"I can't say, "I like you," because I have tea in my mouth.

I just said, "I like you," to Gertie.

She replied, "I can't say, 'I like you,' because I have tea in my mouth."
She had just taken a drink of tea.

She cracks me up.

We had a high school friend die in a hunting accident last week. His friend was getting out of the truck and the gun accidentally went off, shooting Lanny, who bled to death. He was in John's class and had helped us buy a few cars over the years. He sold cars. One was a cute little Mazda 323 turbo. I really did like that little car.

His wife was my best friend in the whole wide world when I was in middle school. She lived just a couple blocks down our street, which was the highway. We called each other every day many, many times. We had sleepovers. We coordinated our clothes that we'd wear to school. This was in the days of leg warmers. Should we wear the blue polo and the red leg warmers or the red polo and the white leg warmers? We babysat and dearly loved the Martin family girls for years together. They had Mandy, then twins, Katie and Kyla, and then Mara. While they were very young, they needed two sitters, but after a couple years, one of us could handle it, really. They gave us the option: We could take turns or stick together and each be paid half. We mulled it over (not for long) and decided to babysit for 50 cents an hour so we could keep doing it together. Boy, we loved those kids.

Anyway, it was a very sad occasion, and John and I both wanted to be there, so we began scrambling to make that happen. My friend Brenda agreed to take the big kids, including carting them all over high heaven to get them where they needed to be when they needed to be there. She bought a birthday present for Ethan's little friend's party that I forgot about. She is a saint. The previous owners of our dog took her in. They do that when they can. They are saints.

We took Gertie with us. She's a saint...well, not quite. She did a great job at the funeral, though, until she got hot. She had been very fidgety, but quiet for the most part. Until she got hot. Then she said in a whiny whisper, "I'm hot." I nodded. She said in a scream, "I'm hooooot." John took her out. I love that man.

We saw many friends from high school. Lanny's funeral was very well attended. You just don't think people you know are going to die so young. Very hard. They have three kids, 17, 15 and 12. Pray for them. They'll need those prayers.

Grace was in Alice in Wonderland and was a beautiful and perfect "Small Alice." I was so proud of her. Actually, all those junior highers did a great job. It was a fun play. But...I'm so glad it's over. Just in time for gymnastics to start.

That's what's on my mind. We are running these kids around like crazy. We want them to be in all the stuff they want to be in, but sometimes I feel like this just shouldn't be life. Ethan has basketball practice until 8:45. He is supposed to be in bed at 8 o'clock. It's just too late. And on December 1 we add wrestling. Crazy. I feel like I'm on the fast train and I can't bring myself to jump off. Things just must slow down a bit. What do we give up? Piano? Cello lessons? Gymnastics? Basketball? Wrestling? Church?

How will my children possibly become well-rounded happy adults without gymnastics and plays and church and piano and cello and basketball and wrestling? We. Must. Press. On.

Oh, please.

We will fix this.

Did this happen to you?

Don't let this happen to you.

This week I don't have to work. I am glad. I have tons of laundry and lots of errands to run. I've missed Bible study for two weeks because of work, and I've missed it. Genesis is so cool. I can't get enough. I eat it up.

Gertie is being so good, but I need to play with that girl, so I'm off.

We had our first snow this last week. It was actually beautiful, making the trees georgous and big, fat flakes. I always love fresh snow, and this was perfect, melting as it hit the sidewalks and roads. When it piles up and has to be shoveled and plowed it turns dirty and is much less appealing to the eye. Gertie made a few snowballs. It was fun.

Ethan is so pleased with this Lego tower he made. Can you all read it? I don't recall what the message was referring to, but the consequences of your choice certainly are severe!

Then we had Ethan's birthday party. We played a game called "Straight Face" where one person tried to crack the rest up, as they were desperately trying to break a smile. Grace made us smile. How can you not?

These are some ten-year-old boys doing what ten-year-old boys do. I said I wanted to take their picture, so the all simultaneously picked their noses. Lovely.

I tried to throw this party together on very short notice, and I think they had fun. Grace, my hero, helped me wrap gifts and bake and decorate a cake, and set this birthday table. I really felt like I couldn't have done it without her.

Gertie is sick, and she was yesterday for the party as well. We hated to cancel, and she wasn't coughing too badly, so we decided to segregate her and go ahead as planned. It all worked out because she slept through the whole commotion.

But I wouln't describe last night as going so well. She was up frequently. She was so hot. She was crying and needed me to be sleeping with her. She needed a drink. She needed to me hold her. She needed me to not touch her. At one point she said, "I don't want your jammies." I thought, "Well, that's fine. You don't have to wear them." Then she said, "No. It's...it's...it's...it's fuzzy. I don't like them. It's fuzzy and you have to take them off. It's fuzzy and I don't like them and you have to take them off." Apparently the same thing I love about my pajamas is the same thing she hates about them. They had to go. I'm hoping for a better night tonight. You know, my own bed. A solid night's sleep. Keeping my pajamas on...

Stinky Attitude

We are driving home from dropping my basketball star off at practice number two this morning and Gertie finds a loose packet of Skittles in the car. She starts telling me how she wants to eat them. I tell her no. She starts crying that she wants to eat them. I tell her no. She starts screaming that she wants to eat them. I tell her no. And then...

Me: Your attitude is very stinky right now.
Gertie: Stinky, what does that mean?
Me: Bad. Your attitude is very bad. It's a no-no.
Gertie: You mean my attitude is bad and it's stinky?
Me: Yes, that's right.
Gertie: Well, I don't even understand what that means!

Don't you love that?

The Halloween Report

Oh, isn't Halloween fun? I was just feeling a bit blah yesterday, which is too bad, but that's the way it happens sometimes. After I ironed 6000 shirts for John, I laid down on the bed and started to read Water for Elephants, which I am really enjoying so far.

My sweet husband took over and roasted the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin carving yesterday. He even delivered me some in bed. We always roast them, and I always don't like them very much. But it's a tradition, right.

I recruited Grace to help Ethan with the French hobo costume, which I don't think my son had given a bit of thought to. She was all over that, though. She found some older pants and destroyed them, same with a shirt. I finally came downstairs and Ethan just looked like a kid with torn up and dirty clothes. It was the face paint that did the trick. I thought he was actually pretty cute. Gertie decided to go with the Tinkerbell costume, over the bumble bee. That suited me just fine. Our sitter and friend had donated those costumes for her, and nothing could have been easier. She woke up from her nap on the crabbier side yesterday, so it was a bit of a challenge getting her into the costume and out the door, but we finally got it.

Grace had asked to go trick-or-treating with her friend across town. Both John and I were disappointed to lose her, but I guess we both understood and remember being that age and wanting to go off with your friends.

I took Gertie and Ethan with me to drop Grace off, and figured that could be our trial trick or treat. Gertie said trick or treat, but it was below a whisper. She didnt' hold her bag open, she just stared at the big girls and the rest of the family. And with some prompting she said thank you.

This could be interesting...
We decided to hit our old neighborhood first, because if Gertie pooped out, Ethan could still go around our neighborhood a bit. The first house we went to there was a woman all dressed up with pink spiky hair and pink and silver sparkly stars painted all over her face dishing out the candy. Gertie walked up, whispered trick or treat, and then did a combination of dropping and throwing her bag toward the woman. It was like she really wanted the candy, but wasn't going to get too close. We picked her bag up and said thank you and went on to the next house.

At each house she'd ask me if they were going to be scary. She actually was doing such a good job with her manners after a bit that I let her walk up with Ethan alone. She would come running back to me jumping and giggling and telling me that she got a piece of candy. She loved it. Although, really, what kid wouldn't. Think about this holiday. We teach our kids to knock on doors and get free candy. It is quite the score. Anyway, one day a year...I really don't know what I'm doing with my camera. I turned it to night-time setting and took this picture. Apparently I lose auto focus when I swich settings, and my hands are just too shaky, not to mention the moving people I was trying to photograph, but I thought this picture looked kind of cool. Kind of like I had super-imposed this family of mine into this shot.

Ethan faithfully said "Treeck-or-Trreat" (that is my best attempt at his French accent) at every house. One guy said, "What are you? A hobo or something?" Ethan said, "A French hobo." The guy roared with laughter and loved it. He said that was the best one he's seen so far. He made my son's night.

We came to our home where we had stocked up on a huge bowl of candy to give out, but at the end had decided that we wanted to both go trick or treating with the kids, so no one manned the door here. I feel badly about that not only because now we have a huge bucket of candy on top of three way too big collections of candy, but also that when we pulled up to our house, we had left the porch light on, so I bet we had lots of eager knockers and then no one here to answer the door. We decided that next year we really need to keep one of us at home. It's just that each of us hates to miss it. A friend of ours said he saw some big bowls of candy just left out on the step for help-yourself trick-or-treaters. There is an idea.

It was a good time for our family. And when we picked Grace up, she had a big bag full of candy, and a wagon full of non-perishable food items for the Salvation Army's Food Shelf. These girls had split their time between candy and a service project. This idea had never even occurred to me. I was so proud of them.

Happy Day to all. Oh, one more thing. For a Minnesota Halloween, we couldn't have asked for more. The day was probably in the low 60s. It was beautiful.

Now I need to pack up all this Halloween stuff and get ready for Thanksgiving.

A Slither

Gertie is killing me this morning. She's got a sliver, which she is obsessing about all the time. It hurts, but she doesn't want me to touch it. Every once in a while she approaches me and says, "Mommy, don't take my slither out yet." He He He.

Halloween's on the Way

Halloween is tomorrow. I think we will finally carve a pumpkin this afternoon. The weather is beautiful here, and I hope it stays that way. Gertie is a trick-or-treater in training. She's been eagerly anticipating knocking on doors and being handed a piece of candy after she says, "Trick or treat!" And she tells me many times about how she's going to look them in the eye and say, "Thank you."

Grace is going to be wearing the Alice in Wonderland costume that we paid nearly $20 for at Walmart so she could wear it in the school play in a couple weeks. At least her costume is covered. She is on the border of being too old for trick or treating. She informed me a couple weeks ago that if she did go trick or treating, she'd rather John and I didn't go, but that she just take Gertie and Ethan herself. That way she'd feel more comfortable knocking on doors and begging for candy.

Ethan has been telling me he's going as a French hobo. I am still wondering what difference there is between a French hobo, and just a hobo, but I guess we'll see. I'm not expecting much.

My Dad was here to see us last week and I have not even one picture from the visit. Very disappointing. We had a good time together all the way around. He helped me take care of some unpleasant errands and shook his head as he opened our van's hatchback. Let's just say we haven't vacuumed the van out in a while, and it needed it. He did that for us, he gassed us up. He bought fish for Ethan, which Ethan noticed right away when he came home from school. It was a good time.

The days are just whizzing by around here. Tonight John and I have our small group, which is new. I am looking very forward to that.

John finally ordered and received a new turntable to play his vinyl on. That is what I wanted to get him back on September 4th, his birthday, but I was hesitant to pick one out. I asked him to do it, and he was slow to make a decision. But now he's got one, it's hooked up and spinning often. We all like it.

And Gertie has just been a kick lately. She has got the funniest sense of humor. After all her grumpy days, I think she's finally coming into a little sweetness. I am really enjoying her.

Catching Up Again

Oh, it's been so long since my last post. It seems like just a few days ago. Things have been going well for us around here. I just really do like this life.

The Phillies are in the world series this year. That is John's favorite team. He's been loyal to them since he was just a little guy. I remember when we were early married they made it to the world series and won. But that was a long time ago. We are rooting for them big time in this house.

Ethan has just finished doing his homework tonight and it is shortly after 9 p.m. He had church tonight, and we decided to let him go even though that homework wasn't done. I'm really not sure what to do with days like this. He was feeling pretty overwhelmed and on the verge of a meltdown. I knew he'd be up late, but I also thought he needed a break. I really think he has a hard time staying focused on schoolwork sometimes after a long day. He had spelling, math (tons of it) and social studies and reading. That's a big load. We settled on doing the social studies during the lunch hour tomorrow and tackling the rest tonight. I was just finishing getting Gertie into bed, way too late, by the way, but she had church too. Anyway, Ethan wanders up with a big smile and a ho-ho in one hand and a fist-full of peanuts in the other. Oh, my word. He was so glad to be finished. Conquerer. I just love that boy. But he's got to get organized....

I don't know if I hit the nail on the head with the low blood sugar, but I've been trying to make sure Gertie has a bit in her belly before each nap and so far, so good. We've had a good week, and I'm enjoying that girl. The other day I was snuggling Ethan (yes, he still likes to snuggle) and Gertie was jealous. I was telling her it was his turn. She could join us, but I wasn't ousting him. She really wanted me to herself. She fussed, and then cried, and then gave up on that. After a bit she said to Ethan, "I know, Brother, you can go over on the couch and I'll have this side of Mom." She was proposing it like it was a great deal for him. He didn't fall for that. She fussed a bit more. Finally went to sit with Dad (who is great, but obviously not as great as me) and after a bit, she said to Ethan again, "Brother, you can drive my car if you want." I just loved how she was trying so hard to coax him away. Very manipulative. He let her have me at that point. Loving brother.

My Dad is coming in the morning. I am excited to see him. I think the weather is going to be poor, but I guess we'll just have to cozy up. I'm just looking forward to having him around for a day.

And my automatic van door has been very testy for a very long time. It only sometimes works, usually when it's warm. And if it's cold out, there isn't much hope. Well, it's gotten to the point where if you have to manually open it, it is so hard. The kids can barely do it. It's really bad. I took it to our car place, and they said, it's fine. By this point the day had warmed up and it worked fine for them. Then one cold morning I was so irritated that I drove over to the car place unannounced and said, "Come out here and try to open this door. It's impossible." Well, I wouldn't recommend that tactic. Two guys come over, open the door, stare at my like I'm a psycho (which I kind of am at this point) and say, "Well, it's tough, but they usually are when you open an electric door manually like that." Very maddening. So at least another month goes by and I get so mad the other day again (not to mention that John and Gertie and I had had a lunch date before John had to go back to his office. He left us at the restaurant and Gertie was wanting a sugary donut from the buffet. I was telling her that she needed to finish her chicken first. She screamed at me! Very loudly. I just picked her up and walked out. She was screaming and kicking and fighting. Ugly. Please have sympathy for the next mom you see this happening to. It just isn't right. ) Well, I digress. I fought Gertie into the car seat knowing my next errand, Target, wasn't going to work with her in that state, so I decided to take the van to the Chrysler dealer and let them look at the door even with a screaming toddler. I was preparing to say, "Just don't mind the screaming toddler in the back seat." She actually calmed down by the time we got there. They said they knew just what to do and I could bring it in tomorrow morning. Woo hoo! I'm so excited to have this fixed. And then the icing on the cake is that they called today to tell me that we are still under a service contract (that we had no idea about) for about 400 more miles and this is a covered repair, as well as a bearing that they is--suddenly I don't know what would be wrong with a bearing, but whatever it is, they're going to fix it, and that's covered too. So now I'm racking my brain trying to think of anything else that's wrong with my van that might be covered as well. He said he'll look it over real good and fix whatever he sees. How could we have not known this? I guess I need to just be happy to have found out now.

I'm having a home date with my husband tonight. I love that guy. But he doesn't love that the date is beginning with a long and boring and unneccessary blog entry. Not really dating material. Although the Phillies and the Rays isn't really dating material either, right?

Hope your days are fine.