Laundry Pile

This is what the day after vacation looks like in my house. A gigantic pile of laundry. It isn't done yet, and this does not show you all the line dry items. Ah, a family of five with lovely little boys does indeed generate quite the pile.

Well, I left off on Wednesday. Since then, we went to a ball game in Fox River and Beloit. We spent a day with grandma and grandpa, Auntie and Uncle D and the baby cousin. There was time in the pool and lots of grill outs. We also said our last good byes to dear friends.

I'll admit. I was a blubbering fool on her front porch. After our last hugs, I couldn't even speak or turn back around for one last look. I just kept on looking forward at my kids blazing a path around the corner to our house and thinking to myself, it's ok, this is God's plan. It sure didn't feel ok, though.

And now, come Monday morning, it still doesn't. It's a little quiet around here. Oh well. I'll adjust and, I'm sure, that God will do something next. He always does.

I'm starting to understand these friendships. It's a bit of a pattern in my life. I find a wonderful friend or perhaps they find me. Either way, we bond swift and deep. We forge a friendship that leaves us wondering if we really didn't just know each other all our lives and had somehow forgotten it. Then so abruptly, with shocking swiftness, it's over. One of us is going or gone.

I think that maybe it's not about me. I know, news flash for all of you, but it's true. I don't think it's about me. These friends grew me and challenged me to be sure, but looking back, I can see where I left fingerprints on them too. We were given to each other for a time to enhance the other, and then when the growing had reached it's best spot, we're transplanted somewhere else to do it again in another way with another person. It's so bittersweet, but so precious.

Not so many weeks ago, I was visiting with a friend from another city. We both once lived in the same city and shared a collective group of friends. We were so very close, like a pack of sisters, and then it was over. We both miss it, but she said something very true. It was a once in a lifetime sweetness that was nothing short of a pure gift from above.

It's Up, It's Up, It's Outta Here Folks!!

It seems I neglected to mention that the Little Mr.'s got a chance to run the bases at Miller Park on Sunday. It was quite the day, I may have just plain forgotten, but it was a wonderful once in a lifetime experience for them.

Yesterday, after a very busy morning, we made the trip to the Mad City to see some minor league ball. Another memorable day to be sure. We ended up playing in the park for a while before we tailgated. The boys are loving the eat in the parking lot routine. I should also mention here, lest you think our car trips are anything unlike yours, we did stop multiple times between our house and the park. That means that a car trip that should have taken about an hour was much longer! The kids were filthy dirty before we even made it into the game, thanks to the park having a few ball diamonds for them to play on before the game started.

Once inside the park, we went looking for our seats. We knew that they were going to be pretty good seats, but we had no idea how good they really were. There was no one in front or behind us. When we stretched out our legs, we were touching the fence right behind the on deck circle of the opposing team. The kids could almost touch the game. They were able to effectively use their Mallard Quacker Lips to heckle the other team.

These prime seats, a steal at only $10 each, also came complete with a waitress! Know what that means? It means you never have to wait in line for a drink or a snack. A huge bonus with kids. And did I mention this was for the low, low price of just $10 a seat?? Not that Miller Park isn't great fun, but this is a deal with a capital D, folks.

Today is a little day off, ha, ha. It's really a chance to restock the fridge and snack bag before the next set of games. It's also a chance to do some laundry. Stadium snacks and ball diamond dust. Let's just say, even the sheets need a wash around here. Plus, oh happy day, I have to get the guest room ready. K's on her way from the big state of Texas for a visit. It's been two and half years too long, and I'm really excited!!

More baseball stories to come...

Batter Up, Hair Off

We had tons of fun at last night's baseball game and our team won. The Mr. unfortunately missed about half the game taking The Little Mr.'s to the bathroom. No Barry Bonds, but still a great game to be at.

Today I'm doing the big hair cut. It's time. Really. It's gotten long enough to give me a head ache. I've gotten a gift card to a salon and they do the hair donation thing, so off I go this afternoon. I'm hoping for something short and girly but easy enough for my crazy life.

The floors should be dry now, so I have to go bring in all my chairs off the deck. When The Little Miss is away, it's a good time to mop. Not that it makes much difference with boys and dogs, it will be icky again by bedtime, but I'll know I've made the effort and at least one layer of the ick is off.

More baseball tomorrow in this vacation week.

County Fair

It's been a very busy few days.

I've spent some of the time helping my dear friend pack up her house. It's such a strange thing we women do. A close and wonderful friend will come to us and tell us the inevitable news that they are moving to the other side of the country. We spend a day or two in disbelief and crying together over the loss, then we clear our schedules and go help them pack their houses. Weird. But, that's exactly what I've been doing.

We also spent some time getting ready for our vacation week that started yesterday. In the afternoon I took the three Little over to the county fair.

It was so delightfully perfect in the quaint Midwestern sort of way. The Little Mr.'s sat on tractors, rode a pony, fed a goat and sat on tractors. We watched a tractor pull and some pig races and sat on the tractors again. They had a Tae Kwon Do lesson and broke a board, climbed the rock wall and got fire man hats. They got tattoos and police badges. They played the ducky game and "won" toy guns. We ate french fries and corn on the cob. In short, we did almost everything. It was perfect, not too crowded and not too hot. Sunny and clear, plenty of animal barns to explore. We saw pigs fight over their food and heard the cows mooing. It was all there, and all good.

The most amusing part of yesterday was the friends that marveled over the idea that I had taken all three kids to the fair alone. Huh? These are my kids. I do everything else alone with the three of them, why not the fair? That's a whole lot more entertaining and fun for them than, say, a trip to the grocery store!! And, they know how to behave and what will happen if they don't. I laid down the rules before we left the house, reviewed them in the car and really only had to give one reminder that if there was whining over certain things we would be done and going home. That did the trick. They know the expectations I have for them. They know that I mean business too. If they don't behave I have absolutely no issue with loading them back into the van and going right back home again.

Today we're doing just a little more shopping to be ready for the first tailgate tomorrow at the sold out Brewer game. Maybe Barry Bonds will play. Maybe something will happen. Maybe the boys will remember it when they're older.

Boys And Baseball

Life with boys involves lots of different things. Dirt, sticks, bugs, band aids, trees, bikes, scooters, skateboards, sports, punching, burping, building things, grunting, eating and eating and eating. It's smelly and sticky and gritty. All the time. Everything is loud and in constant motion.

It's all about becoming a man. Somehow even as little as The Mr.'s are, it's all about that eventual transformation into men. They strive and struggle to be their own boy and assert themselves against the world. I don't think they even know half the time why they are so bent on arguing with me and doing the exact polar opposite of what I'm telling them. It's just part of the deal with these sweaty little creatures.

In the midst of living a long summer with them, baseball has descended on our house. Settling over everything like a fine covering of dirt on home plate. Over breakfast there's the sports page. During the day, The Little Mr.'s have other boys, bats, balls and gloves all around the yards. In the evening we have the new baseball board game. There are statistics and scores. The games are on the radio, Mr. Baseball himself floating through my kitchen. The TV is often showing a game somewhere.

Now, it's going to overtake our vacation time. We'll be going to both major and minor league games. I see tailgating, catch and score keeping in the future. The Littlest Mr. has also started his summer baseball season.

On a side note, welcome back to some readers who haven't been here for a while, and hello to some new ones. Thanks for stopping bye and keeping up with me.

Happy 100

Huh?

This is post number 100. It really only matters to me, but I thought I'd share anyway.

I'm doing my very best today. It's hard. I want nothing more than to cry and yell and beg for something different.

In reality, what I'm doing is reassuring my very dear friend that this is all God's plan. It will turn out well for them as they leave here and move there. It is all happening so very fast.

Today the date has been set.

Two weeks or less.

If I just keep being happy for all the blessing that are going to come their way, it will change inside my heart. Over time, I know that it will, but for today, it leaves tears stinging my eyes, a bitter knot in my stomach and a huge hole in my heart.

Everything Old Is New Again

It's a pretty true statement when it comes to all things fashion.

Generally, all things fashion make me laugh anyway, and this is no exception.

Have you noticed all the craze over the rubber nurse clog type shoes?? I have. Does it remind you of anything?

Think back with me, envision the early 80's. Anyone see jelly shoes?

Same old thing, new color, new shape.

I had a few of the jelly shoes myself, but there is something so clunky about these new rubber shoes that makes me just shake my head in disbelief. As stupid as they were, at least the old jelly shoes were cheap and very girly. These new ones are like glorified garden steppers or genuine nurses clogs.

And to see them on men.

No Thank You.

I'll pass on the whole thing this time around.

Title Problems

I'm not sure why I'm not able to title posts lately, but I'm guessing it's user error. I always have computer issues.

Around here it's been hot and rainy. That means The Little Mr.'s are playing inside. They go out for a short while, but then return to the air conditioning.

The crack up is what they've been playing for the last two days.

Ready for this?

They're playing school.

The only reason it's so funny is that we home school. Their ideas of what school is like are amusing. There has been lots of talk about teenagers, girl friends and dates. Hmm. I think it really means they've played with the neighbor girl a few too many times. Her big sisters are all college age or older.

The Littlest Mr. already has a thing for the girls. He was picking up a little girl yesterday at the skate park while the other Little Mr. was boarding.

Part of the time they were playing preschool. Also too funny. There was a lot of car driving and coloring.

Over all, a good few days, but I'm ready for the weather to change so they can be outside a bit more.

We did spend a great Sunday at grandma and grandpa's pool. Loads of fun and minimal sunburn. We're going to be doing another beach day this weekend, or at least that's the next official planned, lets meet some friends at the beach, beach day. Most of ours are a spur of the moment, hop in the van boys, lets hit the beach for an hour or two.

It's a good way to spend a summer.

What is it about us Americans and grass?

We are so stupidly obsessed with a green lawn rolling out in front of our houses. Don't we have ANYTHING else to do? ANYTHING?

And why can't we figure it all out? It seems incredibly simple to me. I admit, I am just a simple minded woman, but, for crying out loud, it's grass!

So everyone wants the perfect green lawn. I can tell by the amount of time everyone is spending out there fooling around with the stuff. But to me it seems quite simple. General, casual observation will show you that cutting the grass real short every few days will cause it to turn brown and crispy, sometimes even disappearing all together. This causes a great "need" to water. Now, the glitch comes in a town like mine where we are facing a real water crisis, and watering is "strictly limited". Ha, Ha. So now what's a happy home owner to do?

Try walking the dog around the block.

Huh?

Well, as I stroll--yup, stroll, I have a basset hound--I see some yards that by our lovely over achiever American standards are woefully taken care of. But yet, their grass is green and lush, albeit about 2 inches tall, green and healthy looking.

Just saying.

Maybe take a day or two off from the mower routine. Try watching a baseball game. I hear reading is good for the brain. How about talking with your family or maybe a board game?

If you really feel compelled to water, how about inviting all the kids on the block to play in the sprinkler while it waters your precious lawn? I know, kids running on the wet grass will damage it and soon you will have a yard full of mud. But, it will also be full of happy kids.

Then there's the whole weeds and chemicals issue. Don't even get me started. Do we seriously need to intentionally pour more toxic chemicals closer to our bodies? Aren't we getting enough in our air, water and food?

Whatever.

Guess if that perfect green carpet is the goal, you should be looking into some AstroTurf.

Excerpt From July 4th & Day Care's A Crap Shoot

We had a very fun July 4th. Plenty of cousins and lots of food. It was wonderful picnic weather and just right for fireworks. Cool enough for shorts and a sweatshirt. Clear enough to see all the fireworks from the surrounding cities.

We made our way to a prime spot on the grass, close enough to the runway to see the planes take off and land, yet high enough up the hill to see the ground show. It is also far enough away from the parking and potty that most families don't trek that far. That means there is plenty of room for volley ball and light sabers.

The best part of the light saber duels was the dialog. Three little boy cousins, 5, 7 & 9. I'm sure you can only imagine it.

"You can't fight me anymore. I cut off both your arms and your legs!"

"It's OK. I can still fight you. I'm killing you with the force."

You can't make this stuff up.

Seriously.

Today at the park I was witness to a day care group. About a dozen kids from about 6 months to 6 years in age. A whole 3 adults. One baby never left the stroller in the hour we were there. One baby made it to the swing briefly. The 3 ladies barely moved or even noticed the kids. A very young child climbed up the playground equipment and got stuck. She was under 2. Two other girls tried to help her. They were 3 or 4. An adult finally came over to help the girl, but spent a few minutes yelling at the older girls first, leaving the youngest one still perched on the climber.

There were kids without shoes, kids with pants and sweatshirts on--it's in the high 80's here today. There was a boy that fell off and got hurt, but never went to get help from one of the teachers, and they never noticed. I could see why he wouldn't bother to tell them he'd fallen off. Two kids got scolded for needing to use the bathroom, and then were left to go on their own. This is a public park. On a busy road. In the middle of the city. It has many entrances. I'm sure the ladies could not see the kids enter or leave the bathroom. I couldn't, and I was just a few feet away.

I'm pretty sure the adults never noticed me either. I would have been watching me. I was sitting there alone, with the baby, watching the kids. A little boy about 1 came over to me and asked for a drink. He would easily have left with me if I had asked him or simply taken his hand. They would not have noticed.

The playground was in full sunlight. They had no drinks for the kids. One adult did tell one child to "go get a drink, your face is red". The girl just stared at her until she said, "over there, behind the building is a fountain". Again, no one could see her there getting a drink, and I don't know how she could have. The fountain was taller than her.

I'm sure this is not a bad day care. I bet the parents checked it out before signing away their kids. But I bet they'd be thinking it over again if they'd been at the park and seen this in action. I'm guessing at the actual day care place, it looks pretty good, even if it's a home day care. But at the park, another story.

It was really 3 ladies standing around talking. Having a smoke. Being bothered with the care of your precious child.

So You Didn't Want To, But Here You Are?

Dental drama is mostly over. I finally have the last set of teeth in. They look pretty good. Natural almost. I'm hoping for a quick end to the headache that came along with them.

So today, I had yet another conversation with some moms that really left me speechless.

Two separate moms. Both sitting in front of me saying that they had never really wanted to have kids. What?? OK. How did you get past that to actually having them?? OK. So now you're struggling to "do the mom thing" and be happy doing it. If you never wanted to have kids in the first place what made you think you'd enjoy being a mom once they were here?

I think it's just the reality of the whole thing that's too much for people in our instant gratification culture. Being a parent is darn hard work, even if you have an easy kid. It is dirty, exhausting, time consuming and expensive. It takes sacrifice. You can not be an even mediocre parent without giving up some of your selfish ways.

Yes, I'm calling modern American selfish. I'd go further down this path, except that I have a headache and don't want to think that hard or get that worked up over it.

The best part of this conversation this morning? They asked for my opinion on several very specific mommy topics, but went on to interrupt me and never really listen to my answers. Why bother to ask the questions if you don't really want the answers?


Makes you wonder, it does.