"Two Bad Mice", etc

Tonight I sent Noelle and Jonny to see Transformers (I think it's a movie) together. Kate, who was made to play outside all morning (Tough life, right?) and then be 'Mom' all the way to Austin and back, was quite naturally feeling cheated out of a whole day by that fast aproaching blanket of darkeness which she whoafully refers to as 'Bedtime.'

Since Reagan and George were passively traveling to tomorrow land, I decided to find out whether or not Kate would like a Peter Rabbit story. At the end of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Katie 'wasn't tired.' So we read Benjamin Bunny, Squirrel Nutkin, and Two Bad Mice. At the end of Jeremy Fisher... Kate fell asleep. I've concluded that Katie indeed does enjoy Beatrix Potter's characters.

P.s. If you are planning to read Squirrel Nutkin to your child, it helps to remind them durring the suspensful parts that Nutkin will not die. He does lose his tail though, so don't promise that, "Nothing bad will happen". :)

SHREDDED WHEAT

SHREDDED WHEAT

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Check it out. I laughed, so hard. Best video shorts on youtube, yet.

I was grateful to wake up this morning and see a sheath of gray clouds covering the usually azure sky. The temperature was mild, only about 83, so I sent the girls outside to play since Tanner was going to have to drive all the way to Austin with only 4 hours of sleep under his belt. I figured if they were outside, they could squabble to their hearts content and not disturb him.

The past few days have been really hard on the girls since I don't feel comfortable letting them play outside when the thermometer is reading over 95. I'm just too ignorant about heat stroke and things like that to take the risk of letting them play outside. I've taken the girls to the children's museum and the mall quite a bit so that they can get some active play time into their schedules.

So, when I shook Tanner awake at noon, he stumbled around blindly for a bit, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, remembered to shave, that sort of thing. Then he went out to the car to unload the trunk so that there would be enough room for Jonathan's luggage. He was back inside the house within ten seconds excitedly telling me to OPEN the windows, let the air inside! I didn't argue. I knew that the high was only going to be about 95, and I figured that a little fresh air would keep us all healthy. The house steamed up quickly, but there was a nice breeze so I think we accomplished our goal. After about 45 minutes, I closed the house up, waved goodbye to the kids and Dad, then turned the AC on full blast.

I'm not sure what to do with myself for the next hour. It is so quiet.

Fourth of July events | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle

Fourth of July events | Bryan/College Station, Texas - The Eagle

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Just stuff

We found another great swimming pool. This one goes from zero feet to 3ft, so I can sit with Georgie in the very shallow end and let her splash in the water while Tanner floats around with Reagan. Kate is so independent now. She just "goes swimming". I find it a little unnerving because I keep thinking of her as my little baby, but apparently she's big enough to know how to swim.

I hope to post some pictures soon just not tonight. We had to re-wire everything since Jonathan is moving in with us tomorrow. The room he'll be staying in was our office/storage area, so we had to find a new place for the computer. Then we had to buy a hub and networking cables and wall jacks and all sorts of crazy things in order to get Internet access throughout the house. Luckily, I know all about networking, so it wasn't a big deal to set everything up. We did consider going wireless, but I didn't want to have to install a wireless adapter in my desktop. I have to admit, it is nice to have my computer out of the "roach" room. Unfortunately for Jonathan, there is at least one more wall to repair before construction can start on his room.

Now before you think that I'm being callous, let me assure you. The wall we have to finish is the one next to our washer and dryer. We used sheet rock as a temporary measure to plug a hole that is about 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall. That's it. The sheet rock is on the OUTSIDE of the house. There is no plywood, no siding, no insulation, no plastic, nothing, just sheet rock. The window is nailed onto the house as a temporary measure to keep it attached. These temporary measures have been in place since January while we've been dealing with things like collapsing walls, broken windows and holes in the floor. You see, Jonathan's room has siding on the outside of it. 90% of the walls have sheet rock. All of the windows are securely fastened to the house. And there are only minor cracks that we've filled with caulking as a "temporary" measure. But don't worry. We've rebuilt 4 walls since we've been here. Replaced 3 windows, two doors, two fans, 3 light fixtures and remodeled an entire bathroom. We'll get it done eventually, and for now, I bought a can of roach spray for his room...

Are you tired of hearing about the weather, yet?

You know it's hot when...

• the butter melts on the counter even though the AC is running full blast
• the water bottle that was left in the car is warm enough to soothe a back ache
• a 9 month old baby starts to cry when the car door is opened, so you end up standing on the curb for 5 minutes while the AC cools the seats down
• the family goes swimming at 10:00am BEFORE it gets too hot for the water to cool you down
• you can't tell if you turned on the hot water or cold water tap

All of that to say, at least I'm not in Sacremento where it 110 today. Makes our 97 look pretty puny.

"I must say as to what I have seen of Texas, it is the garden spot of the world, the best land and the best prospects for health I ever saw, and I do believe it is a fortune to any man to come here." -Davy Crockett

So, are we seceeding?

Of Cups and Sundry Things

I often wonder if it is sentimentality that proves that humans are of a different order than animals. I know the correct answer is our soul, our walk with Christ, the image of God, etc..., but sentimentality is a powerful force in human nature that you just don't observe in the animal nature.

Silly as it may seem, glasses and coffee cups hold great sway over my emotions. Washing dishes this morning proved to be a long stroll down memory lane. My ties with coffee cups and glasses started when I was a child. First came the Noritake coffee mug with inlaid gold swans that I had bought with my birthday money when I was 10. I wanted a cup to match my mother's gold plate that we had bought her for mother's day. Then came the little blue, yellow and magenta espresso cups that I had seen at the outlet mall in Lincoln City. It was a cold, wet, gray day at the Oregon Coast, and I fell in love with the colorful set. I could imagine making gourmet coffee in them for Talia and Sarah. My mother and sister convinced me not to buy them, and then surprised me with a set for Joshua's birthday when I was 15. Followed by the elliptical cups that Tanner and I thought were so cool. We put them on our wedding registry and then a week later, Mom-Howell excitedly disgorged them at my feet. They had gone on clearance. I can't forget the white espresso cups that Starbucks had for almost 6 months before they went on sale 75% off. They had a lovely little swirl around them, and matched perfectly with my china pattern. I had visions of elegant dinners followed by pots de creme and coffee. The last few cups were the demitasse cups that Gen and I coveted at Peets coffee just weeks before they for California. I could justify buying one, but not more than that. Gen was insistent that a set is a set, so I bought two and she bought two. They're still waiting for an official "espresso" party. Please don't stop drinking coffee anytime soon.

I've never seen a walrus spend so much time smiling over a seashell or a dog weeping over his food bowl. No, I think sentimentality is a human thing. It transforms us from brutes into lovers, cowards into parents and tormentors into friends.

Recluse Spider Update

Okay, so I have updates sprinkled all over the place. Some of this will be reduntant to some people and news to others. Sorry that I've been so shatterbrain.

The long and the short is that the way to combat a Recluse spider bite is to buy a $45 tube of neosporin and apply it 3x's a day.

Tanner's bite had minor necrosis which I believe means tissue decay. The doctor said that it wasn't as bad as other cases he has seen which is very good news. We can expect about 4-6 weeks of minor muscle aches and itchy skin. As long as the bite area doesn't increase dramatically in size then we are in the clear.

So...hope that answers all questions...thank you for your prayers...thank you for your inquiries...love you all!

Heat Wave Alert!!!

Well, today, I got up and felt HOT. The air conditioner was running and it was only 7:30. I frowned and thought that it was a little odd. I checked the thermostat, but it said 80 degrees. I wondered if it was broken.

After Tanner got back from his appointment, we cleaned up the breakfast dishes and headed to Walmart to get our perscriptions filled: my thyroid and his antibiotic cream. We passed a temperature sign that said 92. 92! It was only 10:00.

At Walmart, I hunted for a newspaper. Plastered on the front page were heat warnings for the next 2 weeks. Apparently we are experiencing and unusual heat wave that will last through the end of June. We can expect triple digits every day.

Barbecue any one?

Dr. Appt.

Good news! The doctor said that it probably is a recluse spider bite OR it is a different type of spider and the bite has become infected. He gave Tanner a perscription for some serious antibiotic ointment with instructions to apply it daily and to monitor the size of the bite. As long as it stays the same size, we're doing fine. The doctor said that since it had been a week and the bite was only the size of a dime we didn't have too much to worry about.

Recluse Spider Bite

Well, we're not sure if it has happened or not, but we'd appreciate every one's prayers. We've decided to be proactive rather than take a wait and see attitude since we aren't natives. About 6 days ago, while Tanner was opening some boxes at work, he felt something sting him around his ankle. When he looked, he saw a little red swelling and wondered what could have bitten him that badly. He didn't think anything about it, but the next day, he felt feverish and nauseous. Then everything seemed to go away. Four days ago, his ankle started to itch so badly that he actually pulled the skin off. He showed it to one of his co-workers who said that we'd better keep an eye on it because it might be a Recluse bite. He said that if a red ring started to form around the scab then we might want to get it checked out. Last night his ankle started to ache and this afternoon, upon closer inspection, a red ring has begun to form around the scab. This afternoon we made an appointment with the doctor and that is where we stand.

We've done our research and know that they think the problem with the Recluse bite is that bacteria gets into the skin, makes a huge boil and takes months and months to heal and be very painful. The usual course of action is antibiotics, there is no anti-venom. The bite is usually deadly only in children and the elderly.

So, please pray with us that:

1. The infection doesn't spread
2. Tanner is spared any serious pain
3. That we've caught it in time
4. If God could please make this be just an over-active imagination thingy and it not be a recluse bite!

Getting into the car

This is Texas after all, so getting into the car is necessarily a sticky situation no mater where we are. For instance, this morning I got up early and got ready for my doctor appointment. I remembered my sunglasses, my purse, my coffee and my money. Armed with these very necessary accoutrement's, I grabbed the car keys and walked out the side door.

I was pleasantly surprised as I stepped out into the great wide world. Even though the sky was gray and cloudy, I had expected to be hit with a standing in the shade temperature of 85. Instead there was a soft, cool breeze and the air was merely warm.

I opened the car door and stepped back, expecting a wave of unbearable, scorching heat. I frowned when the familiar blast didn't whistle past my forehead. I threw my purse inside, still not daring to touch the seats, and again was surprised because the air inside the car felt cool. I put my hand inside to test the waters. Shrugged my shoulders prosaically and happily climbed into the car. I didn't burn my shoulders on the back of the seat. I snuggled into the leather which I hadn't done since February, turned the car on and was greeted by a blast from the air conditioner. I turned it off, rolled down my window, opened the moon roof and enjoyed a mild drive.

What a difference a wall makes, 24 little hours...

Did you know that heat pours in through holes? Did you know that a single pane of glass is not sufficient insulation? Now, I'm not talking head knowledge, I'm talking biblical knowledge. The know that Paul uses when he says that the disciples had touched, tasted and smelled Christ.

I live in a dilapidated house that has zero insulation, and I am amazed that every time Tanner tears a wall out, puts in the studs, adds insulation, sheet rock, and mud the house becomes more temperature control friendly. Suddenly, insulation becomes this modern day miracle, something that should be reverenced, glorified and honored.

Tanner's last project made a huge difference in the living room. For the first time, the fans and air conditioner were able to keep the front room at a very comfortable 80 degrees. No over heating. No wafts of oven-like air. A beautiful sturdy wall is being built. What an accomplishment. What an amazing world we live in today.

The weather

Okay, haha, Joanelle! But I really want to try to convince you about how difficult it is to keep anything cold here. I had butter in the fridge. I took it out, put it on the table, grabbed a couple of pieces of bread, a butter knife and sat down. By that point, the butter was soft enough to spread. I'm serious.

I put rice in my salt. My glasses of water look like Grandma Durrant's glasses of Coke -- lots of ice, little bit of liquid. I don't drink shots of espresso anymore. Whoever heard of a cappuccino? It's always an iced latte or iced coffee. Ice cream is not savoured, it is devoured immediately. The best times to go outside are between the hours of 4:30am and 7:00am, after that it is just too hot unless you are on your way to the pool.

We were thinking about sticking our freezer outside in a little shed, and then we thought it wasn't such a great idea. The heat would make the freezer run non-stop and run up the electric bill like crazy.

So, now that I've scared all of the Northwestern inhabitants, I conclude with this: I LOVE THE HEAT! I would rather have the problem of a dripping cube of butter than the frustration of "aaarrrgghhh! I forgot to take the butter out!" And I can always stick a couple more ice cubes in my drink.

Thought it was time for another picture update! So, here is Kate, looking absolutely beautiful as she devours a late crop of strawberries for dinner. Behind her, notice the curtain. This curtain has been hiding the "hole" in our wall for the last 6 months. There use to be a window there, but the glass is all broken out and a piece of plywood was bolted onto the house in order to keep out vandals and the elements. 3 days ago, a cockroach crawled in through the crack...

So...her is what the wall looks like, right now. Tomorrow, the insulation and sheet rock goes in place. I also thought you might want a look at one of the much talked of fans. There is a matching one in the living room.

For those Cinderella fans out there, according to Reagan the words to Sing Sweet Nightingale are actually, "Sweep, sweep, knife and tale, oooowwwwwww!"

The problem with most entertainment centers is that they are designed to house a TV, a HUGE TV, and Tanner and I don't own a TV. We watch our movies on our computer or we have this DVD player for the car that we sometimes set up as our home entertainment system. It also has RCA jacks so we can hook our Wii up to it as well. So, I don't need a huge entertainment center. For the past 6 months our DVD player and Wii have been floating between tables, chairs and floors, but today, as I browsed through craigslist, there was this advertisement for a black, corner cabinet with 3 drawers and a large cupboard and 2 shelves. I can't complain. We had to drill a couple of wholes in it, when I say we, I mean Tanner, but it now sits in the corner of my house and looks very nice.

The last is just a shot of a minty drink that I made one night when Tanner decided to goof off and become a professional food photographer. The difficulty that faces us in Texas is how to keep a cocktail cold. Ice chips melt way too fast, so I ended up floating a couple of ice cubes in this virgin mojito.

This morning, after a sleepless night and a cranky baby, I decided to take the girls to the farmers market and the mall to find a Father's Day present. I was going to leave Tanner at home so that he could sleep.

He had come home from work and then immediately started demolishing the wall with the last broken window. By 10:30 he had constructed a new wall, and was ready to hang plywood. I loaded the kids into the car, and he kissed them goodbye. As I backed out of the driveway, Reagan said, "Mommy, where Daddy go?" I told her that he was going to stay home, and she burst into tears. I sighed, stopped the car and lightly tapped on my horn. When Tanner came up to the car, I rolled down the window. He smiled. I didn't have to say anything, Regan's tears were enough. I told I'd be back after a quick trip to the bank.

So, when we came back from making our deposit, Tanner was showered and changed and ready to go. We swung by Starbucks. Right across the street is one of those electric, reader boards that displays the time and the temperature. I was debating on whether to get a hot or a cold drink. I remarked that is was a pretty cool day so maybe something hot would be nice, but then I decided that I really wanted a lightly sweetened, iced coffee. As we pulled out of the drive through I glanced across the street and saw that the temperature was 92.

The farmer's market here is small, but there is this awesome coffee vendor that sets up his stand there. I buy my espresso beans from him. Yeah, I know, amazing isn't it? I like his stuff better than Starbucks. His dream company is Stumptown. Boy do I miss Stumptown coffee right about now.

Now, the trip to the mall was suppose to be to find Tanner a Father's Day present. Why is it that whenever I go to the mall for one thing, I come away with something entirely different? We put the two small girls in the stroller and went in through Macy's. And of course they were having this SALE. But not just any sale. I've been coveting the long, sun-dresses ever since they first came out, but no way was I going to pay $40 for a dress. The sale they had today was for $15. I was so glad I had brought Tanner because he likes to buy dresses for me. Two dresses and a pair of shorts later, we headed out to the main mall. Bought some sushi, by the way one of Reagan's favorite foods is spicy shrimp tempura roll, a couple of drink and a pretzel. And then the girls found Daddy's present: SUNGLASSES. Never mind that he already has a pair. They wanted to get him sunglasses with sparkles! After some delicate negotiating with them, steering them away from the pink pair with diamonds and the silver pair with glitter, they found a brown pair with gold that was "okay". And of course, even though Daddy was standing just a few feet away with Georgie, he didn't see them buy his present, and they quickly stuffed it into my bag before he turned around to look. So, it was time to go home. We walked back into Macy's and that is when I decided to check out their bathing suits. There was this suit that I saw earlier in the year by INC (my favorite department at Macy's). A perfect, retro, royal purple, bathing suit that was priced at a mere $108. Yeah, right. If I won't pay $40 for a dress... Well, it was on sale, too. I forked over $58. The most I've ever spent on a bathing suit. I'm still pinching myself and wondering if I'm suffering from heat stroke.

The day began to cool down at around 7:30 tonight, so out came the jog stroller and Kate's bike. We meandered down to our "river" walk where a nice breeze is always blowing and you can here the cardinals buzzing. We were treated to the rare sight of a family of beavers playing by the side of the creek. Kate and Reagan were so excited. Reggie kept yelling, "Hi, Mr. Beaver! Hi, Mrs. Beaver! Where is Mr. Tumnus?" Kate was more excited about the baby beaver that was practicing sliding into the water and clambering back out and then in and then out again.

I still don't have any plans for tomorrow. Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm leaning towards a picnic...but, it might be too hot, so then maybe the pool. Or, maybe I'll wake up early and make blueberry pancakes.

You can tell we've been busy

On days like today, after weeks like this week, I am glad that my mom lives 3,000 miles away. I wouldn't want her to see the state of my house. It took Tanner and I 45 minutes to wash all the dishes. The floors aren't vacuumed. I discovered a load of towels mouldering in the washing machine. I don't even want to think about the bottles I discovered wedged underneath the seat of my car. And to top it all off, I logged on-line today to discover that it is Father's Day weekend!

I'm just not ready for it. This is the first year that I really have no idea what to do. He doesn't barbecue. He doesn't play sports. He doesn't have any hobbies other than reading math books. It's too hot to wear ties, dress shirts or anything like that. What do you get a man who does nothing? It would help if he collected stamps or bugs or coins. It would be even better if he was a garden enthusiast or a wood worker. It would be heavenly if he was a normal guy that liked baseball, basketball, football, soccer, rugby, golf, tennis, anything! Instead, I sit here with dead panic creeping around me trying to think of something, anything.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me that I married someone so much like my dad. Every year we would rack our brains trying to think of a great gift for my dad. Luckily, it's grown easier over time because he started to really like working in his garden. Just buy him a new spade or an aerator or a years supply of fertilizer and hey, presto, you've got a great Father's Day gift. At least while we were growing up Dad was a real food connoisseur. Not so with Tanner. He eats, but doesn't really recognize what he's eating. Like last night, I made cauliflower for our vegetable. He spears a piece and says, "this is great broccoli!" I didn't even try to explain about the ginger-apricot glazed chicken. On the plus side, even if I burn dinner, he doesn't complain. It's edible, right? Luckily, he's a very intuitive guy and takes me to nice restaurants when I've got a hankering for fine food. I'm very aware of what a big deal this is for him because he confessed not long after we were married that he always thought that The Olive Garden was a fancy restaurant.

All of this to say, what am I going to get him? He definitely deserves something special. Especially since he took me to a Greek restaurant last week.

Not a morning person

I am happy, no, thrilled to announce that Kate is not a morning person. Thrilled because it means I don't have 6:00am wake up calls. Thrilled because early is tumbling out of bed just in time for church. Thrilled because it looks like Reagan might be the same way.

Of course, with all of this rejoicing, there is a little, tiny problem. The last few days we've been going to VBS and all of the girls have been getting up between 6:30 and 7:00. Today, Kate and I didn't go to VBS. Instead, I spent the morning braiding her hair so that whenever she needed to throw up, the puke wouldn't get into her hair. She is now sleeping peacefully on my bed. No fever. No rash. No cold. No headache. Just a little over tired. It does beg the question--what will we do when she has to start school? I certainly hope her clock can adjust for school hours.

Babies growing up

Is there anything sweeter than watching Georgianna rest her head against Tanner's shoulder as she slowly drains her bottle of milk? She nestles close to him, one hand gripping his shirt while the other gently strokes his shoulder. A picture of perfect contentment and peace. I suppose this is my favorite part of weaning--when the girls begin to develop a nurturing bond with their daddy.

Some people are wondering if there is any sibling jealousy between Georgie and Reggie. I can confidently say no. I wish all the grandparents could see them chase each other round and round the living room, Georgie squeals with delight as Reagan laughs and laughs. Then Reagan pounces like the great lion, Aslan, and gives her sister a great, big hug and the two girls both get the giggles. Georgie wiggles out of the embrace and excitedly taps Reagan's face. Then Georgie leans forward with her mouth wide open and plants a slobbery, baby kiss right on Reggie's nose. They giggle a little bit more before starting their game of chase all over again.

Georgie has officially confused us. I am now "dadda" and Tanner is now "na-na". She still knows "tai-tai" and "eti". Reagan confided in me tonight as I was saying goodnight, "Mommy, Jesus died on the cross." I responded, "Yes, he did." She said, "He's not dead anymore. He is waiting in heaven for me." Yes, dear, yes He is...

Uh, oh...I'm starting to sound like one of THEM!

I just realized the other day that I've begun calling people sir and ma'am. I'm at the check out and the guy is finished bagging my food, and I say, "Thank you, sir." And he asks, "Do you need help, ma'am?" At this point a true northwesterner says either, "nope or yes." I said, "no, thank you, sir." He said, "then have a nice day, ma'am."

I heard my voice say, "see y'all tomorrow," as I headed for the car.

The other day, we were waiting for Tanner at the mall entrance while he fetched the boiling, hot car. I turned to see two punk kids, carousing and being generally disruptive. Imagine my surprise when one of them suddenly straightens up and shouts to the other one, "you get that door!" They both opened the doors so that a woman with a stroller could pass through quite easily. She looked at them and said, "thank you." They nodded and said, "your welcome, ma'am." And then they turned around and started carousing and shouting and tumbled their way out into the mall.

VBS

Leaning back in my rocking chair, I prop my feet up on the bottom part of the computer desk, and my mind goes blank. A nice dark, black blank. I wondered as I stared numbly at the computer screen, "what was wrong with me?" I blinked a few times and realized that if I was going to do anything with the computer, I needed to turn it on. Slowly my mind began to shift into gear and I remembered: mouse, keyboard, coffee.

Those that don't understand what those three letters at the top of the screen stand for: Vacation Bible School. Try upwards of 50, third graders. I'm pretty sure there were more, but I don't like to exaggerate. As I sit thinking about it, I recall that we passed out all of the release forms, and required more, and the initial amount given to us was 40. They gave us at least 10 more. All together, the church is hosting 400 kids this summer. Those were the numbers for PRE-registration. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there were a lot of last minute registrations this morning, so we were just a little understaffed.

So, the blank stare is now understandable. We volunteered at the last minute because we read in the bulletin on Sunday that they still needed help. They were so relieved when I told them that I didn't need to be in Kate's classroom. Practically fell on my neck weeping.

On the bright side of things, I discovered that I'm cool! Wow, that has never happened to me before. I'm usually cast as the nerd. Today, the little girls just loved it that I was MARRIED! They couldn't believe it. And then, I pointed Tanner out, and their little mouths just dropped. They were utterly convinced that I must be totally cool to score a guy like him. I didn't bother to enlighten them. You see, we're both nerds.

I guess compared with the two other people helping with the group, one lady that is definitely "mature" and a nice gentleman that hasn't seen 70 for quite some time, I'm just cool. I'm enjoying my brief stardom. I get a kick out of the fact that they think my dancing is cool. I know, I know, laugh, oh, sisters of mine. The geek's dance moves are being copied as we speak! I am exultant. I have reached the pinnacle of my career, no matter how short-lived.

Only in Texas

Sermon notes...

Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blueberries.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browing

This was part of our sermon today. How obedient would we be if we could truly see that God surrounds us with His glory and holiness?

Fan size and sundry things

Did you know that fan size makes a big difference? According to an article that I read yesterday, if you get the right fan size you can reduce your cooling bill by almost 40%, now that is impressive.

Last month, we installed a little 36" fan in our living room, and it has done an adequate job cooling that room off, though the dining room right next door has been as hot as an oven. I checked the measurements of the rooms, and discovered that if I put another 36" fan in dining room, then both rooms would be cooled adequately. So, yesterday I started to put together the fan that we had designated for our bedroom.

I've been wanting to install extra fans for sometime, but it's just one of those projects that are difficult to start. First you have to assemble the motor base. Then you have to turn off the electricity, take out the existing fixture, pray that there is an electric box there AND that it is mounted near a stud and then start hooking the motor to the electricity. Most of you would shrug and wonder why we would worry about a stud. I mean where else would you put an electric box except near a stud? Apparently a lot of different places. The last fan we installed, we had to build a stud next to it because the original fan was mounted on to sheet rock and sheet rock.

So, by the time Tanner got home for school, I had the motor ready to go, and I was actually outside trying to figure out how to open the breaker panel to turn off the electricity. Boy am I glad he came home. He had to show me how to open the panel. I think it would have taken me a good hour to figure that one out. So, it only took us an hour to hook up the motor, attach the blades, the light kit, and check for sparks and faint burning smells. Wow, the difference a fan makes. We actually got our house down to below 80 with those two fans whirring.

Now, I just have to tackle the fan in the back room. It's suppose to be a 60" fan, and it's only 45".

Sundry list of things: our first hibiscus bloom, our first trip tomato, we're trying to get Jonny's room ready for him, maybe try some blueberry picking tomorrow, Reagan prefers her finger to a nuk, and Kate's favorite cartoon is now The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Oh, and another thing about the Texas dialect, try to decipher this phrase, "Fitty is tulles den fittydu." Anyone? Anyone? and the answer is.... "fifty is two less than fifty-two."

Last post of the day...

I just had to...

Joanelle sent Kate the old, cartoon version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Boy did I take a trip down nostalgia lane when we popped it into the dvd player. I was delighted that it was an instant favorite with both of the older girls. Reagan loved it so much that she begged to watch it two more times!

Well, it has been so hot, and I ran out of chicken to barbecue, so we splurged and went to a Mexican restaurant that people had raved about. And here is the cute part: Reagan grabbed a blue crayon, flipped the kids menu over, and drew this weird squiggly shape. It was almost like a figure eight, but she topped it with a pointy head. Then she pointed at it proudly and said, "Momma, it's the White Witch! She's not very nice." Then she roared at the picture and proceeded to scribble it out. I'm assuming that she donned the roll of Aslan and pounced.

Planting our Bird of Paradise

Yesterday was Jun 9th, so after the sun had dropped below the tree line, we all trooped outside, braved the mosquitoes and planted our white bird of paradise. It isn't blooming right now, but I hope it will sometime this summer.

Reagan had the most fun. She just loves playing in the dirt. She tried to carry the plant to Daddy, and then she thought that the best way to help was to take handfuls of dirt and fill in the hole.

She has a love hate relationship with bugs right now. She can't resist looking at them, but at the same time she's afraid they will bite her.

Georgie just sat back and watched. Then she decided to fuss a little bit, so mommy didn't get to be in any of the pictures.

Please note that it is June and the grass is still green and so are the trees. Texas is not a barren windswept landscape with tumbleweed being blown across the streets.

We had been told that the soil here was very clay ridden, so we expected it to take a good half hour to dig the hole for the bird of paradise. But the soil was very loose and looks very nutritious. It only took us about ten minutes to get everything ready and planted. So, once again, we've been blessed by our Father in Heaven., and perhaps we will try to have a vegetable garden next year...

The temperature is...

People have been asking me, "how hot is it?" Well, I haven't been really sure. We don't have a thermometer up, and I don't typically check the weather forecast anymore. Mainly because the forcast usually says: sunny, or warm, or expect patchy clouds. I mean, there just isn't much variation. It's not like it is going to rain anytime soon. So, not wanting to over-exaggerate, I've been telling everyone that it's been about 82 or 83. There have been clouds in the sky, and when I've gone outside, it's been warm, but not too warm. The girsl have been able to play outside for bits at a time, so I figured it was in the 80's.

I guess we are acclimatizing. I checked www.weather.com today. I looked at yesterdays weather. Ha! It was 95. Forcast for the week? 97 tomorrow, 99 on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 97 on Tuesday and REALLY dipping down on Wednesday to 96. Brrr...we might have to put on a tank top for that day.

What's really funny is that it's 9:00, the AC is on. It's setting is 80, and I was thinking of making the girls put on socks. I was also thinking that it was too cold to go to the pool today.

Next up...a video of Reagan!

Cheese Balls and more

I thought it was time for a photo montage. So, here is Reagan with her cheese balls...

What Daddy does in his sparetime...

What Georgie does in her spare time....

And, the girls latest pasttime: NAILS

Top 10 reasons why grilling is better than "stoving"

1. A cooler house
2. Kids can play outside while you cook
3. Less mess in the kitchen
4. Delicious taste
5. Nobody minds the singed parts
6. No added fats
7. Low carb
8. Quick cooking especially if you have LP
9. Did I say a cooler house?
10. Mommy's toy that isn't a mouse gets a rest

I'm more than positive that most of you are thinking, "huh?" when you read #10. I thought the same thing when Reagan mentioned it the other day. "Mommy's toy?" I asked. "What is mommy's toy?"

Reagan nodded her head emphatically and said, "it's not a mouse." I assured her that Mommy wouldn't ever play with a mouse. She smiled wisely and said, "that's what Daddy says. It's not a mouse." Well, boy, was I relieved to have that bit of information disseminated. Unfortunately, I was still unsure of what Mommy's Toy was. All I knew was that Reagan was happy that I cooked outside so that my toy could go night-night. Knowing that I wouldn't get much more out of her, I let the subject drop.

The next day, however, I decided to make simein for lunch. I put a pot of water on to boil. There must have been something stuck in the burner because a few minutes later the smoke detectors went off. Now, we don't have a vent hood, yet, and I'm sure my neighbors must think that I'm the worse cook ever because the stupid things go off at least twice a day. Mainly because they detect steam or heat or a whiff of something and then they start beeping. And of course, since they're all hard-wired into the house when one goes off, they all go off. Talk about waking up a baby!

Well, as I was saying, the smoke detector went off, and Reagan came running to me shouting, "Mommy! Your toy! Your toy! It's not a mouse, right?"

Are we there YET?

The girls are adjusting to small town life just fine. Gone are the days when they would sit patiently in the car for the 15 minute drive to Tutu's house. Gone are the quiet moments when we would drive the 1 1/2 miles to the store. Gone are the begging voices to hear the VERY last song on the "kids" CD.

What has replaced this? The tried and true, "ARE WE THERE YET?" I put them in the car, back out of the drive, and they start asking me a string of questions. "Where are we going?" Answer: to the park. Excited giggles in the back. "Can we listen to the 'kids' songs?" Push button #6. Song one plays. Song two starts. "ARE WE THERE YET?" Answer: be patient, sweets, only a few more minutes. "A FEW MORE MINUTES! This takes FOREVER!" We arrive at the park. Total trip time: 3.5 minutes or 1.5 'kids' songs.

I've been wondering what has gotten into these girls. I thought at first that they might be just going through a 'stage'. But when they started whining as I drove to the store, I became suspicious. You see, the store is across the street, but we needed to pick up a propane tank. We piled into the car, backed out of the driveway, turned on the kids song, and the ruckus started. "Are we there, yet?" Total trip time: 30 seconds. Really. One right, one left, park. Get out of the car.

So, I became suspicious. I investigated. The back of the car was littered with toys and various entertainment paraphernalia. They weren't bored. I sat back on my heels and pondered. It was then that I realized what had happened. They were countrified! Since we've been walking everywhere, the car had suddenly become an ordeal to them. It was a horror! Why get into a metal container and hurtle down the street at dangerous speeds when a nice, brisk walk, looking at birds and bugs would be so much more fun?

Reagan, especially doesn't like the car. She's not tall enough to see much out of her window, and she likes to point out the scissor-tails and "lellow" car's cousin. She searches the trees for Chippy the squirrel. She carries a water bottle and proudly unscrews the cap and takes a swig of it every few steps. She can't walk and drink at the same time, so this necessitates a brief stop, and then a spurt of running to catch up with the rest of us. She likes the freedom of walking to the store, finding a "fun" cart, getting worn out and whining the last bit of the expedition. And she never asks, "Are we there yet?"

Grilled Pizza

Kate and I had a great time learning how to grill pizza. I prepped the dough in my bread machine and let Kate pick out all her own toppings. She chose apples, cheese, olive oil and chicken. I did a much heavier on the vegetable pizza. Then we tossed and stretched the dough. She even managed to throw it up in the air once AND it didn't land on the floor. Out to the grill with a can of "soda-pop" each, and we stood and watched it turn golden, melty and fragrant. She was so proud of her effort. She cut her pizza in 5 pieces and gave one to Daddy, one to Mommy and the rest for herself.

We tried to go to a spray park yesterday, but it was just too cold. The high was only 85, so instead the girls played on the swings and swung on monkey bars. We did get to go to a small groups meeting last night. I made sushi. It didn't turn out the way my mom's turn out. I wonder if there is some ancient "secret ingredient" that I'm missing, or it could be the rice. They don't sell Homai Rice here. The closest I've been able to find is a California rice.

So, how do you make sushi? Well, first I make the rice - 3cu rice, 4 cu water. That takes about 30 minutes. Then, I dump the rice while it is still hot into a bowl and mix in about 1 cu of AjiMirin (Rice Vinegar). Then you put it on the seaweed with julienned cukes, shredded carrots and tuna. Roll it up.

Hey, Mom, is that right?

The nice thing about living in a small city in Texas is that they think my sushi is pretty darn good. I guess I can't go too wrong experimenting with their taste buds. Maybe I should try to make ManaPua though I'm pretty sure they'd draw the line at Poi.

The last two days have been pretty tough on Tanner. He got up yesterday at 8:00 and went to school, ended up with 120 homework problems and 2 quizzes to do, so instead of going to sleep, he stayed up all day and worked on homework, then he went to work, got home at 5:30, slept for 2 1/2 hours, got up and went to class. So, I'm hoping he can sleep through the afternoon and evening.

Veggies and More!

Well, today was Tanner's first day of Summer I, and of course as all first days go, it was a little chaotic. With only about 8 hours of sleep between the two of us, we had to get up early, dress the girls, load them in the car and drop Tanner off at school. Oh, and stop for coffee.

I will digress for a moment. When I got up, I opened the back door to see what the weather was like, and decided to where pants and a t-shirt because it was overcast and felt just a little cool to me. As we drove up Texas, we passed a CVS Pharmacy with a reader board that displayed the time and temperature. I started to laugh. It was 78.

We managed to drop Daddy off by 9:00, and then the girls and I started our search for a vegetable market.

I have to admit, I am more than disappointed with the local farmers market. The only thing that draws me back to it is the local coffee roaster, but aside from that there are only a few tables with produce, two or three vendors selling eggs, and one or two stands with plants. Very small venue, and not much variety. I did discover online that there was something called The Farm Patch located somewhere on S. College Ave. So, I thought the girls and I would see if we could find it.

After about 20 minutes of driving all over Bryan looking for College Ave (my garmin wouldn't charge AND it was out of battery), I pulled over to the side of the road, and debated what we should do. I could give and go to the Children's Museum or...I could jiggle the chord and see if a few magic words would get the gps working. It did. Garmin turned on and glibly showed us the way to College Ave. So, I chose to go to the right rather than the left and we sped down the road looking for the Farm Patch. I was concerned that we might miss it, but true to Texan form this "little" Farm Patch was a sprawling store, two blocks long. So, I found my veggie store. Lots of produce from local farms, some of it organic, some of it not. Reagan picked out a white, star shaped squash to try, and Kate picked out the corn. Mission accomplished.

Time to pick up Daddy.

Lunch was awesome. I used the grill again. This time I tried something less ambitious. I grilled onions, sprinkled with a little sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, and a couple of kosher beef sausages. Tonight...I'm going to try chicken again, but I'll subsidize it with a healthy helping of grilled corn (thank you Joanelle for the marinade recipe), more onions and some squash.

Three girls, three firsts, three down + 1.

I was in the girls' room holding Georgie over my shoulder and waiting for all three children to fall asleep. I was hoping perhaps to give Noelle a rest, too. Georgie looked over at Katie and said, "Nigh-nigh-Kay-kay". Georgie waved without my help. Katie smiled and waved back. Then Georgie looked at Reagan and said, "Nigh-nigh-Da-da", also waving. Katie laughed, Reagan ignored her, Georgie was proud. Then Georgie looked at me and waved, "Nigh-nigh-Ma-ma-da-da". I smiled. Later, she fell asleep letting me hold her Like a baby instead of the usual over my shoulder requirement. Like a baby is preferable from my back's standpoint; I think she looses a few pounds when not over the shoulder. She even helped me sing her to sleep. Now for the first time in a while, I have four sleeping girls. Happy, happy.

Grill Baptism

My first time grilling on gas grill wasn't so successful. Burned the chicken. I was even cooking it on a low heat, so I think the key is now to try indirect heat. That's okay. I always have gourmand bombshells, and this is just one of them. On a funny note, my biscuits turned out like heaven. I think that is a first. Must be the southern influence or something like that.

Well, today was a bit cooler. I think it only got to about 92. I took the girls to the spray park, and they did enjoy it, but Katie said that is was too cold, so we came home early. I am brown. Very brown. I can tell that I'm very brown because I'm beginning to like to wear blue again. I never wear blue unless I'm in Hawaii, and I've been turned into that golden tan that only happens with long exposure to the sun. So, blue is beginning to look really nice to me, so I must be brown.

We heard that it was roasting in PDX. I looked up the temperature for the last few days. Oh, my, it's only been in the 80's there. Shiver. Really, I'm not kidding. When it is 80 here, we put on jeans and tshirts.

We found out that CS has a charter school that goes from k-12. For a mamma that just doesn't think homeschooling is for her this is exciting news. We are praying and asking the Lord to let Kate go to that school. It would be such an answer to prayer. We have been resigned to sending her to public school because we can't afford a private school at this moment. And then this flyer came in the mail yesterday. We are hoping to get interviewed and perhaps Kate's Chinese immersion will help her. We love the sound of this charter school. It stresses mathematics, engineering and the sciences which would dovetail so nicely with Tanner's school focus. I kind of wish that I was a little kid and could go to this school mainly because they have a robotics department.

Anyway, sorry for the disjointed update. Win some, loose some, I guess.

A+

Kaching! Tanner tallied up his points last night to see what he need to get on his final exam in order to get an A. He needed to get a 30%. So, instead of going to bed and getting well rested before the exam, he just took it. It so nice to have just an teensy little break. No more school for the rest of today and tomorrow!

So, what did we do with all of this free time? Well, we went to the bank, the post office, Village Foods, the farmers market and then when we got home, Tanner went into the attice and brought down the grill.

Now, you have to hear the story of this grill. I'm a bargain hunter. I'm a cheap sale maniac. I've wanted a gas grill since before I got married. Now the average, tiny little gas grill is about $100. And I've seen them go on sale for as low as $80, but to me that's just a little spendy. When you can buy a charcoal grill for $20, why spend that much on a gas grill? So, I've waited, and looked, and waited and looked. Everyone that I know has gotten a gas grill way before I ever did, but I got the gas grill bargain of the century.

One day, when I was about 8 months pregnant with Georgie, Emily and I went shopping at Target. Remember, Target is our favorite store. We were strolling up and down the aisles looking for a messenger bag when I stumbled on this heap of miscellaneous summer clearance stuff. Umbrellas, blankets, hot-pink pitchers, all sorts of things. I discovered as I sifted through all this stuff that underneath all that junk there was this box. It said $24.98. I leaned over and bumped my tummy as I tried to figure out what was in the box. There was a crude sketch on the side and it looked like some kind of grilling contraption. I pulled at the box, and Emily screamed at me. "DON'T!" I was getting excited, you see, and I kind of forgot that moving 50lb boxes while pregnant was not a really smart thing to do. The problem we face was that Emily had a hurt back, but together we managed to shift the box and there staring up at me was a picture of a nice little gas grill. I checked the tag again. Then I went and got a customer service rep to confirm the price. And after that we loaded it into the cart.

Now, we didn't bother to assemble the grill because we knew that we were moving to Texas in just a few months, so the grill has laid dormant inside of its box until this evening. I finally got to rip through the soft, cardboard shell, pull out the instructions and assemble the dream machine. It took me four hours, but the grill is now ready and primed to go. I just have to buy a propane tank. I'm so excited. Can't wait to fire up the barbee and go all gourmet with it.