We are Family

When I was growing up, we spent every other weekend and many major holidays at my grandparents' farm. Grandma and Grandpa had five kids (one of whom is my father) and 13 grandkids. Eight of us were close in age. In fact, 6 of us are separated by 6 years, with approximately a year between us. My cousins (Rob, Scott, Chris, Deanise, Nicki and Vicki) were also frequently at the farm. As a result, I have many fond memories of weekends spent with my cousins. We pretty much had free run of the farm. I can remember mud fights, rides on the tractor, hours spent playing in the barn, and terrorizing the resident wild animals with our BB guns. I don't think anything was ever wounded (except for Scott), but we sure shot at a lot of things.

However, since Grandma passed away in 2000, I have seen my family less and less. In fact, I haven't seen some of my cousins since before Andrew was born. I have been harassing various people about having a family reunion for quite awhile but with no success. Well, I managed to get them all in the same room at the same time after my brother's wedding and insisted that we needed a get together. The combined authority of Aunt JoAnn and Aunt Patsy was too much and we picked a day for a family reunion. It just so happened to be this past Saturday.

So on Saturday, we all trekked down to the farm. Now, in case you don't live in Texas, we had quite a bit of rain this past weekend. In fact, they got over 7 inches at the farm between Friday morning and Saturday morning. It was incredibly muddy down home. We had a great time.

As is required at all family reunions, there was more food than we could possibly eat. The kids crawled all over the hay in the barn. Scott, Chris and I discussed the merits of square bales over round bales (square bales are much more movable and perfect for building forts). I got to talk to all of my cousins and see their kids (2 of whom I was meeting for the first time). There were rides on the gator and four-wheeler and, once the soon came out, a hay ride. There was also playing in the mud.

I have often been saddened by the fact that Andrew's cousins live in Ann Arbor and that he will not have the wonderful memories of family that I have. But for a brief time this weekend, Andrew got to experience some of my childhood memories (including being helped up the hay by his second cousin Brian while Brian refused to help his own brother Matthew--boy does that sound familiar).

Everything at the family reunion may have been coated in mud and slightly damp, but it was absolutely perfect.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-change....

It's funny how a single event (or series of events) can lead to multiple changes in our lives. Last week, for example, had led to a few big changes in my life. In case I haven't spoken to you recently, last week was a pretty crappy week and that is putting it mildly. My mother was sick the beginning part of the week and then, Wednesday night, I came down with a really nasty gastro-intestinal virus and ended up in the emergency room, after passing out twice, hooked up to an IV because I was dehydrated (I think Adam was little freaked out by the passing out). It was not a good week. And then I worked all weekend (when I probably should have been at home). Those events have led to 3 changes in my life, some bigger than others.

First, I have a new, deep appreciation for water and seem to constantly be thirsty. I am drinking way more water now than I did before the illness. I don't know if this is a lingering effect of the dehydration or simply something wrong with my head (keep your comments to yourself), but I seem to be thirsty all of the time. I probably didn't drink enough water before so this is a good thing.

Second, I lost about 6-7 pounds in 24 hours. While I would never recommend a gastro-intestinal virus as part of a weight loss program, it worked for me (I could probably bottle it and sell it to models/actresses...hmmmm). I decided to take advantage of the sudden and unexpected weight loss and began a diet/exercise program. I am using the Wii Fit program (so much fun) and watching what I eat. We will see how it goes.

And finally, I decided to quit my job. Trying to juggle a job, care for my family (and myself), and not put too much stress on Adam was too much. When I quit my career 2 years ago, it was because I wanted to spend more time with my family and be there to take care of them. Last week, after being at the hospital with my mom for part of the week, being in the hospital myself, and Adam having to miss work 3 days in a row to take care of Andrew and me, I then had to work all weekend. Instead of taking it easy over the weekend and giving Adam a little down time (and time to catch up on work), I was at a job that I don't really need. I suddenly remembered that my family is the most important thing in my life. Clearly, it was time to realign my priorities. And so I did.

So beware the next time you catch a stomach virus, it could lead to more changes than you ever anticipated.

The Zoo through the Eyes of a 3 year old

Yesterday, we took Andrew to the San Antonio Zoo for his 3rd birthday. I love the zoo and I was so excited. San Antonio is about 1 and 1/2 hours from our house and the zoo opens at 9:00 so we left at 7:00 am. Bright and happy we set off for the zoo, singing "We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo" by Raffi and talking about the animals we would see. Then we got stuck in traffic and missed the exit and it ended up taking us 2 and 1/2 hours to get there. Did I mention Andrew whined for the last hour of the drive about how he wanted out of his seat or he wanted to go back home? Forget waterboarding, if you want a confession from someone just lock them in a small space with a whiny 3-year old for an hour. I would have admitted to any number of sins just to get out of that car.

So we finally get to the zoo, hop out of the car and notice all of the school buses there from a local junior high. That's right, a bunch of hormonal 7 and 8th graders with bad attitudes and, if you ask me, even worse taste in clothes. So we hung out in the gift shop for a few minutes to let the school kids move on.

Finally, we get to the first animal exhibit and it's a bear! So exciting! "Andrew look at the bear! Do you see the bear??!!" Andrew then says back, somewhat excitedly, "Mommy, poo! Poo poo in there! Need to clean up." Poo? Seriously? Yes, upon seeing a live bear, my child commented on the excrement in the space. I mean, the bear is cool and all, but will you look at all of that poo.

This became a recurring theme for the remainder of the trip. "Look at the elephant Andrew!" "Daddy, poo poo in there. Need to clean up." "Andrew, do you see the rhino?" "Look poo poo. Need to clean up." Andrew pointed out the poo in almost every exhibit we saw. The only ones where he didn't talk about it were the ones where the poo was not visible (such as the butterfly exhibit).

However, we did see some lovely butterflies and Andrew found the monkeys very entertaining. The zoo has a large, walk-in bird cage full of lorikeets (a small type of parrot). So we bought some bird food for the lories and walk into the cage. I set the container of food down on a ledge and then showed Andrew how you can stroke the birds feathers. So Andrew goes to touch one of the birds and Adam says "Be gentle Andrew or they might bite you." At which point Andrew jumps back and refuses to come within 3 feet of a bird. Oh well.

All in all it was a good day. I love the zoo and hopefully Andrew will too. And if any one from the San Antonio Zoo is reading this, my son thinks you have a little cleaning to do.

Go sit in the corner

I was chatting with Andrew today on the way home from the grocery store and almost ran a red light. I noticed it just in time and was able to safely stop, but I commented to Andrew that I would have been in big trouble had I run the light.

My son promptly told me to go sit in the corner. Furthermore, he informed that I would not be allowed to watch Tom and Jerry tonite, that Andrew would be watching it all by himself because I was in big trouble.

It is a very strange thing to hear your own words coming out of your child's mouth and directed at you. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go sit in the corner.

The Best Laid Plans...

I am a big believer in the plan. I always try to have a plan. I am not into the spontaneous thing that much. My friend Kim always says "Plan your work and work your plan" and I couldn't agree more. And it just really bums me when a plan goes wrong.

Well, recently, it would seem that the rest of the world is set on thwarting every plan I make. Here lately nothing has gone according to plan. For example, last Friday my parents were going to keep Andrew overnight so that Adam and I got a free evening and a free morning (yippee). But Mom got sick so we had to pick Andrew up in the evening (boo).

Then, I had planned on getting my gardening and some yard work done on Wednesday. My parents always come over on Wednesday to hang out with Andrew so there is someone to entertain him while I work. Excellent time for gardening and yard work. What happened? Their cable broke and the cable man was coming Wednesday. There goes the plan.

Today, I hired a babysitter so I could have a little time to clean the house (again, easier to do without Andrew's help) and probably spend a little time scrapbooking. Nope, not going to happen. The baby sitter did not show up. Another plan blown to hell.

At this rate, I will never accomplish anything again. Adam and I have big plans to do spring cleaning this weekend and finish up our landscaping (including planting the vegetable garden). Any bets on whether or not that's going to happen?

Having the Plague

I found out yesterday that I have the plague. Okay, I don't actually have the plague, I have pink eye, but I might as well have the plague. In fact, I would probably have more visitors if I had the plague. Having pink eye is social death. No one wants to come near you. There is a 10 foot exclusion zone around you that no one will enter, with the exception of Andrew who has no idea what the plague, I mean pink eye, is.

Announce that you have pink eye and suddenly your invitation to social events are revoked. You are instructed not to come into work. You are expected to do loads of laundry. No one wants you cooking dinner or washing the dishes (ok, those last two are pretty positive side effects). I find it all rather amusing.

So, when you finish reading this post make sure you wash your hands. You don't want to catch the plague, I mean pink eye.

Momma's Little Helper

It has been awhile since I lasted posted, ok, it's been 22 days since I last posted. But it is not because I have been lazy. Far from it. It is February, which in Texas means it is almost summer, and I have started working on my yard. It's kind of a yearly thing with me. In February, I get all excited about growing things in my yard and plan new flower beds, plant vegetables, etc. By July, reality has set in, it's 100 degrees outside, dry and everything is dead. Ok, some things are still alive but that's because we have a sprinkler system, not because of any effort on my part. But right now it is February and hope springs eternal.

I frequently drag my husband and father into these little projects. This year, Adam built me a new vegetable garden. I like raised beds, because the dirt out here is so poor, so Adam nailed a bunch of 8-foot long landscape timbers together for me. And then I had to get some new dirt to fill in my new vegetable garden so I ordered some for delivery.

This past Saturday morning, a dump truck delivered 11 yards of dirt and compost and deposited it on my driveway. The fact that we couldn't fit it in the bed of our truck but had to have it delivered by a dump truck should tell you something. Yep, 11 yards is a lot of friggin' dirt...a whole lot. I would estimate the pile to be about 4.5 feet high and 10 feet long. So, now I have all of this dirt sitting in my driveway and an empty vegetable garden in the back yard which means the dirt has got to be moved.

Which is where Momma's little helper comes in, and I am not talking about the bottle of bourbon in my liquor cabinet (that's Momma's big helper), I am talking about Andrew. The appearance of a dump truck in his front yard left him speechless and the big pile of dirt it left behind...well, he was just giddy with excitement.

We immediately pulled out shovels and the wheel barrow and began shoveling dirt. Andrew ran to get his shovel and wheel barrow out of the backyard and pitched right in. He then followed Adam into the backyard pushing his own wheel barrow. Of course, Andrew made it about 1/4 of the way to the garden before he decided his wheel barrow was too heavy and Momma needed to carry it for him. After that he switched to his dump truck which he could just push across the ground. Of course, because Andrew was "helping," everything took twice as long to do.

Did I mention we had overestimated the amount of dirt we would need? Way overestimated. So, Saturday night saw us at Home Depot buying rocks to build raised flower beds. By Sunday, we had recruited assistance. My father came over to help and we even sucked in Adam's dad. By lunch time on Sunday, the new vegetable garden was full of dirt, the old vegetable garden had a nice thick layer of compost added, two flower beds had been built and filled with dirt and we had started spreading dirt across the yard to level it out.

And Momma's little helper was out like a light. He took a four-hour nap. In fact, Andrew napped so well I had him out moving dirt on Monday. I think moving dirt could become a regular occurrence at our house which is fortunate since I still have a huge pile of dirt sitting on my driveway.