Analog blogging.

My parents came to town last night. It is Spring Break so they are visiting for a few days. Mom never comes empty handed. This time she brought Char some new clothes, which she tried on all at once, some new toys for the boys and a new cookbook for me.In addition, she brought some treasures from the basement: an old Star Trek storybook for Emmett, (It was my brother's I hope he doesn't mind if we hang on to it for a while)and my diary, from 1986.

Now, we have established already that I am a big Little House Fan. This proves it. The first entry was made on my birthday, so I think that must have been when my parents gave it to me. (Mom? Is that right?) This diary had lots of empty space for me to fill in my thoughts as well as recipes from the Little House books, quotes and little bits of trivia from Laura's time. I loved it.

I apologize for the pictures. Our scanner is in the basement and not hooked up to the house network yet. If you want to read my scribbles just click on a picture to make it full-size.

Things to do in January: New Year's Day, New Glasses Came In, Space Shuttle blew up. So matter of fact. I am sure I didn't know the significance of the last one, but it is in there for posterity. I do remember watching the Challenger launch on TV .

These next two entries chronicle the tumultuous nature of pre-adolescent female friendships. (Ryan is my brother)
"....I had a nice day, no one beat me up. Not even Sharla....."



"......Today Ryan threw me in the mud, but Sharla took my side....."






This last entry is very important. It documents the birth of a knitter. I still have the pattern book the little sweater came from. This entry doesn't talk about the little purse I made first. It turns out a dolly purse has all of the basic elements of knitting in it. After that purse I was on to doll clothes.

Randomness

I took these pictures today, and despite the blinding sunshine I think they turned out pretty well. (As much as I love the "snow" setting on my camera, I will be very happy to turn the dial to something else very soon.)

My girl is a pretty little thing, isn't she?

Despite the sheer amount of snow in our yard the sun definitely feels warmer and it doesn't set until around 8:00 PM now. Positive signs that winter is on it's way out.

Emmett and I traveled to The Big City for a doctor's appointment during (hopefully) the last blizzard of the year. We had good news. The genetic testing we had done came back showing no chromosomal defects. Of course, the doctor we have is a real stickler for detail and has very high standards so he re-did the bloodwork because he felt that the hospital lab should have turned up their microscopes higher. To this doc, "good enough" by hospital standards is not "good enough" to him. In addition, Emmett's DNA is being sent off to a big University on the West Coast so a professor who is pioneering a new kind of genetic testing can have a peek at it too. I am not sure what this test will show, but the hospital already had a sample so it wouldn't cause Emmett any pain to help this person with her research.

Our next trip to the Big City will be for another MRI and another chat with the neurosurgeon.

Emmett contiues to make great progress with his speech. Nothing makes me happier than hiding in the kitchen while Emmett and Charlotte are playing in the living room and eavesdropping on their conversation. This is something at one time I thought I wouldn't be able to do. They say the funniest things when adults aren't in sight!

Life is good!

What Passes for Spring in my Neck of the Woods.

Dear Mother Nature: Seriously?

I kind of feel like I am living inside a Laura Ingalls Wilder book. Well, except for the almost starving to death and having to burn straw for heat part.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Do you know why there is a Saint Patrick??

An interview with Emmett and Charlotte

This is a meme I stole from my friend Sandy's facebook page. I typed out Charlotte's answers word for word as she told me. I don't think she understood all of the questions!

Answers by Emmett (E), age five and Charlotte (C) age three.

1. What is something that mommy always says to you?
E - Don't touch anything in my room
C - Put your boots on.

2. What makes mommy happy?
E - When we clean up.
C - I'm sorry mom.

3.What makes mommy sad?
E - Not cleaning up.
C - Don't touch your face, mom

4.How does your mommy make you laugh?
E - By making knock knock jokes.
C - It's happy funny

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
E - Baby food. (I think he heard "what did I like as a child?")
C - You might go in jail when you are little, mom.

6. How old is your mommy?
E - I don't know.
C - 14

7. How tall is your mommy?
E - 13
C - As tall as a giant.

8. What is her favourite thing to do?
E - Play Wall-E on my PSP
C - Play to eat.

9. What does your mommy do when you’re not around?
E - Read by yourself
C - Be mad, mom!

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
E - By putting on silly clothes and then they will laugh at you.
C - I can play anything I want with you.

11. What is your mommy really good at?
E - A game.
C - Jump jump jump and wiggle.

12. What is your mommy not really good at?
E - A hard game.
C - Pat my dog Lucy.

13. What does your mommy do for a job?
E - You clean up, then I clean up.
C - You do a job to eat, mom.

14. What is your mommy’s favourite food?
E - Chicken and fries.
C - Your snack.

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
E - When the cleaning lady comes.
C - I am proud to pat my dog and brush my dog Lucy.

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
E - Star Wars
C - A cartoon baseball.

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
E - We play
C - Go in space.

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
E - By putting on the same clothes.
C - Same to go to the store in space.

19. How are you and your mommy different?
E - By putting on different clothes.
C - Girls in all cartoons.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
E - By hugging and kissing.
C - Play game game game play game game game play.

21. Where is your mommy’s favourite place to go?
E - McDonalds
C - My house with my dog and Emmett and Matthew and my dad and me.

More Grey Hair on the Way.

As I was getting Emmett ready for school this morning I heard some mysterious noises coming from upstairs. I went up to investigate and found out that Matthew had pushed my dressing-table stool out of my room up to the laundry chute. He was standing on it and looking down two stories into the basement.

Eeeeeek.

To soothe my nerves I have decided to re-read my Little House on the Prairie books. I have read them so often that they are old friends. Soothing. Calming. Familiar.

Not like this little guy who surprises me every day with new feats of daring.

You-Know-What with a Capital T

Matthew has entered a new stage of development. The "Destroy everything in his path in the quest for knowledge" stage. I hear every little boy goes through it. Emmett did, but not to the extant Matthew has. I spend every day just following Matthew around, cleaning up the mess.
As I type out this post, there are mysterious noises coming out of the kitchen. I am pretty sure he is emptying cupboards.

Look at this face! Is this the face of someone who leaves a path destruction in his wake?? (Look closely. Besides ketchup from lunch on his face there is a light sprinkling of potting soil. After having a taste he decided the soil would be better off sprinkled all over Daddy's electric piano instead of in the pot with it's plant.)

Under Mommy's jacket is the light switch. To the reader's left of the jacket is the phone. To the right is the outside door lock. This is a great place to hang out and cause trouble.

This is Mister Innocent after casually running out of the pantry.

This is what he was running away from. I am sure he has no idea how the flour bag got tipped over like that. Where was I during this? Putting the vacuum away. Sigh.

While Emmett is on the computer I usually hear "Mo-om! Come get Matthew! He's causing trouble!"

How long before they grow out of this? Am I prepared for the answer?

Paranoid

Last week I took Matthew to the Public Health Nurse for his 18 month vaccinations. While we were there the nurse started asking questions about his development. I was sent home with an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (the link shows an example...not the one I filled out for Matthew)

I don't usually do those things. I tend to listen to my gut when it comes to where my kids lay on the developmental scale. I don't even like knowing growth percentile numbers. I feel like the create undue stress on moms if the baby is in a lower percentiles and can even turn you into a Competitive Mother if your baby is in an upper range. I don't hang with the Competitive Mother crowd--they are too hard to socialize with when you are a Slacker/Special Needs mom like me.

This weekend, on a lark, I filled out most of the ASQ form with Matthew. Guess what? He failed the speech development portion.

Now, my boys have always been on the late end of the spectrum. They take their time doing things like rolling over and walking. But, having been on the Early Intervention roller coaster once, I just don't want to face it again. The doctors appointments. The waiting. The stress.

I am really not worried. Matthew has a large vocabulary of sounds. He can understand some of what I say. He doesn't have trouble with food textures and adapting to straws and cups and bottles. He can hear a chip bag crackle two rooms over so I am pretty sure his hearing is OK.

I just hate how these forms can have the ability to completely undermine your confidence as a mother and make you question your instincts.

I just need to tell that paranoid voice in my head to hush up and chill out. Oh, and that silly form is heading straight for the recycle bin.

A cautionary tale.

Facebook has turned us into lazy friends. Why bother calling someone or Heaven Forbid, meet face to face with someone when all you have to do is change your status line to update people? Facebook has turned us into stalkers. You never have to check in with someone when you can just log in and check a website.

The following is a cautionary tale--a true story of a close friend of mine and what happened when she changed her Facebook information.

Names and identifying characteristics have been changed, of course!

My friend Jane decided she was tired of being bombarded with ads on her Facebook page. She logged in one day and erased most of her personal information. She changed her marital status from married to blank. She wanted to see what would happen to the ads that she was seeing if she took this information down.

A few hours later the calls and emails started. Are you getting divorced? Are you ok? What is going on???
Admittedly, when I got the news on my feed that she had changed her marital status a thought crossed my mind, but I quickly pushed it away. Jane and I are close enough and have known each other long enough that I am sure I would have heard about marital troubles LONG before she divorced her husband on Facebook.

Things came to a head today, when a former boss of her husband emailed him to offer his support and condolences. He didn't have a clue what was going on. Husband is not on Facebook. Jane didn't think to tell him that she had changed her profile. (And really? Why would she? I know my own husband could care less about what blather I have on a social networking site.

So, is there a moral to this story? Absolutely. Don't use social networking sites as a substitute for real friendship.

Would it kill you to pick up the phone once in a while????

Snow Angels

Ok, so Grandma may be more interested in this post than anyone else, but here are some pictures I snapped of my kiddos frolicking in our front yard today.

Oh, and the last shot is less about the snow and more about the eyelashes. My boys are genetically blessed in the eyelash department. I just want to see how many women I can give baby itches to.

My new camera has a setting for snow!!! Look at how the skin tones in these pictures are so warm and not at all washed out. I should definitely keep up with my habit of breaking cameras every couple of years! (If Richard is reading this, I am only kidding. Mostly.)

I can't believe I missed it!

Yesterday, while I was busy taking pictures of flowers I missed something very important: The anniversary of Dr. Seuss's birthday! I have been wracking my brain to come up with a post in Seussian Pentameter to mark the event, but my brain gears are very rusty. Instead, I give you a favourite tribute of mine. I am sure it has been around since the Dark Ages of the Internet, but I still find it hilarious. I am super cool, don't you know??

So, what is your favourite Dr. Seuss book? Emmett loves Wacky Wednesday. I like the facial workout Fox in Socks gives me. Happy Birthday to you is just so uplifting and joyful to read, The Lorax is strangely prophetic.....how can you pick just one??

If Dr. Seuss wrote for Star Trek: The Next Generation...

Author: Dave Fuller

Picard: Sigma Indri, that's the star,
So, Data, please, how far? How far?

Data: Our ship can get there very fast
But still the trip will last and last
We'll have two days til we arrive
But can the Indrans there survive?

Picard: LaForge, please give us factor nine.

LaForge: But, sir, the engines are offline!

Picard: Offline! But why? I want to go!
Please make it so, please make it so!

Riker: But sir, if Geordi says we can't,
We can't, we mustn't, and we shan't,
The danger here is far too great!

Picard: But surely we must not be late!

Troi: I'm sensing anger and great ire.

Computer: Alert! Alert! The ship's on fire!

Picard: The ship's on fire? How could this be?
Who lit the fire?

Riker: Not me.

Worf: Not me.

Picard: Computer, how long til we die?

Computer: Eight minutes left to say goodbye.

Data: May I suggest a course to take?
We could, I think, quite safely make
Extinguishers from tractor beams
And stop the fire, or so it seems...

Geordi: Hurray! Hurray! You've saved the day!
Again I say, Hurray! Hurray!

Picard: Mr. Data, thank you much.
You've saved our lives, our ship, and such.

Troi: We still must save the Indran planet --

Data: Which (by the way) is made of granite...

Picard: Enough, you android. Please desist.
We understand -- we get your gist.
But can we get our ship to go?
Please, make it so, PLEASE make it so.

Geordi: There's sabotage among the wires
And that's what started all the fires.

Riker: We have a saboteur? Oh, no!
We need to go! We need to go!

Troi: We must seek out the traitor spy
And lock him up and ask him why?

Worf: Ask him why? How sentimental.
I say give him problems dental.

Troi: Are any Romulan ships around?
Have scanners said that they've been found?
Or is it Borg or some new threat
We haven't even heard of yet?
I sense no malice in this crew.
Now what are we supposed to do?

Crusher: Captain, please, the Indrans need us.
They cry out, "Help us, clothe us, feed us!"
I can't just sit and let them die!
A doctor MUST attempt -- MUST try!

Picard: Doctor, please, we'll get there soon.

Crusher: They may be dead by Tuesday noon.

*COMMERCIAL BREAK, COMMERCIAL BREAK
HOW LONG WILL THESE DUMB ADS TAKE?*

Worf: The saboteur is in the brig.
He's very strong and very big.
I had my phaser set on stun --
A zzzip! A zzzap! Another one!
He would not budge, he would not fall,
He would not stun, no, not at all!
He changed into a stranger form
All soft and purple, round and warm.

Picard: Did you see this, Mr. Worf?
Did you see this creature morph?

Worf: I did and then I beat him fairly.
Hit him on the jaw -- quite squarely.

Riker: My commendations, Klingon friend!
Our troubles now are at an end!

Crusher: Now let's get our ship to fly
And orbit yonder Indran sky!

Picard: LaForge, please tell me we can go...?

Geordi: Yes, sir, we can.

Picard: Then make it so!

Copyright © 1995 Dave Fuller.

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Page maintained by David Bedno (drseuss@seuss.org).

I like daisies.

Daisies are my favourite flower. They are just such a bright, cheerful and hardy flower.

My parents sent me flowers for my birthday last week--bright yellow Shasta daisies in a yellow smiley-face latte mug.

We got a new camera yesterday. Here are some shots I took while playing with the macro setting. (Yes, there is a rose in there....there were a couple of roses tucked in with the daisies and I really liked this picture.)