Garble

Hmm... let's see. Shannon has a double ear infection, again. The antibiotics are kicking in and the Tylenol is no longer necessary. He didn't wake up at 5:00 am this morning crying, so things are good. He's feeling better just in time for Ken to take the boys to Ohio for the weekend! (I get to stay home and put my seedlings in and whatever else I feel like doing. I'm not complaining!)

The boys felt good enough to go watch their Dad's softball game last night, and we all actually enjoyed ourselves in the warm 75 degree weather. Daddy had 5 RBI's, including a home run for 3 points. In the outfield, well, he's had better days. Throughout the game the boys had a blast playing on and under the bleachers, hanging out in the dug-out, and even taking turns at being bat-boys. Daddy's team actually won the game, too, 8-7. This doesn't always happen.

The seedlings I'd previously mentioned are doing really well. Well, 3/4 of them are. If you look at the pot, you'll see what happens when you dump 1 1/2 packets of seeds into a small space. I gotta do something about that...

And then there's the flat that didn't really take. These were from seeds I'd harvested last year and most likely stored improperly. Can anyone tell me, is this a perennial plant or a couple blades of grass? If it's just grass, I still have time to tear up the tray and put in some more seeds...

I'd put two Cat-mint plants in by the mailbox last year, and they are now going nuts! I've had so many compliments and inquiries about them this spring, I'm thinking of writing a description of them, complete with name and care instructions, (put in ground, forget about them, whack them back when they get too tall,) on my mailbox along with directions to the local nursery. They are gorgeous, though:

And here's how my little flower bed by the house is coming along. You can't see the Cat-mint plant very well because the wind smashed it down so horribly that I had to whack 1 1/2 feet off of it already. It hadn't even bloomed yet! I also have 7 Black-Eyed-Susan plants, which had originally only been 3. Those things multiply faster than rabbits!

And finally, my compromise for making s'mores for a sick kid who couldn't go outside. Not my best idea, but it did warm the house up and melt the marshmallows a little bit...


Yeah, that's me toasting marshmallows in an oven. The kids sorta ate them... well, Corey said they were too sticky, Riley said he felt like he was going to throw up after a few bites, and Shannon, the one who really was sick, he ate all of his. Not to worry, though, I finished off Corey's and snuck the remaining chocolate out of what Riley had left behind...

Ah-ha!

I think I've figured out Corey's fear of pooing on the potty. My friend June clued me in as to what Corey might see when he approaches a toilet...

Home Sick

We finally got up to 80+ degrees yesterday, although it was extremely windy. All of my plants were perky and blooming and it really felt like a normal summer day. It was perfect mowing weather, so I hit the yard last night after the sun broke a bit. The windows were open all day allowing the fresh breeze to permeate the house and brighten it up a bit, too.

Unfortunately, the flowering plants, the mowing, and the fresh breeze throughout the house (kicking up all my dust) also meant severe allergies for Shannon come 5:00 am this morning. When his allergies kick up he retains fluid behind his ears, especially his right ear, making him extremely miserable. I can keep this reaction at bay by giving him a dose of Claritin before things kick in, but this time I was too late. We had a rough night with a lot of tears, ear holding and thrashing about, and by 7:00 am his ear was still hurting him and he had no desire to eat his breakfast or go to school. I knew it was bad because he couldn't hear me when I was only 8 feet away and all he wanted to do was go back to bed.

We went through our entire school day routine and I took Riley and Corey out to the bus. By the time I got back in, this is what I found on my couch:

Oh, yeah, the band-aid. Shannon scraped his nose on the neighbor's swing the other day, leaving a V-shaped scab. Last night in his sleep, he ripped the scab off and after his morning bath demanded I apply a band-aid to cover it up. Blue crayon band-aid to the rescue.

After talking to Ken, who dealt with Shannon's hysteria for the better half of the night, I understood the urgent need for the band-aid. Shannon had told his dad that it was his scab's fault that his ears were hurting because the scab was shaped like an arrow and pointing toward the ear that hurt. Silly me, I thought it was just the allergies.

Enduro Season Opener

Summer is back, and that means it's time for Enduros! If you don't know what an Enduro is, you are missing out! Imagine 150-200 cars on a 3/8 mile track going for 200 laps or last car moving. If you get into a wreck, you gotta work your car out of it or your car will stay on the track for the duration of the race. The only time the racing stops is if there is major debris flying around on the track or a serious injury. If your car becomes inoperable, you have to stay in it on the track until there is a red flag thrown, then you get out but your car remains on the track until the race is over. Most cars don't have break lights either, so good luck following anybody and figuring out what they are doing.

Common occurrences at an Enduro: crashes at speeds of 50 MPH, cars sliding into walls, five car pile ups, flying car parts, smoking radiators, and screaming Herubins in the stands. Things you don't see everyday, but we have witnessed: Cars on fire, cars flipped upside down, cars flipped upside down onto other cars. The BEST!!!

Tonight was the first Enduro of the season for us, we took the whole family and met up with the Velo family. Before the race even began we knew it would be a good night. They had Spectator Drags, which is where anybody who wants to race their car can come compete in one-lap races. They run two at a time with single elimination, the winners then go against the other winners, ending in the best two-out-of-three for the top two cars.

Well, we'd seen idiots trying this before and ruining good tires, or nearly missing the wall in the past. Today, well... first there was the one car who lost control at the finish line and drove straight into the wall at turn one. That was nothing next to the final round, when a souped-up cherry red Camaro lost control at the finish line, spun in a perfect 180 and slammed his entire passenger's side flat into the wall. The wrecker had to get him off the track, his car was so obliterated. Remember, these are street cars, not race cars. Good luck with that insurance claim, buddy.

Anyhow, it was beautiful weather for the Enduro, and the boys were jumping up and down and cheering for the first half. We were sitting at turn four, and most of the good wrecks had been happening at turn two, but it was still fun to watch. Toward the last fourth of the race, oil had spilled at turn three, right near us, and turn after turn one car after another began to lose control and slam into the wall! Fun!!! That's what I pay good money for. At about 10 laps to go, the lead car (who had four laps on the second place car,) hit some oil and then hit the wall. Out of commission for good, and stuck on the track to stew over it as the race ended. What a great finish.

Next they had a Powder Puff Enduro, which is where the girls go out and do the same thing, but they only went 35 laps. Somebody forgot to tell one girl about the oil in turn three, because on the second lap she hit it at full speed and went flying. She could give the guys some lessons because that girls should have been in a wall, but instead managed to do a 360 and straighten it out to save the car. Of course she slowed down a good 15 MPH after that, go figure.

Shortly after the Powder Puff, we got to enjoy the firework show put on by the track on Enduro Night. Usually Corey really freaks out for this part, (really big and loud professional fireworks, here, folks,) but he was a trooper tonight. He covered his ears for the first minute, but after that he was yelling and 'oohing' and 'ahhing' with the rest of us. It was so refreshing to witness a fireworks show without the accompaniment of Lee Greenwood. The meaning of it is wonderful and everything, but sorry, ya'll, if I hear Proud to be an American one more time I'll scream. The display was made so much more reflective by just listening to the booming of the fireworks and understanding what they represented, their majesty punctuated by the silence in between. (At least when the announcers weren't throwing out moronic comments... you don't want to know.)

At the end of the night we managed to get out of the lot within five minutes, and home in twenty. On the way home, Shannon decided it was a good time to tattle on his bus driver. "You know what? My bus driver passes 'Do Not Pass' signs all the time. He doesn't even look at them! He's crazy..." We were cracking up the whole way home, and he had no idea why. Then I pointed out a 'Pass With Care' sign, and Shannon mentioned his bus driver passes those, too. He wondered aloud, "I bet he says he doesn't care about the signs, but if a policeman caught him, he would say he cares about the 'Pass With Care' sign..." Dang that kid, he can be so funny.

Anyhow, the kids fell asleep as soon and they hit their beds, and it was a very good night for all. The next Enduro is on the 4th of July weekend, who's up for it?

Sleep Over

Well, last night Ken went up to Marshall to bar hop with his buddy, then stayed overnight so he could hunt turkeys this morning. (For some reason when I think of Ken hunting turkeys, I picture Elmer Fudd trying to get his 'wabbit.' Maybe because neither one of them get what they're after?) Anyway, he was out of the house last night.

Riley's friend Anna invited him over to spend the night last night, his first sleep over all by himself not including family members. That was apparently a breeze, when I got moving around this morning and opened up the garage door, there Riley and Anna were, having a picnic in their jammies on the dead end road adjacent to our house. I asked how the night went, they said they slept in a fort connected to the t.v., and that they had gotten along just fine. (Obviously, if they were still playing together this morning...)

Shannon had a serious headache yesterday... so serious that he didn't even care that Riley was going to have a sleepover without him. He was miserable all day, and took four (count them four,) naps yesterday. He kept moving around in his sleep, finally finding some kind of comfort on the floor of the living room. That was one miserable boy...

When it was time for Shannon and Corey to hit the hay, I let them fall asleep to cartoons in my room. When I finally went up to bed, I was too tired to move the boys, so we had our own little sleep over!

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Ken finished up a little project last night. He put down some pavers, obliterating part of my flower garden area, so that we would have a place for our yard-waste garbage can. It turned out much nicer than I expected it to, but then again, I thought you just set pavers on top of the grass and voila! Apparently it's a little more involved than that.

Just Who Is It?

My Father-In-Law, Papa, (or Ed,) sent me these pictures today. The inlaws always say Corey reminds them of their son Chris as a youngster, but I never really knew what they meant until now...

Here's a gorgeous family portrait from when Ken was little. There's Ed, Edward, Corey (I mean Chris,) Ken and Joanne...
If this picture obviously wasn't 30+ years old, I'd swear Chris, tilted head and all, was my Corey.
This is Corey, with glasses, of course...
...and his Daddy's eyebrows...

...and his Daddy's hairline.

But for the life of me, I can't find a picture of Corey with his typical 'deep thought' expression, which is identical to the expression his Uncle Chris has in the original picture up top. Anybody who's spent any time with Corey know's which one I'm talking about, right?

New Features

Well, I'm going to see how a chat box will work on my site. Say you want to say something to me about a comment overheard at our house, but the comment section doesn't address it, type it in the box to the right. Say you want to tell June something that doesn't relate to a topic, type it in the box to the right. Say you did something totally embarrassing today and you need to tell the whole world, type it in the box to the right.

It's simple. Just type in your name where it says name, and then write whatever in the space that says message. (You can ignore the URL box unless you want to link to your site.) When you're done, press the 'go' button. I don't know how long it keeps the comments or how far back they will go, so don't blame me if it's no fun. This is an experiment for now. You can chat in real time, too. Say I'm on and you're on but you don't know if I'm on, well just ask, "Anybody out there?" If somebody is, they may let you know. Judging from the number of people who view my site, this won't happen often!

And just in case you're confused, it reads from the bottom to the top.

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Also, I have a new widget that lists viewers based on the frequency of their comments. It doesn't list people who comment using the 'anonymous' selection, so if you want people to link to your comments, get a free Google account! To use, you can simply click on any of the highlighted names and it will take you to their most recent comment.

Yeah, I'm bored tonight!

Side Effects

Well, I was feeling great this afternoon, thinking that root canal technology really had gotten much better over the years, when I decided to take the boys to the library. Not three blocks from home I started sweating profusely and my mouth began to water. I made it home, got the boys out of their car seats, ran into the house and barfed into the kitchen sink. Seems my pain meds, antibiotics and anesthesia were a bad mix.

I'm still a little shaky and all, but I really want to go to the library. Hmm...

Root Canals

I went in this morning for a single root canal on the left side and ended up talking the dentist into doing two root canals on the right side instead. I haven't been able to chew on the right side in over a year, and if he'd done the left today I wouldn't be able to eat at all. Sure, it would be a great way to lose weight but I'd psyched myself up for a root canal, not starvation.

The procedure was relatively pain free, but I've developed quite a headache from keeping my big mouth wide open for 1 1/2 hours. I didn't have a problem with the shots or anything, although I always giggle when they say, "You'll feel a whole lot of pressure..." Really, if they want to apply some pressure, they should have a talk with the OBGYN who delivered Carley and Corey! What a cake-walk comparatively.

It seems that the two teeth that were worked on today were pretty bad and rather involved. Apparently I'm one of those lucky people who have an extra canal in their teeth, and Dr. Ellard had his work cut out for him. Apparently my canals are rather bendy and corkscrewed, too. Twice I thought my tooth was going to just split in half with all the force he was applying. But, alas, I should be able to eat over on that side soon. Just gotta get a couple of cavities filled next month and I'll be as good as new over there. Then he can get to work on the left side. Ugg.

Oreo Smiles

It was the 'bestest day' for Shannon today, his loose tooth finally came out! Did Shannon pull it? No. Did Mommy or Daddy pull it? No. Did it get knocked out with solid food or rough-housing? No. Shannon was getting some sealants put on his teeth and Mommy quietly asked the dental assistant if she could 'accidentally' knock it out while playing around in Shannon's mouth.

Apparently the assistant encouraged Shannon to pull it but he just couldn't get it out. Then she asked if she could pull it and he said no. So the dental assistant did all of the sealants, put a little numbing gel on Shannon's tooth, then pulled it while Shannon was none the wiser. She managed to camouflage the little bit of blood and clean up the tooth before letting Shannon in on the secret. He was so excited that he ran into the waiting room, screaming as best he could while doing a 'look at my missing tooth'-grin, "Mommy, my tooth is out!"

Shannon waited until he'd eaten all of his celebratory Oreo's before letting me take some pictures of him, so they're a little scary to look at.

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Test results on Corey's low weight came back: his iron levels are fine, he's negative for celiac disease, he has no milk or soy allergies, and the other two tests (I can't remember what they were,) came back fine. Previously he had an upper GI/lower bowel study and a swallow study which all came back fine, as well. We've ruled out just about everything, so now we're going to have to start doing feeding clinics to try to retrain Corey on how to eat. Or we could just pay somebody to sit and spoon-feed Corey for each meal and bribe him to take some dairy products. AARRRGGHH. Here's a couple of pictures to show the difference between a 'normal' sized 5 year old, (Shannon,) and a little 5 year old, (Corey.)

Shannon in red, Corey in brown.

Correction

While helping Riley with his homework tonight, I discovered that I did get a few pictures taken this weekend before my batteries wore out. Hmm... that doesn't look like Kellie. Spencer being silly:

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Riley is working on a new invention for his Excel program. He decided to invent waterproof cardboard after trying to make a life-size cardboard boat float in the kiddie pool last week. (Shh... don't tell him that waterproof cardboard already exists!) Anyhow, tonight we melted a pan of paraffin wax and treated a few pieces of cardboard. Next it was time to experiment. You can see the results for yourself.

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I found a solution for my aching derriere: I mowed the lawn (again.) Stretched everything right out, I'm as good as new, and my lawn looks good. Success.

Lessons

I learned a lot of things this weekend as I returned to Nebraska to watch Kellie graduate. In case you didn't know:

*****Magna Cum Laude means 'really smart' in Latin. It's pronounced mag-na cuum laad-e, unless you're Corey, who pronounces it mag-num cuum laad-e. Go Kellie! (She was notified of her honors status via Lincoln Journal Star Sunday Edition, four hours before her ceremony!)

*****A five year old can learn all of the lyrics to the song Shake Your Booty in under 30 seconds. He can then sing them in a car for the next hour straight.

*****My cousin Laura likes beer. She also travels with her own beverages, just in case Kellie didn't purchase six cases of beer for her open house the next day. Laura also likes the song Tootsie Roll. Her daughter is even cuter in person and has good taste in food and people.

*****Four-bangers can maintain 80 MPH and still get dang good gas mileage.

*****Your right gluteus maximus can cramp up for thirty minutes at a time. McDonald's restaurants are not spaced in 30 minute intervals on I-80 (previous misconception of mine,) so sometimes you just have to stop at weird places to stretch out your rear.

*****Babies and dogs still like me. Sometimes they whisper, "You need one of me in your house." Sometimes I buy into this idea for about 30 seconds.

*****Kids are easier to travel with in groups of two or less. Less than two really isn't a 'group.'

*****Two-day trips to Nebraska are kinda silly and should only be done for good reason. Luckily, this time I had a good reason. Next visit, at least four days.

*****The battery life of an IPod is well over 30 hours. Riley can listen to the Cars soundtrack for four hours straight.

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I would love to post more pictures from the weekend, but they're all on Kellie's camera. Hopefully she'll send me some copies, along with the two CD's she burned for me that I forget to bring home. Oops.

Anyhow, Sunday afternoon Doane held a beautiful outdoor graduation ceremony and the weather was perfect. All of the kids were well behaved, too. Amazingly well behaved. I'm not sure if they were really our kids or some type of well-behaved clones, but whoever they were, they were great. I wish we could have seen everybody else, but I had to get on the road by 2:00 yesterday and the Open House started at 1:00.

As it is, I am exhausted and will soon either go back to bed or soak my cheeks in a really hot bath. I'll let you know what I decided on at another time.

Driving

I'm driving eastbound on I-80 right now, it's boring and flat. I'm probably cranking up my IPod right now or trying to talk two little boys into taking naps. I should make it back to Michigan by 3:00 in the morning. Hope I wake up to get the kids on the bus...

What's that? You have to go potty again?

Graduation Day!

Kellie did it, she finally got her degree!

Way to go, Kellie! Today she graduated from Doane College with a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Communication. (I think this was her field, if not, I'm the one miscommunicating!) I'm so proud of you, sis, the first one in our family to get a college degree!

Practicing Graduation poses the day before...

Happy in 2006

Happier in 2008

Driving

I'm driving westbound on I-80 right now. It's flat and boring and I'm probably cranking up my IPod right now or begging a couple of boys to try to take naps.

What's that, you need to go potty again?

Nails

I did my nails all pretty today, (okay, the left hand looked really good,) and then I mowed the lawn. They don't look so good now. The lawn looks good, though.

That's all.

Tilt

I was looking at the picture of Corey in his new glasses today, and finally I sensed there was actually a resemblance between he and I. Until today I thought he was just a carbon copy of his daddy, but if you look, you'll see we both have a way of tilting our heads. (Not Riley or Shannon, though.) I had always blamed this habit of mine on my long hair, but I find myself still doing it even though I currently have very short hair. Just like Corey.

Full tilt

Partial tilt: Mommy

No tilt: Shannon and Riley

No tilt: Daddy and Riley

Glasses and Damnation

Corey got his new glasses today! They're Nike Flexons, which means Corey can twist them into a knot and they'll still flex back into their intended shape. The Optician actually had to cut the frame down and then add the curved part that goes around Corey's ear to hold them in place. I think he looks so handsome in them, and we've only had minor complaints from Corey as he gets used to them. As Corey will tell you, "they're turquoise," because they are green with a touch of blue, and it won't be long before he adjusts the glasses on his WII character accordingly.

Old glasses. New glasses.

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Shannon had some liquid soap put in his mouth today for telling me that he hates me. Hate is a dirty word in our house, especially in reference to people. The boys are more than welcome to say, "I don't like what you did," "I don't like you right now," or "I don't think you're nice," but never, "I hate you!"

Anyhow, after various attempts at spitting his mouth clean, Shannon was sent to his room for the rest of the night. After about forty minutes in solitary confinement he started crying hysterically and made his way down to find me. I am serious, he was having a hard time breathing he was crying so hard. It took a while for him to spit out the words he was trying to say, but finally he said in between sobs, "Am I going to go to the devil?"

My goodness, what goes on in that little boy's head? I told him no, little boys don't go to the devil. Then he asked who does. I tried to explain it as well as I could in 5 year-old language, and reminded him to be sorry for the things he does wrong and for now that would suffice. He started nodding his head quickly and said, "I did, I said the Father prayer this many times (holding up 4 fingers) so I don't go to the devil," and then resumed his hysterical crying. Poor guy, I think it's safe to say he served his penance.

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Here's a picture of three of my boys playing a newly made up game together. I don't know what it's called, I don't know how it's played, but I do know it kept them all busy for at least 30 minutes!

Ken, Shannon and Riley

$3.99

Yeah, that's what gas is going for in Michigan today.

A Little Bit of Everything

First of all, Happy Mother's Day! I hope everybody out there got what they wanted for their special day. I, personally, had a pretty great day! The boys made a genuine effort to get along and behave, and even made an attempt at cleaning. Shannon drew me another wonderful card while Riley made me a card with my scrapbook supplies, pictures, and lots of glue. Corey picked up the living room with a lot of help from Shannon while Riley cleaned up the dishes and got Corey dressed for the day. Riley even presented me with a great coupon book he'd made, promising such things as cleaning his room without being asked, behaving so I could take a bubble bath, and changing a diaper for me. (Corey is still not pooing on the potty, so this works!)

Ken made my day extra special by getting me an 80 GB IPod, (I've been wanting one ever since I bought my Dad an IPod Shuffle for Christmas.) I would have been happy with the Shuffle or the Nano, but Ken thought this one was the best deal for the price, and I'd have to agree. I love the dang thing, I've already loaded 512 songs onto it and 1248 pictures! Tomorrow I'll be running to the library to grab a bunch more CD's to transfer. I want to load the heck out of it, even if I could never possibly listen to the 20,000 songs it can potentially hold!

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Oh, yeah, I dyed my hair back to brown the other day, and had it chopped back into some pretty serious layers. It's similar to the original style I had when I first whacked off all of my hair three years ago. I like it and my girlfriend Heather noticed the change right away. Ken, however, took over 24 hours to notice it, and that was after I brought it to his attention. "Looks the same to me," he said. Maybe it does? You be the judge:

Current: Hair shorter, brown, layered, IPod. Old: Blonde, one length, no IPod.

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Today we dug into our spaghetti and meatball dinner and then Shannon reminded us to say grace. We stopped, did our 'Father, Son, Holy Spirit,' said grace, and 'Father, Son, Holy Spirit' to finish the prayer. After we'd resumed eating, Shannon asked if I could sing On Top of Spaghetti for him since it's one of his favorite songs. I said, "Okay, let's sing it... On top of Spa...." I looked over at Corey as I began and he was wanting to sing along but he had to finish making the sign of the cross for this 'prayer' too.

It was really cute, but even more impressive than the fact that we had a new dinner time prayer was the fact that Corey made the sign of the cross correctly, touching forehead, heart, right and left in order. Until now it's been forehead, chest, forehead, left, left, right or something along those lines. My baby is growing up!

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Finally, I have some pictures from the boys messing around yesterday. Shannon and Corey were getting along great in the backyard as I was finishing up with mowing the lawn. Shannon would straddle the slide and Corey would slide through underneath his legs. It was great seeing them having fun together, and I only cringed a little whenever they collided and both went flying down the slide instead.

Vindication ...or "I'm not going crazy!"

Blogger, the service that I use to write this on, just made an announcement:


Blogger Status

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Some users may be seeing star ratings on their posts without having opted in to this new feature. This is an experimental feature that was accidentally enabled on some users' blogs. We're currently working to remove star ratings on all affected blogs. In the future, you'll be able to choose to opt-in to this feature; it won't appear automatically.Update: The Star Rating feature has been disabled for the moment.

Posted by Siobhan at 18:35 PDT

They really did exist, and I really didn't put them there! Thanks again to Steve for your help, and Sister Donata, I did not bump my head!

Surprises

It's that time of the year again, when Hallmark ran out of things to produce, so they made up some holidays. This week, in case you didn't know, (and our PTO knows, thank you very much,) is Teacher Appreciation Week. Throughout the week students could bring in flowers for their teachers and insert them into a beautiful PTO-purchased vase, resulting in a beautiful bouquet at the end of the week. Now, although I am the PTO Secretary, I usually forget about these type of things but this time I remembered. Last night at midnight.

I was out of nearly everything else from milk to razor blades, anyway, so off to the store I went. I found a lot of crazy hand-dyed flowers and took home the brightest little bunch. Then being the cheap person that I am, I split them in two so the boys each had their little bouquet. Hey, if my flower beds had been coming along a little quicker, I wouldn't have had to buy any at all. (Hallmark, move this holiday to the end of May, would you?) I can't help but wonder just how many teachers ended up with vases full of dandelions, myself.

Then, of course, there's Mother's Day this weekend, my favorite arts-and-crafts holiday ever! The school-orchastrated surprises are starting to roll in and Mommy gets to be special for a few minutes each day as the kids come home. Yesterday Shannon surprised me first.

I was waiting in the driveway for him to get off the bus and it was taking him forever. The bus driver rolled his eyes and said, "He's got a surprise, you're not allowed to see." I figured it must be a flower similar to the ones all the other kids on the bus were holding, but I didn't say a word. Shannon made his way down the aisle of the bus and the reason for his lack of speed became clear. He was walking backwards, dragging his jacket and backpack, while cautiously carrying the littlest vase of Shannon-raised marigolds. When he got to the bus steps he continued to walk backwards and tried to go down them, never mind the 18 inch rise. Luckily I convinced him that he could turn around and disembark from the bus safely as I would close my eyes and not peek.

He then ran to the house, making sure I wasn't looking and when I followed him through the door he jumped up, turned around and yelled, "Surprise, I made them for YOU!" He then thrust the flowers toward me and told me all about them. He even painted the vase in colors I would like, he explained. "See, BLUE, your favorite color! And a little yellow too, and now there's green." I smiled and hugged the heck out of him, what a sweet little boy! And he'll never know that I really can't stand the color blue.

Soon Corey arrived home and I went through my routine of scouring his backpack. Inside was a note attached to a cute little tissue-paper butterfly, explaining that Corey made it in therapy today. No mention of Mommy, but I claimed it for myself. I showed it to Corey and asked where it came from. He explained that he made it in school and it was his. So, being the good Mommy that I am, I quickly distracted Corey and took the butterfly away and hid it before he had a chance to ruin it while playing. He may think it's his, but as far as I'm concerned, it's mine!

Magic Stars

Okay........

I'm really not sure what the heck these star ratings are doing on my blog, they just magically appeared. I've hit every Blogger Blog I know of, and nobody else has this annoying addition. I've searched Blogger Help, and there's no mention of this type of thing. I've scanned my layout looking for some kind of widget or other piece of work that might be doing this, but to no avail.

My trusty cousin Steve took a quick look and decided that Blogger must have inserted this widget and that it was safe to use. The rankings weren't my idea, just so you know, as I'd hate for people to think I was all self-important or something.

Scratch

Ken purchases new car: April 30, 2008

Ken finds first scratch courtesy of the boys: May 6, 2008

Wheels

You know, I have been hounding Ken all winter to clean up the garage and make some sense out of it. Well, he finally did something about it, he sold the over-sized van and bought this:

The garage may be messy, but Ken did find a way to make more room in there. About 2 1/2 more feet, with even more room when the bikes aren't parked in front of the car. See how much space is left?

Actually, Ken commutes over 40 miles a day, and with gas sitting at $3.73 per gallon and our previous vehicle only getting 12 - 14 mpg, this purchase was a good decision on many levels. The best part? This is Ken's very first brand new car and it's all his! It's a very small silver Nissan Versa. Ken loves it, and he loves that fact that it is his. I always get the new cars around here, and this time I am more than willing to let him have it.

I need my minivan, I like more than four cylinders, and I'm not a big fan of the back of this particular car. I find that it looks like a Dodge Neon after being rear-ended. See?

Anyhow, we should save money, Ken is happy, and we can stuff more junk in the garage, so this has been a very good thing. Also, no more leaking oil on the garage floor from the Stink-Mobile, my pet name for the van Ken traded-in. You don't want to know where that name came from, but rest assured, I'm glad it's no longer ours.

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Riley also got a new set of wheels; a 20" bicycle. Since it had hand brakes and Riley was a little unsure of this new feature, he decided to finally wear the new bicycle helmet he had received for Christmas. (Bad Mommy, not enforcing the usage of helmets!) What a surprise, along with the helmet there was a brand new pair of knee and elbow pads, too! Riley loved them so much that he wore them even when he was done riding his bike. Riley will be safe in all of his protective gear, sure, but can you say Urkel?

I Forgot...

Oh, yeah, I forgot all about May Day! (This is twice now, I forgot about the entire holiday, and then I forgot to post about it.) It has been just a little hectic around here so I guess I'll forgive myself...

Anyhow, I was reminded of the holiday at about 2:30 in the afternoon and up until that moment, I was hurriedly cleaning the house as guests were due to arrive in less than three hours. I glanced around at the house and determined, "...good enough!" and ran to the store to get supplies for May Day Baskets. They included:

*a 40-count package of cups (it only had 39, what a rip-off!)
*pipe cleaners
*one large bag of popcorn
*one large bag of flavored marshmallows
*one large bag of suckers
*one bag of bubble gum
*one bag of Jelly Belly's

The finished baskets:

I assembled the baskets myself because Riley was still at school and Corey and Shannon were not interested in doing any 'work,' although they did make themselves available to sample the wares. I put together 39 baskets in a little over an hour and we dispersed them after dinner.

Unfortunately, May Day is apparently unheard of in Michigan, but since this is our third year doing them here, we assumed there wouldn't be any glitches or confusion. The concept is simple, you set a basket on a door step, ring the doorbell and run. If the recipient sees you, they may chase you and kiss you. (Sadly, the kiss part has never happened to my boys.) What did happen was...

A lot of explaining to our newer neighbors about just what the heck the baskets were for! We did have a new family from Minnesota who seemed to know exactly what they were, when spotted. Finally we made our way to one of Riley's buddies the next neighborhood over. We were driving slow as one of the side doors on the van was open, and as we approached the house, all eight kids playing in the yard noticed us and started running into the house. (Slow moving unfamiliar vehicle with door open coming to a stop in front of a yard full of kids... either we were an Ice Cream truck or kidnappers, I guess!) Anyhow, I had Riley ring the doorbell and wait for a parent to answer and then explain what we were doing. The mom appeared relieved when she saw Riley (and not the boogie-man) on her doorstep. Very awkward.

However, the deliveries that went off without a hitch looked like this:

Riley. Shannon.