Persistence

I posted a week or so ago about Elijah's vigilance and how it greatly pains my posterior but when it really matters turns out to be a blessing. Today I learned something else about him. He got the Lego Mobile Command Center for Christmas from us (I can't bear to give Santa credit--isn't that awful? I tell them the little stuff is from Santa!). It's a big, complicated Lego project, something like 1440 pieces. It's my idea of a nightmare, really. He opened it Christmas morning at Grandma and Papa Giller's house and was not allowed to take the pieces out until he got home yesterday afternoon. He set right to it and refused to stop until Brian made him go to bed. Food was delivered to him at his work table. This morning when I got up he was back at it, had been since he woke up. He worked diligently and was near completion but was very tired and making mistakes that would cause problems (collapses and pieces falling off) that would frustrate him and make him cry. That happens with his sister all the time ("I can't find the HAIRBRUUUUSHSSSSSHHHH!!!") and I refuse to help her until she sits down and calms herself. Then she usually can problem solve successfully on her own. Well, this guy was having none of it. He REFUSED to stop until he was done. Finally, after several hours of this, I offered him 5 dollars to stop. He accepted...because he can buy more Legos with 5 dollars.

My God. I almost said I've created a monster, but I didn't. He was born that way. He is very, very, single minded; very diligent; very persistent. I can't help but think it will serve him well some day!

A cute story about him and his diligence. In Wisconsin he and I and Zac were upstairs. The staircase makes us nervous--the railings are spaced widely and Zac could very easily fit through the slats and fall a long ways down to the concrete floor. There is nothing stopping him from falling down the stairs, either. He is pretty good about not going there, so it's usually not a concern. On this evening, he was nosing over in that area and I heard Elijah say "Zac, I'm just not comfortable with you being over there. Come over here by me."

Zac did, too!

Of course, Lij is not a saint. The drawback to Zac listening to Lijah meant that Zac went over to Lij and got into his stuff, so Lij got irritated and then it was my turn to use that line "Come over here by me."

They are all otherwise having a great time getting familiar with their Christmas treats. They spent the day at Lynn's house for the Schurman Christmas today. I had to work. Dang! I stopped by briefly on my way and there was no food ready yet so I had to fill my handy-dandy tupperware bowl that I just happened to have in my hand with hor doevres and cookies. Better than nothin', ya know?

a wisconsin christmas

This year, for the first time ever, we were in Luck for Christmas eve and Christmas day. As you can imagine, it was a major undertaking getting there. We drove two vehicles so Brian could come back and work Thursday night. The kids and I stayed til today and drove back just in time for me to get to work.

First of all, I have to say the kids were excellent. Very good behavior, even after the threat of Santa not bring presents lost it's usefulness. They were really excited with everything they got. Last night, we went to Grandma Giller's for the Giller Get Together. I mean, the Goddamn Giller Get Together (inside joke, inside joke). Grandma was as usual 6 sheets to the wind before we got there, having spent the day preparing and relying on rum and cokes for sustenence to see her through. Cousin Mike made the Christmas ham and he is quite the chef.

Every single one of my cousins was there, and I havent seen most of them for literally YEARS. A little background. By birth, I'm the oldest of the cousins (Gary was adopted by Dad when he and Mom got married). The next oldest after me is my own brother Hans, who is 5 years younger; then cousin Mike, who is a year younger than Hans. Then nobody for years. Then the girls started coming, and there are Hannah, Hilary, Hailey, Anna, and Britta, who range in age from 25 to 19. Adam is in there somewhere too. The girls are absolutely STUNNING. I'm not kidding. Every last one of them could take your breath away. And there's 36 year old me with 5 kids! Nonetheless, it was fun to see them. I did have my turn to be 20 something, and didn't like it all that much, so I'm not complaining. When the girls were little, arriving for Christmas was like I was Santa himself, because the little girls thought I was so cool way back then. That was because I was nuts (much like now) and played in the basement with them and climbed the rock wall (the wall in grandma's kitchen.....you'll have to wait for the pics to "get it" if you aren't already familiar with it).

We had several group pictures done which I will upload when I am able.

Brian left from there to come back to work, and then I was on my own with the offspring. Fortunately their bestest behavior continued. We went back to Jack and Judy's and stayed up and played.

It was tricky packing up to come home today. We didn't send anything home with Brian when he went, which was stupid--that was part of why we took 2 vehicles. I take that back--we did send two things back with Brian--Minnie and Leo. That was good because they would not have survived tied to the roof of the denali!

As we drove into St Cloud, William decided he needed to pee really bad. It took some time before I found a place to stop, and I needed gas too, so I pulled into a gas station. Wil and Ben got out of the car and I told them to stand on the concrete island while I gassed up. They stood on the other side of the open door and I was reassured by seeing their feet so I didn't worry. When I was done fueling I closed the door and said "OK guys, let's go in and use the potty". William said "I already did".........................................

................turns out he had just taken the lil' buddy out and done the deed right there. Ben thought it was pretty funny, and I'm thinking the Deputy in the car (Elijah) can't have known it was happening or he would have nixed it.

So we went in anyway, because Ben still had to pee and he has the sense to NOT pee in the parking lot of a gas station. We did that and then approached the counter to pay for some gum and treats. They had a display of the material that they use in their car wash, and it was a sheet of soft fabric cut into little 1/4 inch strips. As I paid for our stuff, Ben braided it. He is SO WIERD!!!

The Cozy Coupe Hits the Road

The day after Thanksgiving, I spied something in the ads that I new we had to have. A Cozy Coupe for Zac! Gramma has one that has been around since Reilly's toddlerhood, and each of my kids in turn (or not) have enjoyed it. We have never had one at home. There it was, on sale. I hurried over to Toys Are Us to get one. If you aren't familar with the Cozy Coupe (I didn't realize they had a real name until I saw that ad), it is a large plastic car for toddlers/preschoolers in which they open the door and sit and then self propel with their feet, a la Flintstone. It has a little plastic canopy that quite often is a good place for stowaway brothers.

He took to it like a fish to water (or to William's bed? See previous entry). He gets in it, shuts his door, dangles his little feet (which, sadly, do not quite touch the floor, because he is a midget), and then he said "BYE BYE!". One would expect he would then take off. Here is where it gets funny. I can see the 5th-born in him. He sticks his fuzzy head out and yells for his sister to come and push him! "ANANA! ANANA!". The poor girl pushed him and pushed him and pushed him for what seemed like hours. When she ran out of gas, so to speak, he started yelling "YAYA! YAYA!". That would be Elijah, 2nd in command, 2nd in line for servitude to The Spoiled One. When I left for work today he had not yet graduated to yelling for Ben, but I'm sure it was coming. He'll probably be 5 before he figure out he can move it himself with his feet.

It's Cold In My Shirt

Wils said that to me after pulling on a shirt from his basket in the laundry room. I know what he meant.....it was cold from sitting in the basket in the laundry room. So here I sat at work, and it's hot in my shirt. It's always hot in my shirts!!!!!


As of yesterday the kids are done with school til after Christmas break. So far they have been very busy with various self-invented sports, some of them less than appealing. For one thing, Ben and Wil (seems it's usually THEM lately....Ana writes and reads, Lij plays with his Barbies, I mean Legos) sprayed the hard floor with water and then took turns running and sliding in it. You might wonder where I was through all this. I was right there watching them. It's almost scary, isn't it? I guess most things just aren't worth getting excited about.

Muffie is finally getting another tooth. It will help with the equine look he has had for several months now. He has a new trick, too--he runs! He is pretty excited with himself and his new skill. You gotta laugh. He and William are into flashlights and if they are nowhere to be seen they are usually in a cabinet with flashlights. They are pretty good buds right now.

I'm mostly ready for Christmas, I think. So far I have stuck to my goal of keeping it simple. Each kid is getting 4-5 gifts, and only one (per kid) is pricey. There are some miscellaneous arts and crafts stuff for the stockings that I didn't include in that tally. Now, the challenge is to get it all to Wisconsin for Christmas, as we will be there overnight Christmas eve. This is so embarrassing but I think we need a trailer to haul everything home. It's not so much because of the stuff, but because of the people taking up all the cargo room. Plus the dogs and luggage for the 2 days we will be there.

We are giving Zaccy his cozy coupe tomorrow because it's just too big to make the trip with us. It will be so fun to see him driving around. I know he is going to enjoy that trunk. Bet he'll put M and Ms in it.

The boys have managed to destroy one of the recliners by rocking backward so vigorously that it now wants to flip backward whenever you sit in it. So what happens is you sit down, relieved to sink your tired self into the big comfy chair, and the next thing you know you are completely upside down with your feet in the air. It feels really stupid and looks even stupider, if you are not the person who is inadvertently upside down. If you happened to have been holding food, you are really up the creek. In my case, I'm usually holding a few kids, the dogs, a book, AND some food.

Wil's fear of a big fish that will come to his bed has re-emerged. He'll sit there and tell you there is a fish under the ice that he is afraid will come to his bed. Now, I know about irrational fears--I REMEMBER the day I was finally reassured that I would not fit down the drain in the tub. But this one....it's just really unique! At one time it was horses ("horshes"). He thought horshes would come to his bed. I can kind of get that one, if I think about it, because they can walk and they do breath air. I remember another wierd fear I had, I was always afraid to roll over in my bed because I was afraid that one of those beings who wear hoods and have no faces would be there. I'll have to work on remembering more of those wierd phobias I had, some of them are pretty good.

Barbie Man

I guess I am talking a lot about William lately, but that's because he is so funny. We have had this thing for a long time where I tease him about Barbies. I used to do it with Elijah too an had so much fun. It goes like this----"You like LEGOS? You are NOT going to like Barbie I got you for Christmas!"



Anyway Wils has this book called "Digger Man" and it begins: "I love diggers. My brother is too little, so he doesn't know, but soon I'm going to buy a huge digger."



And I read: "I love Barbies. My brother is too little, so he doesn't know, but soon I'm going to buy a huuuuuuggggge BARBIE!" and we collapse in hysterics.



Just thought you would like the visual.



His face changed this week--very odd--I came home one day and his cheeks seemed much fuller. He now looks a bit like uncle Hans. When I tell him that, he disagrees and says "no, YOU look like Hans!" to which I respond "Yes, exactly, same idea, doofus"



Zac has also been very funny this week. Last night we had "serial kisses". He was making rounds from one person to the next and offering kisses. He kissed every last one of us probably at least 7 times. Then he smiles like he is so happy that he was able to offer us that opportunity and wasn't it nice of him?



He entertained himself yesterday by getting his finger stuck in a little part of William's car track and crying for his dad to help him get it out. Brian would help him and the he'd laugh and go stick it in there again and cry some more. It got to the point where when I got home Brian handed him the little piece of track and said "Go show mommy" and he did; he stuck his finger in the little hole and fussed. It was the most ridiculous thing!



Ana sent me out the other evening to get her pickles because "I want them SO MUCH!". She said she had been thinking about them all day and the need was just getting worse. Somehow she talked me into getting dressed and going out in the cold and snow for her. But as my dad says, I "get it". I, too, have issues with pickle cravings. When you need a pickle, you need a pickle. They must be dill. When I walked in the door and handed them to her she literally sighed. 10 minutes later the jar was all but empty, as we are not the only pickle people hereabouts.



Lijah saved another "wife" this week. Over the summer he on separate occasions pulled both Wil and Zac from the lake. In both instances, either Brian or I was present but Elijah was closer and faster and had them out before we got there. Monday night, Zac somehow found a small, round, hard, candy by digging in my work bag which was stupidly on the floor and unzipped. Elijah ran up to me carrying him and said "Mommy, he's choking." I was in a space out and didn't respond, and he said "Mommy, he's choking--COME ON!". I realized what was happening and had him head down and was doing back thrusts on him and it took probably 10 thrusts to get it out. He wasn't moving any air at all--very, very, very, close call and scary! Anyway, what if Lij wasn't so hypervigilant? What if he wasn't so insistent? Both of those are traits that drive us nuts about with him, but I we definately have a new appreciation of them (and him). It was interesting to see how calm he is in a crisis, too. Much better than his dad.

Country Mouse goes to the cities

On Tuesday, I had a remapping (implant) appointment at the U of M. It's difficult to want to go to these appointments when I work full time, because when I'm off for a day I want to hang out with my guys. However, it was important that I get this done, so I decided to take William with me.

Once we hit 94 his little head was swiveling like crazy, catching sight of all the wonderful bobcats and trucks. His Christmas list grew by about a foot between Cold Spring and Monticello. The drive down went smoothly and he was fascinated by the sight of the sky scrapers in Minneapolis. Nothing could compare, however, to the parking ramp at the U of M. We parked on the 7th floor and he loved the view.

He played in the Lions 3M playroom at the audiology department and it was pretty wild to see my mini me doing that 30 years after I did.

He came in with me for my appointment and was just the bestest boy. When we were done, Emily, the audiologist, said she didn't think she'd ever seen a kid sit like that for a whole appointment. He had written on a piece of paper for a bit and then he just sat there on my lap and observed.

When we were done we were both very hungry and he was very clear in his desire for McDonald's chicken nuggets and "'barque" sauce. I wasn't keen on it, so first we did a drive through at Sbarro's. When I had my pizza safely in hand, he announced, "Your pizza is making me starving!"

When he was done with his chicken nuggets with 'barque sauce, he announced that he thought we should also get ice cream. We didn't, but he is still asking about it 5 days later.

So then, on the way home, we both had to go the bathroom REALLY REALLY REALLY bad. He announced that he had to go poop. I told him that I did too. Made a beeline for a gas station in St Cloud...we ran in to the bathroom as fast as we could and I have never felt such relief in my life. "God, William," I said loudly, "that feels good!" . And just then, a lady walked in. Apparently I hadn't locked the door very carefully. So there I sit, taking a dump, expressing my relief loudly, with my 4 year old angelically agreeing and concurrently announcing that his "poopie went away" and this lady walks in. I'm sure I had an expression of utter bliss on my face, to top it all off.

So she got real nervous and backed out and shut the door and I, well, I went about my business, I mean there is no stopping some things once you start. I did say "I wish that lady didn't come in here, Wils,". And Wils said, "Yeah, mommy, I wish she didn't either." So he did his job and we took our time washing our hands and all that. Then we left..and she was waiting outside the door. I never in a million years thought she would be. I really thought she'd have headed for hills (wouldn't you have?). "Oh, excuse me" she stammered again. "That's OK!" I chirped cheerfully. After all, nothing beats a good crap.

Misc

I have to start blogging every day even if only for a minute, so I remember the good stories. I'm forgetting too many of them.

Here's a few:

A few nights ago I was upstairs doing stuff at about 10 pm. The kids had been "in bed" since about 8:30. Ben came running up to ask (in his clipped little voice) "What. Did. You. Get. For. Ayana. And. Elijah. For. Christmas?"

and I said to Ben...."You go back downstairs and tell them to stop sending you up to ask me that."

and Ben said "OK!" and skipped away.

..................................................................

Last night the kids were putting on a talent show for me. They all practiced together all evening and then when it was time to perform William came and sat on my lap. I asked him if he wasn't in the talent show any more and he said "Yes, Mommy, I am, but I'm taking a break."

..............................................

Two good stories from the psych ward. I have gotten two insults in the last two days that have made me stop and think a bit. They were darn good though! The first, from a drunk, when I was in his face: "Did you get in an accident or something?" (is my face deformed? I know my nose is a little crooked, but you have to look really close!)

The second, from an old guy who didn't mean to be insulting: "That's gotta be naturally curly hair. I used to have a dog with hair like that."

Thanks. I think? (Woof!)
..................................................

We got our tree up but it's pretty funny. There is something wrong with the base and it won't stand up. So it's leaning in a corner fully decorated. Zac keeps taking the ornaments off, of course. There are several that have photographs of the kids at various stages. Zac has taken a liking to one of Elijah as a baby and he said "baby Yaya" and gives it a kiss (like I taught him..haha). He also found Reilly! "Reilly!". There is a viking ornament too, and he says "Viking".

He is VERY good with his gestures and signing. We have a new game we play where he copies whatever you do with your hands. He'll thumb his nose, stick out his tongue, squinch his eyes, puff his cheeks, whatever you do for him to imitate. It's pretty fun.
....................................................

I like oranges and purple too

Says Wil, as he eats an orange.

He also took gramma's hand and asked her why it is old.

Ben asked her if she'd ever been to jail (I redirected that question to Grandpa, who has an interesting answer)

And Zac ate 2 packs of her gum.

What can *I* do for some fun?
....................................................................................

Here's a conversation with William. My boss called me at home on Wednesday and also sent me an email. I got the email and read "...I tried to call you at home and a sweet little voice answered and said you were busy....". So, I was very curious who she talked to. Options were really Ben and Wil. Later that day they were sitting together and I asked them who had talked with her. They both said "he did it!". Wils had the guilty look, so I said to him:

"Wil, are you sure it wasn't you?"

"Not me!" he said, "and besides, I only told her you were busy."
.........................................................................................................................

Leo drags his butt around the living floor all the time like he is trying to get a good suction.
.........................................................................................................................

The season approaches and it is even busier for us than for most people (and I am the last person to say "busier than thou"; as a matter of fact I HATE that attitude). Brian works round the clock 6 days a week and this year I will be working full time as well. The good thing is his hours will have to be shorter by necessity so maybe he will feel better than he usually does. Interesting, though, a phenomenon I've noticed in years past. It doesn't matter if he's actually busy and tired or not, the day after Thanksgiving he decides to be stupid for a month. Here is a conversation from last December:

Brian: What's your schedule this week?
Me: School Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Brian: I know.
Me: Then why'd you ask?
Brian: I don't know.

Great. The good news is that this year I've added a new medication.

............................................................................

We just went through a round of the barfing flu at our house. There is nothing quite like the barfing flu when you have 5 young kids. My favorite moment was when Ana long-distance barfed off Elijah's top bunk. Then, when I got hit.................................it was that kind where you can't tell what exactly you are excreting from either end.

Lij had a point where I was starting to ask him a question and as I was doing so he bent over to barf and at the same time held up a finger like "Just a minute, let me barf first". Finished his business, wiped his mouth, and said "What?"

Correspondence Preschool

So, Wil decided to quit preschool. He had been very adamant about not going for several weeks and it go to the point where we just couldn't take it anymore. Rather than just pulling him out, I asked Kerry, his teacher, if we could meet and see if we can figure out what is up with this. She was more than willing, so she met William and I out at our house. We had a really nice visit--he was happy to see her and seemed to enjoy having her there, so I really don't think the problem is her. However, he informed her "Kerry, I quit school".

Kerry and I talked a bit and decided that we would let him think he "quit" but plan to restart in January. In the meantime she will be mailing him homework. Yesterday his first packet of homework arrived, and it occured to me that we seem to have invented correspondence preschool. What's next--online preschool?

This weekend the older 4 kids went to my parents for a visit. I'm not ready t0 foist Zac on them yet, so he stayed with us. He had a babysitter all by himself when I left for work on Saturday (Brian was taking care of some business in Little Falls) and amazingly he did great and really liked her. He can be a fiesty little turd.

Saturday was a girl scout bake sale , held at a craft fair at the middle school. First thing you need to know is I hate crafts. Second thing you need to know is I can't bake (or cook). Third thing you need to know is I'm too stubborn to just have the baker I'm married to do the baking! I tried all week to make bars and I made about 6 batches of concrete. Friday night I decided to make one last desperate attempt and was up til 2 am doing so (arrived home from work at 12 30 mid). Another batch of concrete. I was due to work the bake sale at 9 30 am (alone, because Ana flew the coop on me). So early in the morning I dragged my sorry ass out of bed, got my crabby baby up and dressed, and went to the high school. Where the bake sale wasn't. Went back to the car (crabby baby being crabby) and called another girl scout mom to ask where it was. Redirected to the middle school, we ran over there and arrive 15 minutes after our shift was supposed to start. Keep in mind now that they expected wonderful things from us, being that our family co-owns a semi-famous bakery. So I come schlepping in. The girl scout leader, whom I can't stand, chirps "Oh, do you need help carrying your product in from the car?". Dang, busted. "No," I said truthfully, "Brian is bringing it" (LIE). Then I had to think fast about how i was going to get out of THAT. I decided that Zac and I would run for the bakery (2 blocks away) and package up some brownies because they look generic enough to be possibly home make. We go to the bakery and there was a huge Saturday morning rush going on and we were totally in the way as we stole bars and packaging. Ran back to the middle school with it, squishing it well (so it would look more home made). Arrived---no price marked--no marker available. So there was my contribution--6 plates of 4 brownies each, smooshed flat, no prices. From the owners of Cold Spring Bakery. I proudly follow the girl scout pledge "I promise to lie, and to steal, and to live by the Girl Scout Law"

On the unit at work this weekend we have a guy who is missing a had. So last night I saw him trying to open a toothbrush package and the first thing out of my mouth was "Need a hand?"

His answer? "Nah, it's been 18 years, I'm used to it"

The Gas Man

So today Zac and I visited his oldest siblings at school (while #4 was at HIS school). When we walked into Ana's classroom we were greeted by a gaggle of giggling 9 year old girls gathered to admire Ana's baby brother. There were lots of oohs and aahs...................and then he farted. Loud. Long. Ariana said "ZacaRIah!"

haha good one zaccy.

Then we picked Wil up at preschool and he had written his name for the first time. I looked at the paper he had written on and said "Wow, William, that's awesome!". He nodded demurely before saying "but I'm NOT doing it AGAIN!"

Last night Ben and I settled down to do his bedtime reading, and this time HE picked up the book and started reading. Here is an excerpt of what he read out loud, unassisted, one month into first grade, 1 week into being 6 years old:

"It was Halloween, and there were 18 pumpkins left at (Bartlett's) Farm Stand. The pumpkins looked their very best, because they all wanted to be taken home and made into jolly jack-o-lanterns. The littlest pumpkin had the biggest dreams of all. She saw herself shining in the dark, with ghosts, monsters, witches, and fairies gathered around her singing a Halloween song. And today was the day when all her dreams were going to come true"

I tell ya, I just about about fell off his top bunk. I said "Ben, you can't read like that!". He smiled his smile (looking not unlike a jack-o-lantern himself) and said "actually, I can."

and then he says..."I readed it before to myself and I know what happens. The mouses take her."

He called gramma tonight to tell her to email me at work and have me call him and he would be waiting by the phone. I read the email an hour after gramma sent it (I could see by the time stamp) and I called and sure enough he WAS sitting right there. It must have been very important for him to wait so long, don't you think? It sure was. I'm to pick up buggle gum for him on my way home. An identical message came through an hour later, this time to call William. Same deal. He'd heard another guy was getting buggle gum delivered and wanted to put in an order himself.

Yesterday Wil and Zac and I were in Kohl's and as we went by the lingerie I saw Wil reach out with both hands and grab a bra from the front. The a-softball-in-each-hand look. What do you say to a 4 year old who does that? Well, I guess "No" will suffice, and hopefully it did. It reminded me of Elijah when he was 2; we would have the Sunday paper spread out all over the floor and he would look at the ladies in bras and point at them and smile to Brian.

Obviously these boys were breast fed. I hope they get over it.

Lij wants to know if we can go to Fleet Farm tomorrow so he can see the fishing stuff. No. We are not going to Fleet Farm tomorrow so he can look at fishing stuff.

Ana continues to love to play school and is happy to have a full classroom this year. Zac needs a para though because he can't cooperate well enough. I'll upload pics soon.

Ben is 6 and other tragedies

Ben turned 6 on September 24th. He is very happy to be six and feels he is fairly close to being a grown up now, if only Elijah would let him.

We haven't had a party for him yet--we met Grandma and Grandpa in Cambridge on Friday just long enough to send the oldest 4 kids home with them.

Henry, his BFF, is out of town for a week and we will arrange something when he gets home. I was thinking a trip to the bounce depot maybe. Henry is the guy who gives Ben cleaning supplies for his birthday (and vice versa).

Note in these pictures that Zac looks like he has a bad case of hereditary dwarfism. Rest assured he doesn't--he's just extremely short!

They're Off and Running

The beginning of the school is well underway and I have much to blog about. The hold up hasn't been school, or kids, but a very busy work schedule. The unit has been full to the gills with very difficult patients (they make me feel so sane) and I haven't had a chance to sit. Usuallky we get at least a break when we can sit down and do something like blog (or eat).



OK, so where are we at? Ariana is having a great year so far. She got 100% on her first spelling test and as a result gets to be in challenge today. She got 100% on the pretest for that, too. Best of all, she has been beating a girl known as "smart Ashley" (and I think Ana is the only kid who gets the joke...haha) in math. She's been so cute, too; she and I bought her a bunch of clothes at once upon a child and we did really well. She has been doing a good job putting her outfits together and keeping her hair combed and nice. She is turning into a big girl, and such a nice one.



Elijah likes 2nd grade and he likes his teacher, Mrs. Posch. He still seems to be playing on the playground with his friends from last year, Allie and Noah--I think they are going to stay besties for a long time. He had to draw pictures of his friends and family and they are so cute. I'm going to try to get a picture with my phone and post it up here (can't do that at home; home computer won't let me). The family picture had a person with a spiral of black across the top of the head (guess who?); a person with 3 lone hairs on top (Dad), and small person with yellow hair (Wils). The others looked more alike--brownish hair, etc. Elijah's "friends" picture had Allie and Noah and the Noah was soooo cute. He is Korean and Lij gave him a brown face and made triangular eyes. It was pretty good!



I dont even usually bother with Ben's homework because he already knows it. He gets these little flashcards for sight words and he knows them already so there is no point. We do sit down and go through the motions, usually. He likes it when he gets homework that involves cutting and gluing. He said he likes reading best and does like math too. Judging from the papers he brings home, they are both pretty breezy for him. Interesting guy. Getting him to tell me about it all is like pulling teeth. "I don't know."



Wils! He had his first day of preschool on Tuesday and did awesome. He made a new friend, whose name he didnt know (but his teacher told me: Bella). Friday was day 2 and I was able to take him because I was off work, and he made TWO new friends this time. His teacher's note said "Wil's eye's sparkle!" and they do.

Zaccy is doing great. Much less crabby since 2 surprise molars popped up out of nowhere. They go along with 2 teeth on top and 2 teeth on the bottom, all in front, so they are extremely silly. He is growing more wide than tall, which is funny. Not at all fat, just shaped like a square. The spoiledness is going to get worse because there are days when he is the only kid at home--alone with DADDY.

A few stories: yesterday I took the boys to the pier in Avon to fish. A guy pulled up and put his boat in the lake, and he had two big dogs with him (they looked like labs or lab mixes). Elijah, in his best authoritative voice, turned to his brother and said "Ben, those are chihuahuas".

(He was serious, too).

Later i was telling Ana (she hadn't come with us) and she said "Were they labs?" I said they were. She said "He always thinks labs are chihuahuas"

Driving home from the pier we were behind a Winnebago with one of those big plastic luggage carries on top and I heard Elijah say "Ben, that's a tackle box for muskies".

He was serious then, too.

Wil also announced as I was buckling him in that "Mommy, you're always wrong." He said it very nicely so I have NO idea where it came from.

He wants to put his bejamas in his packpack and go to Grandma's house to kick papa's butt.

All 3 big kids came home with 100's and lots of stars on their schoolwork this week.

school

It's that time of the year again! Ariana is beside herself with excitement and can't wait to get back. Elijah isn't (more on that later) and it's anyone's guess how Ben feels about it.

We had open house for them on Wednesday night and they were able to meet their teachers and see who is in their classes. Ana was hoping for a Ms Ebnet because she does plays, but instead was assigned to a Mr. Meyer. At first she was disappointed but after meeting him we are both looking forward to the year. He seemed really cool and fun. Besides, like she said, she's never had a "boy" teacher. Even if he weren't cool, it would be more than offset by the exciting news that her two best friends in the whole entire world and maybe universe are in her class! Paije and Lexi!

I'm kind of bummed for Elijah; he didn't really have a preference for a teacher, so that didn't matter very much, but not a single one of his old friends is in his class this year. He'll make new ones, I know that, but it makes it even harder for him to be excited to go back when he doesn't have buddies to look forward to (in the classroom, I'm sure they'll be together on the playground). We walked into his new room and the teacher had written "Are you excited to go back to school?" on the dry erase board; each student had a magnet with their name on it that they were supposed to put in the appropriate column ("yes" or "no"). There were about 15 "yeses" and after we got there, there was one "no"................! He put his name under "no"! hahaha! But that wasn't even the funny part. So his teacher laughed and asked him "So, why aren't you excited to go back to school?" and he said "Cuz I'd rather be FISHIN'!"

Ben has Mrs. Tulkki, who is well known to us as both of his older siblings had her as well. She had big hugs for all 3 of them but Ben escaped and ran away. I could see the blush on the backs of his ears. He had his hands in his pockets, too...........Mr. Cool.

Speaking of blush--and Ben. He and Wil got into my makeup a few days ago. They do that from time to time. They don't ruin it so I don't mind all that much, but this time they put so much makeup on their faces I couldn't get it off. Oh, and they put it on right, too. So I had William in the tub and I was scrubbing foundation off his face (he was very pretty) and I said "Wil, don't put make up on anymore" and he agreed and said "Yeah, Mommy...............not til I'm older."

Ana got to direct her first play this week. She has been pining to have her girlfriends over and direct a play with them in it. Finally I let her do it on Thursday. There were 10 kids in my basement at one point. They had a great time and they all cooperated for quite a while with her too. Zac fell in love with Sarah Hofmann, Lexi and Kaitlyn's little sister who is Wil's age. He followed her around and stared at her with the biggest, greenest, roundest, eyes. I consider it the day he discovered girls. I remember that day for the other boys also. Funny because i do NOT remember Ariana "discovering boys". I suppose that comes much later...but why do the boys make that discovery in babyhood? Too funny.

We got together with Henry and Kate on Thursday early afternoon. Henry and Ben are in different classrooms...bummer. But again, I know Ben will make new friends, and he'll probably be with Henry outside the classroom a lot too.

Last night the kids were busy making memories :) The boys have been running around in a cluster all summer (Elijah, Ben, Wil). Last night they were still outside at dusk running from one thing to another and I told Ariana to go out there and run around in the dark with them--it is SO much fun to run around in the dark when you're a kid! She did, and they didn't come in til close to 10. Lij came in around 9 30 to get her inhaler for her (haha...why couldn't SHE?) and ran back out. I don't know what they were playing--I asked and it was something about bark from trees? Don't wanna know.

Well, I better get back to work.........I have some noon meds to pass. Next should be an update about my own school (BSN work).

Bikes and Boats and Baby Boys

It's a night shift at the VA and I'm wired and loopy so this will not be my best writing!

Me and the kids have been really into biking lately. I'm excited to be raising such a group of cyclists. For anyone who doesn't know, one spring day when I was 14, I was a babysitting job, laying on the living room floor, bored out of my skull, watching the clouds go by out the window, wondering what I needed to spark up my life....and I decided I was going to start riding my bike a lot. I'm not kidding. So I started going 16 miles a day. Wow, was I in shape! It's been an on/off love affair ever since. With the advent of the energy crisis, I've harbored this secret opinion that the silver lining to this cloud is that biking is getting to be recognized for the awesome mode of transportation that it is. Right now I'm wishing I lived just a tad closer to work................17 miles one way is just a bit too much (that's not sarcasm, either).

So anyway, I've seen to it that each of my kids has a high quality bike to ride as soon as they are able. I noticed on one of our rides this week that among the 4 of us on our own wheels, we have 4 different top brands. I ride a Cannondale Silk Path 900 (an absolutely SWEET hybrid that I bought used for 100 bucks and love more than dill pickles); Ana rides a Trek mountain bike; Elijah has a Scott; Ben rides a Specialized. Ben's was Elijah's before; he will graduate to his own big boy bike probably next spring. For now it's delightful to see him pedal like mad on that tiny thing and keep up with the rest of us just fine.

The reason I'm a bike snob is because I know that biking isn't fun for long if you're not on a good quality bike, and that's the truth.

I proud to say Dad is a pretty regular bike rider too and he now shares my opinion that you need to have a good bike.

What the hell am I talking about bikes for.

So anyway...............we also have been having a great time with the little Montgomery Ward row boat from Gramma. Elijah is getting so very brave--he will actually row out in it! Granted, it is tied to the dock at the time, but still. It's Elijah we're talking about.

He and Ben have been tight as wedgie for the last few weeks. The fights break out between Ben and Wil instead of Lij and Ben. Lij and Ben are forever discussing fish. (To quote Ana, again..."I am SO sick of FISH!"

Wils is a delightful blonde four year old. He and I have been sneaking out for bike rides of our own when I feel the need for a real workout (at least once a day). When the others are with I don't go quite as fast (but fast enough--they are nice ridess!). He rides in a carrier behind me and sucks his thumb. We have the nicest rides. Today I plugged him into my microphone so we could visit. Instead I could hear him making motor noises as he drove his little truck that he had brought with him. That, and at one point he said "YOU'RE A BUTTCRACK!"

Zaccy is signing! I'm pretty sure I saw "please" today. I know Brian has been working with him on it; this became necessary because the "more" was getting old pretty quick.

They all had dentist appointments and nobody has cavities. Ben and Wil are obsessed with floss now (not that Wil actually let a dentist touch him). Zac is flossing too but he could be using a garden hose; with gaps the size he has between his total of four teeth (two top, two bottom) he does not need the special glide floss that Lij and I have to have with our tiny mouths and crooked teeth.

Ana's good, ready for school to start. She does a great imitation of Blue the stuck up cat. She says, in a silky voice, "Come here to me............come here to me" (and then she takes off running). We've been emailing a lot when I'm at work and it's a great way to encourage further development of her already excellent lexicon and decent spelling skills. She will be an awesome writer some day, mark my words.

And then she can take over doing this blog.

Wils is 4

Wils is officially 4 today! We had his little get-together in Cambridge yesterday and he was the bestest birthday boy. His big brother Elijah was joined to him at the hip to help with gift opening and to give reminders to say thank you. And reminders to let brothers play with new toys.

After opening gifts, Wils lined them up nicely on the picnic table and admired them.

Elijah went home with my parents and will be spending the weekend with Grandpa Jack while Grandma goes on a 4 wheeling trip. Hans is home too and they will be going fishing. This was all Elijah's idea, he called Grandpa to set it up. It's quiet at my house without him!

On the way back from cambridge yesterday I was sitting in the back between Wils and Ana (they had been laughing and giggling all the way and I just had to join the fun) and he asked me to buy him "buggle gum". I told him he has his very own birthday money now and could use that to buy himSELF buggle gum. His response? "No, mommy, I have other money, I got it from YOUR PANTS!"

Ana and I just hit the floor and laughed so hard. That kid is so darn funny.

Yesterday afternoon Ana was in another play, for the theater camp she just finished in Sauk Rapids. She did FANTASTIC! It's amazing how much she has grown in her acting skills and confidence over the summer. Honestly she was one of the best performers in this production. Her voice was strong and clear and she "emoted". She never looks self conscious, like she is aware of not being the character but being herself. She really did awesome and it's fun to watch her develop her hobby.

Baby spent the party entertaining William's guests. His new tricks include meow, woof, moo, and now a wolf howl at the moon complete with throwing his head back and making a little "O" of his mouth. It's too funny.

Benj is just going with the flow. I think he is looking forward to playing with Lij's toys while Lij is safely 150 miles away! It will be interesting to see if he fishes when Elijah isn't here.

I left Wil's bulldozer wrapped up for him this morning. The word from home is that it was obvious he knew about it and wasn't surprised but was still happy to open it and play with it. I knew he knew--I caught him looking at in the trunk with a tiny, knowing, smile. I could NEVER have that kind of patience!

It's not until about 9 pm tonight that he is officially 4 and I will be there to celebrate it with him (I'm at work right now).

Minnows and dentists

Elijah lost his 2nd tooth over the weekend and is flush with tooth fairy money. So yesterday he and I took Ariana to Sauk Rapids to drop her off at her theater camp, and afterward we went shopping for bait. At the little convenience store we were directed to, a young lady was working the register and came to assist us with making the live bait selection and purchase. I could tell by the way she was acting that she thought he was just adorable. And he WAS cute :) He had questions for her about each type of minnow. He made a final selection and she scooped a bunch out for him; his eyes got huge when he saw how many minnows he was getting for three dollars. He was acting so grown up and mature that when we got to the check out and she told him his total was 3.25 and he panicked because he only had 2 dollar bills (but a big bowl of quarters) it was just endearing. I explained that he actually had plenty of dollars because the coins work the same as the paper ones, they just count different.

On the way home I said "So, Lij, are minnows baby fish?" and he responded with all the authority of a professor, "No, they are a TYPE of fish."

Meanwhile Brian brought Ben and Wil to the dentist. Ben was his usual good boy self and Wil wouldn't open his mouth. I'm just glad he didn't meow. This is the same thing that happened 6 months ago and he still isn't ready. I'm wondering if this is another indication that he might not be ready for kindergarten next year.

We have some wonderful news in that it is very possible Henry will not be moving to Iowa after all. Stacey said it's not 100% yet but it's looking like things just aren't going to work out for them to move back there. When I told Ben he pretended to fall over in a dead faint :)

Ana seems to have had a good start to theater camp. I went to bed after we got home from dropping her off and slept til time to go to work so I didn't have a chance to ask her about it. Brian said she was happy and excited when he picked her up and I went down and saw her script and she is "Elf number 2" in the Hobbit.

Zac did his drama queen number yesterday morning when I picked them up at charlottes. He saw that I was there and and immediately laid on his face on the floor in grief (after covering said face with tiny fat hands) because I hadn't come over to pick him up instead of making him walk. The abuse is just getting to be too much for him, poor dear.

Watch and Learn

So today I was taking the kids to Charlotte's house for another night-shift sleepover. The boys all had their flashlights. Ariana was riding up front with me. I could hear William saying "Lijah! Lijah! Lijah! Look! Look!". Finally I yelled back for Elijah to just pay attention to what William was saying. So he turned around and William chattered something at him. Ariana, sitting beside me, cracked up and said "William just told Elijah to 'watch and learn'" (as he was showing him some trick he had with his flashlight)

Our big adventurous week was just that--adventurous. Ana ended up staying the full 4 days at Girl Scout camp because 1) she forgot to give her counselor the note from me saying I'd be picking her up a day early, so they called and 2) I was too tired to make the drive the day earlier as planned. When I returned the call to the counselor asking about Ana's stating that I was coming to get her early, I asked how they were doing and she said they were having a great time. I told her to check with Ana and see if she wanted to stay an extra day and she came back and said she got a big huge smile. So, the next day, the day of the play in Minneapolis, I drove up to Walker in the morning, picked her up, drove back to St Cloud with her glowering beside me (very, very, very, tired and crabby thing), and from there went on to Minneapolis to the Guthrie and Little House on the Prairie.

Remember, originally Ben was supposed to come with us, but when he heard his brothers were going to Grandma's, he said he wasn't going to no play. So, then we asked Reilly, and that was good, but then her weiner dog was overdue with puppies and she couldn't come either. So, we invited Lynn. She was good company and had a good time. The play was FABULOUS. It was amazing being 20 feet away from Melissa Gilbert! We were front and center. The acting (not just Melissa Gilbert) was thrilling. I'm not a theater person and not easily interested in such things but I didn't get bored once during this entire evening. There were lots of Tony winning actors and a Broadway director. Super cool. Just prior to the play start I called Luck to check in on my boys and was given the news that the weiner puppies had arrived, 6 of them in varying varieties. Saidy did well (that is how Reilly spelled the name "Sadie" on the birth announcement--so it's probably right, but I had to think about it for awhile) but looks pretty stunned in the post-birth pictures. I bet she wished she'd had an epidural.

We met friends from Canada--Kerri, Jaydane, Blake, and Kerri's mom. They are lovely people and it was great to finally meet in person after corresponding with Kerri for years over the internet (babycenter large families board).

The boys had a great time at Grandma's. Story of the day was William dropping his ice cream and saying "G-d Dammit". This evening on the way to Charlotte's he apparently said it again and Ariana told me (not tattly, just matter of factly) and William heard her tell me that and said "Mommy, I did not say G-D Dammit."

He didn't like the sand in Gramma's raspberries.........you know, the seeds?

This afternoon I took him and Ben with me when i went for a bike ride (I've been biking instead of running recently--not sure why, I just got the urge to change venues). Originally I invited Ben to come with me and ride in the carrier behind my seat, but he wanted William to come too, so we took the Burley and they rode together. First we stopped at the garden (if you can call it that--it's pretty pathetic). We had some beans among the weeds and took a few to look at and left them in the grass. Got the boys back in the Burley (bike trailer) and headed down the highway. Half an hour later, on the way back toward home, William says "I want my bean back."

Zac is such a drama queen. He stood 4 feet away from me and wanted me to pick him up. I wouldn't, so he dragged (I mean it--he dragged) himself on his belly to my feet where he threw himself on the floor, flat on his face, in grief. Whatever.

Lij lost his 2nd tooth and has tooth fairy money bothering him greatly as there are so many possibilities for it. What to do? Live bait? Lures? Savings, and try to use MY money?

Tomorrow Ariana starts her week of GREAT Theater Camp. It's another big bit of driving as it's in Sauk Rapids every day this week, but it sounds like a good time for her.

I'm on my 2nd night of 3 nights in a row at work..........will be glad when that's done.

Message to Serene Balance

My camera is broken and my mom took hers back after loaning it to us for a long time. So I need to get a new one..........but that's why no pictures!

washcloth

Ana leaves today for her first sleep away camp. It is supposed to be from today til Wednesday, but I have to go get her on Tuesday so we can go to the Guthrie on Wednesday evening. She is very, very, excited. She did a fantastic job packing her bag yesterday while i was at work. I emailed her the items to pack and she followed it. We checked it over last night and added a few last items.

One of the items on the list was a washcloth. When i got to it she said "What's that for?"

(PS She is a clean kid. We just dont use washcloths a lot, preferring total immersion. I thought it was hilarious though!)

Gramma came on Friday and brought us a great present--an ancient Montgomery Ward rowboat! We put it right in the water and went fishin'. It's perfect for us because I'm the one who fishes with the kids and I don't want to deal with a motor, and also the boys are scared to go out very far so rowing is just easy and fast. It's a solid, sturdy boat with ancient, peeling oars. We wanted to spraypaint "Property of Brian Schurman" on it to make him die of embarrassment but I ain't got that did yet.

Uncle Hans called a few days ago to talk to Elijah about fishing but Elijah wouldn't come in off the dock. Ana was on the phone with Hans relaying messages. Hans told her to tell Elijah he'd give him a present if he'd come to the phone. Nope.

Later that night, WHEN HE HAD TIME, Lij called Hans back and they talked about fishing for a long time. The next day I commented to lij that I had heard that Hans offered him a present if he would come to the phone. Lij continued to reel in his line (yes, he was fishing) and said "Yeah...." and then he stopped, turned to me, and said "What was the present?"

Friday was the Miss Cold Spring pageant stuff and Ana did absolutely fabulous. She was so beautiful and poised. She was proud that she made the judges laugh during her interview. She had a wonderful dimpled smile on her face the entire time. There was one portion that I did NOT like--they asked "final questions" of each candidate and they were NOT age appropriate ("What's your defination of success?"). Ana's question was "What do you like best about yourself?" and she didnt understand it and stood for a long painfully silent moment before the MC rephrased it to help her out a bit. She wasn't the only one that happened to though.

I really, really, really, thought she had a very good chance of winning, but the crown went to Stella Mueller. Ana was very disappointed and we all felt awful for her. She is resilient as ever, though...already asking if she can do it again next year, because it was "SO MUCH FUN!". I agree she did seem to have a good time and get some good learning experiences out of it, and she also got a really nice gift bag (priorities, you know). I'm not sure about next year...I'm not a big pageant person and I don't know if I can handle seeing her disappointed like that again. I know disappointment is normal and good to a point, but that's enough.................

Gramma, Terrie, and Reilly came for the day to get Ana ready for the pageant because if I were responsible for it I'd dress her in bib overalls and drop her off 5 minutes before the festivities began. It was really fun to have them there, especially Terrie who I NEVER see! My brother is being an ass and he better pull his head out quick or I'm going to pull it out for him.

I went down to say goodbye to her before I left for work this morning and there were boys in her bed. Poor girl....she'll probably get some much needed rest at camp :)

Zac was a pill on Friday and I was so embarrassed how he acted for our company. Terrie called him a sqealer which I thought was perfect. He does squeal. He was so awful. So then yesterday he was smiley, clappey, silly, happy, walked around, all those things he should have done for company. Turd.

Wils and Ben are good. Ben alternates between bursts of activity on the beach or at the sandbox and rest periods on the couch under his blanket that smells like pee. Wils is looking forward to his upcoming birthday so he can have the bulldozer he knows is in the trunk of my car. Funny boy :)

of parades and fish and walking babies

Been awhile! It's 4:27 a.m. and I'm on the night shift at work. It's my second night. Last night was fun because I was on with people who like to talk. Tonight is going much slower because I'm working with quiet people (cripes, how boring). Otherwise it's been fine. The kids slept over at Charlotte's house last night because Brian and I both had to work. They had a lot of fun and got to play with Michael and Alec. As a matter of fact the 3 middle guys didnt want to come home with me in the morning, choosing instead to stay at Charlottes for the day and play more with their cousins. So Ana and I took Muffin (who now says "Muff Muff", his OTHER nickname) home and I went to bed. After I slept we went back to St. Cloud to get them and we did some shopping. I was happy to note that they are now old enough to do well on a shopping errand even as a group (usually I avoid taking more than two kids to a store). They were SO good at the grocery store. Wils rode in the cart, because his little legs get tired and his little fingers stray; the others walked beside the cart and helped me put things in. Then they loaded stuff onto the checkout, and then they helped me bag it. See, someday, we (Brian, Muff Muff, and I) will have it made, because we are training all these other people to take care of those little jobs.

Our sleep schedules are definately odd but there is something I've liked both nights so far on this shift. I go to bed about 8 and William lays with me and he falls asleep too. I actually get to hold him until i get up to leave at around 11. When we get into the routine more and the big kids are back in school (meaning they actually go to bed) I will probably play musical beds and take turns falling asleep with each kiddo.

The fishing obsession is calming down a bit. A bit. Wils and Ben both broke their fishing poles and I'm not replacing them right now. Brian commended Elijah on his excellent care of his fishing gear, and he really is doing a good job with that. To my amusement, Brian himself is so DONE with being asked to go fishing that he is looking forward to moving off the lake next year (if we are able to do so as planned). Elijah caught a small Northern last night, the first one caught this year.

Zaccy is doing well with his walking.................when he feels like it. He is into dogs right now and enjoys barking at any animals, including fish, which is very silly and he knows it.

Did I already mention that Ben lost his first tooth??? One morning I got up and he came running to talk to me.............about FISHING.............and as he was talking I noticed a hole in his head. "Benjamin!" I said, "Let me look in your mouth!". He shook his head. "Get over here!" I said, "I think you lost a tooth!"

"No I didn't" he said. We proceded to argue until it reachd a point where he stamped his little foot and announced "I dont want to tell you!"

Finally he did open up and indeed he had lost a tooth. To this day I have not ascertained quite what happened. The whereabouts of the tooth are not known even to the former landlord. Anyway, now he and Lij are missing the same tooth. The competition is heating up!

Ana lost another tooth too, so now she is missing the teeth on either side of her big front teeth, so she looks just like Zac who only has those big front teeth (and enjoys making himself look like a beaver).

William still has his beautiful pearly crooked baby teeth.

Last Friday Ana had a community service thing she had to do for the Miss Cold Spring thing going on and I had to find a place for the boys as Brian had to sleep. We took Krabby Patty with us (we brought a stroller that his tender butt has never sat in and never will). The other 3 boys alllll went to Henry and Kate's house! I was very proud when Stacey emailed later to say that they are excellent little boys and all of my kids are welcome at her house at any time.

It's really fun to see Zac and Kate together. They are 2 days apart and she has Down Syndrome. What's funny is that his baby-of-the-family syndrome is quite a bit more severe than her down syndrome and they have been reaching developmental milestones at about the same time. For silly. She isn't walking yet, though; it's related to the poor muscle tone of down's babies.

I love watching Henry and Ben together. They never get tired of each other and never run out of things to do. They like the same wierd things, like cleaning. It's interesting to see that they will also sometimes split up and do their own thing at each other's houses. They are both loners and independent and understand that about each other.

Saturday night we went to the Richmond parade. It was candy heaven. A decent parade to watch and I love evening parades. We are looking forward to the Rockville one. Yesterday on our shopping trip we found kid's collapsing lawn chairs for 4 bucks so I got 5. But...I forgot that they are growing up! Ana's doesnt come anywhere near fitting her, she needs a grown up one (she is nearly 5 feet tall!). Lij's makes him look like he is sitting in a potty chair. I'm just astounded. They'll work OK though. Wil and Zac are so cute in theirs. Of course all 5 lined up in the living room sitting in their chairs watching TV. I did manage to get a picture on my old Canon but it is not willing to upload them.

I need to stop eating beans at work.

Takin' a walk in a tomato warning

Well! What a couple of days! Last night I arrived home from my home care job, plopped my tired self into a lawn chair on the beach with my crawling, walking-less toddler in my lap, and sat back to enjoy the dusk. No sooner had my butt hit the wet cushion than all hell broke loose around me and I looked up to see Elijah pull in the biggest damn fish I've ever seen on a hook. Remembering the drama last week when the big one got away, I ran out with baby on one hip and grabbed the net and scooped up the big catch. Wils and Ben were jumping and clapping and Ana was hoofin' it to the house to get Brian.

Turns out this was the very same one that got away, we are pretty sure, because it had a tear mark on it where the hook had been. It also wasn't a walleye...............but at first we couldn't figure out WHAT it was. I thought catfish because it had barbels, but Elijah disagreed. I thought it was just because he wanted it to be a walleye so he could eat it (and that was true). But later he and I did some studying online and successfully identified his catch as a Bowfin, or Dogfish. There is no uglier fish in Minnesota, I don't think. Sadly for Lij, they aren't really edible, but remarkably he was very near the state record for size, with the record holder being 10 pounds and our catch roughly 9!

So tonight I'm at work. There are state-wide Tornado warnings out and we had to sit in a hallway with patients (and patience) for about an hour. Meanwhile, back at the station....(I did that because it sounds like a novel) the troops were gathered in the basement. A certain someone chose that moment to stand up and walk 5 feet. He toddled, stopped, gazed at his starstruck audience, erupted into loud applause for his own self, and fell flat on his butt. I'm told he's been repeating the performance so perhaps this isn't a fluke!

email from gramma

Lij called us to tell us that he caught the big walleye . He was soooooooooooooooooooooo fun to hear cuz he was so so so excited. He told alllllllllllllllll about it . I asked him if it was as big as Zaccy and he said one of the walleyes is. ---------------------almost----------------------. Oh he is so darling. Then a while later Wils called me. He said I could come over if I was real quiet and he would give me a dollar. hahaha. Have you been bribing the boy? I asked him if he fell into the water and he said "Yes and Lijah saved my wife". ahhahahahahah. Now can you imagine what will be told with that story over the years? How his big brother saved his life . Those children are just absolutely delightful. Thank you for having them. Thank me for having you. Talk to you later. Mom

I'm In Love

OK, twice in two days, don't faint (blogging). But I just have to record this because it's something that is going to make me smile whenever I read it.



The 92 year old patient at work seems to have taken a real liking to me and it is mutual. He is not the least bit "icky" (usually, in my job, when you think someone seems pretty cool, they quickly disillusion you). So yesterday he gave me those tips for the boys about catching walleye. Tonight he came up to me and said "So what can we talk about tonight?". I told him I was going to go take my break and find him when I got back. When I got back on the unit one of the other nurses told me he was in the bathroom but had been asking about me. So I waited for him, but he took forever so I was concerned and stuck my head in and said "XX, you OK?" and he said "Yah, I'm OK, is she there yet?" (he thought I was someone else). I said "Yeah, XX, I'm back now, just thought you were taking a long time and I wanted to make sure you are OK in there!"



Few minutes later he shuffles his cute little self out and says..."Once I get them pants off it takes forever to get 'em back up again"................



So then he said, "I was thinking 'bout them walleyes and wanted to tell ya..."



and then we had this wonderful talk. Turns out Big Fish is one of his favorite fishing lakes, he used to fish there at night! He said it makes sense that Elijah is seeing walleye at night, that's when they are best out there. He gave me a bunch of tips to pass on to lij and they were very interesting and I am eager to try them--with the exception of going at 6 in the morning, if not at night.



Our 2 hour long conversation (that is the great thing about this job--if it's quiet, I can sit and talk to someone for 2 hours and it's considered work) touched on everything from the Taj Mahal (members of his ... company, is that what they are called? flew around it when they were in India) to Hillary Clinton. Get this--she was his man! He don't quite know what to think 'bout this Obama, but anything would be better than that guy we got runnin' the place right now who don't got no brain. Better'n his dad, of course, but still don't got no brains. He figures Hillary would have done a good job, he retired to Arkansas years back and never heard a bad word 'bout either of them. Course, too bad Bill had to go and do all that chasin' around, it does make you think less of a man, but if he hadn't done that he would have been remembered as one of the best Presidents...................................



'Course himself, he never did no chasing around, never, not once. The wife, even now, she asks him on the phone, "So I spose you're having all kinds of fun now?" (they are living separately due to different nursing requirements and his behavior issues.................which I am seriously not seeing). And he says to her, "No, I never did and I never will!". They've been married it'll be 67 years the 24th of September, but the wife figgers they should count the 5 years they went together before that, and I do agree with her.



When he got his draft notice for WWII he wrote a letter to the draft board to say he was just about finished building a house for the missus and could he please finish it first. Would you believe they let him, and he got her all settled into their little cottage before he headed to LA to board a ship making its maiden voyage by carrying soldiers to India. On the way they stopped in Melbourne, Australia, and in Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. When they left Madagascar they were escorted by two destroyers, and the job of the destroyers was to protect the ship from subs. From Madagascar they sailed to Calcutta and then on to Bombay (I think that was by train--I'm not recalling that part well). He spent the remainder of the war in Bombay preparing bombs to be flown over the Himalayas and launched toward Japan. That all ended with the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima, which was not geographically far from where he was stationed. As I commented to him, it doesnt appear to have affected his longevity at all.



By the way, while he was in Bombay, the missus worked in a munitions factory--a bona fide Rosie the Riveter.



He is the last surviving out of 10, with one older sister having made it to 96.



He wishes he'd bought GM stock 2 years ago when it was going for 5 dollars a share because a year later it was going for 35. Course, now, it's down the 10, but he'd have it in the bank by now. The missus, she don't like the stock market much herself. .

Tomatos and bombfires

Tomatos is another blast from the past. The boys went through a period last summer when they were very nervous about tomatos. The kind that come out of the sky and take your house away. They are always preceded by a scary message on the TV screen that starts with "beep beep beep beep".

I was reminded of this on Thursday night when we were walking from our car to the fireworks in St. Joe. It was a bit of a trek and I had to carry William part of the way. While I carried him he chatted his little heart out. One of the things he said was that when we got home he wanted to have a "bombfire". That would be the fire you have outside in a firepit and roast marshmallows in.

He also saw a police car with lights flashing (I think directing traffic) and asked "Mommy, what is he doing?" before I could answer, he answered himself "I think he is going to the dollar store.".

In case you don't know Wil very well, be assured he was making a joke :)

Ana taught zac to bark like a dog--she plays stuffed doggies with him and they bark. He picked a trick up on his own, though, too; I was carrying him up the steps and the dogs, who were hot, were walking behind us. Soon I could hear this panting sound. Figured it was the dogs. It was, but not only. Zac also had his little tiny tongue out and was going "hll hlll hlll hlll hlll" with a doofy look on his face. He is developing quite the sense of humor!

The fireworks were great. Brian had to work and it was late for Zaccy for we left them at home and I took the older 4 and we met Joanie and James there. They were already in St. Joe for the live music and had a spot saved for us. We ended up listening to Bobby Vee sing Peggy Sue. I only vaguely know he is famous, but I figure it was a neat thing to have experienced. I found out today he is FROM St. Joe--that I did not know.

Ben LOVED the fireworks. He was entranced by them. It's something I would have thought he would like--something about him that has always seemed maybe even slightly autistic. (Not that you have to be autistic to love fireworks). Wils loved the fireworks too as did the others although Lij was trying very hard to be a crab. He gave up after awhile :) Ana and I had a nice talk about the historical significance about the 4th of July and fireworks ("...and the rockets red glare, bombs bursting in air.............."). She loves history.

We all 7 went to the parade on the 4th. When we were leaving the fireworks Thursday night Joanie suggested we leave one of our blankets in a spot along the parade route as that is something people do to save their seats. We did so and when we arrived on Friday morning there were red haired people on my blanket. Too bad I didn't have Leo there to take care of it! They were pleasant when we asked them to step off but they had 3 red haired kids who kept pushing Wils out of the way to get candy. Wils' sibs didn't take to that well at all and it was funny to see those little red haired girls get their comeuppance, Schurman style (basically, quietly and firmly....they just kind of took their spots and kept their ground and handed as much over to Wil as they could!).

Sorry if you have red hair. My mother prejudiced me.

The candy haul was so-so. I wish tootsie rolls were illegal for parade candy. Ana commented on the way home that "You know we are going to get crabby now, right?"

After the parade we had a friend of mine from school and her 5 year old son over for a bit. She's a very young single parent and he does show the effects but overall it was nice to have them and he enjoyed the lively company.

Later that day Ana removed her snorkel (a gift from Joanie and James!) from her mouth and out popped a tooth! It had been loose and we were taking bets on when it would fall out. Unfortunately it happened while she was in the water and the tooth has not been found. I suggested that in a thousand years some little green beings might find it fossilized on the beach, like we have found teeth (we have, we really have....not human, perhaps deer).

After we put nude bathing baby and dad to bed we sat in the yard and watched fireworks over the lake. We had a great time!

I am back at work now and we have a lovely patient. He is 92 years old and he is here for trying to beat the shit out of a nurse practitioner in a nursing home. And he really is lovely.....we are enjoying him very much. I suspect the nurse he attacked was treating him like a senile old coot which is is very much not. He is neat, clean, and oh so sharp. He seems to me like the kind of guy who always had his routines and his ways and it is just very hard for him to give them up. "The missus" is in a different nursing home and he talks to her on the phone every day. Though he does seem to have gender role ideas typical of his generation, he speaks very respectfully of "the missus". Many comments begin with "The missus figgers" or "That's what the missus says too". He is a unique veteran in that his service was in India during WWII--he said there were very few of them, only about 5000 GIs stationed there, and their mission was to send bombs over the Himalayas. He is on a personal mission to convince all of his fellow patients (guys in their 40s) that smoking cigarettes "don't hardly make no sense. if you're going to spend 4 bucks at least get a gallon of gas!"

We have a new email address....a new email person has been added to the family...we now have:

boodlefish@rocketmail.com

and that will get you to Mr. Ben and his very first email!

PS My 92 year old patient told me to tell Lij and Ben to use minnows to catch walleyes. i emailed lij and he is excited to try it. I figured if a guy has been fishing for 80 something years, he's gonna know what a walleye likes.

Time

It seems to be going by too fast lately. Working full time will do that, unfortunately. Fortunately, I do enjoy my work. Not as much as I enjoy being with my kids, but it does make my time with them all the sweeter! I was thinking that I'd start adding some "reminisces" from over the years as this blog will hopefully be a way for the kids to look back when they are adults. Odd to think of how the internet will change the way we pass along family history. There will be no denying some things! So last night William asked me to get him some "buggle gum". He and Ben both love "buggle gum". They also like "great nuts" in their yogurt. It got me thinking about some of the good ones the older two had when they were the little ones (so long ago, yet so recent!). My favorte to this day remains the "beavers" they used to get when they were sick (you know, when your temperature rises?). And when lij was big enough to use the potty, his sister said "He needs a rooster seat" They used "blue" to make paper stay together when doing arts and crafts, and loved to eat "racaroni and cheese" for lunch. ...................................... I remember another time when Ben was a newborn and I had him in an infant swing while I worked around the house. Ana and Lij were just doing their thing and playing. At one point I picked Ben up and put him in his crab. Moments later Ana ran to me in a panic, "MOMMY! BENJI'S GONE!!!!!!!!!!" ........................................ Here's one that still blows my mind. When Ana was 15 months old I had my first OB appointment for my pregnancy with Elijah. Brian was holding her and the doc had the doppler on my belly. The sound of the heartbeat filled the room and Ana signed "baby!". HOW DID SHE KNOW? That summer she also saw Grandma and Grandpa bring their boat and fish in our lake; the following spring, when she was newly two, she looked out the window and signed "boat, grandma" (meaning she remembered the year before, when she was one). Wow! She was something. Still is. This morning they played restaurant (because I went grocery shopping after work last night so they were on a mission to eat it all) and she made two different menus, one for kids and one for adults. She CHARGED her brothers for their meals. The OB appointment thing reminded me of something else. The first time she met Elijah she was 20 months old and was put up beside me on the bed in the hospital. Someone handed us baby Elijah who was bawling his little head off (already disagreeing with things). Ana, a firm believer in a good Nuk solving all of one's problems, pointed at her newly arrived brother and signed "Nukkie". She thought he needed one. He never did get one, as he was the first Schurman brother to pioneer the art of thumb sucking, a tradition that has passed from thumb to thumb and is still going strong in his successors. .................... Big news for Ariana, Ben, and I. We are going to see Little House on the Prairie: The Musical at the Guthrie in the end of July!!!!!!!!!!!!!! July is going to be a huge month for ana--she has so much going on. I'm encouraging her to relax while she can but she is antsy to continue with her summer adventures. I digress. We are very excited about the play; myself in particular because Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura in the TV series, is starring as Ma! And...and....and....our seats are row D, center!!!! This was all set up with a friend of mine from Canada who also has a large family headed by one little girl. They are traveling down to Minnesota for it and invited us to join them. So, a great adventure awaits. Oh, Elijah was asked first and he declined, so Ben was asked and happily accepted. I'm looking forward to the time with him as well as to meeting our Canadian friends. ....................... Ana and Lij went to a birthday bash yesterday at their friend Allie's. I love it that they are close enough in age and relationship that they share the same friends. They had a great time. I talked to Ana on the phone afterward and I asked her if Lij behaved (cuz he was getting bucky beforehand about not wanting to swim in their pool, lest someone see his swimming trunks) and she said "he got kinda wild but so did Allie". Then she was telling me about the family's nice house etc. I asked if Allie had a nice bedroom and she said "I don't know, i didn't see it, but Lijah did, and he said it's really cool". So lij was in the bedroom playing barbies and whatnot with her while the others were elsewhere....LOL. We also had Stacy, Henry, and Kate over to swim on Wednesday. That's always a great time as we all enjoy them. Stacy has a sense of humor, which is something that can be hard to find in my age group (why?). I was holding Zac and he kept farting and I said "I wonder if you aren't constipated" and Stacy turned around and said "who???????????" (because it sounded like I was saying it to her). Their move is imminent and they are awaiting some final information before they make their final plans. They will be moving down to Okoboji, Iowa, which is near the Minnesota border. Ben and I already plan to go down there for his birthday and spend the night in a hotel, just the two of us. It will be great. Zaccy finally added tooth #4 and took a big shit and now all is well in his world. Nothing new with Wils...............he likes to mess with me and gets me laughing every time. He likes to ride his trike and he likes to play with his dump trucks. I am so excited to give him his birthday presents, another dump truck, and bulldozer. He asked the other day if we could please just get his birthday cake now too. Well..................I guess that's enough for now. Til next time!

5:30 a.m.

Yikes! I just realized it's been 2 weeks since I've posted. Work is to blame; usually I get a little down time to catch up my blogging but we just finished a full moon and it's been otherwise crazy, so to speak. But that's another story, and I'm posting those elsewhere.

So, 5:30 a.m. That's what time Elijah was in my face this morning asking if it was a good time to go fishing. I didnt feel it was, so I told him to wait. He did. Until 5:45. That was pretty good, for him. You can imagine how the rest of the morning went. I did finally get him out there at around 9 :30. I'm at work now and the last email I got from Brian, at about 9 PM, said that Elijah was out there on his little folding chair all day, waiting for the big 'un.

This week was ana's big theater debut. She attended theater camp at rocori high school and it was fabulous. It is run by a traveling troupe (Prairie Fire Children's Theater) and this year they were really good. The play was Jack and the Beanstalk and it was a musical adaptation. Our girl was cast as Treble Clef, a key member of the Orchestranians. The Orchestranians were, I think, guardians of a level of air somewhere between earth and the top of the beanstalk. Her entrance to the stage was funny and impressed me with it's perfect casting of her. She entered stage left with her arms crossed and held high and her nose in the air (she was directed to "show her boogers"). She marched resolutely across to the other side of the stage alone, turned on her heel, and went back across to the other side, turned on her heel again, and another Orchestranian joined her--and followed behind her making faces and mocking her character. Ana kept a straight face, for the most part--except those dimples gave her away. You could see through to the other side of her face. The perfection in the casting is that Ana is rather reserved and is also quite used (and impervious) to being trailed by smaller, irritating, beings. She had a significant number of lines and didn't blow a single one. As a matter of fact she knew the whole play by heart and was annoyed by others flubbing theirs!

I attended the Saturday production and took two hours from work and ran to cold spring. It would have been nice to be off the whole evening but I'm not at a point where I can make such demands. It was great to be allowed to take off as I was, given that this is health care (mental, to boot) and not library science or some other such tame thing. Grandma came from Wisconsin for the Saturday performance as well, and Brian and Elijah were there too. Joanie and James went to the Friday show. So anyway during the play there was this giant who ran through the audience looking for a human to eat. Elijah went from Grandma's house to mine in one swift movement. Hmmm......................a little nervous, are we? Which reminds me, this morning I had to flick a bug off his tacklebox before he could fish.

Ben spent Friday afternoon at his friend Henry's house playing with "Turdy", Henry's turtle. According to Henry's mom, he is not the most original with names, if you can't tell. They had a good time, as usual.

Wils is doing good. He asked if he could ride bike to Grandma's house. I just hope he doesn't set out some day in actual pursuit of that. He will be four in less than two months! That's hard to digest. He is one I would keep little forever. The rest of them i would say probably not (except maybe Ben--he was a wonderful baby and seems to get sneaky as he gets older).

Zac is definately not invited to stay a baby forever but he seems bent on it. He did finally get a 3rd tooth and the 4th is on the verge of arrival also. I wonder what excuse he'll come up with for being a crab once that one is in? Brian has that kid so spoiled. He is, of course, still very funny. He is a good one for making faces and is very dramatic. When he doesnt get his way he will lay on his face. Reminds of Lij as a baby that way. Lij would very carefully arrange himself on the floor to have his "tantrums" (if they could be called that). He certainly didn't want to injure himself! Unfortunately for him he felt there was much in his little life to protest so he spent a lot of time carefully arranging himself on the floor.

Well, I better get back to the millieu. We have a 56 year old guy who thinks I'm his mommy.

The Voter 5000

When I left for work earlier today, Ana was supervising her brothers' construction of a cardboard creation they named "The Voter 5000". Would you believe, considering they are 9, 7, 5, and 3, that this was a new kind of voting booth? Ana is seriously bummed along with me that Hillary is out of the race, but I can see a lot of good that came from Hillary's run. Certain little girls were sparked with interest in politics! (Perhaps most interestingly, I'm not interested in politics in the least)
Today Ana and I were talking about dog years vs human years and she said "So, in human years, Minnie and I are both under a decade." Well, yes, they are! Is "decade" a vocabulary word studied in third grade?
Lij found a population of frogs around Lynn's little landscaping pond so we have been going over there so he can hunt. He also found a really cool crayfish a few days ago; he told me it's a female. I asked how he knows and he said "Come here, I'll show you". I was very curious about what gender specific characteristic he might be imagining. To my surprise, I believe he was correct. He showed me a cluster of what had to be eggs under it's tail!
Benj is into writing and charting and diagramming. Joanie found him making notes about barn swallows. Something along the lines of "brd brn swallos". He carries around a clipboard to make these notes on. It's too cute.
Wils continues to be the bestest boy and Zac continues to be the crabbiest. If those front teeth don't come in soon I'm going in personally to get 'em out.

My Kind of Party

Whew--it's been awhile, and with good reason! The last 10 days have been beyond busy (abnormally so--usually I manage to keep it pretty tame). Last week was the kid's last week of school and I spent a day there with each of them. Tuesday Ana turned 9 and we also had her annual girl scout troop end of year party that evening. Friday we celebrated the end of their year with a trip to the dairy queen and seconds for everyone (followed by MAJOR MELTDOWNS!). Saturday morning I took Lij to the doctor with a mouth full of ulcers and he was diagnosed with strep (pretty soon we all had sore throats and were given meds without being seen). I worked the weekend and I don't remember what I did on Monday but I'm sure it was important (I just remembered we had Stacy, Henry, and Kate over all afternoon, and ended up getting Allie in the evening, I will explain more later); Tuesday Joanie and I took Ariana and two girlfriends to the Mall of America for her birthday adventure. Yesterday I went back to the cities with Charlotte to take my state boards, and today we capped things off with Elijah's cub scout den end of year party. We also had Ana's friend Paije over for the afternoon. And we've had swimming lessons Monday through Thursday mornings for the older two.



And somehow I found time to turn 36 today.



That's enough, i guess.



So, now a bit about each of the above events. The school year ended well for all three kids. They got excellent grades. Of particular note is that Elijah got an O in reading. This is noteworthy because in the beginning of the year he was sent to a special classroom for extra help because he was slow getting started. He most certainly caught up and then some! He also fell in love with his special reading teacher and according to her it is mutual. He made thank you notes for her and Mrs. Tulkki and both notes had hearts all over them. Ben made as construction paper card for Mrs. Trimble and that was full of pink hearts too. I'm so afraid I'm going to have to deal with pissed off fathers when they get to high school.



Ana made a wonderful thank you for her teacher. She worked all week on a book for her. The book was "Why Ms. Schmidt Is the Best Teacher Ever" and it was so well written and so well illustrated. It really was something. I got to be there when. Ms. Schmidt unwrapped it (of course, my most competent girl also wrapped it and put it in a gift bag!) and it was obvious she was so touched. I was really proud of all of them.



Ben aced kindergarten. We recieved the news that he will be in Mrs. Tulkki's room next year, so he is excited about that (and I think she is too).



The girl scout end of year party went well. At first the girls sat around like little old ladies and so did their mothers. I was like...come on, people, this is a party. Finally stuff got going and we had fun. We always do a potluck and we get great food. We have a mom who is a dentist and she always brings fruit--really good fruit like blackberries and strawberries. So the food was great, but you know how women eat in groups? Chew carrot, chat daintily, chew broccoli, visit nicely, have a celery, wash hands. I was panting over the cheetohs and stuffing myself. Damn, that was fine food. I had Zac in a baby carrier on my front and I found out later (by looking at his face and hands) that he had been partaking in the offerings as well. At the e nd of the party there was a lot of food left because of the parsimonious way women eat in public, and I was thinking maybe they would leave some, but no. They packed up their carrots and their broccoli and their cheese and their blackberries and they left. Pfffft.



So tonight we have cub scouts. Hence the title--my kind of party! We had weenies on the grill, the little guys ran around like heathens, and the dads scarfed down hotdogs with me in the kitchen. I told them how much more fun they were than the girl scout moms and one of the dads said they all probably went home and ate there. I know he is right. Who do they think they are kidding? They're FAT! (The girl scout mothers). And then the best part, of course the boy scout dads didnt even think to bring home the leftovers (there were some, despite the happy eating all around). So here I am with chips, cheese, pop, ritz crackers, even a few weenies left. The feast! Ana, Ben, and Wil went to Lynn's and played so I could attend to the party and they had even more fun, I think. She always bakes with them and tonight they made rhubarb crisp. They watched movies and chased cats. I think Lynn really needs to be a grandma, she would really enjoy it. Zac stayed here with me because he goes to bed around 7 and he didnt notice anything unusual with a house full of boys. I watched his little hands around the food though.



A quick story about Lij's friend Allie. Monday night I was standing in my kitchen and I looked up and there was Allie! She had Elijah's jacket that he forgot at school (I'm not sure how she ended up with it) and her mom and Gramma were waiting in the van for her, they had stopped by so she could drop it off. Lij was so happy to see her he did sommersaults on the couch. He looked very dorky. So I asked Allie if she wanted to stay and play for a bit, because she lives very close. She did, so I went out and asked her mom, who said that was just fine. So she stayed for a few hours and they had a ball--so did I, I like that girl! Brian was also awake (I think he is starting to wonder about all these spare children I keep bringing home) and Allie was very interested in our signing so I explained some to her. She asked ana and I to teach her certain signs. She picked it up very quickly and well. Yesterday I called her mom to talk about arranging another playdate and her mom told me a cute story. She said Allie's gramma used to be a teacher and they were visiting when Allie got home from our house and allie told them she was going to teach them some sign language. So she demonstrated and th en she said "OK, now let's do that again." Like a teacher. Her mom and gramma thought it was so cute.



The girl day in the cities with ana was very nice. It was very important that Joanie be with because 1) she can drive in the cities and 2) she has patience for girls in malls. Neither of those things can I claim. I did pretty well for the first couple hours; the store we took them to was called Friends 2B Made. They got to choose dolls to be stuffed and then buy clothes. Like Build a Bear, but with dolls. After that we went to Rainforest Cafe and that was an adventure for them too. After THAT, however, my torture began. My goal was to get the hell out of there. Nobody else shared that goal. We had to meander to and fro, and the conversation was along the lines of "ohh, that is sooo CUUUTTTEEE!!" "Are you going to buy that?" "Ohhh, LOOK at this one!".



We'd have to duck into these little shops and they'd scatter out and regroup and scatter out and ....keep in mind this included Joanie among those who would scatter out and regroup and stop and look and blah blah blah blah blah. Finally it go to the point where I had to say "I'm done, I'm getting ornery, we have to get me out of here!".



I don't mean to sound like I didnt enjoy it, because I did. I was very happy to have that day with ana and give her that wonderful time. I just wouldn't do it for anyone else in the entire world!



Story from swimming lessons today....I had to take Wil into the girl's locker room with me. It was pretty much empty sans a few girls in their swimming suits. I told Wil to let the girls have their privacy. I was carrying him and he said "MOMMY, ARE THEY NAKED?"



State boards yesterday went fine. I had two big problems and they were not on the test. The first was that I was hungry. That's been happening lately, I forget to eat! I've always thought that was some kind of stupid, don't you? But it's happening and then I find myself in a pinch with no food. So I had to try to work through that. Worse, however, was the fact that as soon as the test started I had to take a crap. Good luck getting up to do that in the middle of state boards. Boy, that got tough. When I do it again for my RN I'm wearing depends. It was actually pretty fun driving down with Charlotte, and we met up with Carol (their other sister). Charlotte is the only literal blonde but they are both proverbial ones. Pretty entertaining. Charlotte was telling me about her daughter Maria's new boyfriend Sing and her husband Bernie's friend Yumyum (sp?). These are ethnic names. We went to Olive Garden and Charlotte bought me a birthday dinner.



So then after this long, long, day, I finally pull my weary self into the driveway at 7 pm. I was met by the sight of sleeping bags and pillows in the yard, where a camp was in place to await my arrival. They ran to greet me and the first thing out of Ben's mouth was " Did you fail?"



I passed just fine and am now licensed.