EKG

First of all, I just came upon my son as he was about to ride a pillow down the stairs, head first. He tried to claim that he was just laying there - at the top of the stairs, with the upper part of his body hanging off the first step - but I'm not buying it.

When I told Doug what "his" son was about to do, he said, "That sounds about right," and then he told me the frightening stories of what he and his brother used to do on the stairs of the house they grew up in.

Not. Helping.

Now, regarding Lila's anxiety issues. We went to see the pediatrician last week, to reassure Lila that there is nothing physically wrong with her heart. The doctor agreed that this sounds like anxiety and she heard nothing wrong with Lila's heart, but (naturally) they want to send us to a pediatric cardiologist for an EKG, "just to be sure."

I agree, it's a good idea to rule out physical problems. There is only so much that the doctor can determine by listening to a person's heart through their stethoscope. I'm just sick of being sent to flippin' specialists for everything (and having to pay a $60 copay at every visit)!

Meh.

Anyway, the EKG is scheduled for July 9th and Lila's going to talk to a children's therapist on July 8th. I am looking forward to getting a second opinion from the therapist and I am not remotely worried about the EKG.

I'll keep you posted.

Finally, the kids had a blast at their respective summer camps! Eli came home with a new LEGO minifig and a bag of crafts he'd made. Lila came home with the decision that she wants to give up ballet and take horseback riding lessons in the fall.

Here are some photos from Lila's last day of horse camp.

This is Teva the filly. I spent about 20 minutes petting her. So cute!

Being a baby, she wanted to nibble everything. Including my skirt and hand.

Gah! I want a horse!

Lila, chatting with Walter.

Look at that smile!

The kids look so small on those big horses. (Lila's second from the right.)

It was a beautiful morning. Only a little hot when this thing came out from
behind the clouds.

After the show

Hello, Walter!

Blue eyes - beautiful and creepy. As you can see on the sign, his name
is Shiner.

Anxiety

Lila told me three interesting/concerning things this week.

1. On Wednesday night/Thursday morning, she woke me up around 1:30 a.m. She asked me to come downstairs and snuggle with her and she tried talking to me what was going on. Given that I was only partially awake, I couldn't figure out what she was trying to tell me.

 

The next day, when I was awake, I got Lila to tell me about it again. She said that when she woke up around 1 a.m., her heart was beating very hard. She got up for a drink of water. Then got up again to go to the bathroom. Then she was cold and her legs started trembling, but not because of the cold.

 

She was scared and only wanted to talk to me about it.

 

2. Lila also told me that she gets a pain in her chest, every 2 or 3 days. She said it lasts for about 10-15 seconds and then goes away. She described it as hurting, but not being a sharp pain. She said it's been going on for a while, but she was afraid to talk about it.

3. Around 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, she came downstairs to tell me (not a delay tactic) that sometimes she feels like crying when we leave her in the guest room to read. (She reads by herself for 30 minutes before going to bed.)

 

Lila said she's tried to figure out why, but there doesn't seem to be a reason. I asked if she feels better once she gets into bed and she said she doesn't know, but she usually forgets about it once she starts reading.

I fear these are the beginnings of struggles with anxiety. I have hoped so hard that she wouldn't inherit this genetic predisposition that seems to run in my family. We already know that she has trouble managing her emotions and controlling her fearful thoughts.

I don't know if those are normal childhood things or signs of something more. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but I don't want to ignore it either. For now, I will pray. I'll also be making an appointment with a counselor, to get their opinion, and with her pediatrician, to reassure her that there's nothing wrong with her heart.

 

I'm really not worried, but it does make me sad. My 8-year-old should not be worried about her heart!

 

If you are a person who sees us, please don't say anything about this in front of Lila. I need support and prayer, so I can't keep this to myself, but I don't want her to know how many people are aware of the situation.

 

Thank you. [hugs]

Mice

Doug has gone off on a short business trip. He's in Ft. Lauderdale/Miami for two nights. He gets home on Saturday evening, will be home for two nights, and then leaves on Monday to go to California for three nights.

When Doug goes on his overseas business trips, I get terribly stressed out. I've talked before about the reasons why it gets me in such a tizzy. His stateside trips are far less frequent, but they really don't bother me.

If something catastrophic happened, he could more likely make his way back home. If something non-catastrophic-but-still-urgent happened, he could get home much more quickly. I can still text with him and talk to him whenever I want (more or less).

For example, the miracle of texting technology allowed us to have the following conversation, while he was sitting at the airport and I was folding laundry...

Me: BTDubs, thank you for making the bed this morning.
Doug: BTDubs?
Me: That's what I said.
Me: BTDubs. BTW. Duh.
Doug: Oh no you didn't!
Me: Whatevs.
Doug: You are out of control.
Me: When the cat's away...
Doug: Hmm... bad mice. Bad mice!

This is what's wrong with our society, I'm pretty sure.

The kids don't seem to care that he's gone, so far. Lila got mildly moist-eyed when he left this morning, but she recovered almost immediately. She's either comforted to know that he won't be gone long or she's picking up on my lack of anxiety. Or both.

Just before dinner, I realized that we had nothing to eat except sandwiches, which is what we had for lunch. (--Way to go, Mom. -- Eh, I'll cook tomorrow night instead.) I convinced the children to bathe and we headed out for dinner at Mighty Fine.

As we were getting in the car, Eli said, "Where's Dad...?" If someone is out of Eli's line of sight, he temporarily forgets they exist, so he's good. Doug called right at bedtime, to tell the kids goodnight. Eli was already in bed, with the lights out.

When I told him Dad wanted to say goodnight, he said, "I'm too tired to do that right now." I think he'll survive Doug's absence. [wink]

Expectations

If you were paying any attention to the photos I posted to Facebook over the weekend, then you know that we took a last-minute trip to San Antonio. It was a sort of Father's Day celebration and a chance to get family time before Doug goes on a couple of short business trips.

The way the whole thing started, really, was with my Friday morning prayer time. I was sipping my coffee and musing about how much I wanted a vacation of my own. Just a chance to sit and sip coffee and muse... without interruption or guilt.

I thought about asking Doug to take the children and disappear for the weekend - or let me disappear for the weekend - but then I realized that wouldn't be a very sporting thing to do to him on Father's Day.

Then I thought maybe we could ALL get away for the weekend. In retrospect, I'm not sure how I went from thinking I needed some relaxing time away from the kids to planning a weekend of jamming all four of us into a car and then a hotel room.

Still, the idea appealed to my spontaneous nature, so I went for it. I told Doug to erase all his expectations for the weekend and went in search of a good deal on a nearby getaway. Thanks to Groupon, I got us a hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk (more or less).

We got off to a VERY rough start on Friday night. Lila got a bug up her butt over having to share a sofa-bed with her brother and made everyone's life miserable until she collapsed with exhaustion. We thought we'd be in a room with two Queen beds - one for the girls and one for the boys - and she does not do well when reality does not meet expectations.

Saturday was better. We went to the Riverwalk, as soon as we were all dressed and breakfasted, and wandered around until we found the river "cruises". We cruised, we walked some more, and then we headed to the Alamo.

We all took turns having our grumpy moments, but it was a generally good morning. Actually, my moment wasn't really grumpiness. It was pain. Cramps, in my back. Ugh. For everyone else, it was fatigue-fueled grumpy moments!

Nonetheless, the weather was delightfully mild and this was Doug's and my favorite part of the weekend.

We finished up with lunch at Iron Cactus, and then it was back to the hotel, where we moved to a room with two Queen beds and took a group nap. I continued to nap as Doug and the kids went to the hotel pool (Lila's favorite part of the weekend).

We hit another rough patch at dinnertime. We made the mistake of saying, "Where should we eat dinner?" Where adults see this as the beginning of a collaborative discussion, children see it as a chance to get what they want.

Lila suggested Pei Wei. We didn't go to Pei Wei. More sulking and rudeness ensued. The good news is that bedtime was a breeze that night. We read stories and snuggled and left the children to fall asleep on their own, in separate beds.

Doug and I went down to the lobby-- Well, first, we lurked outside the door to our room, listening for sounds of violence. Then we went down to the lobby, enjoyed Adult Beverages, and judged other parents for keeping their kids up too late.

Sunday morning was the San Antonio Museum of Art, where we conducted a scientific experiment on how long you can expect a 6-year-old boy to contain himself inside a museum before he loses his mind and starts to behave in socially unacceptable ways.

We did a quick lunch at Little Aussie's Bakery & Deli (a meal at which restaurant is reason enough to go to San Antonio for a weekend - did you see the photo of the French toast that I posted?), and then headed back home.

Thank you, Home, for having a wonderful mattress. And more than one room. And doors between those rooms. And my French press. And food that doesn't contain meat or cheese. And my guinea pig. And Netflix.

This morning, I was back to my prayer time. Sipping coffee and musing about how much I want a vacation of my own. Sounds horribly ungrateful, doesn't it? And I suppose it is. I did enjoy the weekend, but it didn't provide the break I was longing for.

Here is a perfect example of summer vacation with children:

The kids and I were sitting at Emler this afternoon, waiting for swim class to begin. I was looking at my phone. Not a group activity, mind you. Just ME. Looking at MY phone. Lila leaned over to see what I was looking at.

I wasn't doing anything secret, so I angled the phone toward her and showed her the photo of herself that I was viewing. She said to me, "Why do you show me every picture of myself?" She said this as though I had just chased her down and shoved the photo in her face.

I said, "I don't. I showed you ONE picture of you. Because you were looking over my shoulder." Then Eli poked his head over, to see what we were looking at. Again, this was no secret, so I pointed the phone toward him.

He looked at the photo and said, "Why did you show me a picture that I've already seen?"

What is wrong with these people?!?

Seriously. I want to know.

Scheming

I think my children are planning to run away from home.

At the toy store yesterday, Lila bought herself a new suitcase, for $10.82 (used). It's very cute - pink, with hearts and a monkey on the front. It's on wheels and it's about 30 years newer than the one they currently use.

She has been dragging it around behind her, wherever she goes, for two days now. This morning, she used it to pack a snack for the gym. . . . Let me repeat that. She used a whole suitcase to pack one small snack.

Later in the day, she told me about a few things she'd loaded up in there. I asked her, in jest, if she was planning to run away from home. She said no.

At rest time, I could hear a lot of activity coming from upstairs. Thumping, running, clanking. When I went up to tell the kids that rest time was over, Eli informed me that he had packed for our beach trip. Our beach trip, which isn't happening until the first week in August.

At first, I thought he was just inspired by Lila's new suitcase and looking forward to our trip. But then I realized that my first instinct was right. They are planning to run away from home. All of these hijinks are a ploy.

They are trying to throw me off their scent, so that I won't immediately realize it when they leave. I'm onto their game now. I'll be keeping an eye on them. Can't get one past this mom! No way, I'm totallyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

MVPs

Lila + Friend = Smiles!

I think Lila and Eli are missing the regular time spent with their friends (and away from each other). They will play together nicely for a while and then turn on each other. That's nothing new, really, but they are spending more time together, so it's happening more often.

This is why I'm planning a couple of fun outings every week and inviting our friends to come along. Attendance has been spotty, but we have seen a few friends. Tomorrow, we're going to check out a very Austin-y toy store and have brunch/lunch at Kerbey Lane.

I hope one of Lila's friends can make it because she hasn't seen any of them in a couple of weeks. I can only imagine the amount of pent-up giggles she's dealing with! Plus, a friend for her means a little less refereeing for me.

- - - - -

If, by some miracle, you haven't heard, our church small group/Bible study pooled together our excess belongings and had a charity garage sale this weekend. We raised $434.16 for Feed My Starving Children!

According to their donation site, $400 will feed a family of 5 for a full year! And $33 will feed 5 children for a month. And, on top of all that, we had so much fun doing it! There were half a dozen of us running the sale and we had a lot of laughs.

Robert Gomez and Doug definitely worked the hardest, and the Garage Sale MVP Award goes to Robert, for being able to speak and understand Spanish! The kids should probably get some kind of award too, for not falling apart as they watched their toys being bought by strangers!

Though, I must admit, Lila did give a bit of the ol' Stinkeye to the lady who loaded up all her Barbies in a pot (which she bought for cooking tamales - yum!). Fear not, she still has so many more that they can barely be contained.

For our own convenience, as much as anything, we decided not to put prices on anything. When someone asked how much we wanted for an item, we said, "All the money we make from this garage sale is going to charity, so you can decide what you think is a reasonable donation."

After they got the deer-in-the-headlights look (which they all did), we simplified it to, "Name your price." It was really pretty funny to watch people's reaction to this approach. There were a few who were so confounded that we finally helped them out by suggesting a price.

A few highlights of the day:

* The bizarre, homemade Satan hand puppet that one of the families was selling. Eli took a liking to it and, among other things, used it to beat up a cardboard Darth Vader. He also got it stuck in a tree, at which point I got to hear myself say:

"We've got to get Satan out of our tree!"

* The two sisters who were so enamored with our belongings that they kept - very cheerfully - buying more and more things. They got so much that they couldn't fit it all in their car. When they came back for the rest, they bought a few more things. It doesn't sound all that funny, but it really was.

* The mother and two children who milled around our sale for an HOUR and kept buying things, 50 cents or a dollar at a time. We probably made $15 off of them, in the end. And really, who has children that will patiently browse at a single garage sale for an hour?!?

* The guys who bought a twin-size wooden bed frame, three mattresses, and a two-seater kids' wagon... and managed to load all of it into (and on top of) a Honda Civic (or something like that). It was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen.

DFDADBETDPO

That is the title of a book that Eli wrote this evening. He drew the illustrations, wrote his own title, and made boxes for the rest of the text. Doug helped him my transcribing his words into the text boxes. It's cute and creative and I told him I wanted to share it with my friends. :)

Front Cover

He was walking along.
Shot a tree.

He shot the tree. Walked along.
He had a scary feeling. It felt like
a very, very scary feeling.

It was scary. It was a MONSTER!
It was not a fun time.

It was so scary. I felt like I had to
shoot it. It was defeated! That was good.

Back Cover

Pigeons

Eli has developed quite the hair trigger lately. He can go from Happy Halfling to Ring Wraith in a matter of moments. For example, when we told him, a few minutes ago, that he could not have a fruit rope before bed (should have eaten your dinner, little dude), he turned red in the face and screeched, "I will never go to bed!"

Alrighty then. Let's hope this phase passes quickly. He has a miraculous ability to make US feel guilty for allowing him to experience the consequences of his own actions, but I can overcome that. You don't stick your fingers in your ears and scream at this Mommy.

Despite my son's new tricks, today was much better than yesterday. A good night's sleep has dispelled my funk and restored my joie d'ete. [How the heck do I put accented letters in here?!?] True, my eyelid is still twitching, but maybe another good night's sleep will get rid of that too.

The kids and I had a nice little adventure at Zilker Park this morning. We arrived around 10 a.m., in the midst of a light drizzle. We found our way down to Lou Neff Point and located the ducks. I only packed 4.5 bread butts with which to feed the waterfowl.

Next time, I'll pack a lot more! We started out with about 4 ducks, but the wildlife started gathering in droves, as soon as they saw food being tossed. Before it was over, there were 8 ducks, 20 turtles, one squirrel, and approximately 3 million pigeons.

The kids did a surprisingly good job of making the bread last, but it had to run out eventually. We then ate our own snack, while being stalked by the 20 turtles and 3 million creepy pigeons, with their weird orange eyes.

After the ducks, we moved up to Auditorium Shores and laid under a tree to read books. I finally convinced the kids that I was not going to entertain them the whole time we were there and they started running and playing. It was lovely.

Then I suggested that we go for a little walk on the hike & bike trail, which everyone thought was a great idea... until we got down there. Eli did alright, but I finally told Lila that I wouldn't be talking to her anymore because I was choosing not to hear whiny voices.

When we had turned around and started back toward the car (a 15 minute walk), Eli started in too. The brain-grating complaints only ceased when I told the kids they weren't much fun to hang out with anymore and implied that I might have to nix the follow-up surprise that I had planned.

Thankfully, that put an end to the whining and the rest of the walk was pleasant, if a bit hot and sticky. The follow-up surprise was lunch at nearby Toastie's Sub Shop, which the kids and I love. Yummy food, followed by rest time, chores, and relaxation.

The rest of the day was uneventful. Except for the Ring Wraith, of course.

- - - - -

This photo is totally unrelated, but adorable. My little ballet dancer, backstage before the recital. It's a ring of swans, eating sour patch kids. :)

75%

Apparently, one week is the amount of time it takes for members of my immediate family to get on my nerves. Whenever I spend nearly every waking moment with someone... one week is where I start to get twitchy. I begin to feel a strong need to be awake and not in their presence.

That's the way it is with Doug and, as I'm discovering this evening, that's the way it is with the kids. I'm probably also suffering from some extra fatigue, but I'll get to that later. Let's just say, I'm very glad that it's bedtime.

Doug's surprise birthday party was Saturday evening and it was really fun! Miraculously, he didn't suspect anything and was genuinely surprised when the first half-dozen guests showed up at the front door. Yay!

Buying and preparing large amounts of food would have been a bit suspicious, so I ordered dinner from Rudy's BBQ and a tres leches cake from Chuy's. Chuy's even sent a bag of tortilla chips and little cups of salsa and creamy jalapeno dip home, along with the cake.

Therein lay my downfall. It was a party and I love Chuy's and I was feeling reckless, so I ate the chips and creamy jalapeno. I knew perfectly well that nothing prepared at that restaurant is gluten-free, but I have a stupid rebellious streak.

I felt the effects before the party was even over. I distinctly remember hitting a wall (figuratively, of course) around 8:30 p.m. and vainly hoping that it was just the excitement of the day that was affecting me. Silly rabbit.

I spent all of Sunday in bed and I'm still not at 100% today. I managed to do all the normal things, but I have a persistent twitch in my eyelid. By 6:00 p.m., I wanted to crawl in bed and go to sleep, but I still needed to cook dinner.

By 7:30 p.m., we were eating dinner and I wanted everyone in my family to just. shut. up.

It was lovingly suggested that I excuse myself from the table. I readily complied and took out my aggression on clutter and laundry. Now I'm sulking on the couch, with a computer in my lap. Is 8:30 p.m. too early to go to bed?

Time

All school year, I felt incredibly busy. There was always so much to do and not enough time to do it. It was even worse at the end of the year because I was emotionally exhausted, from the work itself and from the ongoing battles with Lila's attitude.

So, for all that busyness, I never felt productive.

Now that summer vacation has begun, I feel incredibly productive. That seems sort of silly to say, since this is only the second official day of our break, but it's true! Without such a busy schedule to follow, I am free to take care of to-do items when they pop into my head.

Two weeks ago, if a to-do item came to mind, I'd groan to myself and walk around an inch shorter from the weight of all the things that needed doing, pressing down on me. Not a good feeling.

I'm sure that some of my productive vigor comes from the many hours I spent on cleaning and organizing this weekend. But the very fact that I've updated my blog for three days in a row, is a clear sign that I'm lighter of mind and schedule!

I'll need to be careful not to overload myself with new and exciting summer plans. I'm full of energy and the thrill of a new season and everything sounds like a good idea. I learned a long time ago, however, never to plan more than two things in a day.

Today, we went to the gym and the library in the morning. We were home in time for lunch, and spent the rest of the day here. That was just right. We still had plenty of time to take care of less-than-exciting daily responsibilities and some simple relaxation.

Now, I need your opinion on something...

I am staunchly anti-e-reader. I want a real, honest paper book. One that I can put my hands on (and never needs charging) (and I don't have to stop breathing if I accidentally drop it) (and I'm incredibly old-fashioned in a lot of ways).

However, Lila has a Kindle Fire. She goes through phases of using it often and then ignoring it for a long time (usually because it needs charging and she can't be bothered to plug it in). Today, she spent most of her day reading books on the thing.

I felt like I should tell her to put it down and find something else to do, but I was torn. If it were a "real" book that she was reading, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. But isn't it really a bad idea to spend hours staring at a little electronic screen?

Or am I being an unreasonable luddite?

At the very least, I should ask her to stop reading and walking at the same time. She's going to hurt herself!

Eli's Birthday Party Photos

Eli, decorating his own birthday cake. If you want a thing done right...

Posing with the coolest Iron Man balloon ever.

Photo-bombed by Brandon. This whole set-up
cracks me up!

So many LEGOS!

In Eli's opinion, it's not a birthday party unless
there's a piñata.

Can you tell which children play baseball?

There's another one.

The Kill Shot.

Lila was the only one who didn't get a turn, so we let her take a few whacks
at it on the ground.

Opening presents, with a spellbound audience.

Body slamming his new giant bear.

It was a great birthday!

De-cluttering

Wow, it's been a week since I wrote a blog post. That would be because the past week was CRAZYTOWN! It was the last week of school, plus Lila's ballet recital was Saturday. Then we threw on some major de-cluttering and organizing, just to spice things up.

I spent hours - literally, hours - cleaning the playroom today. I should be exhausted, but I feel energized instead. Getting rid of things and watching a room clear out and become pretty... well, it makes me a very cheerful person.

I touched every single toy (and piece of trash) in that room, and made sure it was in its home. The whole floor is clean now! It hasn't looked like this in... EVER. And it is making it infinitely easier for the kids to look through their things and decide what to get rid of.

None of this would have been possible if Joe and Irene hadn't taken the kids to spend the night at their house. If they had been home, this would have been a far more stressful day! I carried out two big bags full of trash, just from that one room.

And we have a large garbage bag full of things to sell/give away. Hopefully, there will be quite a few more things that end up in the sell bag. The only down side to the room being so clean and organized now is that it's disguising just how much crap is still in there!

Doug spent his day out in the garage. Right now, one side of the garage is clean enough to park a car in. It has been Doug who parks there, because his car is newer (and I just don't care). Now that I have a new car, he wants to clean the other side as well.

So, we'll be clearing a lot of stuff out of our garage. This is highly gratifying and very addictive for me. At the same time, I want it to be done, so that we can move on with life. Oh well, only two weeks until the garage sale...

Since this was kind of a boring update, I'll throw in a moderately cute photo of one of my extremely cute kids.

Pre-K Teddy Bear Picnic

Charity

We just had the following Talk with our children...

"I have a couple of problems and an event I'd like to talk to you guys about. First, you have probably noticed how much time Dad and I spend cleaning the house, to make it a nice place for our family to live.

"As part of members of this family, we ask you guys to be part of the clean ups. We know that you don't really enjoy doing a lot of cleaning. We’ve also heard both of you say that the work is too hard, when cleaning up a lot of toys. We understand because we have begun to notice that a lot of the time we spend cleaning is picking up toys and cleaning up messes on your side of the upstairs and it IS hard!

"Second, Eli just had a birthday and Lila’s got one coming up soon. Dad and I have had a hard time deciding on presents because there doesn’t seem to be much room in your bedroom or playroom for new toys and because you both have so many toys already.

“God has blessed us to be able to buy, not just the things that we need, but also a lot of the things that we want. God also asks us to take care of our things and share the things that he gives us.

"Finally, our small group is going to be having a charity garage sale in a few weeks. That means we are going to give all the money we make from selling our things to a group that will use the money to help people in need.

“Remember the meal packing event we did at church? We’ll be giving the money to organization: Feed My Starving Children. The more we sell, the more people we can help. Dad and I have been thinking, praying, and talking, and I think we've come up with a solution that will solve all of those problems and help others!

"It might not sound like a good idea at first, but I'll explain. We are going to go through the whole house (including the playroom) and pull out a lot of our things and toys. Then we will sell those things, along with a lot of Mommy and Daddy's things, in the garage sale.

"How does that sound? Awesome or pretty awful?!? But, let me explain! After we do this...

1. Dad and I will have more time to take care of our other responsibilities, so we will have more time to play, because we won't have to spend so much time cleaning.

2. The playroom (and the rest of the house) will be a nicer place to spend time.

3. We won't have to ask you two to pick up your toys so often.

4. There will be plenty of room for your new birthday presents!

5. We will be able to give a lot of money to a group that can help hungry children, which will make God very happy!

"I would love your help in choosing which toys to keep and which to sell. I know it will be a difficult task, however, so Dad and I are willing to do it on our own, if you'd prefer.

"Do you have any questions or feelings you'd like to share?"

You can probably guess how well that went over. Eli was too busy playing with his tiny dinosaurs to even care. Lila acted like we just told her we were going to execute a litter of puppies. We reassured them that we're not asking them to give up their favorite toys.

I'm sure there will be some tears, nonetheless. We're talking about major downsizing here. Personally, I'm pretty excited about it. (The downsizing; not the tears.) I hate stuff! I have long entertained fantasies about tossing a match into the playroom and shutting the door.

I'm pretty sure that's a sign of mental illness, but we don't need to talk about that.

Who needs toys when you've got ME?

Prayer

First, the good news:

Eli ate all of his dinner again! It was much the same as Monday night's meal, only there were chunks of strawberry instead of apple. Eli was fairly unhappy about this change. Strawberries are one of those foods that he used to eat and now he's afraid of.

I really wanted his second Dinner Winner meal to be a success, so I even cut the seeds off the strawberry chunks for him! After a lot of patience and encouraging him to just walk away and try again tomorrow, if this was too stressful, he finally mustered the courage to try a bite.

Then he said, quite casually, "Oh, I totally remember the taste of the strawberries. I like them."

I just kept my I-told-you-so to myself and let him know how very proud I was of him, for overcoming his fear!

Now, on to the bad news:

I got calls today, telling me that two different family members are in the hospital!

Grandma, Mary Priddy, had a double mastectomy a few weeks ago, and she's due to start chemotherapy next week. Today, she went in to have a CT scan and a body scan done. After the CT scan, they told her she had a blood clot(s) in her lung(s) and sent her to the ER.

Yikes! In the ER, they started her on medication to break up the clot(s) and then sent her back to finish her body scan. Now she's spending the night in the hospital, where they will do more tests and continue her medication.

My step-mother, Susan Priddy, is supposed to have a knee replacement surgery in mid-June. She had an ECG done at her surgeon's office, as part of the pre-operative testing, and he told her he didn't like the results. (What an annoying thing for a doctor to say.)

She was then referred to a cardiologist for further testing. I don't know whether or not she had seen him yet, but my dad came home from physical therapy yesterday (he's had recent back surgery) and found her barely able to talk.

The only words she could get out were, "Something's wrong." To say that he was scared would be the worst sort of understatement. They called the cardiologist, who got her into the hospital ASAP. After a number of tests, they determined that she has a constricted (obstructed?) vein (artery?) in her arm.

The obstruction is causing the blood to flow backward, into her brain. (If you know something about medical conditions, and this sounds totally made up... I'm doing my best to remember everything as it was told to me.)

On Friday morning, she will have an angiogram done, to verify that this is truly what's happening. If needed, she will also have an angioplasty, to open up the artery, and possibly have a stent put in. And she's mostly worried about whether this will keep her from getting her knee replaced!

What the heck, man? My Dallas peeps are falling apart!

After getting off the phone from the second round of news, I told the kids what was going on with Grandma (their great-grandmother) and Susan (their grandmother). In vexation, I said, "What is going on in Dallas?!?"

Lila's response...

"I don't know. . . They're just old."

Miracle

Oh. My. Goodness.

A miracle has just occurred in my house.

Eli ate dinner.

I mean it - really! He ate dinner!

As a birthday gift, I got him a Dinner Winner plate. It turns eating into a game with a little hidden surprise at the end... and it worked! I filled the spaces with a couple of chunks of hamburger bun, several peanuts, a couple of small bites of apple, a lettuce leaf topped with chocolate almond butter, and a bit of black bean burger.

Hidden in the Finish space was a small chocolate, but we didn't tell him what was in there. He had to make it to the end to find out. He ate every bit of the food. With out a bit of complaining or stalling or gagging.

I'm still in shock.

This is the child who would rather go to bed with no dinner, than eat something that isn't bread. Doug reminded me that we should assume it will never happen again, but I can't help being hopeful! Eli even asked if we could use the Dinner Winner plate every night!

Praise God!

- - - - -

Unrelated, except that it's on the topic of food, I have a couple of recommendations for my gluten-free peeps.

1. Chisos Grill in the Hill Country Galleria - We ate at this place for Mother's Day lunch and it was amazing! Not only do they have an extensive gluten-free menu (including fried fish, if you're into that kind of thing), but everything that we ordered was incredibly tasty!

2. Omission Beer - I was just learning to like beer before I found out I was gluten intolerant. After my switch to gluten-free living, I tried Redbridge beer and I didn't really like it. I've heard some recommendations for Omission, so I tried their pale ale. It's quite good!

Mom

Eli came home from school today with a bag of Mothers' Day goodies for me. Since there was no one around to tell us that we had to wait until Sunday, he decided I should open them today. There was a drawing, a hand-drawn and written card (which included a picture of Eli and I together, Jesus peering down at us from Heaven, and the three crosses of Golgotha in the background), a cup of homemade peppermint sugar scrub, and - my favorite - The Mommy Test.

This was a little "How well do you know your mom?" quiz that each student answered verbally and their teacher wrote their exact answers on the sheet. The questions, and Eli's answers, are as follows:

The Mommy Test

1. What is your Mom's name?

     "Angela"

2. How old is your Mom?

     "I don't remember. She just had a birthday."

3. What does your Mom do during the day while you are at school?

     "She goes to the gym and does other stuff also."

4. What do you like best about your Mom?

     "That she's crazy."

5. Why did God make Moms?

     "To take care of her kids."

6. Who is your Mom's best friend?

     "She has a lot of best friends, but I don't remember their names."

7. What is your favorite thing to do with your Mom?

     "Cheese Fight."

8. Why did your Mom marry your Dad?

     "Because she loves him."

9. Who is the boss at your house?

     "My Mom and Dad."

10. What does your Mom do for fun?

     "Watch America's Funniest Home Videos."

I love it! He's got me pretty well pegged. And I love his diplomatic answer about who's the boss at our house! The only answer I question is number 10. It would seem that Eli doesn't recognize book reading as a form of fun. I watch AFV about once per month. I read books all the time!

A Cheese Fight, if you're curious, is a creation of Eli's. The short version is this: It's a wrestling match that takes place on the couch. More specifically, it happens when we've all watched a video together, the video gets turned off, then one of my kids yells, "Cheese Fight!" and attacks me.

Lesson

A generous person will be enriched,
and the one who gives a drink of water
will receive water.
(Proverbs 11:25)

Doug and Eli stopped at a coffee shop/pizza restaurant in
Brenham, on their way to Camp Allen.

I'm home alone with Lila this weekend. Well, Friday afternoon to Saturday evening - not the whole weekend. Doug and Eli are gone to Camp Allen for a weekend retreat with friends/their church. The whole family was supposed to go, and really wanted to!

Unfortunately, Lila had another bad beginning to the week and got so far behind on school work that there was no way to finish it all before we would have needed to leave. It was a very tough decision to make, but we decided she would learn the most from not going.

We told her that she couldn't go to the camp after all, because she'd need to catch up on school work. And I have to stay home with her, because I'm her teacher. We didn't lecture or get angry; we just laid it out simply and expressed our genuine sadness at the situation.

I really expected some Biblical Style weeping and gnashing of teeth because this was going to be a weekend at camp with her best friend! She has handled it all remarkably well, however. Because there was no frustration or lecturing from us, she had no one to be mad at.

There was no one to blame for the consequences, except herself. I'm praying like crazy that she will learn a lesson and that it will stick! We've had so much trouble with her behavior lately. She has to learn that it's not okay to walk away from your responsibilities.

You have to do your job, even when you don't feel like it. And it's not okay to be a jerk when you don't feel like doing your job either. She can be so sweet. Most people who know her only see the sweet and respectful side of her personality.

But boy! can she be nasty when she's upset about something. And she is Stubborn! (I can't imagine where she got a trait like that. [shifty eyes]) Eli can be a right little bugger sometimes too, but he doesn't tend to hang onto things like she does.

Today, I kept using this line on her: "I am happy to help you catch up on school work, as long as you are being kind and polite." She was instantly suspicious. "What does that mean?!?" Me: "It's just a statement. A fact. I'm telling you what I'm willing to do."

When she continued to be rude, I said, "Please go up to your room until you are ready to be kind and polite to me." That seemed to be mildly more effective than telling her she could go to her room until she was ready to do her school work. She wants to be kind. She does not want to do school work.

Anyway, there were some tears when Doug and Eli left this afternoon, but she recovered very quickly. Not only did she recover, but she was downright cheerful! She enjoys being alone with one of us. I think she feels a little more grown up that way.

The upside of being alone together all evening: one kids is way easier than two. No bickering or competing or mutinies. The downside of being alone together all evening: I was Lila's sole source of entertainment for the three hours between the end of school and bedtime!

We had some fun though. No eating out and no videos, because she gets no privileges until she's caught up on her work. So we ate leftovers for dinner, went for a long walk, laid on my bed together and read books, and played Twister.

Now Lila is (presumably) asleep in my bed!

Positive

"Prayers are heard in heaven very much in proportion to our faith. Little faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater." -- Charles Spurgeon

My children were awful today. I mean really. Awful. Never mind that Lila got virtually no home work done and spent 85% of the day in her bedroom. Or that both children decorated their entire bodies with markers.

They made such a colossal mess in my bedroom, that I decided it was safest for everyone if I just walked away. Doug is now overseeing clean-up and advising them to pray that his sink is not so clogged that we have to call a plumber.

Yeah. That bad.

Since I do not want to spoil the happy feelings induced by my new car (a "surprise" from Doug), I will not revisit their bad behavior any further. Instead, I will entertain you with the only two positive stories I can recall from the day.

During the brief time when Lila was actually doing her school work, we reviewed last week's Latin words. See if you can spot the word that she made up...

Me: What is flos?
Lila: Flower!
Me: What is the Latin word for plant?
Lila: Uh. Herba?
Me: Correct. What is hortus?
Lila: Garden.
Me: What is the Latin word for leaf?
Lila: Umm... leafus!

During a break time, the kids were playing around and I heard Lila say, "We're going to investigate something strange," as they went out the front door. I probably should have been concerned at this point, but I was trying my best to pretend they didn't exist for a few minutes.

A short time later, they came back in the house carrying this:

Both: giggle giggle giggle
Lila: Open this. We found it in the street.
Both: giggle giggle giggle

At this point, I'm certain there is something in that box that is going to make me scream.

Me: [mildly alarmed] Is there something alive in there?
Lila: No.
Both: giggle giggle giggle
Me: [shying away from the box] No.
Both: giggle giggle giggle
Lila: Come on!

Then she opens the box herself, and shows me this:

Then they proceed to laugh their tiny a$$es off.

I guess you have to be a kid to get the joke?

Tangents

In the midst of great joy, do not promise anyone anything. In the midst of great anger, do not answer anyone's letter. -- Chinese Proverb

*sniff-sniff*
Did someone say "birthday brownies?"

I had a lovely birthday weekend. My thanks to all who sent happy wishes via text and Facebook!

I thought the weekend was going to get held back by a sick child. Lila was under-the-weather (is that supposed to be a hyphenate?) on Friday. She was extra tired and had a low-grade fever. She was feeling poorly enough on Friday evening that she didn't want to go out for dinner!

We ordered in Domino's instead (Eli's pick), and watched America's Funniest Videos from the comfort of our couch. Thankfully, her body fought off whatever was ailing her and she woke up normal on Saturday!

We did Saturday morning chores, which is (oddly, perhaps) one of my favorite times of the week. The children feel differently about it. Shocking, I know! Eli hardly did anything, really, but I decided to let consequences (no video) speak for themselves.

I resisted the urge to nag, which helped my serenity greatly.

Actually, what I've started doing recently is this: Whenever I cross paths with one of the children during chore time, I'll say something like, "I just finished making my bed! What are you doing right now?"

I sound as friendly and interested as I can and I only give directions if they are asked for. It's been remarkably effective. They may not do the chores that I would choose for them, but they are contributing to the upkeep of their home and I'm not ending up frustrated!

Anyway, none of that is what I came here to talk about. [wink]

I hate minivans. I never wanted a minivan. There was a time when I swore that I would never drive a minivan. . . . I drive a minivan.

I have hated it since the day we bought it, but it's so stinking convenient when you have small children! Now that both of mine are old enough to get into and out of a car and buckle and unbuckle their seatbelt, all without help, the minivan is not such a necessity.

I have been looking forward to getting a Grown-Up Car for many months now. The practical and frugal sides of me were determined to take the minivan to 100,000 miles first, however. I didn't want to feel like I was buying a new car until I had driven my old one to the point of exhaustion.

Now, at 92,000(ish) miles, there is something wrong with the minivan that would cost several hundred dollars to fix. Doug decided that it's not worth the money to make the repairs, given its worth and our plans to get rid of it at the end of the year anyway.

So... I'm getting my Grown-Up Car! This time I'm getting something that I will love and enjoy driving for the next 100,000 miles! Yay! I am getting a Subaru Outback. I drove one of these before the minivan and I have missed it for years.

I'm exhibiting (what feels like) super-human strength, as I wait for Doug to do his research on all the options and decide on the best way to go about the purchase (or lease). Even though this is not really a birthday present, I'm going to pretend that it is.

My real birthday presents were a charm bracelet from the kids (a key charm with a tiny heart in it from Lila and a slice of pizza charm from Eli) and an anti-fatigue kitchen mat from Doug (which is exactly what I asked for - I spend a lot of time standing and cooking).

Oh phooey! I just realized that I forgot to wear my new bracelet today!* I'll have to work hard to make that a new habit. I did, however, spend half an hour standing on my anti-fatigue kitchen mat, as I cooked dinner! It was delightful.

* CONFESSION: I forget to wear my wedding rings half the time too. I can't stand to sleep in them and don't want to work out with them on. If I don't take the time to put on other jewelry, then I forget to put my rings on when I get showered and dressed. I should make that a better habit too!

Ready?

"Men overlooked a baby's birth
When love unnoticed came to earth..."
 -- Mary Tatlow

Despite the hour that Lila spent in her bedroom, for having a very nasty attitude, we got through all of our homework today! This is the first Tuesday in several weeks that hasn't ended with work hanging over our heads.

It helped that yesterday was a holiday, so today's work was lighter than average. But I'm tired of talking about the trials of homeschool days...

I would say that I'm ready for summer break, but that's only half true.

I AM ready for the school battles to end for a few months. I am NOT ready for days where I never feel like I've gotten sufficiently cool.

I AM ready for a lighter schedule. I am NOT ready for 10-hour days of, "Mom? Will you..." "Mom? Can I have..." "Mom? He/she hit/kicked/yelled at me..." "Mom? Mom! Mom-may!"

I AM ready for more time to clean my house. (How often do you say those words?) I am NOT ready for the onslaught of scattered belongings that will accompany the children's increased free time.

I AM ready for more time to spend together as a family. I am NOT ready for The Pool. (If you have forgotten, or are unaware of, the way I feel about going to The Pool, please refer to: Summer fun, indeed.) (In fact, I may re-post that one. I feel that it bears repeating.)

I also have a yearly struggle against very old tapes that play in my head. When I was young, I didn't really have friends. At least, not many. (I'm not being melodramatic. Just honest.) Many summers  (particularly as a teenager) were a long, boring, lonely time of watching soap operas, grudgingly doing chores, and trying not to melt.

However much I tell myself that I am no longer a friendless child, I still get a little down at the beginning of summer. Those first cool breezes of autumn envigorate me. Those first hot breezes of summer depress me.

I just had a thought: Maybe we should plan a weekly trip to some jumpy place. They are indoor, air-conditioned, and grown-ups aren't allowed on the inflatables. That would be an easy thing to invite friends along to, as well!