Random Thoughts

I've had a serious case of writer's block lately. Not that there haven't probably been events that are "blogworthy" - I just can't seem to put the fingers to the keyboard so to speak. Hence I am going to write some of the random thoughts I have had lately and hope that the creative juices flow soon. (For your sake as well as mine.)

Food:

• Fruit cocktail is one of the greatest things ever. I don't even like to eat it, but Ethan loves it. (I buy the naturally sweet kind.) It is so easy to pop open a can and give it to him for a tide over while dinner is cooking. Plus I feel like I am sort of teaching him to be a healthy eater. Its a win-win situation.
• Lebkuchen. Ahhh. It is a wonderful thing. It makes me happy.
• Why is it that when I am trying to lose weight all I can think of is food? (And not the healthy stuff either. See above.)

Weather:

• 65 inches of snow in 6 weeks is too much snow. For anyone. Sane. Or insane.
• Pouring rain after 65 inches of snow in 6 weeks is just wrong.
• Just keep repeating to yourself that the summers here make it all worth it. (Picture is a view of Sandpoint in the summertime.)

Kids:

• Why in the world is "poop"(and all its derivatives) such a funny word for kids? Our kids are obsessed with it. One night Rick had them say poop and then haha at least 50 times thinking they would "get over it." No such luck.
• Why are my kids never ready to go to bed on the nights when I am sooo ready for their bedtime?
  
• Why is it the house can be clean for most of the day with Emily and Ethan home but when Lindsey and Jacob come home from school it looks like a tornado whipped through the house in 5 minutes flat?

Miscellany:

• I just really like the word miscellany and there are so few chances to use it in everyday language.

The Phone Call

Today I received a call from Jacob's primary teacher. She started off the conversation by saying "I just want to let you know about something that happened on Sunday. First of all let me begin by saying how much I love Jacob." Immediately my mind began racing. "What did Jacob do? What is an adequate consequence? He definitely needs to tell his teacher he is sorry." What she went on to tell me humbled me.  "I gave the kids in the classroom a metal star to glue on their picture. Jacob was just sitting there flipping it over in his hand and I thought 'Oh boy, what is he going to do?' Then Jacob very quietly whispered in awe to another kid in the class 'Can you believe Sis Reese loves us so much that she made these for us.' And my heart just melted." My heart also melted when she told me that story.  This primary teacher also mentioned a time when the kids were in class coloring and Jacob started quietly singing "Tell me the stories of Jesus." Pretty soon the whole class was singing the song and coloring.

I've always known that Jacob was sensitive to how others feel. Although lately I have been wondering if he has forgotten about that part of himself. Apparently, he has not. Thank you for reminding me to think about others' feelings more. Thank you for reminding me of who you are.

What's the point of a shark with no bite?

It finally dawned on me that I have children old enough to vacuum the stairs BY THEMSELVES. So to facilitate this I went to Walmart and bought a little mini-shark vacuum. It was wonderful, small, lightweight, easy to use and best of all - the kids loved vacuuming with it - for about 15 minutes. Then it broke. That's right, the belt broke on the vacuum. No problem, I thought I will just replace it. How hard can that be. Apparently very hard - there weren't any instructions on how to replace the belt or buy a new one or anything like that to assist me. So I thought what the heck, I'll call customer service and see what they can do. 

Me: Could you tell me what size of belt and need and how to replace it?

Customer Service rep (Obviously outsourced): "I'm sorry that that happened. Would you like me to send you a replacement belt?"

Me: Yes please.

CSR: That will be $14.95 and it should be there in 2 - 3 weeks.

Me: (Seriously!) The vacuum broke after 15 minutes of vacuuming. Can I send it back?

CSR: No I am sorry but I can send the replacement to you for no cost.

Me: That would be nice. Do you think you could expedite the shipping?

CSR: No.

Me: Could you email me or send me the instructions on how to replace the belt?

CSR: No. You must call customer service and we will give you the instructions over the phone. It is a very simple process. Is there anything else I can help you with today? 

Me: (How about a shipping time of less than 2 weeks or instructions would be nice.) No thank you.

CSR: Now with the holiday season around have you thought of buying a sharp mop....

Me: No thank you. (Are you seriously trying to sale me something after a product of yours malfunctioned after hardly any use? And you can't send me a replacement part sooner than 3 weeks and I have to call back to get the instructions on how to do the repair.) 

Elapsed time 1 week. (I guess shipping can be expedited.) The belt arrived, I called customer service, couldn't understand much of what the rep said, figured out how to replace the belt and now the kids are vacuuming the stairs on their own.

This experience caused me to realize 2 things. 1) I hate calling customer service when it is "outsourced". I can't understand them. They can't understand me. It is really buggy. And 2) Nothing puts me in a bad mood quicker than when something breaks right after I buy it.  Does anybody else feel that way?

Thanksgiving - Montana Style

We were able to go to see Rick's sister and her family for Thanksgiving. It was fun for the cousins to play and the food was great! (Thanks Wendy for your hospitality.) We had the traditional dinner on Turkey day, ate too much food, watched some football and then ate some more. Wendy was kind enough to humor me and take me to the stores the day after Thanksgiving. How scary is that? I go to Montana for my big shopping. As wonderful and fulfilling as that sounds, I don't think our Thanksgiving would have been complete without a few Montana style activities. 

1) Having our brother-in-law, Eric, pull his truck off the road on the way to Thanksgiving dinner step out of his truck, shoot a buck and clean it prior to eating dinner. The animal was on his brother-in-law's property. I thought he was joking when he brought his gun along "just in case." (Author's note: I didn't witness the actual shooting as I was in another vehicle and we didn't stop, but the shot was heard and Rick confirmed the events.)

2) Going up in the mountains with a bunch of Wendy and Eric's friends and having a bonfire. This might sound like no big deal but what we burned was a slash pile a few years in the making. It was intense flames and heat. At one point the flames were 30-40 feet high. Needless to say some kids (Jacob) freaked out when the fire first began but we were at a safe distance (which kept on increasing:)). Most shed their coats it was so warm. The kids were able to sled and we ate hotdogs, chips and banana boats in front of a beautiful fire. Although it was fun, I have new appreciation for those that fight forest fires.

Firsts

Since I last posted - eons ago - a lot of "firsts" have happened around our house.

1) Ethan took his first steps last month. Now he is a full fledged walker!

2) Ethan turned 1 year old and was the first one of our children that did not devour their piece of cake but instead gingerly licked off the frosting. :)

3) We removed the stair guard for the first time since Ethan became mobile. He can now go up and down the stairs independently!  (I just need to convince people of the importance of keeping the toilet lids shut.)

4) The first snow fell and stuck to the ground. My kids were so excited they put on all their snow gear and went and played in the snow. (I was not so excited until it melted a few hours later.)

5) I bought my first mini season ski pass. (Granted it could be my last, but Rick also bought me skis and boots. Alas...)

6) For the first time Lindsey had all satisfactory marks on her report card even in citizenship. (She's a talker. Wonder where she gets that from?) We were so excited we celebrated by getting take-out and watching a movie.

7) Rick went hunting for the first (and second and....) time. 

8) Emily went to her first "friend" birthday party. 

9) Jacob has his first loose teeth. (Now that he's gotten over the shock of what a loose tooth feels like he's pretty excited about loosing one. Today he even brought dental floss in the car to try and pull them out.)

10) For the first time in more than a month I actually posted something on my blog. Wahoo!

Curses, foiled again!

OK. I have been trying to post for weeks now. (Sorry to my loyal fan base who I am afraid I may have lost during this brief hiatus.) I promise some fun posts are forth coming. If you can't wait until then check out my sister's blog for a fun post at http://wholewheatbread.blogspot.com/2008/09/bonding-with-six-year-old-boy.html .

Anyway, here are my excuses in chronological order. In case you were wondering. I thought they were pretty good and quite plausible. This time it really wasn't procrastination. (Really, I promise!)

1. We had Rick's 2 sisters and their families to visit and we were the hosts. In other words lots of pre-cleaning, cooking and post-cleaning time involved. (But worth it all!)
2. My LCD screen on the laptop (where my pics are kept) had to be repaired which required sending the computer away for a few days.
3. We spent a few days at a cabin in Island Park with our parents. Again, lost of planning but very much worth it.
4. Rick's office was burglarized. (Is that a word?) His computer and operatory laptops were stolen. So I have been without the laptop (where all my pics are kept) all day so he can have a computer at work and then Rick has been working on the laptop at home in the evenings catching up on all his charting.

So as soon as the new computers come I should be up and running again with funny tales to tell.

An interesting side note on the event listed as #4. Rick was planning on working on the night of the burglary at his office. But I really wanted to have date night since it had been months since we had gone out just the two of us. As luck would have it, I was able to get a babysitter and we went out to eat and it was wonderful. And as luck would have it, during that short 2 hour time span from when Rick left the office and returned to work he was robbed. What does that mean?

Tooth Fairy Requests

So Lindsey lost another tooth - much to Jacob's chagrin. He wants desperately to loose a tooth and is sure that some are "getting loose, sort of."  This time Lindsey wrote a note to the tooth fairy with an interesting request. 

The note read:

  "Dear Tooth Fairy, Could you please pierce my ears. Just one hole in each ear. Thank you. Lindsey Ballard p.s. I still think that you are real." 

(A little side note here. Much to Lindsey's angst, we (I) have made it a rule that we don't get our ears pierced until we are 12.) Obviously that girl thinks the tooth fairy has a lot of power to overturn her parents' ruling. Lindsey had to be content with $1.30 and a note from the tooth fairy. 

The note read: 

"Dear Lindsey, I was unable to pierce your ears as you were laying on one of them. I couldn't get my ears pierced until I was 12 and now I am over 1000 old. The Tooth Fairy P.S. Don't tell anyone how old I am."

In the morning, even though her wish was not granted, all was not lost as Lindsey had a mysterious note from the tooth fairy - which we couldn't read - and Lindsey got the "most money ever for loosing a tooth."