Loving the Lights

Something I like most at Christmas... 

I'm sure I'm not alone here. I love, love, love looking at our tree lights, late at night, after I've put the house and the kids to bed. It's so fun and peaceful, to turn out all the lights except the tree and Christmas lights, and then sit on the couch, watching them twinkle and glow. That's the feeling of Christmas, to me. And I'm loving it this Christmas... 

Our little town puts on the BEST Winter Wonderland display with lights and music downtown. It's another one of my favorite Christmasy things. We've already been to walk around three different times, looking at the lights...

I even got Brian to take me there on a date, so we could smooch and hold hands as we slowly wandered along the river. It was the best! It even started snowing at the end of our date, super romantic!!

 Here's Natalie, in the "tunnel of lights."

Some of our favorite people (Ella, Dalana, Mark and Cole), looking at the lights with us...

Bridge of lights, over the water -- it's one of my favorite parts of the whole display. It' just looks really cool, even cooler than in my picture, if you can imagine...

Spencer wanted me to take a picture of him by the "green bush, because green is my favorite color." Well, turned out the bush was a rock, and without the flash, you couldn't see Spencer. But with the flash, you can't really see the awesome greenness of the green lights. Oh well...

And, just for fun, here's Natalie, from a few days ago. She dressed herself -- in two shirts and a onesie, a pull-up, a pair of Samantha's tights, and some lady-bug mittens... "Aww weady" (all ready), she tells me!

That's all for now, I guess. I just wanted to say, I love Christmas lights... VERY much! What do YOU love about Christmas??

I sang a solo

I was asked to be in a live Nativity play, and tonight was our performance. It's just a local event -- a woman in our church community organizes it, with live animals, a real baby Jesus, and kids to act out the parts of Mary, Joseph, the wise men, shepherds and angels. It's pretty cool. Tonight our two nephews were two of the wise men, and they got to hold baby alpacas on their laps! So cute!! And, Samantha was the cutest, sweetest little innkeeper I've ever seen, even though her head scarf kept coming off.

In between the narrations and characters' lines, we had several musical numbers. And I was asked to perform a solo for one of the pieces. It was fun. Here I am, dressed as a Bethlehem townsperson, singing my solo...

Well, actually, I was singing it for the second time, in that pic. They asked me to sing it again as postlude, at the end of the performance, as everyone was filing out. It was a Sally DeFord song, called "As Shepherds Kept Their Lonely Vigil." It's not one you'd probably be familiar with, but it has a fun, Celtic-sounding tune.

Anyway, I was proud of myself for doing it. For those who know me, you probably know, I don't really have a "solo" voice. Mine is more of a choir voice, which is fine by me. It's a well-trained voice, even though the training ended roughly 20 years ago. I've still got pitch, range and acceptable breath support. So, I can hold my own. I just don't have any vibrato. None, even when I try to make a little bit come --- it's just not there, people. Never has been. So, solos aren't really my thing these days. But I did it tonight, and lots of people told me I did well. So, ... yay for me! That was fun.

Here's a picture of our darling baby Jesus, who really is the sweetest little chubby-cheeked baby boy, three months old. He slept most of the time, happy in his little manger...

And here's Samantha, posing with her friend Madison, who was Mary, and Zachary, who was a shepherd. They all did a great job, and had a fun time...

One bad thing... Samantha's arm is in a sling, underneath her glitzy innkeeper's robe. She was jumping off a stack of couch cushions yesterday afternoon, and we think she broke it! Not a bad break, but well... long story short, we're waiting for an x-ray review to come back, and then she'll maybe need to go get it set by an orthopedic surgeon. Poor girl. She spent most of today in the doctor's office. ug.

Anyway, this post is about the Nativity. So, here's one more picture, of our nephew, Seth, petting the lamb that was part of the set. Cute! Looks like Sammy Lamb is mugging for the camera, eh?! ;)

Sadly, I didn't really get a picture of our other nephews, John and Cooper, holding the baby alpacas. They were sooo cute, but they were TINY -- only about a month old. And the owner took them back the second the performance was over, so I missed my photo op. Oh well. What a fun, sweet, Christmasy night. I felt a very sweet spirit there, which is helping to set the mood for the next few days.

Only three more sleeps till Christmas!

Little things they say and do.

I've noticed that I forget a lot of the cute little things my kids say, the way they say them, etc. And I want to remember. Some extra cute phrases stick with me, and sometimes I remember what was said but forget which kid said it (yes, I'm already to that phase of mothering, can you believe?!)

I really wish I could remember them all. Like, for example, Samantha called chocolate milk, "chockie lupk." Isn't that the cutest ever?! But so many of her other little cute things are gone with her babyhood.

And Spencer said, "oh, so, so, so!!!" every time he saw Christmas lights on the houses in our neighborhood. Oh, how I miss that little phrase of excitement, coming from his sweet baby mouth.

And Nattie... well, there are some that have come and gone recently, and I wish I was better at keeping track of them.
Bandie -- she now says band-aid, just like everyone else, even when I un-correct her and tell her that, no, she wants a bandie!!
Hundy -- "Mama, I hundie." It's gone... she says she's "hungry" every morning, and usually follows it with, "I want breakfast."

Yogurt.
You'd think that's an easy one for kids to say, right?
Well, all three of my kids have had their own way of saying yogurt for the first year or so of talking. And each one of them has said it differently. It's so cute and funny to me.

Samantha said go-urt. It was darling. And she could spot the tiniest containers of Thomas-the-Train kid-size yogurt on the supermarket shelves from three isles away. She'd be yelling "GO-URT!! GO-URT! THOMAS GO-URT! Momma!!" as I tried to maneuver those all-wheeled English shopping trolley carts quickly to some other part of the store. Too late. We had to take home Thomas for our

Spencer called it logurt. Not to be confused with the disgustingly sickening grossness known as Gogurt. (Seriously? blue and greenish yogurt? ug. Honestly, Gogurt kinda grosses me out... not just the blueness, but the squeezy-ness, and the sickly sweetness of it. ick.) But boy, did Spencer LOVE his logurt! ;)  He liked it mixed with cottage cheese for a long time. Kinda gross, but he thought it was a great treat.

And Natalie calls it yoda. She learned how to help herself to it when we were still in New York. We'd buy a 24-pack at Costco, and she would sneak into our fridge, get herself a yoda, then paw around in the silverware drawer to get a spoon. Then she would climb up onto her highchair tray, and slid herself into her seat, with her yoda cup in hand. I was SHOCKED the first time I turned around to find that she also OPENED the foil cover ALL BY HERSELF, and helped herself. Funny baby! Very self-sufficient of her, eh?

Well anyway, I guess I just wanted to say... I miss my babies. I love the first-talking moments. I love their yogurt, go-urt, logurt, yoda way of saying things!

That's all. (Unless I can get some cute pics to load here sometime...)

It's been too long!

I'm almost wondering whether it's worth trying to resurrect this blog.
It's one of those things that I've just stopped doing, though I'm not sure what it is that I'm now doing instead?!? Well, instead of prattling on about how I should write more, what's stopping me, and what's wrong with the blogging universe altogether... I will just post a bunch of random pictures, without even writing about each one...

And I'll make a commitment, right here and now...
I plan to blog more.
As in, I am setting a goal to blog 10 more times before New Years Day.

I bet you're all about to jump out of your seats, just imagining what some of these next posts will contain. There will be some back-blogging, some theorizing, and some venting, to be sure. And pictures. I have just downloaded two months' worth of pictures onto my computer that now need to be blogged, for posterity's sake.

Here are some blog topics you can anticipate for the next few posts:
-- Happy Thanksgiving, and all its trimmings
-- She Turned SEVEN!
-- Vitamins A to Z... and all their perks
-- Back-blogging: Road Trip Continuation
-- Back-blogging: Road Trip Grand Finale
-- Babysitting Blues
-- Potty-training 103, for the veteran mom
-- Oh Christmas Tree, and other traditional fun

Well, that ought to keep me busy, amid the scores of Christmas cards, baking, shopping, wrapping and whatever else we all decide to do last minute before Christmas. But I'm SERIOUS... check back soon, for more from me. This blog is NOT about to die. I promise.

Not my last word

Hi.
It's me, again.
And it's going to be short and boring, again. I just don't want "Blah" to be my last word on my blog anymore. Such a downer word, eh? And, while things aren't entirely better yet, I don't feel so "blah" anymore, so I thought I'd write a quick something new for all you readers who have been wondering if my world is falling apart into complete "blah"-ness.

It's not. Things are fine and I'm in a better mood. I vacuumed tonight -- that always help improve my outlook, ya know?

But the kids still aren't sleeping. They have colds/coughs now, and Spencer is getting more and more afraid in the dark. Any suggestions on helping him out with that? I was up with him from 2 - 3:30 a.m. last night... without ever going back to bed. I would leave his room and sit on the staircase nearby, reading, waiting for him to get up again and need me, which he did about every 7 minutes. Sigh. He decided he didn't want to sleep in our room, because it was too dark. (Not a big surprise. oh well.)

Tonight, he's been up 12 to 15 times since I put him to bed at 8:15. He wants more lights on, more drinks, a quick cuddle, a prayer... I finally told him, "look, Spence, night time is going to come. Every. single. day that you live... you will have to face the night. You need to just get used to it now, Buddy. And I love you. And I'm done talking to you." (Which, in fact, I wasn't, because he got up another 7 times after that conversation, of course.)

We went to Walmart today, just to get out of the house for a bit. Natalie was so funny, riding around in the cart, in the store, saying "I go a-Walmahht." again and again. Love that girl. And Spence was super-duper excited to pick out a laminated US States map place mat thing for him and a map of the world place mat for Samantha. Nat got an Elmo shapes and colors mat -- breakfast will be such fun at our house now, with our new mats!!

What else can I share here? Oh yes, the exciting news of the day is that I finally joined all you tech-junkies and got a smart phone. No, it's not a Siri. But it does text and internet and stuff. And maybe I'll even remember to keep it charged and keep it with me sometimes. Brian found it on clearance at Target -- only $15, and no contract, just pay-by-month. Wish me luck as I enter the world of texting. I already tried for a bit this evening, texting back and forth with my fam... ended up in the Spanish setting a time or two, told my sis-in-law that "I ruina un Androide" -- instead of "it's an Android, I think." Yes, hopefully I'll get some texting skills eventually. Or we wasted $15, eh? ;)

Goodnight, friends! "Blah" is not my last word anymore. :)

Blah

Blah bleah bleh blaha whatever.

It's been one of those days. Or maybe a few days in a row. I think it actually started when I couldn't find the onions I bought last week. I looked, and looked and looked... a WHOLE 5 lbs SACK of onions. Disappeared!! Bleh. A girl who cooks every night NEEDS onions. Right? It's just a fact.

So, I went to the store and bought another bag of onions. Had it home and put away in the fridge for a whole 15 minutes when I FOUND the other bag I bought. No joke. It's kind of been like that around here in some ways lately. Blah. 

Another one... I read a friend's blog about how their little girl keeps waking up in the night and it's getting really frustrating. Oh yeah, I remember those good ol days, I thought, as I wrote a comment on their blog. Good thing we've passed THAT phase, eh?

I kid you not: That. very. night. Spencer woke up with a bad dream. And he woke up Natalie. And Samantha. And me, of course. Repeatedly, about three times in the night. And then... he has CONTINUED to wake up every. single. night since I wrote that post. And Natalie, too. Multiple times. Inconsolable. (He's scared of owls, again.) And yes, I'm losin' it. Bleh.

And Samantha is sick. Poor Samantha, who never gets sick. She has a fever and a really rough throat and is lethargic and quiet and so unlike her normal self and so sad to have to stay home from school and do nothing. (She read for about three hours yesterday... "Power Tales" or mini-biographies about famous people.) Bleah.

And Brian has worked until 3 or 4 a.m. almost every night since all of this "bleah"-ness started. Poor poor man. Bleahbblah

And then, the  presidential race was soooo close, and I really had no idea I was so invested, because it really did end the way I told myself it was going to end from the beginning. But there I was listening to the wrap-up, and I got so disappointed and surprised myself by yelling at the television (which I really don't think I've ever done before... I'm not a man and I don't watch much football anymore, ya know?) And then I felt really silly for yelling at the tv, but those gloating know-it-all reporters just sounded a little too in-my-face about things, and I couldn't even bring myself to watch the acceptance speech. And now I feel even more silly for having to watch it on youtube, because... well, I just have to do those things, right? And here I am actually BLOGGING about this, when we all know mine is NOT a political blog. (So no bawling me out for caring one way or another... at least not on here, kay? I won't even TALK about all the nastiness I saw on fb! sheesh!!) Bleh.

And now, here it is, Thursday night, and I should be making dinner, or taking Samantha to urgent care maybe, or at least putting away the folded laundry that's all over the couches, or -- no, I guess I should finish folding it first. sigh.

But all is well, really. It's just "real" life, and it isn't always super fun, I guess. But we have power, and heat and a garage and carpet and a good home and family life, and we missed Sandy, when so many of our friends are still having a hard go, And of course I know and remember about all those other wonderful blessings that make it worth going through the occasional "blah" day. I know. Believe me, I know.

So... I'm going to go play the piano. That beautiful piano that I love. And I'll leave you on that note, for now!

VOIP -- good techonology/good comic relief!

So, most of you know we have a telephone number through a voice-over internet provider (VOIP ) -- which means, our phone line is run through the internet. Brian could probably tell you the technical details, but all I know is that when the internet works, our phone works; when it doesn't work, our phone doesn't work either. Most of the time it works, and works well, thankfully!

We started using a VOIP line when we lived in London. This gave our family and friends a US number to call, so they didn't have to worry about international phone rates. It worked well enough that we've kept it this whole time since then. (Let's all knock on wood that it continues to work well.) When you stop to think about it, it's actually pretty amazing, the things we can do with technology, right?

Well, a few months ago, our VOIP provider offered us a new additional service that we thought would be pretty cool... When someone leaves us a message on our voicemail, our VOIP service automatically transcribes it into an email and sends it to us, so we can READ our messages when we check emails. (I know, it would be even more cool if we actually used smart phones and could read our voicemail throughout the day as we walked around glued to our phone like most everyone else... keep persuading us, maybe we'll get there someday.)

Anyway, the transcribing-to-email idea is pretty cool, but well... sometimes it's pretty obvious the VOIP provider is making a guess in the dark at some of the things our callers actually MEANT to say to us. It's provided some great comic relief for us from time to time. I usually delete them after having a little laugh. But this one from today was just so funny I thought I'd share, in case anyone else needs a little humor right now...

Actual voicemail message I heard on the phone: (about the upcoming election)
I'm a volunteer calling on behalf of the Travis Manning campaign. As you know, tomorrow is election day. I'm really excited to support Travis. He is running as a conservative Democrat for the Idaho Caldwell seat eight. As a teacher at the Vallivue High School he wants what's best for students. He also wants ethical leaders in government and a stronger economy. Please check out his website at votetravismanning.com.

VOIP TRANSCRIPTION on email:
"I don't want you calling on behalf of the truck man I just complete. As you know tomorrow is election day. I'm really excited but Travis is trying to compare with the Democrat. I called seek and eight. As a teacher at the lot of the high school. She wants one starts for students. So if you want to at the Cooley, listen Carmen it's to calling. Please check out she's upset and so it's roslyn.com." 


So... if you wonder where I'll be tomorrow, I'll be down at the "Cooley," listening to "Carmen" since "she's upset!" ha!!
Happy elections, ya'll! Here's one pic we saw in Santa Fe, appealing to the Spanish vote, ha!

More Road Trip Details -- Tennessee to Loisiana

Ready for more road trip details??
Well, on our way through Kentucky, down to Tennessee, we passed signs for Mammoth Cave National Park. I was sleeping, and I think Spencer and Natalie were also sleeping. But Brian couldn't resist stopping. So, we all woke up in the parking lot of Mammoth Cave -- the largest cave in the United States, I think. 

It was near closing time, but the park ranger said we could join their "lantern/starlight tour" if we wanted to. Doesn't that sound so cool? Walking through a cave at sunset, with your own individual lantern as a light?Well, we didn't do it, because it would have taken an extra couple of hours. But we did get to walk down to the Historic Entrance -- for free.

Notice (above) that Brian is walking waaaay ahead of the two kids, right? Well, that's because he happened to mention, excitedly, that we might see some BATS in the cave's entrance... From that point, we had two freaked out scaredies!! Samantha cried the whole way down the stairs, and hated the entire experience. I'm sure she was just waiting for a huge vampire bat to come out of the shadows and devour her alive, poor thing. (Maybe it was a good thing we decided not to do the lantern tour, eh?)

We only walked a little ways into the cave, even though it looks like we're really deep in here. See, there's the entrance, right behind us. And no bats!...

Out we go again, whew! We were glad we hadn't paid money to explore deeper, but we were also happy that we got to see the cave and say we've been there.

And, on to Nashville. That's where we had a great hotel with a pool and delicious waffle breakfast. And Natalie spilled/poured a whole container of syrup over herself, the table, the chair, her hair, the floor, etc. Good times.

So, Tennessee's capitol building is way up on top of a hill. We thought it would be a great idea to let the kids get out and stretch, and climb these steps to the top...

Too bad it was under construction, but we enjoyed the views and the walk...

Next stop, the Parthenon. Did you know that Nashville has totally rebuilt the Parthenon, just like in ancient Greece? It's a pretty amazing building. Inside is a museum, with lots of replicas of the Grecian Marbles. We didn't go through the museum, because... well,  on a scale of one to ten, how interested do you think our kids would have been, to see the Grecian Marbles?? Yeah... maybe some other time. 

But running around the outside was fun for our little rowdies...

So, on a trip with kids, the coolest thing in Nashville is actually the Rainforest Cafe, in the Opry Mills shopping complex. The kids LOVED it. Have you ever been? It's so much fun, with a vine canopy ceiling, simulated thunder and lightning storms every 10 minutes, and animated life-size jungle creatures. The gorilla show was our kids' favorite. I thought the elephants were super cool.

We sat next to a giant fish tank, but I guess I didn't get a good picture of the tank. Here are the happy kids, sipping their sprites before sharing a grilled cheese kids meal...

(btw, we learned that sprite is the best beverage treat for travelling; it's clear, so it cleans up better if spilled, and Natalie thinks it's just water, so we didn't always have to get one for her, ha!)

Oh, and here are the tigers... Super cool!

After lunch, we wandered over to the Opry Land Hotel. I LOVE this place! I went there with my Aunt Kathy and her family a few years back, and I've wanted to take Brian back there ever since. I took a ton of pictures, but I'll only share a couple. The fountain...

 And the gang, climbing the banisters by the fountain...

What a cutie, eh? She really does love to pose, these days!

Look at this stunning water fall! They have several of them, in the atriums throughout the hotel...

There's Brian, on the far balcony, next to this one...

(Aside: if you must know, our Opry Land Hotel experience wasn't ideal. Even surrounded by all those lovely waterfalls and flowering plants -- one in our group cried and said he wanted to go the car about every two minutes, another had a sick stomach and just felt miserable, another kept running away and had to be confined to the stroller and then screamed out her fury for the whole hotel to hear, etc. Lesson here... even amazing ambiance doesn't always make for perfection, if you know what I mean? But it was still a good time, and now we sort of wish we would have paid the $30+ to ride their boat around the indoor river -- or at least paid $7.50 for that tiny slice of carrot cake. ah... live and learn.)

Here's the Grand Ole Opry. We didn't go in (probably because it was right after our Opry Land Hotel experience), but at least we can say we've seen it, right??

On to Birmingham, AL. We stayed the night there, and then toured around a bit the next morning. We stopped at their children's museum and science center, which was one of the highlights of the whole trip for our kids. In the lobby, they have this amazing mousetrap/marble thingy. Spencer is convinced that Grandpa Dale can build one just like it for the grandkids...

A favorite experiment was the pulley/lift chairs. Spence and Samantha both spent a lot of time hefting their own weight on these...

Natalie was obsessed with all things "water" related. She liked these balls, and she liked touching the sharks and stingrays, because it meant putting her hands/arms/face in water (too bad we didn't get a pic).

Also in Birmingham, we went through the Civil Rights Institute, which is one of their top tourist attractions. I don't think we took any pictures inside, but we really enjoyed our visit. It was interesting to see Samantha comprehending some of the social injustices of our nation's past. I'm glad Brian suggested taking the kids there. Here's the park in front of the museum...

Hello, Mississippi! We initially planned to spend the night in Jackson, but it worked out better for us to go on to New Orleans that night instead. So, I'm afraid all Mississippi got from us was a wave and maybe a stop at a service station.

But just crossing that border means only TWO states left in the Union for me to visit, before I can say I've been to ALL FIFTY STATES!! (N. Dakota and Alaska.) And only TWO for Brian, too! (Arkansas and Alaska -- I'm betting I'll get to my fifty FIRST! ha!)

New Orleans, party city!! We got there after dark, with hungry kids and no hotel. No problem, we stood outside the Marriott while Brian used their wireless connection to hotwire a hotel for us. We ended up staying on Bourbon street. No joke. It was quite the night life! Bars, clubs, and caborets as far as the eye could see!

We ate at a great hole-in-the-wall restaurant, where Brian got a New Orleans sampler plate, with red beans and rice, crab ettouffe (sp), and gumbo. I got a shrimp po-boy sandwich, and the kid loved sharing the fish and chips. yum!

Bonus, we got to watch the debate while we ate... with a large metal bass as decoration. ha!

We actually stayed in a really nice Sheraton, and our room was facing the inner courtyard -- away from the party scene. (And I might as well mention, we went waaaay out and around Bourbon Street for several blocks, to get to our hotel without exposing our children to too much "atmosphere.")

Brian got up early and went for a bike ride around the French Quarter, and took some really nice pics of the city (about 25). Here's one...

 Then we all went swimming, which was glorious! Outdoor pool, high 70s, and we had the pool all to ourselves. Lovely!
(Pictures of the perfect pool are on the iPad... if I get ambitious, I'll add them here, kay?)

We also took a little walk down to the river. We went inside this beautiful cathedral...

And then let the kids play in the fountain in front...

Said hello to the Mighty Mississippi River. Our kids hardly understand how famous that waterway is. But they liked the boardwalk...

One of my favorite pics of the entire trip. Doesn't she look so pensive? I'll call it "Natalie and the Mississip."

And then a late breakfast of French beignets (donuts) on the patio at Cafe du Monde. Delicious! It was one of those nearly perfect moments, where we wished we could spend all day wandering the French Quarter, peeking in shops and eating fancy French or Cajun food. mmm! I think it may have been one of Brian's and my favorite days of our trip.

But we didn't get to linger too long. The road trip clock kept ticking, telling us we needed to be in Houston by that evening (I assumed responsibility of being the "road trip clock," if you were wondering -- you can confirm that with Brian!). So, we said goodbye to New Orleans and off we went to Baton Rouge, which is in the next installment. Stay tuned!!