What a DAY!

Yesterday morning started out luxuriously cool. I suppose it should have been a warning to me, but I wasn't really paying attention to warnings. I was excited because it meant that Tanner and Jonathan could finish the very last wall with a hole in it. I dropped Kate at school and made a quick food shopping run, and then I came home. Georgie was already taking her morning nap, and Reagan was quietly playing in the living room. Jonathan was taking a crowbar to our nailed in window. Tanner helped me in with the groceries, and then headed out to the shed to get all the necessary equipment for the day.

I turned off the front air conditioner and opened the doors and windows. We kept the back one on even though it was right where they were working, but we figured it would manage to keep them cool. I hated the idea of cooling down the outside world, but the morning started to heat up fast, and I knew that it was cool the outside world or the wall wouldn't get done. A few minutes into unpacking the groceries and I heard Jonathan say, "Oh, that's gross." And then Tanner said, "Noelle, don't come back here right now, okay?" I finished unpacking the groceries, and when they gave the all clear, I poked my head into the back room. The had pulled the sheetrock off of one section of the wall and on display was a lovely rat's nest. They had apparently found a couple of dead rat's when they opened up the wall, but thankfully no living ones.

After that brief drama, they sawed and nailed and screwed things in all the rest of the morning. They were done by the time I had to pick up Kate from school. Well, let me rephrase that. They had the hole plugged. No insulation. No sheetrock, but the hole is plugged. I consider that a done deal. So, I left the two little girls with Tanner. Because I wanted to spend some alone time with Kate. Tanner told me to be back by 4:00 because he had planned for some guests to come over. I was incensed! How could he do this to me? My house was a wreck from all of the construction and the front room was messy because the kids had carted half of their toys there because they couldn't play in their bedroom. He swore he would clean the house. I asked him who was coming, and he said he had promised Jonny not to tell me, but that it was someone he had met at church.

Huh? I crossed my fingers. Maybe Jonny had made a new friend! Yay, for him, but I was going to have to have a serious talk with him about arranging for friends to come over to our house, like, hey, dud, give me some notice here so that I can make snacks and stuff like that. Well, I headed out to pick up Kate and spend some time with her. We stopped at Peir One, and World Market and Bed Bath and Beyond. We got candy for movie night. Then we headed home. I was impressed with the tidying up job that Tanner had done. The back room was still a complete disaster, but at least the living room was picked up and the kitchen was semi clean. We put all the girls down for a nap and took a walk.

When we got home, I opened the door, and as probably all of you know by now, there was my sister, Joanelle, standing in my living room. She and Emma had come on a surprise visit. Trust me, I was crying. So, we hung out for the afternoon, Joanelle getting all sweaty and hot. Emma and Kate went outside to play, but Emma only lasted about 5 minutes. She said it was too hot out. I chuckled because it was a pretty cool day. I mean, Tanner and I had thought it was cool enough to go for a walk, and I don't let the girls play outside on hot days. I gave her water and made her drink it.

We found a great restaurant to have dinner, near a huge fountain with a promenade so that the girls could run and scream if they wanted. I had debated on whether to wear a sweater or not because the evening was cool, and I wish I had. I was shivering by the time we went into the restaurant. Joanelle was sweating. She couldn't believe that my hands were dry. It really was cold. We had a cold front roll in that took the evening temperature down to 74. Brrrrrr. After dinner, Joanelle took Kate and Emma to the hotel, and I went home to grab clothes and popcorn and candy. I also changed into warmer clothes because I realized that Joanelle was probably going to turn on the air conditioner. Even then, I was freezing in her room. We let the girls have their movie night, and around midnight Tanner and I took Reagan and Georgie home.

Thanks for my surprise AND for my RICE COOKER! Whoop! Now, perhaps my rice will turn out correctly. If not, I'm going to have to special order Homai.

Hump Day

I'm getting excited that the weekend is coming, and Kate will be able to spend a WHOLE day with the family. Boy, do I miss her. I miss her in the small things, like telling me that Georgie has a poopy diaper or Reagan needs to go potty. I miss her in the fun things like gyrating to Uncle's music with Reagan. I miss her in the sparkly things like going to Target and gravitating toward the Barbie dolls.

On the other hand, her absence is letting me revel in Reagan's two year old-hood. I'm catching her hiding in corners when she has to go potty. Something she's never been able to do because Kate would always rat her out. I watched with a twinge of regret as Reagan started to dance to Uncle's music because she was dancing alone, and then a warm happiness stole over me as I watched Georgie stand up and try the spinning around thing herself. At Target, Reagan walked right past the Barbie dolls and headed straight for the Baby Alive doll. Reagan spent about five minutes feeding the dolly her bottle, and only by promising her that we would visit dolly again could I get her to come away with me.

Kate is thriving at school. She now has 3 friends. Today she didn't get to play outside because a thunderstorm swept through our town, but she did meet her PE teacher. He said that she could call him Coach. She gets to cut and paste and color and draw and sing. She also remarked that school could sometimes be a little boring. When I asked her why she thought it was boring, she said that they don't let them play outside enough. It transported me back to the days when I used to long for recess, the disappointment when we couldn't go outside, the itching to just stand up and jump around.

Georgie is starting to throw temper tantrums. She screams lustily when she doesn't get her way. She tried to arch her way out of her car seat today. She glared at me when I put her to bed. On the other hand, she loves her high chair, and will wait patiently for her food to appear once I've got her situated. As you noticed in the above paragraph, she is learning to turn around in circles. She is learning to sing, and of course, she is still refining her climbing and running skills. She has finally grown out of all of her baby clothes and is now officially in 12 month outfits. Unfortunately, the box is upstairs in the attic, and Tanner has been working doubles all week long, so she's been rotating between two dresses for the past four days.

You might be wondering why Jonathan or I haven't gone upstairs. Well, four days ago, Tanner used the keys to the shed to get out Kate's bike. And, four days ago, Tanner lost all FOUR keys to the shed. Also, the ladder is in the shed, and we don't have anything tall enough to vault us into the attic. We can get high enough to open the attic, but the head is about the only thing that sticks up into the attic, not even shoulders. So, we're praying that Tanner can get a bit of shut eye so that his brain kicks back into gear, and he can remember where the keys are located.

I'm getting a little exhausted running Kate to and from school, making her lunches, getting her dressed, especially since Reagan has been finding it difficult to sleep through the nights lately. One night in particular gave me only about 2 hours of sleep, and then it was time to get Kate to school. So, for the past couple of days I've had a constant headache that I just can't seem to kick even with tow Tylenol.

So, I'm looking forward to the weekend when Tanner's double will be finished, and we'll have about six hours to catch our breath before OUR school starts on Monday. Whoop!

One of the shocking things about preparing to go to school in Texas is that the cold, crisp morning is missing. There is no frost on the windows of the car. There is no shivering in the back seat waiting for the heater to kick into gear. There is no need for a jacket or a sweater or a hat or gloves. No yearning for a hot cup of something to hold onto during the short drive to school. As a matter of fact, I had to put ice packs into Kate's lunch box this morning.

I always knew it was time for school because like clockwork the first foggy morning heralded the end of summer and the beginning of school. It's mind bending to be taking Kate to school while I'm wearing a tank top and shorts and slippers.

Kate had a phenomenal day at school. She made two friends, but can't remember their names. She got to do an art project. She got to say her ABC's, write her name and count. She learned that if she is too loud or doesn't listen to the teacher then her marker can moved into the yellow zone and then she will have to sit for 10 minutes of the recess period, and she doesn't want her marker to go in the blue zone because then her teacher will have to write a sad note to her mommy and daddy. She got to play on the amazing play structure that they have at the school. When I went to school we had a black tarmac and two tether ball poles. She got to play on the monkey bars which are her current favorite. She didn't eat her lunch. Well, she ate her sandwich, fruit snacks and trail mix, but the banana and carrot sticks came home. I think I'll nix the fruit snacks tomorrow and see if more of her lunch will disappear.

She is going to school full time. I keep hearing from all of my friends that their kids go to half days or even quarter days. Kate's school is all day long. It seems like all the public schools here go all day long, from 8:00 till about 3:15. I did get a lot done in the amount of time, and I think that it will be very easy for me to fit my online classes into the schedule. You probably think that from my previous list my house is uber clean. If you do, then you have no idea how messy a remodel project is. I think that if I keep at it for about two weeks, then I might have a passably clean house, but it's just impossible to stay up on all of the dust and wood shavings that get tracked all over the place.

So, we'd appreciate prayer about Tanner's job, Tanner's school, Jonathan's job, my school, my violin studio, Kate's school, choir for adults and kids, friends for Jonathan and above all that we would be gracious to each other, long suffering, tender hearted, filled with joy and the peace of God. We are officially entering into a new phase of our short sojourn here in Texas. We hope that all of our plans come to sweet fruition, bringing great pleasure to our Father in Heaven.

She's Off!

So, I'm sitting in my office wondering why it is so quiet in the house. Reagan was quietly turning round and round in circles singing a song to herself. Georgie was doing her best to copy her big sister. Absent was any shouting, screaming, fighting, bickering, jumping or bouncing. Kate was at school.

I woke her up at about 7:00 this morning. She started to fuss, but I quickly told her, "It's time to go to school." Her fussing immediately turned to laughter, and she scrambled out of bed, brushed her hair and teeth all before I could get her oatmeal made. Definitely done in record time. She ate breakfast and got dressed. We did her hair and put it in pink ribbons which promptly fell out because she has hair just like her mommy. I smiled because her uniform shirt is too big for her, but at least she will have room to grow. Her pants are cinched up to the last notch, and her belt doesn't do much good, but she's dressed, and I think she looks beautiful.

I walked her into the school with several bags of school supplies. Wow, has the school supply list grown! I filled her back pack. I filled three grocery bags, and Kate carried in the oversized paper. She was confused at the name tag on her desk. She said, "but it doesn't say Kate!" I had to explain that her full name was on the tag, "Katharine". She seemed to be able to except that, and she settled down and started to color as I labeled her back pack and gave her teacher the supplies. Then I kissed her and went home.

So, the house is quiet. Maybe I should visit a play place just to get my noise quota for the morning.

Church Picnic

I was curious to see what a southern church picnic would be like. I imagined white table clothes flapping in the breeze, tall pitchers of lemonade, lots of pies, music and kids. I thought perhaps some of you might wonder what a picnic in the south might look like, so here goes...

First, since it is August the picnic happens indoors. Air conditioning has changed the way things are done around here. Also, fire ants have made people leery about picnicking out of doors. I asked about this, and one lady explained that there were no fire ants in Texas up until about 7 years ago, and since their arrival there just doesn't seem to be any stopping them. Apparently most churches and family reunions now happen indoors because of the tiny little insects.

Second, red checked table clothes with vases of roses flocked the tables. At least that wasn't disappointing.

Third, meat, lots of meat, namely beef brisket with spicy barbecue sauce was the main feature of the menu. Vegetable salads were absent though there were plenty of fruit trays and coleslaw platters and baked beans.

Fourth, ice tea, sweet ice tea and water were the beverages of choice. Apparently people just don't think of lemonade as an option any more. Even the kids were downing copious droughts of sweetened iced tea. Kate made a face when she took a swallow and so did Reagan, so they ended up with glasses of water.

Fifth, the desserts did not disappoint. The tables groaned with cupcakes, puddings, pies, cookies, brownies, tarts, 3 layer cakes, 7 layer cakes, cream puffs, eclairs, muffins and coconut macaroons. I was happy to see that I was the only one to bring rice krispie treats, and I managed to come home with an empty plate.

Sixth, live music wafted over our heads. Not country or western, thank goodness. Just good ol' gospel standards.

And that is a Southern Church Picnic circa 2009.

I am turning into a Southerner. It will take a few more months of summer to do it, but I am well on my way to becoming unrecognizable to my family and friends. No, it's not a new haircut or new clothes. It's not new eyeliner, new nose job or even new accent. It's me.

Back in my northwest days, there wasn't ever a really dull moment. I would be busy carting my kiddlings to the play place or a park or a play date. If all of that failed, we would take a walk or visit Mom or just hang out with my sisters. I might go to the zoo or the Rose Garden or Sip 'n' Krantz. I was always on the troll for things to do with the kids, outings to out on and freebies to go to. There was MOPS. There was the weekly puppet show, the library and the monthly Veggietale movie, not to mention church and twice weekly bible study and the small group meeting twice a month.

As I write this, I shudder. How could I have ever been so insane to think that this was healthy for my kids? And then I remeber that it's because it is cold, rainy and gray for nine months of every year in the Northwest IF there is an exceptionally dry summer. And, I think that is the difference between the Northwest and the South.

In the Northwest, I would pack the kids into the car and go to the zoo. In the South the kids just play in the backyard and occasionally come screaming to me about some strange bug or insect they've just caught. In the Northwest, I would take the kids to a fountain on a nice day so that they could splash around in rainboots. In the South, the kids just play on the sidewalk during a rainstorm. In the Northwest, I would meet someone at a coffee shop in order to talk and socialize. In the South, I just sit outside on the porch and if someone wants to chat they join me.

And that is what has led me to believe that very soon no one will recognize me. I already have the rocking chair, though it isn't on the front porch, yet. I've learned how to make a great lemonade, though I don't have the clear, tall pitcher that everyone else seems to have. I have fans galore, though none of them are outdoor fans, yet, and I have a nice tan, though I've burned a couple of times so it is peeling.

Soon, ver soon, I expect to have a permanent Souther drawl. I expect to not notice tan lines. I expect to master the concept of ice tea. I also expect to get a porch swing and a couple of big oak trees in my front yard. That's when I know I've turned 100% southern.

My dentist asked me how we were doing with all the heat, and my remark was: I'm still waiting for the unbearable part. She said that the unbearable part was pretty much over. Good'onya!
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Picnic Idea Winner

Thank you everyone for your input about desserts to make. Kate and Reagan chose: Rice Crispy Treats.

So, we've got pink marshmallows and sprinkles...we'll see if they melt or not.