Borrowed Time

The kids and I enjoyed the unseasonable weather with a trip to the zoo today. It was nearly empty, and we really enjoyed ourselves. With December around the corner, I felt like we were on borrowed time, and we were grateful for it.

When we visited the lions, the male lion was watching his handler walk away and followed him to the front of the enclosure, right next to the walkway. I suppose it's possible he was eyeing the tufted deer across the way, but it did start with the handler. Anyway, we got a very nice up close look at him. Although we were alone most every place else, a couple others joined us in watching the lion. After a minute of staring off into space, the lion shook his head to snap out of his trance and got up to walk away. (Maybe it wasn't quite like that.) As he walked away, Danielle very loudly said, "I can see his pen!s!" The lady next to me practically doubled over, chortling just as loudly. Danielle was genuinely confused. "Why is that lady laughing, Mommy?" I half-heartedly tried to explain that decent people typically don't comment on pen!ses in public, but I think it was lost on my 3 year old blue eyed beauty.

Dad, that tree won’t even fit in our yard; It’s not going in our yard, Russ.

In a moment of insanity, we hopped in the van Saturday afternoon and headed out to cut our own Christmas tree. It was like Clark Griswald said in Christmas Vacation: We're kicking off our fun old fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old front-wheel drive sleigh to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols.” Of course, we were in a mini-van and the weather was unseasonably sunny and warm.

We spent much more time looking for the “perfect” tree than was necessary, especially since we have a perfectly fine artificial tree in our basement that is the right price and doesn’t have any bare spots. BUT after driving to 3 different places (each 20 minutes apart) and then returning to the second place, we found the nearly perfect tree. We were looking for something really tall. In our quest I guess we got a little confused because we ended up with something really W I D E and only kind of tall.

We spent so much time hunting for our tree on Saturday, we didn’t have time to decorate it until Sunday. The kids were so excited to decorate it – especially Tyler. Danielle enjoyed blowing the icicles onto the tree like Daddy did. We had a good time and the tree turned out pretty good. It’s just SO wide.

We also put up our outside decorations on Sunday. We usually hang lights on our porch, trees, and bushes. Since we have none of the above, we had to adapt this year.

Uncle Rob & Aunt Leah gave Tyler a silly faces candy making kit for Christmas. The kids and I enjoyed making candy “suckers” this morning before Tyler went to school. It was a lot of fun. (Thanks, Aunt Leah)

My Darling Daughter

I did something a little foolish today. After listening to Danielle beg, plead, and even cry a little, I gave in and let her play with her makeup. That wasn’t really the foolish part. I gave her one small thing of makeup from her princess makeup kit and then left her unattended to go take a shower. Leaving her unattended was the foolish part. I’ve made this mistake before, but the last time it involved a lot more makeup AND her brother. I didn’t think she could do much harm with such a small amount of makeup. I’m a fool.

After my shower I returned to find this:

As she was screaming “No! I’m not pretty enough yet!" I dumped her in the tub and started scrubbing. The makeup left a pink, blue, & purple grease ring around the tub! It also left a nice pink stain on her face. (Looking at that little stained mouth reminded me of a time when I got into my mom’s sample sized lipstick. I seem to remember having a stained mouth, too.) The stain lessened some as the day wore on, but there was still a hint of it there this evening.

Tonight we went to the zoo’s members’ only preview of their Christmas lights display. Once again we had a wonderful time. The kids are still young enough to be awed by the lights. We ate dinner there and then had free hot chocolate & cookies (and free glow necklaces). We enjoyed walking around in the chilly night air, gaping at all the twinkling lights while Ron and I each held tight to a little mittened hand. It was one of those evenings where the emotion of the evening catches up with you and, for a moment or two, everything seems just perfect. I have so much to be thankful for, and tonight I’m thankful for such a memorable evening spent with my 3 greatest blessings.

From the Far Reaches of a 3 Year Old's Mind

I often look at our children and shake my head. So many times I just don't know what's going on in those little heads. Sometimes I want to know...sometimes I don't. Danielle especially seems to be in her own little world much of the time. Maybe it's because she interprets things differently. Here are a couple examples from today:

Uncle Ron bought the Cars movie for the kids. We went over to watch it with him on his big projection screen for movie night last week. The kids have been into that movie now and tonight were playing with some of the Cars toys they collected from McDonalds when the movie was first released. Ron was playing with Filmore, the hippy VW van that sold “special” gas, and repeated a line from the movie: “Hey, dude. Want to buy some of my special brew?” Danielle made her little Sally car talk back, “Sure! I’d like to buy your broom.”

Tonight before dinner the kids were once again whining about the meal set before them. Ron, in his wise fatherly ways, made the wise crack we all grew up hearing at one point or another – there are children starving in China who would love to eat this. Danielle immediately started laughing and muttered, “In my china! Are they in your pen!s, too?” (If this makes no sense to you, revisit my first post…or maybe this post.)

Maybe it's better that I don't understand everything.

The Difference Between Boys & Girls

Danielle and I were in the playroom today playing with Barbies. This is how she played: Holding two Barbies facing each other and speaking in a high voice, she made them talk to each other - "You're my sister. Yeah! Like my dress? Here's another little girl. Oh, hi! You're my sister, too! I love you!" Then she made all three Barbies hug.

Enter Tyler. He came downstairs and asked if he could play, too. This is how he played: He loaded some Barbies into a carriage and began to move them along the carpet. He made his Barbie's talk too - "AHHHHHH! A monster's going to get us!" He played quietly for another minute and then returned the carriage, adding "Sorry, the Barbies are all dead. The monster ate them."

Buckeyes

The kids and I made buckeyes this afternoon to share with Grandma & Grandpa R during Saturday's big game. It was difficult to do with one hand...well, one big hand and several little hands. They turned out a little messy, but they are good. Too good. They may not make it until Saturday.

After making the buckeyes we had some melted chocolate leftover, so we started looking for other things to dip. We especially enjoyed marshmallows, bananas, and our own little fingers. We had a good time. Go BUCKS!

My Turkeys

Sorry I haven’t posted for awhile. It’s difficult to type with a broken finger, so I’ve been avoiding it.

Tyler made a turkey hat at school today. There are a couple feathers in the back you can't see. It was very cute. In case you’re wondering about the bare belly, well, when we were in Guatemala he looked like he was going to drop over from the heat at one point, so I took his shirt off. He went without it the whole day. I guess he felt liberated because today he wanted to know why he could only do that “some place else in the world”.



My dad delivered the pieces to our old playset this weekend. The kids were sad because we couldn’t put it up right away. (Not having the instructions was only part of the problem.) Today Tyler wanted to know if we were going to get the “constructions”. I said, “You mean INstructions.” He replied, “Yeah, the inconstructions.” He speaks so well most of the time that I forget he’s only 5. Last week he told Grandma C that he wants to be a vegetinarian - you know, a doctor who takes care of animals.

While Tyler was making turkey hats in school today, Danielle and I went grocery shopping. Danielle had a meltdown when there weren’t any cookies to sample at the bakery. We were several aisles into our shopping by the time she stopped howling (only to insist she needed to go potty). I did feel sorry for her at first, but when I tried to reason with her, she half-heartedly tried to hit me. Now even if the head baker himself came out and begged us to take a cookie, she wasn’t getting one! After that I just ignored her and continued getting groceries. What I found amusing was the reaction of the other female shoppers. The ones that looked at us, cocked their heads at Danielle and stuck their lips out in that sympathetic way. Someone made a comment to Danielle about being sad (No – just spoiled!). Someone else started to say something to her, looked at me, and stopped. Why is it that no one sympathized with me? I think it’s because she looked a lot cuter than I did today. It reminded me of when she was a baby with reflux and would cry ALL the time. On one shopping trip someone asked me if I ever fed her, while another ignored me all together and asked Danielle directly if mommy ever paid any attention to her. I suppose she looked cuter than I did then, too.

Here’s a preview of Danielle in her outfit for her Christmas pictures. She was trying everything on and refused to take any of it off. She’s so stubborn. Whose side of the family does that come from?!!

Back in New Orleans

We had docked in New Orleans by the time we all woke up Sunday morning. Thankfully we all woke up feeling much better! Ron was still under the weather, but he was at least functional! Tyler & I felt much better since the ship had stopped rocking. And Danielle was, well, Danielle!

Once again our VIP status paid off. We got to be among the first groups of people to disembark the ship. And to top it off, our luggage was sitting off by itself – away from the hundreds of other pieces of luggage waiting to be claimed. If you’ve ever taken a cruise before, you know how invaluable this perk was!!

We didn’t realize we would be getting off the ship so quickly & smoothly. In fact, we didn’t schedule our flight home until Monday…just in case we ran into trouble getting off the ship. When we arrived at our hotel by 9:30am Sunday morning, we knew we had to find something to do.

We decided to drive into Louisiana a little and take a swamp tour. We’ve always talked about it & were in the right place with lots of time. So we rented a car & drove up to Cajun Encounter, where Captain Nolan took us on a wonderful tour of the river & bayou.

The scenery was beautiful. The pictures just don’t do it justice.



For a point of reference, our guide said after Katrina hit, this house on stilts had 2' of water in it.

Shortly after our tour began Danielle fell asleep. Fortunately Captain Nolan wasn't discouraged by her loud snoring.






Our guide warned us about the possibility of snakes falling in our boat. Tyler loudly told him that his daddy was afraid of snakes. Everyone thought that was hilarious. Back behind the Cypress knees is a curled up water moccasin. Fortunately that was the closest we got to any snakes.

Unfortunately we didn't get to see any alligators. The weather was a little cool, so they just weren't active. We did manage to see a raccoon and a nutria, though. Even though we didn't get to see any gators, the tour was wonderful. Captain Nolan was a wealth of information who genuinely loved his job & the area he was sharing with us. It was a great ending to a very nice vacation.

We flew back Monday and got home by bedtime. It took Ron a few days to remember the good times he had outweighed the days spent in bed, but we all have a lot of fond memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

I hope you enjoyed our vacation, too.

I Interrupt This Vacation Blog...

...to lament my broken finger! Here's what happened:

Ron is gone this week. That means Tyler's behavior automatically declines. After spending much time alone in his room, he was at it again. He was trying to take a toy from Danielle and was mad because I told him to go to his room again. He yelled, argued, and thumped Danielle in the back. Our eyes met for a split second, then I reached out to grab his arm as he got up to run from me. His arm and my hand met at just the right force and angle to break the little bone at the top of my ring finger. Wow did that hurt! I pretty much knew right away it was broken because the pain was unbelievable!

After Tyler was done in time-out, I loaded up the kids to head to the urgent care. Of course they were hungry so they had to have McDonalds on the way. We got to the first Urgent Care only to discover (after a brief wait) that they no longer accept our insurance plan. So, we reloaded the van and headed up the road to the next office.

The kind lady in the registration office nodded her head in sympathy as I explained the situation. Tyler added a note of credibility to my story by being particularly rowdy in the waiting room. Anyway...I eventually got my finger xrayed, and the xrays definitely showed a displaced fracture.

I now have this gigundous split on my left hand that I have to wear for 3 weeks! I can take it off occasionally (to bathe, for example) but I can't rebandage it myself. So I will get good & stinky by the time Ron comes home. ;) Serves him right.

As for Tyler, he felt a little bad initially & offered to kiss my swollen purple finger. Once I reassured him I wasn't going to die (from this, anyway), he was done being contrite and was ready to resume his incorrigible behavior.

Thanks for listening...or reading.

You may now resume my vacation blog...already in progress...

Day 5, Cozumel & Day 6, at Sea

Friday morning Ron woke up with a fever, severe sore throat, headache, upset stomach...etc. He was so miserable, and there was no way he was going to be able to get out bed, let alone get off the ship. So, I decided to take the kids in to Cozumel by myself. I have to admit that my pulse did quicken a little at the thought of being responsible for 2 children by myself in a foreign country, but it was much better than the alternative of staying in our cabin all day.

We had researched a beach to take the kids to, but it was off the beaten path a little. Instead I packed our bags, grabbed the kids, and caught a taxi to one of the most popular beaches there, Paradise Beach. Do you remember the pictures of the desolate beach area from our time in Costa Maya? This was exactly the opposite. The beach was lined with chairs, umbrellas, tables, and people doing shots. We couldn't get a seat close to the water, so the kids spent most of the time playing in the sand. They were happy to do this, though. I adjusted the umbrella so they could play in the shade and relaxed on the lounge chair beside them. Overall we had a decent time. It would have been much more fun with Ron, though.

Here are some pictures from our day at the beach:

Danielle seemed to have a sunburn around her eyes all week


After a few hours we caught a taxi back to the port. After we checked on Ron (who claims he worried about us the whole time we were gone...well, when he was awake he worried) we ate, showered, & changed. Danielle and I went back in to Cozumel to go shopping. This was by far the highlight of my day. My daughter and I had such a nice time together! She was great company, and we both really enjoyed ourselves.

That evening the kids went to the Kids' Crew again and I ate dinner by myself. It was actually quite peaceful, so don't feel too sorry for me. :) I forgot just how dark it is out there in the middle of the ocean, away from the lights of cities. Every night I went out on our balcony I saw several shooting stars. It was very nice. It also reminded me of just how small I am and how big God is...way past 21 big.

Danielle picked out these shirts. The animal mouths open. She's holding the towel mouse our room steward left for her.

Saturday was, well, a bad day. We were in open waters with waves ranging from 12-18 FEET! It was so rough. Ron was still sick and the waves didn't help. Tyler & I were both sea sick. The only one unaffected was Danielle. We stayed in our room most of the day and watched movies and napped. Danielle entertained herself by watching the movies and making her dolls talk to each other. By late afternoon I had finally built up enough Dramamine in my system that I could walk. Danielle wanted to go to Kids' Crew for the last time, so I dropped her off. She went ALL BY HERSELF! Tyler didn't feel like going but Danielle wanted to go anyway! I was so proud of her! They had a pajama party for their last activity. She had fun.

Danielle & Jedi (They pick silly names for themselves.)

Tomorrow: Day 7, Ron sees the light of day & the Louisiana Bayou