Eleven

Happy birthday, my beloved Rose! You are a special girl and I love watching you grow up. Just wish you'd slow down a little, but you'll always be my baby! 

Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake

My youngest turns eleven today. I wish I could say this was going to be her best day of 2014 so far, but I don't think that's going to be the case. There have already been tears of frustration and disappointment. She was diagnosed with the flu on Saturday after a very rough Friday night. Really sucks, doesn't it?

She's staying home from school today even though she's been begging me to let her go. I have no doubt the school would take one look at her glassy, sunken eyes and be calling me to pick her up (that is after they isolate her from every other child in the school!)

I'm hoping the Tamiflu helps her kick this sooner rather than later. On Friday, she gets to sit at the Birthday Table during lunch and I can bring her a special meal. Her request—a burger place called Top Burger!

But thanks to a friend on FB who sent me some ideas on Saturday, we'll be trying to make today fun even if she's stuck at home and sick. We'll be hiding eleven goodie bags full of Dollar Tree items around the house and she has to find them. We have leftover ice cream cake from our mini celebration last night (see pic above - hubby did the writing on the cake himself!), but we'll also get her fave cupcakes—chocolate ones from Safeway! She also has a special gift to open.

We were planning to go out to dinner both last night and tonight (her choice of places) but she's not supposed to be around people so I'll let her decide if she wants me to cook or pick something up. We'll eat out once she's feeling better and won't get anyone else sick!

As you can imagine, my weekend was all about having a sick kid. I hope you had fun!

Big Brothers

On Wednesday, Rose went to a friend's house for a playdate. Kids call it something else these days, but it's still a playdate. She hurt her middle finger on her left hand.

I didn't think too much about the injury. She wasn't crying. There wasn't much swelling or bruising. But she kept saying it hurt to bend it.

On Thursday morning, the finger was swollen like a sausage and black & blue. Oops. But it was state testing day so she had to do that! A good thing it wasn't her writing hand.

After lunch as we were driving home I told her we were going to Urgent Care to have her finger looked at. Rose was fine with that until...

Finn told her to say goodbye to her finger because if she couldn't bend it the doctor would chop it off. He said it so seriously and then backed it up with totally made up science as to why amputation would be necessary.

I got on him right away, but the damage was done. Rose was sure her finger was a goner. Big crocodile tears streamed from her eyes. She kept saying she didn't want to lose her finger. She wasn't going to the doctor's now.

Meanwhile Finn is laughing like a fiend.  He finally fessed up, but the damage was done.

When we finally got to Urgent Care, she had her first X-ray and yes, I had to assure her that 1) It wouldn't hurt and 2) Her finger would still be there when she was finished.

Sigh...

The joy of having a big brother.

Did you have a brother who did stuff like that to you?

Summer winding down

Many of you know I've homeschooled my kids for the past four years. For the past two years, they have attended a school two days a week and are home with me the rest of the time. This parent partnership program has worked out well for all of us. And given me a little more time to write as well as sleep! But this year, change is afoot. My oldest will be starting and attending high school full-time.

It's weird to think of her being away five days a week. I know she's looking forward to it, but I'm not. Even with her sometimes acting as if she were an alien or auditioning for a remake of the Exorcist, I'll miss her. But it was her choice to be homeschooled when she finished fourth grade and when she said she wanted to go to high school, we supported that decision, too.

I do think it'll be strange for her to have to get homework done the day it's assigned. It's never been that way with the alternative school. Already she's been doing schoolwork. Her Pre-AP English class assigned a book called The Book Thief and her AP Human Geography course has her reading Fast Food Nation (her choice out of a list of selection) for summer assignments. 

As for what I blogged about yesterday in regards to LOLcats... I did find a site that will add captions to pictures. If anyone is interested, it's called rolfbot. It's pretty basic with no bells and whistles that I could see when it comes to font size, but it works. I was too tired to do anything more than a sample one of Chaos and her ball...

Not exactly LOLcat quality, but it's a start. I'm assuming there are more sites like this and I hope they allow you to play with the font size and stuff. Just need time to keep looking.

Have a great Friday!

Olympic Moms

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The girls and I won't make it to church until later tonight. Thank goodness one of the churches around here has a Sunday evening Mass. It really helps when we have stuff going on. The three of us were up at the crack of dawn. Well, five thirty this morning. Mackenna had a dog show with Chaos in Chehalis. Rose had a swim meet, and she had to eat a good breakfast.

Two early mornings have definitely taken their toll on me. I'm ready for a nap. But I had to admit driving to Mount Hood Community College this morning and glancing at Rose covered with her orange fleece blanket and sound asleep made me think of this:



I'd seen snippets of the ad during the US Swim Trials, but had never seen the entire ad until today. Very sweet!

Hope you have a nice Sunday!

Arguing

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The cats have been arguing. Well, hissing and spitting and scratching one another. The older two, especially. They don't seem to like anyone or anything much these days except their food and me (but only when I'm doing what they like.)

The kidlets have been arguing, too. It got so bad I cancelled our bowling outing yesterday. Instead of having fun with their friends at Big Al's, they got to wash dishes and clean the house. I've tried to be nice and understanding, but I've had enough. For the rest of the summer, there are no more warnings. If they act up or don't do what I ask, there are consequences.

I'm looking forward to the weekend! The sun is already out. Not that I get to enjoy it today due to revisions, but I'm ready for summer to arrive. How about you?

In My Closet

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My 13 year old daughter wasn't rummaging through the recycling bin this morning, but my closet. She wanted to my black boots. My new black boots that I've never worn except for trying them on in the store.

So it begins. Sigh...

I wonder if I'll ever see them again.

Hope you have a good day. Lots going on here. I got my AAs for the soccer book turned in. Now it's to get more words written on the continuity. I really wanted to take some time off over the holiday, but that's looking less likely. Two days off won't be same as the two weeks I was hoping for, but it's better than no time off at all!

What are you up to today?

First Day

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You'd think the kids had a big party to go to this morning. They are so excited!

Today is the first day of their school. They only attend two days a week, but those are their favorite days. Of course, to complicate matter, today is also picture day. There have been a few outfit changes to make sure it's picture-worthy attire.

I've managed to find two other families who want to carpool, but we aren't starting this first week. That means an hour round trip for me at drop-off and pick-up. Well, unless I can convince hubby to take one of those for me.

This is my crunch week. The book is due in exactly one week. And yes, I'm panicked.

Hope you have a nice Monday. It's overcast. I hope that means the temperature won't be in the nineties again!

Tails and tales

Too funny! This picture reminds me so much of this. I'd woken up one morning to find Smalls' tail across my eyes like a sleeping mask.

We received the nicest sympathy card from the Smalls' vet. They must have heard from the emergency vet hospital. It included a tear off bookmark with the Rainbow Bridge Poem on it. Bailey, who sometime comments on this blog and I was fortunate to meet at RWA Dallas a few years ago, suggested I share that poem with the girls. I did, and it really helped, Rose especially. She keeps forgetting that Smalls isn't coming back and I've found her looking for her.

I think part of the reason this came as such a shock go us was that Smalls had had a full blood work up done during an exam in mid-March. The vet couldn't believe how healthy Smalls was given her age (which was more of a range then 15+.) But the hospital doctor did say this comes on suddenly. And I suppose with an old cat, you can never fully know what's going on inside of them.

Finn has mentioned more than once that he said bye to Smalls when he left to go camping, but that he never got to say a final goodbye. I think we'll need do some sort of ceremony as a commenter mentioned on yesterday's post to give him some closure.

Speaking of ashes, I received a call toady saying she'd been cremated and that I could pick up her ashes. I'd spoken to someone else there who offered to have the ashes transported to the pet hospital which is closer to me. When I mentioned that, he said he'd check then came back on the line and said he couldn't find Smalls. She hadn't been taken with today's deliver, but wasn't there, either. Wherever "there" is. I was starting to freak out a bit. He told me he'd call back, but didn't. I gave him two hours then called. Thankfully her ashes had been located.

On the good news side of things, my son had his cast removed. He's now wearing a removable brace. He can swim and play soccer again! He's so psyched. Just in time as the fall seasons will be starting soon.

I also got some words written. It's been a struggle to finish my latest tale, and I've fallen behind on my word count. No doubt the emotions as well as the fact one of my constant writing companions is missing. But Spirit has been extra attentive no matter what time of day and night. If my computer is open, she's within arms reach or touching me. That's helped a lot.

I've been very self-absorbed this week. What's been going on with you? Please fill me in!

Sigh...

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This picture would be me if I was a tiny kitty. I thought after camping out overnight and getting the kids enrolled in school things would get back to normal. I wanted to get caught up on blog hopping, go shopping for my New York trip, write and cross a few things off the To Do list.

So much for my plans...

My son, Finn, has a nasty leg infection. We saw the doctor yesterday. They are running tests, but she kept mentioning MRSA which wouldn't be good. He's on antibiotics and we've been keeping warm compresses on it. He can't swim or play soccer or be around other kids in case it's contagious. I would appreciate prayers that's it's nothing serious.

Did you have a nice weekend? What did you do?

Perfectionist

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This picture reminds me of a few things. One of my cats, one of my kidlets and a small part of myself. I used to be more of a perfectionist. I think that is part of the oldest child, overachievers R us mentality. Lack of time and perhaps age have curbed that tendency.

I still struggle with the writing. But having contractual deadlines helps with that. It also helps to realize nothing can be perfect. That lessens the frustrations and feelings of futility I remember in my teens and twenties.

I wish my youngest kidlet could see that now.

Her very first multiplication test with sixes happened last Friday. She got 88 out of 100. I thought that was great. The twelve she missed were problems she didn't have time to answer. But no, she was so upset because she didn't get all of them correct. Anything less than 100% is no good in her mind. This translate to each and every subject. Fortunately she's a pretty sharp kid and usually aces everything. But we're working on how to deal with it when she doesn't.

Yesterday she had to revise a narrative in language arts. She couldn't understand why she had to revise it when all she ended up doing was making mistakes. But the entire lesson was about...drumroll...revising. Yes, she'd written her composition very well considering it was a first draft. But this lesson specifically asked her to add words, details and sentences in order to learn proofreading marks. This frustrated her to no end!

Her: This makes no sense. Why do I have to revise?

Me: Because that's what writers do.

Her: How do you know what writers do?

Me to myself: Is she serious? Okay, she just turned eight a couple weeks ago. But still...

Me to her as I point to one of my books and wonder if I should show her all the books I've published: See Mommy's name. I wrote that book. I'm a writer. I revise. I know lots of writers. They all revise, too.

Her: You know lots of writers.

Me as I realize I've spoken with that same tone of disbelief: Yes.

Her: How many do you know?

Me to myself: Maybe I should have stuck to raising cats. I do a quick calculation of the writers in the various RWA chapters I've belonged to over the years, the ones I've met at conferences and the ones I know online. She is the kind of kid who may want an exact number and ask me to prove it.

Me to her: Hundreds.

Her: That many.

Me to myself: She's going to want to know who they all are. Don't let her go there. You still haven't met your word count goal for today.

Me to her: Yes, and they all revise.

Her: All of them?

Me to myself: Better leave some room in case she decides to do a little research of her own and finds the one author who doesn't revise. Heaven help me, if I happen to know them.

Me to her: Most of the ones I know do. So start revising.

She rewrote the narrative about her trip to Build-A-Bear on her birthday. Unfortunately she forgot a sentence. After some tears and coaxing from me, she added the words and drew an arrow to where it should go.

Her: It's so much easier to write it perfect the first time, Mommy.

Me to myself: I'm sure it is. I'd love to be able to do that. I'm guessing so would a few hundred of my writer friends.

Kids

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I woke up to the sound of tears in the middle of the night. Rose was standing by the bed crying that her legs hurt. Growing pains, most likely. I told her to crawl in bed with us. A couple of sniffles later she was sound asleep.

Of course, the rest of the night I was jabbed and kicked. I've never seen a kid move around so much while she sleeps. But she woke up pain free and rested. Me, not so much.

But that's the price of parenthood. I wouldn't change it for anything. Not even when the kidlets act more like minions than angels!

Though I must admit I had second thoughts about one of the cats, Yoda, when I pulled him out of the toilet yesterday. He is rarely an angel, but he sure is cute!

Have a great Monday!

Best Mom Ever

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Isn't that a sweet LOLcat? Of course it also says something about how kids (whether human or fur-covered) think. In their minds, the "best" mom in the world is the one giving them what they want whether it's "nom" or permission to watch television or a million other things.

Kids don't seem to understand that the best mom is one who sets boundaries. That there is actually some wisdom to my not letting a seven year old kidlet play in the front yard without someone older than her out there, too. That ketchup and french fries aren't the number one vegetable choice. And that staring at the television screen for extended periods of time just isn't healthy, especially on a sunny, beautiful day!

That means I'll never be up for "best" mom, but the kidlets sure do think I'm a top ten contender for "meanest" mom in the world. If I had a nickel for every time I was called "mean" I could have afforded a new car instead of a used one! But if being "mean" is what's best for my three, then I'll wear the title proudly.

Sigh...

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The above LOLcat fits one of the kidlets today so perfectly it's kind of scary. It's been a very difficult morning with said kid and I fear it will only get worse with all the things going on this afternoon.

It's days like this I totally get the concept of boarding school. I'm sure tomorrow will be better. At least I hope so.

Hope you're having a better day wherever you are.

On Fire

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There comes a time in the writing process when a deadline feels like a two ton weight pressing down on me. My writing time is limited so when I find time to sit at the computer I want to work. My sleep time is even more precious so when I'm in bed with my eyes closed I do not want to be disturbed by human or animal.

Interruptions don't usually bother me. That's part of being a wife and mom, but when I'm under pressure and feeling a tad panicked, they are just too disrupting.

On Sunday, Hubby had set his alarm for the wee hours of night/morning because he had to be at church. When he got up, he forgot to turn off the alarm, so I woke to the radio blaring at 3 am. I'm the antithesis of a morning person, but I never could fall back asleep though I tried. I ended up losing writing time on Sunday afternoon because I needed a nap in order for my brain to function so I could work on the book.

Needless to say, I've had to set a few rules for the family to follow during this deadline week when I'm writing or sleeping.

Fire and blood gets you immediate attention. Hunger, if it's meal or snack time gets you fed. Everything else must wait.

The two oldest are doing pretty well with it. The youngest, not so much. She couldn't understand why I wanted to keep typing yesterday instead of discussing her birthday...not until January.

Only a few more days left to go.

Six!

Today is my youngest's six birthday. Six just sounds so old to me. Granted it's not ten or eight like the other two, but she's the one we still call the baby. Not so much a baby any more!

I still remember being at the hospital six years ago. They were inducing me early because they thought she would be too big if they didn't. Her brother came a few days before his due date and surprised everyone by being 9 lbs 6 oz.

As I was waiting for the contractions to start, I had my Alphasmart with me and was writing a scene for Santa Brought A Son since I would not only have a newborn (along with a 4 1/2 and 2 1/2 year olds) but an upcoming deadline in the next few weeks. Oh, what had I been thinking back then????

But I survived. We all did. And now our Rose is six!

I'll be honest, she's the one who's more work than the other two kidlets combined. All of us, including the other kidlets, have spoiled her. Being the third kid, she learned early on to speak up for what she wants. She also has no problem going for what she wants herself. It's a trait that will serve her will in adulthood, but makes parenting her a little challenging! But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Last night, Rose told us she wanted to make her own cupcakes for her birthday. So she and hubby made cupcakes from scratch. She was mixing the batter and needed a spatula. Hubby grabbed one from the container on the counter, but she pulled her own from a pocket on her apron. It was so cute. And she knew exactly how to use it! Of course we got the whole thing on tape!!! We will ice and decorate the cupcakes today.

She's also set the menu for today. Breakfast is orange juice, fruit salad (made by her sister recipe courtesy of The Wiggles song) and hot from the oven sweet rolls. Lunch is meatballs and a side of carrot sticks and ranch dressing. Dinner is cheese pizza followed by her cupcakes.

My day will be all about Rose! What about yours?

An Early Morning

This was me and my youngest around five am this morning. Except we were sitting in the bathroom with the shower going and steam surrounded us.

I woke up thinking a seal had decided to move in. The barking, croupy cough dragged me out of bed and down the hall. The poor thing sounded miserable. Having been through this before, I knew what could happen so had hubby steam up the bathroom while I carried her in. We sat there, just like the cats in the picture. Through coughing, tears and yawns, I had her breathing in the steam and soon she was feeling better.

She wanted to go back to her own bed, but I took her to ours instead. It was a little crowded with all the four-footed babies on there, too, but she finally fell asleep. So did I.

Anyway, I haven't uploaded the gingerbread house pics yet, but will. The kidlets did a great job.

I also managed to get my Christmas cards ordered at Costco. I also do a photo card and this year they had ones with more than one picture. I picked the one with four pictures. I know they'll be small, but I chose pictures from January (Disneyland), March (Smith Rock), August (Leavenworth) and October (Halloween.) We never got around to getting a family photo around the tree so I'll have to have one snapped sometime soon.

Now to figure out when I can get out to get them. It snowed last night again. I haven't peeked out the window yet so have no idea what we'll be facing today. My goal is to have them out by Dec. 24th.

Moments

Earlier this week, one of my favorite singers Steven Curtis Chapman lost his youngest daughter, Maria, in a tragic accident. She had recently turned five, the same age as Rose.

Losing a child is something I don't want to think about. Miscarrying the first time I got pregnant was difficult enough. Yet it happens...to strangers, to friends, to family.

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do was plan the funeral of my nephew, Slayter, who died from a heart defect at eight days old. I wanted to die myself as I stood in front of the row of tiny caskets trying to decide which one to pick. The only thing that got me through the ordeal was thoughts of my sister. I knew her grief and sorrow had to be a million times worse than what I was feeling. That's why she'd asked me to make the arrangements because she knew she couldn't and was counting on me to get it done.

Steven Curtis Chapman wrote a beautiful song called Cinderella. Please watch and listen to the words. Keep watching after the song ends because he talks about what prompted him to write it and this, to me, is the most important part.



He's so right about slowing down and enjoying those moments whether it's with family, friends or both. I've been trying ever since I turned in the Mount Hood book last December, but it's easy to forget when deadline time rolls around. But I can't forget. I need to stop trying and just do it no matter what's going on because no one knows what tomorrow will bring. And as he says in the song:

I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone.

Happy Mother's Day

We went to Mass last night so I could sleep in. Of course, I woke up at 5:45 am! Luckily I went back to sleep only to be woken up by my son. The youngest wouldn't give him his guitar back. I sent him out and went back to sleep. Soon after, the youngest showed up to serenade me with a Mother's day song. Chaos followed. She hopped on the bed and gave me good morning licks. Then it was deemed time for mommy to wake up!

I was served a yummy breakfast: strawberry smoothies, scrambled eggs, sausage, freshly baked sweet rolls and grapefruit juice. Then I was given my cards and presents.

From Mackenna who also made me a pretty, colorful framed flower picture with magnets on the back:

















From Finn who also gave me a flower he'd drawn using pastels, a beaded bookmark with a cross on the end he'd made and three paper rose coupons for me to redeem (help with dinner, help with breakfast, help with Rose):
















From Rose who also gave me a calendar with a picture she'd colored:



We were going to go skiing today, but hubby will be gone all week and we have too many things that need to get done around here. Though I'm hoping to sneak in an hour or two of writing. I'll be calling my mom, too!

How are you spending the day?