VAC Day Two 101914

Silas was THRILLED to find a child-sized ATV in the yard. If only it had working batteries... It was still great for pretending!

Silas was very eager to feed the horses hay. (He learned that from one of our favorite books The Cow Loves Cookies.) Then, the boys wanted to RIDE A HORSE. Glenn said that Buttons was the best horse for them to ride so, he got it ready for us. Silas rode first. Then, Sydney. Then, the boys rode together. Then, Mike rode with Silas; followed by a ride with Sydney. After that, the two boys rode together again, but got much cockier... this time, holding their hands in the air. (Little stinkers.)

Mommy was going to sit in the front yard to read a book in a rocking chair when Silas got stung by something on the swingset. Thankfully, the night number for our doctor's office provides "tech support" off-hours AND were able to confirm benadryl dosing, as well as the most recent weight of Silas.

At the end of the day, Sydney slept in the big bed with Daddy. Silas slept on the crib mattress on the floor, across the hall near Mommy. Another fun-filled vacation day!

VAC Day One 101814

Mike laughs at me whenever the few times we travel because I am a worrier and an over-packer. I don't find humor in his idea of feeding our children maraschino cherries and olives from the airport bar. Instead, I pack LOTS of things for lots of different scenarios.  

The boys each had their own backpack. Inside, each backpack there were: travel packs (pen, pencil and one of each color crayon), a notebook (blue for Sydney, yellow for Silas... their favorite colors), a drawing pad, a collection of age appropriate printouts from PBSkids.org, a surprise glowing monster toy, a magnetic drawing board, a travel case (toothbrush, toothpaste, travel hairbrush, sunglasses, child-sized fork, child-sized- spoon, empty sippy cup and travel strap), a change of clothes (a sweatshirt, pajamas, socks, underwear, tshirt and pants), and a snack bag for each person.

Mike and I had clorox wipes, kleenex and snacks. (With the recent Ebola scare, I had wanted disinfecting wipes, but didn't know if those are REALLY up to the task of killing off those potent germs. Our children don't comprehend the seriousness of the matter and made sure to touch almost every seat on the airplane, making me cringe with each step. We saw only two women travelers who had facemasks and rubber gloves on in the airport; Mike was prepared to tell the boys that they must be allergic to peanuts, if the boys had started asking questions.)

Mike enjoyed playing the full version of Rush Hour, downloaded onto the iPad. The boys were going to be surprised by a selection of new (PBD kids) iPad apps that I had purchased for this trip.

Our connection flight was delayed because of a fuel leak on the airplane so, we waited for an alternate plane. Eventually, we got to our final destination.

Silas managed to STAY AWAKE from 2:30am CST until 3:30pm EST. Amazing little man!!!!! He slept in the car on our way to the ranch. It didn't take him long to notice THE JEEP once we arrived. For months, he has been infatuated with Jeeps. He tells us that someday, he is going to have a yellow Jeep with a wheel on the back. He was THRILLED when Gary offered to give them a ride in the Jeep. I stayed behind to take a few pictures and to enjoy the quiet of the country. It didn't take long to notice the lack of sirens that we are accustom to in the city.

At the end of the day, Silas freaked out because he wanted to sleep at Nana & Papa's house. Eventually, he settled down. When discussing the Favorite Part of the Day, we were surprised to hear that RIDING IN THE JEEP was his favorite, trumping two airplane rides. 

Kindergarten Field Trip

Silas, Mike and I joined the kindergarten classes for a field trip to Eagle Point Park. The children all had paper plate identification cards and ziploc bag pages to collect various samples from nature. Our group consisted of two adults, four kindergarteners and an eager three year old.

At one point, we joined Mrs. Ripley's group as we searched for THE ONE ancient ginkgo tree in the park. (Thankfully, Mrs. Ripley was offering hints, as she has been there before.)

Eventually, the kids were turned loose onto the playground for some playtime. Then, we did some group pictures. One with ALL THREE kindergarten classes from our school property. Then, one of JUST Sydney's kindergarten class.

We enjoyed a quick snack in the park, as well as a class prayer. Then, Mrs. Ripley told Sydney that she would pray for him each day that he was away from school. Then, we were off... headed across the mighty Mississippi for a family adventure together!

Mom, I know what I'm going to do when I get bigger...

"Mom, I know what I'm going to do when I get bigger..."

"You mean what you're going to be when you grow up?"

"No, I mean... like... when I get bigger... I know I'm going to marry Mary."

"Mary?"

"Yep, I'm going to marry Mary."

"Cool."

"Yep! Mary Guard."

• • • • • • •

Oddly enough, this afternoon at kindergarten pick-up, I mentioned Sydney's intentions to Mary's mom, Dana. She laughed.

"You know, Sydney is on the short list for Mary to marry, too; It's between Sydney and the neighbor boy. Gosh, I don't remember liking boys until much later in life... you know, like second grade."

"Funny!"

"We'll have to see..."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that the chances of us staying in this community are slim as a Mike's promotion or transfer is likely forthcoming; we keep HOPING to make it through the schoolyear. I guess in the event that we DO move away, Sydney will have to look her up someday... when he is in college... so that their paths will cross again. Mike is pleased that her parents are Iowa State fans; for them, I'm sure the feeling is mutual. I find myself wondering if it is a deal-braker that Sydney isn't Catholic.

• • • • • • • •

On the rug at circle time, Sydney sits next to Cecilia. (She told me once that she had brain surgery and they accidentally put a super smart chip inside her brain and that she was part robot; no wonder Sydney likes hanging out with her! He LOVES robots!!!) If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Cecilia has a small crush on Sydney. I didn't want to point it out to him though. He's got his heart set on Mary right now. Chances are, his heart will be broken many times in his lifetime. (I recall a handful of elementary, middle school and high school crushes for myself...)

Mary sits at Sydney's (green) table in kindergarten. She seems to be a delightful little girl. Her twin brother, Max, is also one of Sydney's best friends in kindergarten. Sometimes, Max calls him names. We remind him that he can say "That's not my name. My name is Sydney, but you can call me SYD if you want to."

Many of the kids, Sydney included, mispronounce Sydney's name. Sometimes, a slip of the tongue and he quickly becomes Cindy.

Only Auntie Karin calls him Syd, but I'm guessing he will go by that shortened name as he grows bigger.

He's such an amazing kid! As a parent, it is nice to hear other people take notice of your child and compliment his good nature and good behavior. "He's such a sweetheart" is the most common description. We think so too.

Mysterious old cabinet in the basement

I am embarrassed. We moved into this house in February 2009.

This cabinet has lived in our basement for a long, long time. It came with our house.

 

Oddly enough, we have NEVER LOOKED INSIDE OF IT!!!

A few days ago, I was downstairs - looking for paint. (We keep it stacked on the cabinet.) While I was digging through the pile, I smelled pickles. I peered into the bottom cabinet and found newspapers from 1988 and a roll of some foam wrapping for moving purposes (which MIGHT be useful for us someday). After moving all of the paint cans, I peered inside the upper cabinet.

I had a scene from The Silence of the Lambs in my head as I explored inside the mysterious cabinet. (I was almost afraid to look.) What if there was something DEAD inside? What if there was something ALIVE inside? (I would TOTALLY FREAK OUT if there was a mouse inside!)

Wait... 

it's no wonder WHY it smells like PICKLES...

The cabinet is filled with pickled products and salsa... from 1988!

Some of them were obviously NOT SEALED properly. The lids were corroded and some of them had almost NO LIQUID left in the jars. I transported them all to the garbage can outside. (Dubuque no longer recycles glass. ??? Strange... I know!!!! Mike told me to toss them all into the trash can.)

So, when our garbage man picks up our can on the dark, Wednesday morning, he might think that there is a dead body inside. (He wouldn't be the first to think that it might be JUST THAT.) Then, as he dumps the can into his truck, the smell of vinegar will hit him and he will be relieved to know that it was JUST PICKLES and stuff afterall.)

Messy Painters (Silas and Mommy paint the closet)

Silas helped Mommy paint the inside of the closet on Friday. He was VERY EXCITED to wear his paint shirt and to "help". We splattered a lot of paint all over the can, as well as all over the tarps. After the kids had gone to bed, I discovered that BOTH CATS had white paint on them. They must have explored the empty closet and been intrigued by the tarps on the floor.

Family of Four 2014