Interesting Saturday

Man, I'm exhausted. But yes, I'm sitting here blogging and reading the bloggings of others, rather than going to bed. Deal with it, LOL!

First of all, Energizer was in RARE form today. We've not had many days like this since he started on medicine for the adHd. And yes, we did give it to him today....believe me, I went back and double checked the pill bottle. :( Couldn't stay still at all, wasn't listening, defiant, uncooperative, in other words, a nightmare was had by all for a large portion of the day. *sigh*

But, the morning was nice. We went to the Gibbes Museum of Art in downtown Charleston, which I'm embarrassed to say I'd never been to before, even after living here nearly 16 years. Ooops. We all really enjoyed it, and it was Community Day which meant admission was free---can't get much better than that. There were snacks and crafts for the kids, live music outside, very very nice and I'm glad we went.

Then, I loaded up on summer clothes for Mr. L at Old Navy. Got a great coupon in the mail earlier this week---30% off of your whole purchase! So I got him 3 t shirts, a polo shirt, 2 pairs of shorts, a pair of khaki dress pants, a polo for myself, and one for Energizer...and my grand total spent was $72! Average of about $8 per item--not bad, huh? I love getting great deals like that, feeling like I beat the system, LOL!

Oh, one last bit of news...it's official, I'm on BP meds. Atenolol, to be exact. You PE survivors will probably recognize that name, it's pretty common. I finally was persuaded to obtain a family doctor, since I've never really had one. My first visit to her was on Friday, and BP was 154/104. Lovely. But in a way I'm glad, because I was afraid the doc would be reluctant to put me on medication 5 minutes after meeting me. But considering the way my pressure looked in her office, she didn't hesitate. Oh, but she did tell me I was "just a baby" and too young to be having BPs like that. Thanks, preeclampsia, yet another triumph for you. Yay.

not like you see in the movies

Last year, we discovered that even in the humid, sandy Lowcountry there are Christmas tree farms. The kind of places that let you roam around until you find the perfect tree, cut it down yourself and haul it home. For some reason, I just figured those only existed up north, or in the mountains or Colorado or something like that.....but, turns out SC has several of them, and a couple within decent driving distance for us. So we went, had a blast, and determined that this was what we wanted to do every year from now on. So much more like the "traditional Christmas" that you read about, see in movies, etc.

Fast forward about 365 days, and it's time for the 2nd annual family-trek-to-the-tree-farm. Except this time, it's already been pouring rain for 24 hours, and there's no end in sight. But looking at the family calendar of the next few weeks showed absolutely NO other day to do this, and we're used to getting the tree up on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so off we went at about 1 pm. The boys were in their old sneakers, we had an umbrella in the van somewhere.......I think......What could go wrong?

How about everything? That tree farm should have advertised itself as "tree bog", I kid you not. Practically every square foot of land was underwater, puddles as far as the eye can see, and any "land" you did see turned out to be more like mud or quicksand once you stepped on it. We tried it, and within the first 2 minutes the boys and I had soaking wet shoes and muddy pants legs. Yuck! I gave up and waded back to stand next to the car in a relatively dry spot. K put E on his shoulders, and A followed behind as they pushed on into the plot of trees. K had to shout to me "do you like this one? What about that one? Doesn't it seem lopsided?" etc until we finally settled on one. I persuaded the boys to make their way back through the puddles to the car, then I took their disgusting shoes off. Eww, and they were nasty. They were each sitting sideways in their carseats, feet sticking out of the car door so I could take off socks too, which were dripping wet. And you can imagine that there was no way for me to hold that elusive umbrella, so I was getting wetter by the second. Finally, I got into the driver's seat, took my own shoes off and knocked them against the outside of the car door in a futile attempt to get mud off.

Whew, closed the car door and we were safe. Not dry yet, but safe from further drenching. Until K came to the door and reminded me I needed to write the check to pay for the damn tree.........I'm not even sure the check will be accepted by their bank, based on how wet it was by the time I got finished. Is there a a maximum on water droplets per square inch? I think we passed it.

Can I just say that today was NOT that idyllic, beautiful, traditional Christmas family outing? The tree's up, it's dry, it's decorated and it is truly pretty. Maybe one of our prettiest ever. But the process? Not something I want to repeat. Next year, I'm checking the weather forecast before we decide where to buy the tree.

Bat-asses

Yeah, that's what I said, wanna make somethin' of it?

Ok, actually, it was little E who said this tonight, right before bedtime. He's currently Batman/Superfriends crazy, asking to watch them every single day after school. The old Justice League cartoon, even the old old old 60s TV show with Adam West, etc. Cracks me up to see him getting so into this!

Anyway, now he's calling everything a Bat-something.....in the same vein as Batmobile, Batcopter, etc. One episode we saw recently had a Bat-arang (yep, a boomerang in the shape of that Batman symbol). So, tonight he's playing with this weird contraption that looks a little like glasses. He puts them over his eyes like glasses, then says "Mom, these are my Bat-asses".

trying not to laugh, trying not to laugh, trying not to laugh..........

"What, honey? Did you say glasses?" "No, I said Bat-asses. Asses are the same thing as glasses". "Um, no honey, I don't think they are". "Uh huh, Mom, these are my Bat-asses, they help me see better!"

Then he runs away toward A's room, shouting to tell him: "Hey, come look at my Bat-asses!" So, what happens when he says this at school tomorrow? I figured if I enlightened him about how this actually wasn't a very nice word, don't say it, etc, it would just make him want to say it that much more. Hope I was right! Raising a bright little 4 year old boy sure is fun............LOL!

a pleasantly pleasant day

.....for lack of anything better to call it. Today was just that, pleasant, and I loved every minute of it. Of course, I'm stressing big time because some long-time friends are coming to town tomorrow to visit for the weekend, and they've never seen this house before, so we're in MAJOR cleaning/sprucing up mode, but still......today just went smoothly, calmly, nicely, pleasantly.

Little E went to school today, for the first time in a while, because he missed his friends, plus today was WATER DAY, and how can any self-respecting 4 year old not enjoy water day? ;) After K dropped E at school, the rest of us went palm-tree shopping. We've wanted one for a while, but not the true palm tree with the big trunk that grows really tall.....more like one of the bushy kind that grows more outward than up. It was hilarious, like shopping for a Christmas tree: "do you like this one better, or this one? This one's bushier, but this one's taller. This one's nice, what do you think?"

But we settled on one, and brought it home. A helped us dig the hole to plant it, then helped pour Miracle Gro soil around it and water it in. It looks awesome, really makes the front of the house "pop" as they say. :)

Next, I went to my school for a decidedly pleasant and stress-relieving talk with my principal. He was so nice, thanked me for taking on these Chorus classes, and answered my many questions in a very satisfactory way, IMHO. I'm not ready to start back yet, of course, but I feel a lot better about doing so after today.

Went to the outlet mall and racked up on some great stuff at Oshkosh. 2 polos for A, and a pair of shorts, a pair of "shortalls" for E and 3 pairs of socks......total bill, $35! Never mind that they didn't have what I went there to get, LOL, I still had fun because I love "beating the system" and getting such great deals! :)

Picked up E at school, and was greeted with nothing but positives......all the teachers and kids were so glad to see him, he had a fabulous day, water day was a smash, AND get this: the teachers were giving the kids cute little star-shaped sunglasses to take home (not sure why, but I digress). E asked for a blue pair, which he got, then asked for a green one for A (A's fav color) and they gave him one. That's my sweetie, thinking of his big bro.

Home tonight was Leave it to Beaver material.........yummy semi-gourmet dinner of calzones (from scratch!) and broccoli, all cooked by K. After dinner, outside to play with the kids in the cul-de-sac, and ended up meeting/playing with some of our neighbors. 3 kids in particular, one of which we didn't already know. K and E were riding bikes with 2 "big boys" (found out they're both 11), and God bless those boys, they were SO nice to E. Didn't just tolerate his little 4-year-old obsession with the SuperFriends, they played along and pretended they were Batman and Superman to his Robin. A and I played with just-turned-8-year-old D, and she's such a breath of fresh air. Very nice, tolerant of A's peculiarities, seems to really want to play with him. They kicked the soccer ball around the cul de sac, then got out his bike and her Razor scooter.

She really wanted him to ride the bike, but then I explained he hasn't learned how yet (without training wheels)......then she was MORE excited and wanted to help him learn. He resisted every way he knew how, but finally gave in and tried it. She was a great helper, very encouraging. He still doesn't quite have it, I can't let go of the bike for more than a second, but we're trying.

Inside for pajamas and homemade milkshakes, a bit more cleaning up, and then reading books for bedtime.......me with A, K with E. Now, my ears are filled with the beautiful sounds of my sleeping boys, all 3 of them, through the baby monitor we still use. Right before getting into bed, E topped off the day by telling us "when I was at school and taking a nap, I really missed you guys!" My heart is full, and today was wonderful. I am truly very blessed!

what we've been up to

Have I told you how much I love summer time, when we're all at home, etc? Oh yeah, I did, in that last post...........

Anyway, figured I'd share some pics from what we've been up to this week. It's Bible School time, so K and I are working on that each morning (kids are there too), but in our afternoons we've been trying to keep the kids busy, entertained, etc. Saw Kung Fu Panda yesterday. It was cute, not the same old format of cartoon movies in recent years. 4 thumbs up (one for each of us, LOL)!

Last night, we tried (NOT for the first time) to teach A to ride his bike sans training wheels. After all, he's almost 7 and will be in 2nd grade, so it's time. He's been reluctant to try, but gave it a go this time, although only in the yard. Here we are trying it---ignore the woman in the white shirt who's pushing him, LOL:



And what was little E doing? Riding his little red car, and then deciding he had a better way to sit on it:



Today, we hit the local county park. It's got a great hot-weather activity for kids, usually just called "the sprinkler". Basically, it's an area with multiple fountains spraying out of the ground. They're various heights, etc, and kids can just run and play in them. It's the place to be when it's hot, and only costs $1 per person to get into the park! The boys absolutely had a blast, didn't want to leave when it was time to, etc. Here are my skinny-minis in action:





And afterwards, right before we left:



So if it doesn't rain tomorrow, we might hit the beach. Anything to keep the guys busy and avoid 24/7 TV and computer games. :)

on days like these.......

.....I love living in the Lowcountry. :) We had such a fabulous family day yesterday, practically a typical, normal family day in this beautiful part of the world. It's about a 45 minute drive to any of the gorgeous beaches around here, so yesterday afternoon we drove down to Folly Beach. We didn't take anything but ourselves, just parked at the pier and walked out onto the sand in our regular clothes, no swimsuits or anything like that.

We told the boys they could put their feet in the water if they wanted, and we took sandals off to feel the sand, etc. Well, except for little E......didn't want to put feet in the water, didn't want to take shoes off. But he did want to dig in the sand and collect shells, so that was ok. Big A, on the other hand, ended up doing a bit more than wading into the water.

He has always, always loved the ocean and being in the water, even as a baby. And yesterday, he just kept going a little further in, jumping over the tiny bits of waves that made it into the shore, kicking his legs up high, almost dancing in the water. And I could barely hear him singing over the loud winds....singing the church choir anthem we had performed yesterday morning. Don't ask, LOL.

Needless to say, after about 15-20 minutes of this, his shorts were completely soaked and dripping. Oh, and the bottom half of his shirt too. But he didn't care, he loved it. He had to ride home in the van wearing nothing but the still-slightly-wet underwear, and covered up with coats, but that was alright.

We walked out onto the Folly Beach pier after playing on the sand......we saw pelicans, people fishing, even a jellyfish that had washed up onshore. Driving home after that, I just reveled in the beautiful scenery that I never seem to get tired of around here--the gigantic live oaks, the "spanish moss" in the trees, marsh grass growing tall out of the pluff mud......I just love it. DH and I had a debate one time about which type of scenery we prefer--mountains or Lowcountry/coastline. No question to me, it's the Lowcountry. The herons, tidal creeks, palmettos, the list is endless. I don't think I'd ever want to live anywhere else. And same for my boys, getting to grow up down here and learn to crab, fish, seeing alligators and turtles up close (ok, not too close).......I'd hate the thought of them missing out on that. We're truly lucky to be here, and to think it all happened because of that first teaching job I got back in 1993.

surreality

Well, it'll be Mother's Day here in 1 hour and 48 minutes. My boys are going to cook for me all day............woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I'm sure it'll be yummy and we'll have a wonderful, restful day.

But tonight, I had one of those moments that they never tell you about before you have kids, and it was truly surreal. Little E had just gotten out of the bathtub, and came running---dripping wet---to ask if he could watch his favorite video on YouTube (*yes, he asked specifically for YouTube! What can I say? He's internet savvy!) The video is of a They Might Be Giants song called The Mesopotamians, and he is truly obsessed with this song. He can sing just about every word, and does so at the top of his lungs.

Well, I convinced him to at least wrap up in a towel before sitting beside me to watch the video. But as he sang and played air guitar, the towel slipped off.......and I was presented with the surreal sight of my 4 year old playing a mean air guitar, screaming "Sargon, Hammurabi, Ashurbanipal and Gilgamesh", with absolutely no clothes on. I must admit, I had a fleeting thought of grabbing the video camera, but I resisted. I can honestly say that 7+ years ago, before becoming a Mom, I could never, ever, ever, ever have imagined what I saw today. But all I could say now was "That's my boy!"

Adventures of a T-ball Mom

I can't exactly say what type of hallucinogenic substance I was taking when I did this, but apparently I signed BOTH boys up to play T-ball this season in our local YMCA league. The only stipulation was that they needed to be on the same team (since T-ball goes from age 4-6).......so I'm now the proud Mom of players #2 and #8 on the Cardinals! First game is tomorrow morning, after 2 weeks of practices on Monday and Thursday nights.

What's interesting is watching the boys out there on the field during practice. It typifies their personalities and behavior traits.........A is the rule-follower, he's very intense, tries so hard to follow step-by-step exactly what the coaches say to do, etc. You can just see the wheels spinning in his brain--"eye on the ball", "step forward and swing", "get in front of the ball" etc.

E, on the other hand, has literally ZERO focus. None. He's thinking about and doing everything but what the coaches are saying. Picking fluffy dandelions to blow the fuzz off, picking tiny wildflowers and running to the bleachers to give them to me, watching birds fly, throwing his glove in the air, introducing himself to parents on the sidelines: "Hi, what's your name?" One night he even sat down on second base like it was a place to relax and hang out!

I should have been a sociologist, LOL! I'm such a people-watcher, and it's so interesting to me, whether it is people I know or even those I don't. Speaking of........what a group of parents we've got on this year's team. There are truly some rednecks, in the greatest Lowcountry sense of the word. And, there is one family in particular that I'm afraid I will not be able to stand for 2 more months.

Their son is 5 (I'm guessing) and both he and his parents already believe he is God's gift to baseball. This T-ball league is totally non-competitive, which means there are no outs in games. Everyone plays, everyone bats in each inning, no score is kept. Most kids have never played any form of baseball before and are just learning basic rules such as hit the ball, run to first base, or get the ball and throw to first base, etc. But this kid already knows ALL of the rules, especially to hear his parents tell it. Last night just took the cake for me, as I listened to them ranting about how pathetic this league was.......how they were having to explain to their son why no one ever gets "out", and why he doesn't need to tag the runner with the ball, etc. They're glad the coach is letting him "play first base" all the time, b/c otherwise he'd just be bored to death around here! Oooh, poor baby..........They assured anyone in earshot that this would definitely be the last season their son plays in this league. Guess he'll be the new shortstop for the Yankees in '09, right?

I don't think we're going to be big-time sports parents, honestly. I see our kids being much more into performance and arts stuff, especially A. But if they enjoy it for now, we're encouraging them to participate......but I just don't know if I can stand the attitude of some of those sports parents. Everything's about their child, nothing's good enough, it's all about getting ahead, being better than others and winning is all that matters. Not like I'm old, LOL, but I think I just have too much "life experience" already to think that everything revolves around my child and that we will always be "winners" with everything coming easy and going perfectly at all times. I just want the boys to have fun, learn the basics, participate, try their best and feel good about it......I don't expect them to make it to the St. Louis Cardinals, we'll be just fine with the YMCA T-ball Cardinals, thank you very much.

End of the week junk

So many little things to share today---little rants, thoughts to ponder, etc. ;)

First of all, we got a statement in the mail yesterday from our 401K plan, one of those quarterly report things. GRRRRRRRRRRRRR! That stupid $#@&* thing lost 10% of its value in the last 3 months. OMG! This infuriates me...........DH and I have really tried hard to be smart financially, do the responsible things, etc. We're saving for retirement (i.e. 401K), saving for the kids' college (529 college plans), but yet ALL of those funds are losing money like crazy. It's like they open the window and just toss it out into the wind! And it's not like we can just say "oh, well let's add a bit more into the accounts to get them back up to the level we want"........NOT! We've been proud of our modest little contributions, and been making them faithfully, but what has it gotten us? Every bit that we put in over the last few months is gone, plus some of the balance and interest that we already had! Financial people say you've gotta stay in it for the long run, don't bail out, etc, but it sure is tempting. I'd almost prefer the good old Southern ways of saving...........sticking it under the mattress or burying it in a Mason jar in the back yard. :( At least we wouldn't be losing money if we did that.

DH is on the road this weekend, taking his school band to Florida. At least, I think he's gone by now. Supposed to have left at 5 am and been there by now, but the *$%&@ bus didn't show up until almost 11 am. I swear, I'd be getting every bit of the money back if I were them........isn't this why you make reservations months in advance, and sign contracts? GRRRRRRRRRR! I hope they're on the way by now, and will still have fun somehow. I know the kids have to be disappointed at the theme park time they're missing today. It's sooooooooooo tempting to post the name of the charter bus company here, and just bash them with everything I've got because of what they did today and their irresponsibility and slackness, but I'm going to restrain myself.

Supposed to be going to two events tomorrow, which will be nice so the kids and I can stay busy and occupy our time hopefully without much drama, fighting or screaming. A preschool buddy of Ethan's invited us over for the morning, so he can have a friend to play with during his little sister's birthday party......and this buddy is every bit the wild man that Ethan is, so it ought to be verrrrrry interesting. After supper, we're going to the house of a couple we've known for a long time, to meet their brand-new baby boy! They're having a "come over, hang out and meet the baby" gathering, so we're gonna attempt to go and see what happens. They have such a nice, new, beautiful house; it scares me a bit to take the Tasmanian Devil in there, but I'm hoping everything will be ok.

Gonna be a lonnnnnnnnnng weekend, DH won't be home until late on Sunday night. Wish us luck and that we'll all reach Monday with some remaining tidbits of sanity!

Lowcountry SC Places to Visit

Thanks Lori and Amy for the idea for this. Unlike you guys, I guess, I happen to live in a pretty popular tourist destination, so it will be hard to limit my list to 10, LOL......but I'll choose the 10 I like best!

(in no particular order unless I say otherwise! :) )

1. eat at the Charleston Crab House or Gilligan's. There are tons of local seafood places, but these are the best IMHO. And you've GOT to have seafood if you're on the coast, right?

2. Take a harbor cruise, or even take the ferry out to Ft. Sumter. Did this last weekend, and it's a must for history fans!

3. Walk the Battery and make sure to go past Rainbow Row. Views are incredible!

4. Stay at the Number Two Meeting Street B&B. Did this for my 10th wedding anniversary....expensive but wonderful!

5. Walk through (and shop!) in the Market district. If you start saving now, you might even be able to buy a sweetgrass basket.

6. If you're traveling with kids, go to the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry. A great way to spend an afternoon, and not terribly expensive. Great fun for kids from infants up to at least age 10.

7. Visit a local beach....I like Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms.

8. Tour a historic plantation...I'd recommend either Boone Hall or Magnolia.

9. The Charleston Museum is great, very educational about the history of the city and surrounding areas.

10. This is a bit outside the Charleston metro area, but worth a trip: Cypress Gardens. Several movies have been filmed here, including The Patriot (Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger). You can use one of their canoes to paddle yourself on a ride around the blackwater swamp, and you might even get up-close with an alligator (we did!).

Hmm, maybe I missed my calling, should have been a travel agent or something, LOL! You guys let me know when you're planning to be in my area, ok? I love to be a tour guide!

Fabulous new blog template!

First of all, I must bow down in thanks to Chels , who created the awesome new template.......you ROCK, girlfriend! I can only begin to imagine how much work went into this behind the scenes. Thanks sooooo much, I love the template and it is gorgeous!

Secondly, let me tell you about today's fun in the Lowcountry. We went to Ft. Sumter (insert comment from history geek: Ft. Sumter is the site of the start of the Civil War in 1861), which is in Charleston Harbor and requires a 30 minute ferry ride each way. Weather was great, and we had a blast. We were exhausted by the time we got home, but I think a good time was had by all, and we had (mostly) good behavior from the boys. Here are some of our pics:



This is inside the ruins of the fort. As usual, little Mr. E wasn't looking when the pic was snapped:


The boys standing on an old artillery site. Above them are the various flags (Confederate) that have flown over the fort.


On our way back to the ferry dock:


The ferry leaves from the Patriots Point monument (site of aircraft carrier USS Yorktown). They have military memorabilia there, like this cannon. The bridge behind us goes into Charleston.


DH and the kids in front of the Yorktown ship.