Archive - 2006

Pictures!

So which pictures do you want to see first, Disneyland or our damaged house? How about the fun stuff first.

Our Disneyland trip was a great one, despite everything. We went all out this year and got a suite at the Disneyland Hotel. The extra expense was well worth the convenience of being right there to return as needed, being able to have our souvenirs sent to our room, and the chance to swim in the Peter Pan themed pool, complete with pirate ship. This was the view from our room.

Now that Boo is 8, he was able to go on many rides by himself. He was most excited about solo-ing on Dumbo. He also rode alone on the Gadget Coaster in Toon Town and in a moment of parental lapse of judgment, I let him ride alone on Big Thunder Mountain. We all love Big Thunder Mountain, but I haven’t ridden it in years because I have been pregnant each of the previous 3 Disneyland trips. So I was really excited to ride this time and Phil stayed back with Bip. I must have been overcome with anticipation when the attendant asked us if we wanted 2 cars. I said yes and Boo climbed into the car in front of me and Pumpkin Girl. Then it started to dawn on me that I had just let my first born son sit by himself on a roller coaster with just some bar holding him in. No seat belt, so safety helmet, no 5 point harness. He’s buckled in more safely into our minivan! And while he is indeed old enough to ride alone, he’s really tiny and likely to slip right out of the “safety” bar and go flying off. All these thoughts went whipping through my head in the split second before our train started going. My enjoyment of the ride was extremely deminished by worrying about Boo. Every time we slowed down, I would lean forward and beg him to hold on. He’s fine of course. Me, not so much.

The rest of the trip was blissfully uneventful. Besides the whole house flooding thing. Pumpkin got an opportunity to meet several of her favorite princesses. This is my very favorite picture of her having a heart to heart talk with Jasmine.

Jasmine told her that she was a very pretty princess. I think she walked on clouds for the rest of the day. It was well worth the 40 minute wait, complete with an eye-rolling, bored-out-of-his-mind older brother.

Boo got to meet several of his Disney favorites, too.

Bip really enjoyed seeing all the sites. He leaned forward in the stroller and pointed to all the things he liked . Sometimes, though, the expression on his face clearly said, “Does my Nana know I’m here?”


He didn’t enjoy the YoHo-ing Pirates as much as Boo did at the same age. He squeezed Phil tightly every time it got dark or he got nervous. Unfortunately, It’s a Small World was getting a Christmas make-over while we were there and was closed.

I think Bip would have liked it.

 

 

Back from Vacation

We are back from a great Disneyland vacation! Pictures and details will follow soon.  Sadly, we got a call from a neighbor while we were gone that our house had flooded and was damaged.  We finished out our vacation and came home to see the damage.  We’re now in the process of moving into another house and trying to assess the damage.  Most of our personal property is fine, some papers and books are a total loss, but nothing important like pictures, scrapbooks or Longaberger baskets.  So while we’re dealing with having to unpack our whole house just in time for the holidays, I may not be able to blog as much as before.  In fact, this is the first time I’ve even powered up our computer since we left.

All of our house is packed up and waiting to be moved into the new house, which will occur Monday and Tuesday.  We’ll work Wednesday at getting the bedrooms suitable to move in and hopefully be out of our hotel on Thursday.  We’ve already ordered our Thanksgiving dinner from the Officer’s Club on base, so we’ll be over-stuffed as usual this year, in spite of the circumstances.

On top of all this, I’m fighting a cold and Nicholas is cutting two molars.  I’m little tired and worn out, but ok.

Did you hear on the news about a cruise ship having 700 people come down with some virus?  My parents were on that ship!  My dad got sick and was quarantined, but it sounds like they are ok, too.

Knitting Victories

Several months ago, I reported on the knitting disasters that I had snatched from the jaws of victory. Nearly completed, these projects sat in a basket over the summer, while I denied their existence and pretended that they weren’t really bugging me. Based on past experience, these projects would have remained in permanent time out, never to be seen again. But these were for my children, who have the annoying habit of outgrowing their clothes. Either I finished their sweaters this Fall or they would never wear them. So I got crack-a-lackin’ and behold – finished projects!

First, I give you Pumpkin Girl’s “pom pom”:

When I first finished it, it was barely big enough to fit her. My long time crafting buddy reassured me that a good soaking and careful blocking would teach that poncho who’s boss. She was right. The yarn is a very soft, very blockable merino and was happy to become the correct size. I’m happy to report that Pumpkin Girl should get at least 2 year’s wear out of it.

And now, Bip’s sweater.

Before it was all made up, there was a bit of concern as to whether or not it would fit his pudgy self. With the edges rolling up all over the place, it did look a bit small. However, now that he’s worn it, it looks like he’ll be able to wear it at least until Spring, possibly even next Fall, too.

This sweater almost didn’t happen. It was almost all done and I was weaving in and clipping loose yarn ends. I clipped a little too close and the next thing I knew, a hole was growing right in the center of the sweater front. I almost cried. I managed to stick the now live stitches on a holder to prevent further damage. Believe it or not, I completely mended the hole and properly weaved (wove? woved?) in and secured the ends, without a trace of the hole! Even from the back, you have to look really hard to find the mending. Note to self: start a new ball of yarn at the end of the row, like every good knitting book says so you can tie it off with a big ol’ honkin’ square knot (gasp!) which you can then hide in the seam.

 

 

Los Dias de Los Muertos

On a whim, I decided that we would celebrate Dias de Los Muertos this year.  We didn’t go all out with all the altars, decorations and foods.  We couldn’t go to the graves of our loved ones because we live all the way on the other side of the country.  We kept it simple and made sugar skulls and drank atole.

Here’s our sugar skulls, fresh out of the molds:

Here they are, all decorated:

They were very simple to make, and a lot of fun, just time consuming.  The more brightly colored and lavishly decorated, the better, so you can really let loose with the creativity.

Atole happens to be one of my favorite drinks. 

We’re listening to Mexican folk songs during lunch.

 

Has It Been 8 Years?

Where does the time go? I suppose every parent wonders the same thing on their child’s birthday. But honestly, wasn’t it just yesterday that our first born son arrived, screaming and red-faced?

When did he get old enough to be playing goalie?

Or to be able to add double digit numbers?

Or learn to swim?

He can’t be 8 years old now! No, not my little boy. Just yesterday I was holding him in my arms.

Happy Birthday, Boo. You’re growing up to be a fine young man.

 

 

Halloween Open House

Here’s a little tour around my house as it’s decorated for fall and Halloween.

Let’s start outside.

This is our front door. My daughter loves that little ghostie in the window. I made the jack o’lantern with the mums.

Here’s Bip with the pumpkin lights in the garden. He was actually kissing them right before I took the picture, but he wouldn’t do it again. Silly boy!

This is a view of the whole garden. I made the ghost in the window.

And a little pumpkin right under a tree.

Inside the house and this little ghost and spider hang from a light switch.

Turn the corner into the dining room and you find my baker’s rack. I made the little witch. Some of the things on the baker’s rack light up, I’ll take a picture tonight and post it then.

Here’s the buffet table. These pumpkins have tea lights in them.

The table.

One of the ghost candle holders up close.

I made a set a whole set of these coasters.

A little cookie ghost hanging on the china cabinent.

In the living room, most of the decorations are up on the entertainment center. That’s my oldest peeking out of the play kitchen. He’ll be 8 tomorrow!

Upstairs in the children’s rooom, Pumpkin Girl has a little ghost that I made sitting on the window ledge next to her bed.

On their bookshelf is a little Halloween light up village that they use as a night light.

On the way downstairs is this string of bats that I made, hanging above a coat rack that I also made.

I hope you enjoy this tour of our home. You can see other homes in the Halloween Open House here.

 

 

Halloween Traditions

I’ve always enjoyed Halloween.  I went trick or treating until I was a junior in high school.  My friends and I did make attempts at coming up with costumes, then hit the streets around 8:30.  This was in the mid to late 80’s, when trick or treating seemed to be dying out.  When we showed up, the neighbors were so grateful to see us that they practically emptied their bowls of candy into our bags.  I was sad to see trick or treating becoming lost to the ages.  However, the tradition is alive and well on our military bases!  Our tight knit communities with the small town feel really lends itself to keeping trick or treating alive.  Most of the neighbors don’t even bother going indoors on Halloween night.  So many kids come begging candy that it’s easier just to set up camp on your front lawn.  When we lived in Korea, we gave out 15 bags of candy.  Last year, on our base here, we gave out 7.

I’ve never been into the ghoulish or prankster aspect of Halloween.  I much prefer decorations that are cute rather than scary.  My husband used to tease me when he’d come home from work and found our house decked out for Fall and Halloween.  "We have a pumpkin infestation!," he’d say.

Our family actually has two food oriented Halloween traditions.  My grandma always made "goblin face" cookies.  Basically, they are two pumpkin shaped cookies with a yummy raisin filling between them.  The top pumpkin cookie gets a jack o’lantern face cut into it.  When my mom made them, she always let me do the faces.  I remember foundly my senior year in high school when one of my college-age cousins was living with us.  The two of us had a fun time cutting out the faces together, making each one different.  I really love these cookies, but cutting out the jack o’lantern faces can be time consuming.  One year, I found a ghost cookie cutter that I liked and made ghost cookies instead.  The ghost is bigger than the pumpkin, so the recipe yielded less cookies.  I made each ghost face the same and with less to do, I finished faster.  This year I found cake and cupcake stencils which I may use to quickly stencil the jack o’lanterns.  When my children are older, I’ll pass the jack o’lantern face making duties on to them.

The second Halloween food tradition also comes from my grandmother.  The story goes that my grandmother made a particular meal for dinner one Halloween.  It was simple to make and gave her time to get her children ready for trick or treating.  She made the same meal the next year and her children noticed.  It became known as the Halloween Dinner.  She made it every year after that. My mother has made it every Halloween and  I think my grandmother still makes it every year, too.  I have made the Halloween Dinner every year since I’ve been married.  All except one year.

That year was 1998.  I didn’t make the Halloween Dinner that year because I was in the hospital with my son, who had been born in the wee hours of the morning.  Yep, our oldest child is a Halloween baby!  That’s why we call him Boo.  Really, that’s the reason.

So now, with the decorating, the cookies, the costumes, the candy and the Halloween dinner, we manage to squeeze in a little birthday celebration for the boy.  It can be a little hectic, trying to get everything done in one day.  One year I invited his friends over at snack time for cupcakes and Halloween punch.  W-a-y too much work!  Boo would like to have a birthday party on his actual birthday, but I’ve explained to him why we can’t. I think in a  year or two, when he can help out more and his friends are more reliable, we’ll let him invite a couple of friends over for a small costume party, then take them all out trick or treating.  But for now, we  have a family celebration, usually with homemade cake and presents.  We also light the birthday ring for him.

On Sunday we are going to Boo at the Zoo.  If it’s something we enjoy, it may become a family tradition while we live here.

I’ll share some pictures of decorated house on Monday, for the Halloween Open House over at Don’t Try This At Home.

 

halloween_pumpkin_glasses150

It All Comes Down to This

The schedule said the rain date was this Saturday.  On Tuesday, Coach said the make-up game was Saturday.  At practice on Wednesday, all the parents discussed the make-up game that would be on Saturday.  Thursday morning, a email was sent out by one of the moms saying that the other team is all showing up for the make up game on Thursday!  Today!  Calls to the youth center went unanswered.  I called my next door neighbor, who happens to be married to the other team’s head coach.  Yep, the game is today, yes the schedule says Saturday, yes, they are just as surprised as we are.  Emails are sent and even though every single boy on our team has Cub Scouts on Thursday, we’re hoping that they come to this, our last game, instead.

After all, we are one game away from an undefeated season!

Game time arrives and Boo is the first Yellow Jacket to arrive.  The entire Volcano team is there, warming up.  We set up our camp chairs and wait.  The Volcanoes do jumping jacks.  They do stretches.  Another Yellow Jacket shows up.  The Volcanoes do passing drills.  I over hear one of the parents say, "Ok, Joey (not his real name), remember our strategy for this game- stay in your lane, be aggressive, intimidate them and score!"  Um, ok.  Two more Yellow Jackets arrive.  Ok, we’re up to 4 now.  The parents discuss the change of dates and oh by the way, no one has gotten a hold of our coach at all today.  A fifth Yellow Jacket arrives with his dad, our unofficial assistant coach.  He gets the kids doing some drills.  Two more of our players arrive.  We’re now at 7!  We won’t have to forfeit, but none of the players will get to rest at all. We know that two of our players can’t make the game, so unless the coach and his son arrive, this is it.

Boo’s in as goalie for the first quarter.  I’m handling the stress of it all quite well.  I repeat to myself what I’ve been telling Boo all day:  Even if they lose this game, they have had a winning season.  The Yellow Jackets score first.  Boo gets some amazing saves!  Without concern for life, limb or face, he dives on top of the ball, covering it with his whole body.  The crowd erupts with "Booooo! Booooo!"  I’ve often wondered if the opposing teams realize were not really Boo’ing him, LOL!  The game continues, Boo switches out to "attacker" for the next few quarters.  The other team scores, our team scores again.  Halfway through the game, our coach’s wife shows up with their son.  Coach is still on his way down from Bethesda, but at least we have an extra player.

It’s getting darker and colder by the second.  Both teams are playing hard.  With only one player to substitute in, our team is tiring.  As our undefeated season hinges on this, the last quarter of the last game of the season, time begins to slow down.  Because you see, if you are on the Volcano team, you think the game is tied 2-2.  When Boo was goalie, he made a save and kicked the ball.  Before it crossed the line of the goalie box, before he had a chance to even move, the other team kicked the ball into the net.  The ref had a long discussion with both assistant coaches (our neighbor, the other head coach, was stuck at the Pentagon) that the ball must leave the goalie box before it can be kicked.   The Volcano assistant coach is…well, let’s just say he’s intense.  He walked back to the parents and said, "It counted!!"  I won’t say he was nasty about it, but he was far from pleasant.  We’re not even really keeping score.  So you see, as the final minutes of the game dragged on, if the Volcanos score, they will claim a 3-2 victory.  If the Yellow Jackets can hold them, at worst, it’s a tie.  At best, it’s an outright win.

I turned to another mom and asked her how much time could possibly be left.  Maybe they can call it because they are now playing in the dark and it’s so cold that half the players are actually wearing hats.  By this time, our head coach has arrived.

Then it happened.  It was like a scene out of the movies.  Exhausted, cold players are giving it everything they can.  No team has a clear advantage.  It all comes down to this. And we hear it, the most beautiful sound ever.  Cutting through the cheers, high and clear – wheeee ohwheee ohwheee!  The ref blows the whistle signalling the end of the game!  The Yellow Jackets have done it!  No matter how you count the score of the last game, they remain Undefeated!

The fatigue, the cold, are all forgotten as we party like it’s 1999.  Parents rush to the field to form the victory arch.  Happy players from both sides rush through.  The Yellow Jackets  and their parents are reluctant to leave the field.  It’s been a great season.  The team played their hearts out.  We’re all friends now.  We all wish the season could have been a little longer, because we were just getting good!  We are all amazed that every player on our team has improved and that they were really learning to play as a team.  The days of "beehive" soccer are over.  Sure, they still swarm the ball a bit, but they are learning to play positions, get open and pass the ball.  A couple more weeks would really have seen some improvement.

Next Wednesday, our team’s practice field will be empty.  But you’ll find us at the bowling alley across the street – toasting to the Undefeated Yellow Jackets of 2006!

We’ve Got Crabs

After Rose the Crab died, we waited for the socially accepted Crab Mourning Period before heading off to the local PetSmart for more crabs. We bought 3 very nice crabs, each in a pretty painted shell. Boo chose one painted with a yellow happy face, which he creatively named Happy. Pumpkin Girl chose one with a glittery flower which she named Rosie (not to be confused with the now deceased Rose). In a fit of patriotism, I chose one with a stars and stripes motif, which I named Sam.

Happy was less than happy to be yanked out of the lush accommodations of the pet store and came halfway out of his shell, waving his arms wildly at us. He and his companions were unceremoniously plunked into a plastic baggie lined with a damp paper towel. Rosie and Sam were in deep crab denial and stayed hidden in their shells. Happy ran around like a mad man, trying to find a way out.

Once home, we placed the crabs into the crabitat, along with their newly purchased crab huts. Rosie and Sam continued to hide. Happy continued to panic, running all over everything and everycrab that got in his way. He climbed on top of the huts and dragged himself through the water dish before finally hiding in a hut.

We left the crabs alone for a good week, allowing them time to de-stress and get used to their new home. I did a little online crab research and learned that as many as 30% of all hermit crabs die of Post Petstore Stress or PPS. The whole getting yanked away from their homes in the wild, forced to live in less than ideal conditions in a pet store, then moved again into someone’s home can be too much for their little crabby selves. There is not a lot you can do except provide the best conditions you can and hope.

After a week, I was anxious to play with our new crabs. Happy was acting more like Grumpy, Sam had dug himself halfway into the sand and only Rosie seemed to be moving around much. I took Rosie from the tank and let her walk around the carpet, under my watchful eye. When I returned her, it seemed like she sort of freaked out. She located Sam and attempted to dig him up. When he didn’t respond, she sat on him. After awhile she moved off and found another place to hide.

The next day, the children and I were shopping online for more shells for the crabs. I needed to measure the opening of their current shells in order to get the right size. I picked up Rosie and she promptly fell right out of her shell, dead from the shock of it all. I think I killed the crab. I ushered the children quickly upstairs, then went to check on Sam. He was right where Rosie left him, half out of the sand. I picked him up. No movement. I shook him. No movement. I poked his claw with a pencil. Nothing. Sam was dead, too.

We think Sam and Rosie had some sort of suicide pact. Sam, being the less stable of the two, just curled up and willed himself dead and when Rosie found him, she joined him.

This all happened right before Philip’s trip to Germany. I didn’t want to repeat the whole depressing scene with him gone, so we didn’t replace Sam and Rosie right away. Philip’s first weekend back, an announcement was made at church that on October 4th, the Feast of St Francis, there would be a blessing of the pets in the church parking lot. Boo leaned over and looked at me excitedly. “Yes,” I whispered. “We can bring Happy.”

Well, Pumpkin Girl didn’t want to be left out and insisted on buying new crabs in time to get blessed by the priest. The new crabs were a hit at the blessing. We even got mentioned briefly in the base paper.

The new crabs are named Snail and Swirly and seem to be doing much better than poor Rosie and Sam. First of all, I learned that when buying hermit crabs, you should buy ones that at least come out of their shells when you pick them up. Rosie and Sam had not, Happy, Snail and Swirly did. S and S checked out their new homes completely before settling in. They stuffed themselves into the same hut as Happy. They seem to be emotionally more stable. And Happy is happier with less suicidal crabs to hang around with. The three of them are actually really fun to watch.

Here’s Happy heading over to the water dish.

This is Swirly, munching on some yellow coconut. If you look carefully, you can see both Happy and Snail stuffed into the hut in the corner.

Snail will climb just about anything. He’s also an accomplished digger.

Hermit crabs are pretty low maintenance as pets. You do have to maintain a warm, humid crabitat for them. We have a combination temperature/humidity gauge in the tank. Plastic wrap over the top of the tank, water and wet sponges maintain the humidity nicely. I open or close the plastic wrap as needed to adjust the humidity. It’s a good project for the children, too, because the gauges are easy to read.

You can see the temperature/humidity gauge in this picture. As long as the needles are in the yellow zone you’re good. That’s Snail climbing the fake wood.

Hopefully these crabs are here for the long haul. Since it’s gotten painfully cold this week, with a high of 55 degrees, I’m having a harder time maintaining a good temperature. We may have to buy them an under the tank heater.

 

 

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