Hay + Pumpkins + Wind + Sunflowers= One Great Day!

One windy day at the Pumpkin Patch: My Photo Journal

We are here! We are here! We are here!

Where's all my bloggers at? I am missing reading all of your updates. We are here, gearing up for Halloween and Delta's Birthday! Happy B-day! Also Happy Belated to all of my October birthdays! Teilee's snow goose costume is almost half-way made, and I haven't started on Landis' TNT costume. I figured if I don't get to his, he probably won't mind too much. This week my research paper is due, then next week another test, then the week after that my presentation. As always I just hope to survive without illness! I got my last test back and did much better. I missed some stupid questions, but am happy to be back in the security of an A. Wish me luck on what is promising to be a few crazy busy weeks! Happy Halloween! May the hob gobblin pass over your house without stealing the candy! Ours may get a requested visit, at least to steal the kids candy and deposit it into our laps!
Remember: "The Littlelest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs." ---Be Good Tanyas

Two or more Club

The last 4 out of 5 weeks we have had illness. Five different viruses and counting! Holy cow, we had better have some freakin great immune systems after this fall! Hopefully I will feel well enough this weekend to make the kids' Halloween costumes, visit a pumpkin patch, write my research paper, take a quiz in my online course, organize the garage, etc......... There is no rest for the weary! I had my second test this week in Micro. and I think I did better this time round even though I was still sick. I also missed my first class of the semester this week. I hated doing it, but was so miserable I just needed to stay in bed.

So I wasn't able to post this when I wrote it and now the weekend is over! I was able to accomplish all of the above and more of my to-do list. Here is the thing about having two kids....you are sort of in this exclusive club. The 'beyond 1 club', the 'constantly exhausted club', the 'whoow are people really this busy? club', the 'how in the world do people do this? club'. I could never have imagined being able to (or having to do) all of the things we do in a single day. I could never have achieved the things we did this last weekend in an entire month. When I had Teilee I was able to take what I called a 'down day' every now and then. Watch a TV show, an occasional movie. I haven't had one of those, not even being sick, for at least a year. Kids work you in slowly too. When they are babies they sleep a lot and you think, 'Man this is a lot of work!'. Then they get active and you think, 'What was I complaining about? That was the honeymoon stage!'. Then your second comes and you imagine what crazy amounts of time you had with the first, to engage, to play, to do activities, to work! (Don't kill me parents of one, I remember how damn difficult that was too!) Now it is unfathomable the amount that I do, the lengths to which I stretch my body, my emotions, my person. So anyways about the club.... We members of the club, can say nothing and understand everything about the other parents crazy schedule. We marvel at how successfully the other one can achieve what they do. Be it volunteer work, school, side businesses, working outside the home, working at home, we all share an equal respect for the other parent. This respect is often conveyed at the grocery store, or the post office, or Taco Bell, with a sympathetic smile and courteous holding of the door. When you are a parent of one you are attended to by the adoring public. Awwwww... how cute you baby is...how old is he/she?....How wonderful of a parent you are....Here is the door....Have my chair.....Do you need any help? Parents of two are often shunned. We are the ones with the older obnoxious child that is very clearly craving attention due to the diversion of the second child. What bad parents we are that our first child is so clearly starved for attention that they are jumping up and down shouting at the top of their lungs. Can't we control our brats? This is clearly unacceptable behavior for a two/three/four/five year old. You shouldn't have had more than you could handle. We get a lot less help, a lot less admiration, a lot less consideration from our non-young-children-ridden public. Thus the reason for the club. When parents of the deuce club sit near each other in a restaurant and children run amok through the tables, it is a blessing to have found another sympathetic soul to gaze lovingly at our snotty, loud, obnoxious wild child. They know that under that demeanor there used to exist this perfect, quiet, well behaved, adorable only child. The downside of this club is that it is extremely exclusive. You may be a deuce sympathizer (a rarity and extremely valuable commodity) but unfortunately it is still an impenetrable society that is secret ridden and crazy busy! But here is the deal: We are the deuces, we are constantly busy, wondering how we are doing it, why we are doing it, and when is it going to get better, but we are every so grateful that we haven't entered the club of the tri-spawn!

Weird weather

It's raining leaves and water here simultaneously. It sounds like rain, and looks like only leaves are falling down. It is crazy cool!!

Rubber Ducky

Little rubber ducky on the bathtub floor,

have you made permanent residence on the drain?

Nestled near the metal hair trap

it works hard to grasp every stray strand that could pass,

A veritable fortress collecting stray objects, resting near your yellow squeak,

How is it that you are now a daily friend of my shower?

How odd to consider that you are not a stranger to my day,

you are the comfort that smiles at me from the sudsy water remains of my wash,

The instant reminder of my station in life,

with fondness I gently set you upright to float on the small puddle of water,

I guess the drain can not prevent you from having your lake,

As I could never remove you, my fond friend, from the company of my feet.

Little yellow rubber ducky on the bathtub drain.

old post

Fall is beautiful. It is so nice to have a fall again. Fall in Arizona happens when one day the leaves are on the trees, one day they are on the ground, the next day the cleaning crews come out and vanquish any signs of the fall that may have been. Not that there are many trees in Phoenix other than the ridiculous imported palm trees. How wonderful to rake, and jump, and get crumbled up crunchy leaves down your shirt, pants, underwear, shoes!

I have been singing Katelin's song that she wrote when she was like 4.

I love the rain in the spring time,

I love the leaves in the fall,

I love the snow in the winter,

but I love you most of all.



We have been a computer down, internet down, down to one vehicle, and switching our phone service. We will have a new number soon. Lots of changes happening. I laugh that we are now a four person family with 1 car. After recently reading the 'Poisonwood Bible' (which for some reason the character Leah reminded me of you, Tegan), and "The Kite Runner', really I am just happy to have a car. Also, Nick has been able to drive the other one to work as long as he doesn't have to stop, or then he has to put it in neutral and rev the engine! I am looking at the lack of a vehicle as a way to increase my bike riding mileage and possibly get into better shape. With the vehicle running so poorly we will probably not be able to make any long distance trips. The wagon is running but wouldn't make it that far.
I just can't imagine life being any busier than it is now. Truly I don't have time for this now, but it is one thing that I can do for myself that is fun and refreshing. Maybe some of the more experienced moms with more kids, or older kids can give me hope (even false hope), that things will slow down soon. Although with this last summer and spring, we kinda didn't do much but survive, we are really trying to catch up now!

An 87

Since when did giving the most I had equal an 87. It used to be medium effort= medium A. When did the 'know it all idiot' beat me in class. Since when did I get a B and was pleased. My new attitude makes me very miserable. The time spent away from the kids, away from family time, away from developing children is such precious time. I give everything I have to that time. It has to count, it has to matter, it has to be perfect. This is the expectation I have. When you are so drawn out, the lines blur, the time becomes irrelevant. I know that I have a tendency to be hard on myself, but I really do stand a better chance at getting into CSU graduate program (someday) if I do well in my courses. FOr this last test it didn't help that I had a sinus infection, I really was just lucky that I made it to class that day. Also our teacher is pretty sucky. I write down everything I can that she says in class. When I went back and reviewed previous notes after the class, there were quite a few things that she said weren't going to be on the test and they were key questions worth a mass amount of points. I think she teaches from the standpoint that her lectures are just a review of the information, as they are for her. Several times when we ask her questions about a certain topic she will respond that she isn't a virologist, or a bacteriologist, or whatever and so doesn't have a clue. Yet we are expected to know the subject inside and out. I guess applied knowledge counts for nothing. This is a competition to see who can memorize the book the best! What's funny is the teacher who taught our class last semester gave out test reviews that ended up being identical to the take home test he provided. Maybe I can track him down and ask him to substitute for our teacher, at least for the next test.

Okay, venting is over.
SO I have this theory, maybe I have already discussed this, called my 'thumbprint theory'. This is my theory that basically everyone you meet you leave your thumbprint on them and they in turn carry that out into the world in sort of a rippleing effect. When you are kind to someone, they will carry that good feeling with them and transmit it to someone else. When you are rude, or unkind their experience with your will be negative and that attitude will resonant out from them in their next human encounter. Okay, simplistic, kinda silly, but it helps me to think of that when I am dealing with people that aren't very pleasant. I try to leave a new refreshed happy thumbprint on them. ANyways, this has come up often in the last few weeks as we have been dealing with the computer technitians for my new computer. What a hassle. I have been disrespected, not taken seriously, and was so close to taking my computer back. (I love my new computer and really just need to work out a few kinks!) Also some chick at the children's consignment store had a beef with me, probably I was too nice. Maybe I am just having bad retail experiences, but I can not remember when the last time was that I had a positive experience at a store. Rude cashiers, rude sales people, rude customers, rude, rude, rude, rude, rude. What gives? Maybe my thumbprint is working in reverse right now:)

Puke Statistics

1 Week--2 sick kids--2 sick parents--1 bad stomach flu

25-30 loads of laundry- Each person's bed linens washed minimum of twice

5 random projectile vomit clean ups that didn't hit the toilet or puke bucket (the worst being Teilee's cantaloupey vomit all over Nick and I's bed, bedroom wall, carpet, clothes, etc..)

2 random cat pukes (they just had to get in on the fun too!)

2 sleepless nights for momma

1 alternator needing replacement in vehicle (has nothing to do with the illness, but still one more thing to do in the week)

1 dead fish (again not related, but had to have a fishy funeral. You have been a good fish, spot. Thanks for all the swimming, and pooping, and eating. Have fun with the worms!:))

4 family members happy to be well!!


So we got well, we survived, my hands are dry and prunny from all the cleaning, although you couldn't tell by the state of my house. Survival mode engaged! Thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the sky that I was able to avoid being bed ridden until Nick had somewhat recovered. How is it in times of desperation that my immune system seems to work the best? Mind over matter? Pure luck? Whatever that was, thank FSM!!!