me an outlet for writing. I also like using it as a family diary of sorts.
love and hugs and log on more often to boost my self esteem :)
B

Sunburn Might Help

The kids have never had a sunburn. Last year they looked a bit pink at one point, but it faded as soon as we got inside. In eight years they have never had the pain of just sitting there with your skin sizzling. They have never lost a moments sleep because they just felt too hot to sleep (and without AC here it would be much worse). They have never looked forward to having sunscreen put on because they don't really understand how it helps them....... that is where my frustration is right now. When I say it is time for sunscreen they all groan and begin complaining. While I am applying they squirm and whimper like I am plying them with acid and it is taking their skin off. I feel like the bad guy for always 'making them' wear sunscreen. So I am beginning to think maybe they need one nice sunburn. Maybe then they would value their sunscreen more and wear their hats without complaint.
But then again who would have to nurse them through the sunburn.... oh yeah, that would be me.
love and hugs, B
PS-- if they have a sunburn sometime, will it be considered premeditated on my part since I wrote this?

Quote of the Week

Last week E had the quote of the week. I changed his sheets and used a set of T-shirt sheets I had not tried before on his bed. When he went to hop in that night he looked at them and felt them and then said "You have got to be kidding me". He is not a fan of the t-shirt sheet I guess. He slept on top of the covers for a night or two in protest.
love and hugs,B

The Bird Lady

We went to the zoo today as one of the kids choices for summer reading. The little ones have each 'read' 30 books and E has read about 10 hours total so far. We went right down to see the walruses being fed and spent a long time there talking with the keepers. I can tell how much E and G enjoyed zoo camp because they both talked the whole time about the animals and what they had seen and done and learned. Definitely doing zoo camp again next year.
They really wanted to feed the budgies again; last time the exhibit had just opened and the budgies were shy. They are no longer shy. I immediately had one land for me and shared it with M. I then got one on G's feed stick and passed it to him. At this point it turned a bit Hitchcock and I had them on a stick in each hand and then one on each arm fighting to get on the feed sticks. E was still nervous about feeding them-- the one time he did try to hold a stick with a budgie on it another budgie landed on his head and scared him.
The merry-go-round is free so we ended our visit with a ride. M had to ride his pig; I wish I had a video. He rides along behind E yelling OINK! OINK! and saying "my piggy gonna get you E". A fun reward for all of us for reading books.

Happy Anniversary!

July 8, 1995

All American Fourth of July.... in Canada

Yes we again left the US and ran for the border for the Fourth of July long weekend. And we had a terrific time.
The ride over was a bit rough ( 2 of 3 sea monsters were a bit seasick) but we made it safely and made it through customs and immigration. We stayed in the Empress hotel this time.
Very pretty. Super location since it is right in the harbor where all the action is and it makes it easy for us to make quick stops at the room as needed during the day.

We hit the highlight of the trip right off with whale watching Friday afternoon after we arrived. The boys loved it! OK, G (the vegetarian veterinarian) loved it right away and E had to warm up to it. Once we saw the first whales everybody was into it.

At this point before I show you some beautiful pictures of the orca whales we saw I have a confession to make: I am not good at taking pictures of animals. I am too slow or the camera is too slow or something, but all I have is a bunch of fins half in the water. I am borrowing some pictures from our guides web site of the actual whales we saw. If you want to see some of the terrific pictures she took you can check out her web site at http://www.maiacetus.blogspot.com/ Kyla was a wonderful guide; good at explaining things to both the adults and getting on the kids level as well. And her photos are fabulous (see below)



The last picture is a baby only about 6 months old. Even D had a wonderful time watching the whales.

Kyla even gave us a great dinner recommendation in Chinatown.
Dinner was great and the kids were wiped out when we finally hit our room for the night.


Saturday we went to miniature world where it looks like its real only really, really small. The kids had been looking forward to this for weeks, but it went really really fast as they practically ran through. I was more impressed than I thought I would be.


We wandered shops for a while and then took a harbor ferry boat over to Fisherman's Wharf for seal feeding and lunch.



Our last afternoon of the trip was spent knitting and napping (me and M; him napping and me knitting) or swimming and shopping (D, E and G). We had some dinner, watched street performers,

and then played on the lawn of the Parliament building

until the lights came on (the boys said this was one thing they definitely wanted to see again this year.



Yes, our new Independence Day tradition is a bit strange, but it has also made the past 2 holidays really fun!
love and hugs, B

Role Models?

Who exactly are we honoring as role models? Michael Jackson? Steve McNair? Why are these people being held up after their questionable deaths as heros? What heroics did they perform during their lifetimes? Sing a song. Play a game. All for an outrageous amount of money. Yes they did charitable works, but does that make up for the way they lived their lives? Do we just ignore the manner in which they lived their lives because they were celebrities?
Also, all the people who are saying they died too soon. You reap what you sow. You live your life with terrible habits, right on the edge and you expect to live forever? The ones left behind all seem so shocked by the outcome of lives that they watched spiral.
MJ-- he was never convicted, but how many times did he so innocently settle out of court? Where did he head after the last big scandal? Someplace where it was acceptable.Was it a tragedy that he was addicted to all those drugs? Well, call me hard hearted, but who started taking them and kept taking them? He was sick. Yes, on so many levels. Oh yes, the parents who raised (and exploited him) are now getting custody to do the same to his "kids"(not actually his at all).
The McNair thing-- His brother was quoted as saying what a wonderful family man he was. No, I don't think so. If he was such a terrific family man why wasn't he home with his family instead of at a condo his wife didn't know about with his girlfriend. Last time I checked marriage and family was a loving couple and maybe some kids-- no girlfriend.
So when the funeral events are held I am not going to watch. I will hope that a few people will take away the lesson of reaping what you sow. I hope my kids take away one more lesson on drug use and what happens when you turn your back on your family.
What qualities exactly are we honoring in these men's lives? What kind of life are we showing our children is worthy of this level of public adoration?
B

E Belongs in the Zoo

E is guest blogging today ( I am just typing)

Hi! I went to zoo camp yesterday. It was fun. I saw animals. In the morning we made snacks for the elephants, saw the walruses being fed, saw an armadillo, and we went 'behind the scenes' for lots of animals. We went in the puffin exhibit with the puffins! My favorite animals were armadillo, otters, and walrus. Everybody loves ET the walrus-- he is 37 years old. We went to a zoo show before lunch. We ate our lunches inside and did an art project painting a stained glass decoration for the window. After lunch we played in the playground area.
We are going to Canada for the weekend. We will write about it when we get back. I am really excited about going to Miniature World. G is excited about going whale watching.

Thanks E for helping me blog about your zoo camp experience.
love and hugs and happy fourth of July (even though we are being so patriotic by leaving the country) B