It was a humdinger of a morning.
Steve left early to work out.
I wrote notes for three of my children explaining to their teachers that they were not at school yesterday because I had wrongly written on my calendar that there was no school. (Feel like crawling under a log.)
I confessed to Paul that I had made a mistake and apologized. He got a little smile on his face and said, "Thanks, mom."
The kids and I left the house early for "Moms & Donuts"
On the way to the school, between shouting at my kids to settle down, I realized that Paul forgot to take his medicine.
Nathan ate a whole doughnut. Petra ate half, and the other half was carefully wrapped and put in my pocket.
We visited the book fair. Got some books.
The little guys and I got back in the car. Petra finished her doughnut.
We went to the gas station and put 28.68 gallons of gas in the car.
Petra announced that she was not going to make it home dry if we didn't find a restroom.
We got the key from the service station attendant. I held Nathan off the floor while Petra went potty.
We hurried home and picked up Paul's medicine.
We went back to school and gave Paul his medicine and gave Julia her coat, since it was forties and windy.
We went to Petra's school to register for kindergarten.
There was a line.
There was a tub of rubber balls meant for the preschoolers' play time.
The janitor tried to take a deflated basketball from Nathan.
Nathan stared him down.
The janitor had mercy on the antsy children in the line and left the rubber balls.
An hour later we left Petra's school and went to the bank.
I parked the car in the garage and gratefully thought, "It could have been worse. I didn't wreck the car."
Once we got home, Nathan and Petra gleefully went to their room to play. I gleefully let them.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Blue & Gold
Last Saturday, on epic Pi Day (3-14-15)
Paul had his Blue & Gold Ceremony to cross over into Boy Scouts.
As part of the crossing over ceremony, he had to walk across a bridge that was about 6 feet off the stage floor. I was very proud of my boy.
Paul had his Blue & Gold Ceremony to cross over into Boy Scouts.
As part of the crossing over ceremony, he had to walk across a bridge that was about 6 feet off the stage floor. I was very proud of my boy.
a little exercise
We usually go to our tae kwon do class on Monday and Wednesday nights. Last week it was just going to work better to go on Thursday night. Thursday nights make me a little nervous, because there are different instructors, and the Thursday night class is called, "Boot Camp."
Steve and Julia went to weapons class for an hour before "Boot Camp." They scarfed down a little supper first. This time Petra went with them because she wanted to play with some blocks in a side room while they practiced. She was supposed to eat her supper in the car, but didn't so much.
Paul and I showed up later with Petra's uniform and joined them for class.
We started with warm ups.
Master A: Pick a number!
Child: 76.
Master A: Okay, everybody do 76 jumping jacks.
After a little warm-up, we were divided into lines and started running back and forth across the mat. I started sprinting, and then learned that we were working on stamina. Nuts. I quickly became the bottleneck in our group. I did my best. After some, running, skipping, and jumping, but well before we were supposed to be done, I knelt to the floor to breathe and not pass out.
Julia: Mommy, are you okay?
Julia's friend: Mrs Kuhlman, are you okay?
Me: I'm okay, I just need to breathe.
I think Petra was also slowing down a bit, but she was in line with her brother and he was keeping an eye on her. The instructor was looking out for her too. At one point he pointed her out to the class as an example of having fun while exercising, because her running across the mat looks a lot like dancing across the mat. Another time, she tried to tell him about something before skipping away. He shook his head and said, "Man, I don't speak Mickey Mouse any more."
Later we did a somewhat slower kicking drill. I was much better because I could catch my breath, but Petra was all used up by then. She leaned against me, "Mommy, I feel sick."
"That's because you didn't eat any supper. You may go sit by the mirrors." And she did so quietly for the last 15 minutes of class.
I was so proud of my family. Petra did pretty well for herself. Steve, Paul, and Julia made it through the whole class without any unscheduled breaks. We were all drenched by the time we were done, and Paul and Julia felt like summer had come.
Steve and Julia went to weapons class for an hour before "Boot Camp." They scarfed down a little supper first. This time Petra went with them because she wanted to play with some blocks in a side room while they practiced. She was supposed to eat her supper in the car, but didn't so much.
Paul and I showed up later with Petra's uniform and joined them for class.
We started with warm ups.
Master A: Pick a number!
Child: 76.
Master A: Okay, everybody do 76 jumping jacks.
After a little warm-up, we were divided into lines and started running back and forth across the mat. I started sprinting, and then learned that we were working on stamina. Nuts. I quickly became the bottleneck in our group. I did my best. After some, running, skipping, and jumping, but well before we were supposed to be done, I knelt to the floor to breathe and not pass out.
Julia: Mommy, are you okay?
Julia's friend: Mrs Kuhlman, are you okay?
Me: I'm okay, I just need to breathe.
I think Petra was also slowing down a bit, but she was in line with her brother and he was keeping an eye on her. The instructor was looking out for her too. At one point he pointed her out to the class as an example of having fun while exercising, because her running across the mat looks a lot like dancing across the mat. Another time, she tried to tell him about something before skipping away. He shook his head and said, "Man, I don't speak Mickey Mouse any more."
Later we did a somewhat slower kicking drill. I was much better because I could catch my breath, but Petra was all used up by then. She leaned against me, "Mommy, I feel sick."
"That's because you didn't eat any supper. You may go sit by the mirrors." And she did so quietly for the last 15 minutes of class.
I was so proud of my family. Petra did pretty well for herself. Steve, Paul, and Julia made it through the whole class without any unscheduled breaks. We were all drenched by the time we were done, and Paul and Julia felt like summer had come.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
pre-verbal
Nathan may be a little behind on using words, but he is quite advanced musically. He seems to have a special affinity for theme songs.
If you say, "Star Wars" he will launch into singing the Star Wars theme.
He also does a recognizable rendition of Darth Vader's theme.
There is a web video where the characters sing, "Umee, umee, shaka-laka, shaka-laka." He has that down pat.
On Monday I said, "What are we going to do tonight, Nathan?"
"Uh-a-uh?"
"Same thing we do every night... try to take over the world!"
Nathan started singing the "Pinky and the Brain" theme song, "Piggy, piggy an a Pig - EE, Pig - EE, Pig - EE, Pig - ee... AR!"
He also likes, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and frequently composes his own little tunes.
If you say, "Star Wars" he will launch into singing the Star Wars theme.
He also does a recognizable rendition of Darth Vader's theme.
There is a web video where the characters sing, "Umee, umee, shaka-laka, shaka-laka." He has that down pat.
On Monday I said, "What are we going to do tonight, Nathan?"
"Uh-a-uh?"
"Same thing we do every night... try to take over the world!"
Nathan started singing the "Pinky and the Brain" theme song, "Piggy, piggy an a Pig - EE, Pig - EE, Pig - EE, Pig - ee... AR!"
He also likes, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," and frequently composes his own little tunes.
Monday, March 09, 2015
What do you fear losing?
Overheard:
This lego guy has no hands, and this one has one hand. This lego guy has both hands, but he has "handophobia," the fear of losing his hands.
This lego guy has no hands, and this one has one hand. This lego guy has both hands, but he has "handophobia," the fear of losing his hands.
Thursday, March 05, 2015
Medical Advice Part 2
At about 12:30 last night I was awoken from a deep sleep by, "Mommy, I can't sleep because I have a cough."
"What?"
"Mommy, I have a cough and I can't get to sleep."
"Who?"
"It's me, Julia."
"Julia who?"
"Mom!"
"Okay, okay. Go to the bathroom. I'll think about what I can do."
A minute later, she was back beside my bed.
"Oh, you're back. Right - the cough. Umm... uh. Oh, I can give you some cough syrup. Go back to bed and I'll get you some cough syrup."
I slowly stumbled downstairs, found some children's cough syrup that had not expired, and dosed some out for her.
I later decided I better make a plan of action for the next midnight interruption so I can avoid trying to think when my brain has shut down all but vital functions.
 |
| Midnight Medical Action Plan |
Monday, March 02, 2015
Sad birthday
Steve said something last weekend about the dearth of blog posts lately, rationalizing that there was also a lot of stomach upset last month.
I said, "Oh that's right! I haven't posted anything about your birthday."
I think Steve almost started crying over the fact that mentioning stomach bugs reminded me of his birthday.
It was a rough couple of weeks.
I had wanted to do something big for Steve's birthday, because it was a big birthday. Instead the month went something like this:
15 days before Steve's birthday (DBSB) Paul gets sick overnight
12 DBSB Nathan gets sick overnight
10 DBSB Steve spends ~3 days feeling queasy and eating very little.
2 DBSB we think we are healthy and clear so we have friends over to celebrate Steve's birthday
1 DBSB a.m. Sarah wakes up in the wee early hours with stomach upset.
1 DBDB p.m. Petra comes down with the stomach bug - right on our friends' driveway. Sarah is still so ill that she doesn't even get off the couch when she hears the news. Steve buys himself a birthday cake.
Steve's Birthday - Sarah makes 2 critical mistakes. First at 6:00 p.m. while Steve is serving chicken tenders from a box Sarah said, "At least nobody has thrown up ON your birthday." Second at 8:30 p.m. she said "Julia, you are the only person in the house that hasn't thrown up in the last month."
At 11:55 p.m. on Steve's birthday, Julia came down with a fierce fit of the stomach bug.
2 days after Steve's birthday (DASB), Steve came down with the stomach bug.
7 DASB we celebrated Steve's birthday with the cake he bought himself the week before.
12 DASB the dog came down with a stomach bug.
Do we know how to have a good time, or what?
I'll try to get a more sanitized post celebrating Steve's big birthday up soon.
I said, "Oh that's right! I haven't posted anything about your birthday."
I think Steve almost started crying over the fact that mentioning stomach bugs reminded me of his birthday.
It was a rough couple of weeks.
I had wanted to do something big for Steve's birthday, because it was a big birthday. Instead the month went something like this:
15 days before Steve's birthday (DBSB) Paul gets sick overnight
12 DBSB Nathan gets sick overnight
10 DBSB Steve spends ~3 days feeling queasy and eating very little.
2 DBSB we think we are healthy and clear so we have friends over to celebrate Steve's birthday
1 DBSB a.m. Sarah wakes up in the wee early hours with stomach upset.
1 DBDB p.m. Petra comes down with the stomach bug - right on our friends' driveway. Sarah is still so ill that she doesn't even get off the couch when she hears the news. Steve buys himself a birthday cake.
Steve's Birthday - Sarah makes 2 critical mistakes. First at 6:00 p.m. while Steve is serving chicken tenders from a box Sarah said, "At least nobody has thrown up ON your birthday." Second at 8:30 p.m. she said "Julia, you are the only person in the house that hasn't thrown up in the last month."
At 11:55 p.m. on Steve's birthday, Julia came down with a fierce fit of the stomach bug.
2 days after Steve's birthday (DASB), Steve came down with the stomach bug.
7 DASB we celebrated Steve's birthday with the cake he bought himself the week before.
12 DASB the dog came down with a stomach bug.
Do we know how to have a good time, or what?
I'll try to get a more sanitized post celebrating Steve's big birthday up soon.
Sunday, March 01, 2015
February snows
We got a lot of snow and cold in February.
One week the kids had zero school because of
Monday - holiday
Tuesday - snow
Wednesday - snow
Thursday - wind chill
Friday - record breaking wind chill
During the week we tried to keep things a little sane. After mostly fun days Monday and Tuesday we started doing some "homeschool" with work sheets, watching PBS, and math computer games. We also did chores. We cleaned floors, caught up on laundry, cleaned their rooms, sorted papers, dusted, and took care of the chickens. The kids helped with some cooking. My house has never looked so good.
Okay, there was a lot of uncleaning of their rooms right after cleaning them, but I think we came out ahead over all.
I was maybe a little cabin feverish by Friday.
Paul had a friend over Monday and I promised the girls that they could have some friends over Friday. Since I promised, we did indeed invite three sisters over. Petra was so excited that she ran around the kitchen table in tight little circles, yelling "Maya is coming, Maya is coming!" We made mini-pizzas for dinner and took all the kids (2 car loads of us) to open mat night at our tae kwon do school. I think all the kids needed that outing. I almost cried in relief at having somebody else give the kids directions for an hour.
Much more of this and my house will be ready for Martha Stewart. Or I'll have a nervous breakdown. You know, which ever.
We got more snow on Saturday.
Sunday morning Steve was outside shoveling us out when his phone rang. A dear friend was calling to see if he could stop by after church. It was a delight to see him, and I was extra pleased to have the house in good shape - at least as good as it ever gets.
Mom asked me how many inches of snow we got last weekend. I told her I wasn't sure because there had been snow, then ice, then snow. Some snows shouldn't be measured in inches, but rather in pounds per square foot.
One week the kids had zero school because of
Monday - holiday
Tuesday - snow
Wednesday - snow
Thursday - wind chill
Friday - record breaking wind chill
During the week we tried to keep things a little sane. After mostly fun days Monday and Tuesday we started doing some "homeschool" with work sheets, watching PBS, and math computer games. We also did chores. We cleaned floors, caught up on laundry, cleaned their rooms, sorted papers, dusted, and took care of the chickens. The kids helped with some cooking. My house has never looked so good.
Okay, there was a lot of uncleaning of their rooms right after cleaning them, but I think we came out ahead over all.
I was maybe a little cabin feverish by Friday.
Paul had a friend over Monday and I promised the girls that they could have some friends over Friday. Since I promised, we did indeed invite three sisters over. Petra was so excited that she ran around the kitchen table in tight little circles, yelling "Maya is coming, Maya is coming!" We made mini-pizzas for dinner and took all the kids (2 car loads of us) to open mat night at our tae kwon do school. I think all the kids needed that outing. I almost cried in relief at having somebody else give the kids directions for an hour.
Much more of this and my house will be ready for Martha Stewart. Or I'll have a nervous breakdown. You know, which ever.
We got more snow on Saturday.
Sunday morning Steve was outside shoveling us out when his phone rang. A dear friend was calling to see if he could stop by after church. It was a delight to see him, and I was extra pleased to have the house in good shape - at least as good as it ever gets.
Mom asked me how many inches of snow we got last weekend. I told her I wasn't sure because there had been snow, then ice, then snow. Some snows shouldn't be measured in inches, but rather in pounds per square foot.
Nathan expressions
Two weeks ago Nathan mastered the words
No
Mine!
Meanie (as in what to call mommy when she is trying to put you in bed for a nap)
Last week I heard him say or attempt to say
rock
stick
snow!
snowman
butterfly
sorry
Oh me, oh my!
Nathan had a rough time last week. He came down with a stomach bug late Tuesday night. Lot's of laundry. Not so much sleep. 3 a.m. bath with mommy.
Despite being up half the night, he felt much better on Wednesday and by the time Paul and Julia were on the bus to go to school Nathan was racing across house with Petra as if nothing strange had happened.
[Now our washing machine drains into the wash tub in the utility room. I had the following communication with Steve later on Wednesday.
Sarah: Guess what happens when you run a load of "easy" laundry, while the bedding that needs to be rinsed sits in the wash basin?
Steve: It gets rinsed and maybe all the water stays in the sink?
Sarah: Yes and no. I am not crying.]
I guess we let Nathan eat a little too adventurously Thursday night because he got sick again Friday morning. I knew he wasn't feeling well and I left him curled up on the couch with Petra watching over him while I took the older two outside to wait for the bus. When I came inside, Petra ran up to me and said, "Mommy, Nathan threw-up!"
"Are you making a joke?"
"No, Mommy, Nathan threw-up."
"You're not kidding?"
"No, Mommy. Nathan really threw-up."
More laundry. And I think I'm developing an abusive relationship with Lysol.
No
Mine!
Meanie (as in what to call mommy when she is trying to put you in bed for a nap)
Last week I heard him say or attempt to say
rock
stick
snow!
snowman
butterfly
sorry
Oh me, oh my!
Nathan had a rough time last week. He came down with a stomach bug late Tuesday night. Lot's of laundry. Not so much sleep. 3 a.m. bath with mommy.
Despite being up half the night, he felt much better on Wednesday and by the time Paul and Julia were on the bus to go to school Nathan was racing across house with Petra as if nothing strange had happened.
[Now our washing machine drains into the wash tub in the utility room. I had the following communication with Steve later on Wednesday.
Sarah: Guess what happens when you run a load of "easy" laundry, while the bedding that needs to be rinsed sits in the wash basin?
Steve: It gets rinsed and maybe all the water stays in the sink?
Sarah: Yes and no. I am not crying.]
I guess we let Nathan eat a little too adventurously Thursday night because he got sick again Friday morning. I knew he wasn't feeling well and I left him curled up on the couch with Petra watching over him while I took the older two outside to wait for the bus. When I came inside, Petra ran up to me and said, "Mommy, Nathan threw-up!"
"Are you making a joke?"
"No, Mommy, Nathan threw-up."
"You're not kidding?"
"No, Mommy. Nathan really threw-up."
More laundry. And I think I'm developing an abusive relationship with Lysol.
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