Saturday, June 28, 2008

Tag! You're it!

I've been tagged! As I am new to blogging, I am new to the whole meme tagging. Not to say I haven’t been “tagged” in emails with this sort of thing, but first time for a blog. I don’t have anyone to tag though, at least not six people. I am sure as I blog I will get to know more bloggers. Thanks, Piaku (Mandy), for tagging me!

The rules are to link the person who sent it to you, mention these rules in your blog, then (the fun part) tell us about 6 random, unspectacular quirks that you possess. Then tag 6 others to do the same.

Quirks. . .let’s see. . . where do I begin? I have so many, but somehow had a hard time thinking of any. I was awake a few nights trying to think of some. . .oh wait. . . most of my quirks ARE sleep related.

1) I often lie awake thinking about meaningless stuff. I'm like a computer downloading and processing information from the whole day. I get my best ideas when I can’t fall asleep. I also think of all of the things I need to do, didn’t get done, etc. I should keep a notepad beside the bed. . .

2) I have to have COMPLETE darkness to fall asleep. I can’t stand the littlest amount of light. Funny because when I was a child I was TERRIFIED of the dark and had to have a nightlight.

3) I need some type of white noise to sleep – ocean waves, fan, etc. I have one of those sound soothers. Let me just tell you, if I forget to pack it when I travel, then I might as well forget sleeping too.

4) I like my drinks, no matter what they are, ICE cold. Except tea, which can either be Hot or Cold. Nothing luke warm though. Yuck!

5) I still pick off the crust on my bread. Don’t even realize I am doing it until I look at my plate and am mortified see it.

6) My right leg is longer than my left leg. I discovered this a few years ago when I had physical therapy because of hip and back pain. I guess years of one leg taking a bigger step than the other takes its toll.

There you go! My "unspectacular" quirks. Now it is someone else’s turn. Since I have no one to tag, I am challenging my readers to post a quirk or two in the comment section (or if you know my email then you can just send them to me). Come on, play along! You know you want to! : )

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Dinosaur bones!

The girls have been having so much fun playing with the dirt in a bare spot in our yard. One day they made a mud pit by pouring bucket after bucket of water in it. Yesterday while we were out playing in the backyard, they were at it again. Only this time they were "digging." I didn't realize it until Kiki came over to me and said "Mommy! I think I found a dinosaur bone or rock or something! Maybe it is a dinosaur tooth!" Whatever it was, she was determined to get it and they both dug until they managed to pull it out. To their disappointment it was just a "big rock". Kiki was pretty proud of her find though, and had to wash it off in the little baby pool and sprinkler before leaving it to dry on her picnic table. Boo wanted to find some rocks too, so they continued to dig and found many more treasures. Needless to say these little treasures are now in a pretty rock garden nice pile on our front porch, so they don't "blow away." Ahhhh. . . to be young again. . .







Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Two Dancing Princesses

Kiki and Boo had their dance recital this past Saturday and really had a blast! This was Kiki's second recital and Boo's first. Both girls had a chance to show off what they had learned in Ballet and in Tap. Kiki acted like a pro and didn't really seem nervous, although she said she was a little bit. She has such a fun time performing I don't think she really has time to be nervous. Boo was definitely nervous beforehand but did well once she was on stage. She quickly found where we were sitting and waved to us all throughout her first performance! Kiki gave us one little wave and smile but mostly tried to act "professional" and not look at us. Needless to say they were both very proud of their hard work and of course so were we!

I only wish I had pictures of them dancing on the stage, but between the dim lighting in the auditorium and my camera, they wouldn't have turned out anyway. I have great video though - I may post it if I can ever figure out how! Enjoy the pictures. . .


Kiki in ballet costume (angel) before recital


Boo in ballet costume (pixie) before recital


Kiki (in tap costume) celebrates on stage after recital


A proud Lioness


Are we done posing for pictures yet?


Kiki with her teacher Miss Michele


Boo with her teacher Miss Susan

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Missing

Here is a frightening statistic: " A child goes missing every 40 seconds in the U.S, over 2,100 per day." Per DAY! That is unbelievable. How many of these kids are actually found? I tried to find a statistic on that, but couldn't. I hope there are many happy endings and that many are found, but I know many of these children never are.

A three year old neighbor girl, who lives just down the street, was missing for about two to three hours on Tuesday afternoon. With my heart in my stomach, a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I watched out the window feeling helpless, as the police combed the area with the dogs, sniffing around for any scent of the girl, and as a helicopter circled above. The blonde little girl wandered away from her yard (which just so happens to have retention pond behind it) while playing outside. Many thoughts entered my mind and I tried so hard to stay positive, full well knowing there was a possibility she was at the bottom of that pond, or that someone had snatched her away. Fortunately her ending was a happy one. . . she was found a few houses down in a neighbors (fenced in) backyard. Neighbors who were NOT home. She was assumed to have been in the house at one point as the police had already searched that yard once and didn't find her. How she got in is anyone's guess. An unlocked door maybe?

Let me just say this was a GOOD time to remind the girls of some important lessons. I have lectured them many times on never leaving the yard without me or Bill, not even going outside WITHOUT us, not going near the ponds, etc. We've had many talks about "don't talk to strangers" and how they should always be within reach in public places, and within my eyesight at all times, even when just in our backyard.

Some may say I am paranoid or over protective, but how can you be in this day and age? Here's another statistic: "In excess of 800,000 children are reported missing each year and another 500,000 go missing without ever being reported." So if I want to stick close to my children, can you really blame me?

I have to say it was nice to see people in the neighborhood pulling together for her. Teenagers were riding their bikes all around looking, construction workers repeatedly circled the neighborhood, etc. Bill was working from home that day and walked and drove all around the neighborhood. I almost took the girls out and went looking myself. Instead I stayed put, thinking someone should be here in case she came to our house. I called every neighbor I knew, knowing the more people looking for her, the better the chance was that she'd be found. Kiki was worried and spent much of the time looking out her upstairs bedroom window, in hopes that she might somehow be able to find her. Boo looked out the back and side windows too. And of course we prayed. Over and over again we prayed. When she was found, Kiki jumped for joy and said "Mommy our prayers worked!" If only it were that simple, if all kids that went missing had this same happy ending.

So. . . keep your children close, and pray that they stay safe. I know I will.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Take Me Out To The Ball Game


Last week, Grampa Jack was in town visiting, and we thought it would be fun to take him to an Indy Indians baseball game. Little did we know that Mother Nature wanted to interfere and turn this favorite American pastime into a weather show. The day started out with sunny skies and sweltering heat warm temperatures. We took Boo to dance class, had lunch, and played outside in the scorching sun backyard. Our original plan was to meet Uncle Mark and the cousins at his house and then caravan to the game. Daddy would be coming from work and meet us downtown.

Glitch #1: Uncle Mark was flying back from a trip overseas and had several flight delays, so now it was time for Grampa, the girls and I to play taxi. With some help from Grampa's new GPS , we first picked up Sam, who was at a friends house on one side of town. Then we met Noah at his Dad’s house in another part of town, and then drove downtown to get the baseball tickets. Finally, we trekked back up to yet a different part of town to pick up Clare who was at a friend’s birthday party. PHEW! We were hungry so we decided to go to a nice fancy, nutritious restaurant Burger King. After we ate, it was time to fill our gas tank and head back downtown for the game.

Glitch #2: During this time of filling our tanks and tummies, the once sunny skies slowly turned an ominous dark purple and green. Bill called with updates on tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings that were chasing him all the way to the game. The sky grew darker and darker as we drove. By the time we arrived downtown, sirens were going off! Yaaay! Just in time for us to sit in the UPPER deck of the stadium!

Glitch#3: We parked underground (at least our car would be safe) and went into the stadium where Bill and Uncle Mark were waiting. Just as we sat down, it started raining, but it was just sprinkling, so we stayed put. Not for long! The rain turned from a trickle to a downpour. The stadium officials encouraged those on the lawn or upper deck to take cover, so we went downstairs for a bit. The storm moved through quickly and we returned to our seats. Not to say it was over though. Throughout the entire game, we were treated to a lightning show. Some of the most spectacular lightning I’ve ever seen, streaked across the Indianapolis skyline. I usually hate storms, but for some reason I wasn’t nervous about the lightning. Maybe because it was mostly cloud to cloud lightning, or that the storm mostly seemed to miss us. Certainly didn’t faze the baseball players, as they played on, business as usual.

Glitch#4: The rain really started coming down just as the game was ending. We moved up to the empty seats just under the awning, or short roof above. That kept us fairly dry until it was time to leave the game. We exited the stadium to be greeted by a nice steady rain shower. Grampa and I had a great time carrying the two girls through the driving rain to our nice dry underground parking spot, which was of course about a 1/2 mile away. We really didn't get too wet though. Who would have thought two little girls would make such great umbrellas!?


I really enjoyed taking my girls to a game and teaching them about the sport. It is one of the simplest to follow and understand, yet so difficult to explain to a child. Boo had lots of questions:

B: “ What’s that?”

Me: “Daddy’s baseball glove”

B: “What’s a baseball glove?”

Me: “A glove that a baseball player wears to protect his hand when catching a ball.”

B: “Why does he need to protect his hand?”

Me: “Because the ball is moving very fast and it actually hurts when you catch it”

B: “Oh ok. So why is daddy bringing it to the game?”

Me: “So if a ball comes our way, he can catch it!”

Much, much, later in the game. . .

B: “Why isn’t Daddy catching it yet?”

Me: (chuckling) “well. . .because none of the balls have come this way"

B: “Oh.” (Thinks a minute, then points to third baseman) “why is that guy standing there and not doing anything?”


. . . and so it went on. Lots of questions, lots of answers, and lots of laughs! No peanuts or crackerjacks but we enjoyed some lemon ice, popcorn, a spectacular lightning show, fireworks and of course a baseball game (which our team won!). Mother Nature sure tried hard to ruin our evening but we made the best of it!



Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Stormy Weather


Ahhhh. . . summer! I love summer! No school, sleeping in everyday, plenty of sunshine and time spent outside, swimming at the pool. You name it; I love it. I don't even mind the 95 degrees and high humidity. I hate cold weather, so I very much look forward to anything but cold. The only thing I don't look forward to is, you've got it: thunderstorms. Rain doesn't bother me at all, as long as it rains just enough so I don't have to water my lawn. However, I could do without the storms.

I HATE storms. They scare me, especially the tornadoes. I have always hated them. I remember being a child and hovering in the basement, scared to death my house would be gone when I came back up after the storms had passed. My Mom would just stay upstairs, not worried in the least because "she would see it coming" and then would take cover if need be. See it coming? Seriously!? I don't WANT to see it coming! By then it is too late, there is too little time to spare. I remember screaming and crying and begging for her to come downstairs, but she wouldn't.

But at least we HAD a basement. In this lovely state, houses don't automatically come with basements like they do other places. We have no basement, and really no place to go when bad weather hits. We have this great place under the stairs, a small closet. But since we have no basement, that nice little handy closet serves as storage for things you might otherwise find in a BASEMENT. So there is really no place for us to go. In desperate times I've all but emptied the closet so we could go in there, but as our family has grown, so has the amount of stuff we store in the closet. So much for taking cover quickly.

The only thing worse than thunderstorms are thunderstorms at night, or in the middle of the night. Then you CAN'T see them coming. You can only take cover and pray that the storm misses your house. I also worry about lightning. I know the chances of lightning hitting the house is rare. At least I thought it was until a few years ago, when it hit the ground two houses down and fried our cable modem and everything attached to it. And last summer when lightning hit a house just a few doors down. So then the pessimist in me says maybe chances aren't so small after all.

So as I write this, storms are lighting up the radar with bright red. Tornadoes have already touched down in counties south of ours. I just looked up at the TV and saw a picture a viewer took of a tornado. Not a pretty sight. The meteorologists just said that we will be dealing with these storms until well into the night, or I should say, wee hours of the morning. How in the world the girls have slept through it all so far is beyond me. So far, so good, no storm warnings here. Only that ominous tornado "watch".

Looks like I won't be getting any sleep tonight. . .