40

Somebody turned 40 around here today. The boys wanted me to put paper 40's around the kitchen, as I do for every birthday, but I decided one large number was sufficient.

I think it gets the point across.

Ken didn't get the party he wanted for numerous reasons, but he did get a spectacular birthday 'cake.' I kid.

Okay, last minute idea after I baked them.

The boys thought it was great and they were great sports while I took pictures of them with their dad.

My boys.

Even though Ken got his 48-inch birthday present a few months ago, I felt bad about not throwing him a party. So yesterday I grabbed myself, I mean KEN, a new iPod Touch and loaded it up with all kinds of goodies for me, I mean KEN, to play with. Overall, I think we had a great birthday.

Rough Start

It's going to be a long day. I won't go into detail about what precipitated this note; suffice to say that it would just lead you all to think I'm a crappy Mother. Anyhow, here's a note from Riley, folded up into airplanes and sent sailing up the stairs after he was sent to his room for the day:

Mom,

I might kick myself out of the house! I bet it would be a MUCH better world without me!

From Riley

P.S. I will not tell you where I am!

Test

Under Pressure

Wow, what a strange night! At about 10:00 PM this evening we had a front coming through, so I let the boys camp out in the basement for the night and finally got a chance to head out to the garage for a break. I had the small back garage door open so that I could watch the storm, and the big garage door down to keep out the rain coming straight out of the west.

Out of nowhere, the wind kicked up so hard that I thought the garage door was going to implode, so I hurriedly shut the back door of the garage and went to go into the house. Just as I opened the screen door, the door to the house slammed shut on me. It literally took me 30 seconds to get the door to open using every muscle in my body.

Once I got through the door and into the kitchen, the door slammed shut behind me and I ran to the front door of the house to shut it, as the wind was blowing the rain horizontally into the house. Too late, the pressure caught the front door and slammed IT shut too.

I yelled down to the boys to ask if everything was okay down there, when Riley let out a long piercing scream. I ran down to the basement and tried to calm him by explaining that the wind had just blown the doors shut when he yelled, "Mom! I'm scared and my window is broken!" Crap!

I go into Riley's room and this is what I find:

The wind had sucked the egress window, frame and all, right out of the wall and into the window well.

Ken was still at work so I called our neighbor Matt over, and just as we were getting the window well protected from the outside, Ken drove up. After Ken STOPPED AT THE MAILBOX TO GET THE MAIL, (I kid you not,) he came to help Matt and I, who were working in the wind and pouring rain. Immediately Ken sized up what we were doing and determined that he had a better idea. This is where I gave up and went in the house.

Ken and Matt got to work on Ken's plan, and I went into the basement to take pictures. Just in time, I caught this little mishap:

Ken falling into the window well.

He's going to be a little sore tomorrow with a good gash and bump on his shin and a twisted ankle, but he's lucky because he should have broken his leg. Anyhow, Ken limped back out of the window well, and when I asked if everyone was okay, I got this response:

Along with Ken yelling, "And she's taking a damn picture!"

Shannon and Riley were watching the big guys work from the basement, and they were very excited to notice the wildlife in the window well. Shannon corralled some and I got this picture:

Frogs. Big confused frogs.

Anyhow, we set the frogs free, secured the window well from both the outside and inside, and the storm quickly blew over. It has since been determined that this was all my fault. Apparently, I should have either A) had the rear door of the house open to avoid the pressure buildup or B) stayed in the garage until the door would easily open instead of forcing it open. Me and my great big biceps getting me in trouble once again, I just don't know my own strength.

Writing on the Wall

Knowing there would be trouble if Mom saw that he referred to Corey as the 'S' word, Riley ammended his comment...

Wordle

You have got to visit the Wordle Site! This is the funniest thing I've come across in a while. You just copy text into the form, and it spits out a word diagram. The one I'm showing is from a post I did about... well, read it!

Obviously, it's about our Easter trip to Nebraska. Try it here!

It Must be a Sign

Hey, look, it's a picture of our driveway! See anything remarkable about it? No, the van is just the van. It's Flag Day, so Old Glory is flying, that's not it. Wait a minute... something IS missing! The big pile of rock is finally gone, hallelujah!

As Ken was hosing off all of the debris left by the rock, Corey became very concerned. It didn't take him long to rectify the situation:

The Wet Floor sign has been erected.

Daddy can now safely go back to work!

Playing with Shannon's new Nintendo DSi

You can blend your picture together.

You can merge your face with a friend's.

You can call Riley a pig and mean it.

You can look like an alien.

You can pretend that you're on TV.

You can pretend to be Mario.

You can become a kaleidoscope.

You can watch your garden grow.

Now my mad poetry skills and I will exit the building. (You've got to get one of these, they're great!)

More Computer Backgrounds Courtesy of the Boys

All of these have been my computer background throughout this week alone.

Corey venting. (My favorite, it says "I hate when the computer locks up," in freehand MS Paint.)

Shannon practicing math.

Riley's minimalism.

Seven Years Ago Today...

"It's my Birthday!"

"Seven years ago today I was at work with a horrendous backache..." Yes, it's storytelling day at the Herubin's. My man in the middle is 7 today (Happy Birthday, Shannon!) which makes my children 6,7 and 8. Now I will only receive half-incredulous looks when people ask how old the boys are. And for a few glorious months the words, "No, they're NOT twins," will not have to leave my mouth. So it really IS a Happy Day!

Anyhow, assuming you won't start crying and whining that this story is too long (like Corey did this morning,) I'll finish my yarn about what happened seven years ago today.

Seven years ago today I was at work with a horrendous backache. 8 1/2 months pregnant, going to Kansas Speedway the day before was probably not a good idea. The baby loved it, though, every time the cars sped by our side of the track, a big cartwheel rumbled in my belly. But boy was I paying for it on June 3, 2002.

There were signs that I could go into labor anytime within the next two weeks, but I guess I'm not as good at reading signs as some little guy around here is. So I'm working and my back is killing me. I kept telling myself that at 8 1/2 months, the boss probably wasn't going to care if I went on home, he was very supportive throughout my pregnancy and took it easier on me than I did. Finally I said forget it, and headed home a couple hours into my shift.

I got home and called the doctor and asked if I could come in to my regularly scheduled pre-natal check-up a bit early, I needed something for this dang backache. They squeezed me in for a 2:00 appointment, so Ken and I decided that we'd grab Riley and go get some lunch and maybe a haircut before the appointment.

Needless to say, the ONE TIME my husband decides to explore Kansas City, KS (i.e. get LOST in KCK,) is when I'm miserable. We drove around forever trying to find a new place for Ken to get his haircut, and if memory serves me, we ended up at a Supercuts anyway. Riley was a trooper, but he and his daddy were soon hungry, so we drove around trying to decide on a place to eat. Another hour in the car went by, and in my agitation I yelled for Ken to just go to Burger King already, I was done.

We went inside and I told Ken he could order and keep Riley, I was going to go sit down. I told him to get me whatever, just hurry. As soon as he came back with the food, I was sure I was going to barf, it smelled so bad. I ate it anyways, all the while growling at Ken and Riley to hurry up. (No, you DON'T need to go back three times for catsup and ranch sauce, Ken, MOVE IT!)

Anyhow, we finally make it to the doctors office and we were a little early. She took me in right away, did her exam and exclaimed, "No wonder your back hurts, you're 6 centimeters dilated!" Oh. That's what labor feels like. Then she went on to explain that there was no way she would let us drive to Overland Park so that Shannon could be born at the hospital he was supposed to be born at. (2 for 2 on babies being born at the wrong Catholic hospital, by the way, and we had no idea that Corey and Carley would make it 4 for 4.)

So she threw me in a wheelchair and wheeled me next door to Providence Hospital while Ken called Mom and Dad in Nebraska and told them to book it, otherwise Riley was going to be watching his baby brother come into this world. Less than three hours later, they showed up and took Riley out to dinner. They weren't gone 20 minutes and Shannon was out and about, ready to take on the world.

And that's the story of Shannon's birthday. We wont go into detail about how, technically, I could have had another free day of rest in the hospital but my husband insisted I come home early to take care of everything....

Celebrating.

Riley, Shannon and Corey.

Note to Son

Hey, Corey. When you're not sure if you've wiped well enough, don't slide down the staircase bare-bottomed to ask.

And, no, you didn't wipe good enough.