No Musical Instruments until You're Married!

Seth was snuggled up in a chair with Papa on Saturday evening. Papa recounted the following conversation to us. I've added some dramatic effect for fun:

"Papa.."

"Yes, Seth?"

"I know something that evun most 6th grade kids don't know."

"What's that?"

"Well...it's about the "S-word"."

I'm sure at this point, Papa is sweating a little bit. But my child proceeds in his confidence.

"You know...the 'S-word'--S...A...X! My mom and dad and Zac told me about it."

Now you know how to prevent teen pregnancy...keep your kids out of band!



"

Thanksgiving in Hot Springs

We had a great Thanksgiving down in Hot Springs with the McGregor family. As usual, it was a food and laugh fest. We had a smashing Thanksgiving dinner with salsa verde chicken enchiladas, tortilla soup, Spanish rice, refried beans, Mexican salad and out of this world sweet potato chips, followed by a sopapilla cheesecake. Mmm-mmm! It was even gluten-free (except for the cheesecake--the boys had GF chocolate cupcakes). On Friday, my parents took the boys to Mid America Museum. Dan and I went for a while, then we joined Scott at Hot Springs National Park and toured a bathhouse. Dan and I climbed Hot Springs Mountain (save your impressive points--it was only half a mile to the summit) and Scott studied up for his class in an Adirondack chair on the porch of the bathhouse.

Friday night was our annual Telephone Pictionary tournament, and this year did not fail to disappoint...Mom ended up having to run to the bathroom because she was laughing so hard. Zac was a full participant this year and Seth assisted me in the drawing. It doesn't take much for baser, bodily function humor to take over when Dan and Scott are involved, and this year's howler was an illustration by Zac--let's just say that it involved a prostate exam and a 10 year old boy's interpretation of that. Let your imagination run wild. After we recovered from laughing for about 10 minutes straight, we decided to call it a night...I don't think anything could have topped that.

It was a great, memory-making time with our family, and we were able to end the weekend with a great (but short) visit to Searcy, HU basketball game and more family love. We are very blessed!

Zac Harnden, Math Genius

Zac and his best friend Ben scored the highest in 4th grade in the Math Olympiad competition today! Way to go Zac!

A Pox on Rice Krispies

Seth came home today and when he got to his homework, everything set him off. He was fussy and couldn't concentrate. Twice he stormed upstairs after I got onto him and crawled into bed. I had to get him out of bed to finish his chores and homework.

Later he came to me with a confession.

"Mom," he said, "today Mrs. Britt (his teacher) gave me that rice bar."

I groaned. "Seth, you mean a Rice Krispie Treat?" (Background: about 3 months ago, poor Zac read a label for Seth at a church function and he missed the malt flavoring that is always on the Rice Krispie Treats. It's made from barley and contains gluten. This is one of the many reasons GF diets are hard to get right without some good education in the beginning.)

"Yes." He looked sheepish. "She read the label and said it didn't have any gluten, so I ate it."

Well, it all made sense now. That's how he gets when he eats gluten, sleepy and grouchy.

"Seth, it has barley in it. It doesn't have wheat. That's why she thought it was gluten-free. You can't ever eat it, even if someone tells you it's okay." Poor guy. He so wanted to believe.

Well, he'll survive. And the teacher was just trying to help, so I won't bring her in to this. Seth and Zac are getting quite capable at policing themselves these days. So I don't think he'll be making that mistake again.

But why, oh, why, does barley on Rice Krispie treats even have to be an issue? Is it really that critical an ingredient? Small aggrevations, I guess.

The View from Age 5

Blane's perspective never continues to amaze me.

"Mom, does God have to duck his head when He walks under the clouds?"

"Mom, can you fly higher than God?"

"Is God the biggest boss of everybody?"

"I think God weighs a ton."

And the kicker....

"Mom," he said one morning at breakfast, "does Grampy know how big God is now?"


"Yes, Blane," I replied in wonder, "I guess he does."

Superlative

Monday evening, Papa called and talked to the boys, as he often does. As usual, he asked Blane about preschool (he goes Tuesday/Thursday all day) and I heard Blane say, "Yes, I'm going tomorrow. It's the best thing I've ever done."

Sonshine School is worth every penny!

Oink, Oink

Ah, it's wonderful when you find your family caught in the latest disease hype. Yes, it's true: novel H1N1 influenza virus (a.k.a., the swine flu), has hit the Harnden family, settling in on one bouncy member of our brood--Seth.

Seth woke up on Sunday with a bad headache, cough and a high fever. The flu suspicion began right away, but we confirmed it on Monday when his fever persisted and I talked to the pediatrician's office. Yes, the nurse said, it's all but sure to be H1N1 because the regular flu hasn't roused itself yet for the season. A test may or may not have confirmed it, but there didn't seem to be any point in pursuing that. We've kept him home, given him lots of fluids, and he has caught up on all his favorite cartoons. Seventy-two hours plus 24 more fever-free ones, and he can return to school. Thursday. Thursday....

Just kidding; it's all been fine. Fortunately, Scott was planning to take off Tuesday anyway (that's the day I work), so he and Seth hung out and did house stuff yesterday (mostly with Seth on the couch or resting in a chair outside). His fever was normal this morning, so he looks to be on the mend. All in all, I think he did better with the swine flu than he did with the regular flu a few years ago.

And he didn't even grow a pig snout! Heh.

Eight Years and Holding

"Your baby blues, so full of wonder
Your curly cues, your contagious smile
And as I watch, you start to grow up
All I can do is hold you tight
Knowing
Storms will rage and
Clouds will race in
But you will be safe
In my arms."

"In My Arms"
Plumb

Today is the 8th anniversary of the terrorist attack on our country. Tonight we all watched a compilation of videos shot in New York as the towers were attacked and felled. Even eight years hence, the fear was acute. It spread out from that TV and affected all of us. We want the kids to know that there is evil. We want them to know why we fight. And Scott and I remembered how we felt on that day.

We were in our rental house in Idaho. I woke up to the bright sunshine and the phone. "Turn on the TV," said Scott. "Planes flew into the World Trade Towers."

Seth was a tiny, 5 months old. I grabbed him, went to the living room and flipped on the TV. I don't know how long I sat, and really don't remember all the feelings I had right at that moment. I saw at least one, maybe both of the Towers come down. At the time, I was oblivious to how long it would take to evacuate a building of that size....really, I thought everyone was probably out. So as the tower crumbled, I thought, "There goes man's monument, crashing to the ground." There was no realization at the time that there were people trapped in there. It was Babel's Tower to me in that raw moment. Only later did I learn.

Zac couldn't understand any of it; he could barely talk at the time. So his beautiful, crystal morning continued while I watched and held my baby. I ran to get gas...I didn't know if we'd be able to get it later. I went to a shower that night for a friend. Her mother prayed, "Lord, we don't know what has happened, but we leave it in Your All-Capable Hands." The words stuck with me..."All Capable". I wanted to believe that, but it was hard.

The days that followed were eerie. We lived on one of the highest ridges or "benches", as the locals call them, on the south side of Boise proper. All flights came over our house, but the skies were silent for two weeks, as you all know. It felt like forever--missing those sounds. But I could stand out in the yard and watch the F-16s scream overhead (they really do scream) as they scrambled out of Gowen Field to our east. It was majestic and awe inspiring. I wondered if we would have to fight. I wondered if I would have to fight, for our very home. Now it seems silly, but we all know that then, it wasn't a crazy thought. None of us knew what was coming. But I decided, in those weeks, I would fight...to the death if I had to.

I wondered if my boys would go to war. How could this be solved quickly? This wasn't some country we could march in and defeat. It was nebulous and murky. There was no assurance the threat would ever go away.

So much has come and gone, and yet we live today, still free and prospering. Tonight I wondered if it was too much for the boys. "No," said Scott, "this is life. They need to know."

They do. But a child's loss of innocence, destroyed in chunks as the realities of our fallen world smashes against it, is still hard for a parent to watch. And I can't protect them completely. I can't keep them safe in my arms alone. But I am learning, slowly but steadily, He is. All-capable, all-sufficient. Above it all and utterly in control. I don't understand much at all and I doubt so often, but I cling to that hope for myself and my boys. Every day in good or bad. I hope they too will feel His arms underneath, holding them.

Swimmin Seth

Since Zac and Seth have been back, we've been working more intensely on improving Seth's swimming. He's taken three private instructor lessons this month with fantastic results.

While we were in Texas, Seth discovered the magic of swimming goggles. I guess the eye-opening part of swimming underwater has been part of his hesitation. At Mike Avery's pool, he slapped on a pair of goggles and saw a whole new world. So we ran quickly to the store after we got back home and bought him some.

Three sessions later, our boy who previously was loathe to stick his head underwater was going off the diving board with a noodle under his arms. He still needs to work on the mechanics of breathing, but he can actually submerge and ambulate now. The next Micheal Phelps (minus the bong).

Grandparent Tour

I guess I should start with the older boys' Grandparent tour. Last summer, of course, they went to the Harndens for B-ball camp for one week. Mom and Dad were still in the condo, so we did not do the McGregor side last year. I remember being glad to see them when we picked them up, but at the same time thinking, "Wow, that was quick!"

Well, this year, we doubled the time they were gone. Greg and Susie had them again for HU B-ball camp, then the four grandparents rendezvoused south of Little Rock for the hand-off on Sunday. Mom and Dad kept them at the farm for the following week, then we went down for a long weekend to pick them up.

The first week was (funny enough) their "city" week--I'll explain that in a minute. Lots of basketball camp, swimming and building of Legos. The boys even had a day and a night they had to spend with just Papa, while Nana was on an overnight conference for her work. All I know is there were lots of peanut butter, cottage cheese, McDonald's and ESPN involved. Papa survived and the boys had a great time.

As I mentioned, the grandparents traded out at a Cracker Barrel in Benton, AR, on Sunday. Mom and Dad took them home to the farm, starting their "country" week (since it was more countrified than Searcy, I made Searcy the "city" week).

Dad had them in straw hats and picking blueberries that night when they got home. Over the course of the next week, they camped, swam, picked lots of berries, fished and built birdhouses. When we arrived on Thursday night, the boys looked glowing and happy, just like you should when you are kids in the summer. I even got a real hug out of Zac!

We had a fantastic weekend with our family before we headed home on Sunday. Ben and his family came up on Saturday, so all the kids were able to hang out together. Over the course of the weekend, we went to Bodacious BBQ, Caddo Lake, went swimming, checked out the Robertson's amazing farm next door and worshipped together on Sunday with so many of my old friends and parents of friends.

Did I think the two weeks went too fast? Well, the first week was busy and went by very quickly. But as we entered the second week, I started really longing for those little guys. Blane was very lonely, even though it's usually a daily throw-down with Seth here in the summer. All three of us were ready to be reunited by the time Thursday came. What would I do without my guys if it was the whole summer?

I'm so glad we have two sets of grandparents who love and enjoy my precious boys so much! Next year, it might be time to send Blaney along with them. Then what will I do?

Hello again

Yes, we're still around. It's been kinda a crazy summer, but I guess that's always the case! I'll try to catch up with events, now that we only have about 3 weeks left before school starts.

Life Skills and 5-card Draw

They say summer days are lazy, but not for us. We seem to be pretty packed from morning til night. Part of that is swimming lessons for these first two weeks (which pretty much absorb our whole morning), but we are also really racheting up with chores and learning life skills this summer.

Each day, the boys have their daily chores (for which we've started a point system by which they can earn their allowance). On top of that, we have a chore focus for 6 days of the week. These are life skill sorts of things--laundry on Monday, meal planning, shopping and prep on Tuesday, weeding and yardwork, cleaning out the bonus room, bathroom and other chores. On top of that, we will have special projects, which will allow the boys to earn extra money in additon to their allowances--cleaning out closets, raking up leaves, etc.

But there's time for play too. We are planning a day trip to Fort Osage in July--we've checked out several books on Lewis and Clark at the library and are trying to read up on that. We watched Disney's Treasure Island that we checked out from the library as well. We'll make some time for playdates, maybe catch a matinee one of these afternoons and go to "Old McDonald's" for hot fudge sundaes.

Today, Zac wanted to learn a card game. Before the school year ended, he "bought" (with Briarwood "Bucks") a deck of cards (cut into the shape of a flip flop) and asked me how to play a card game.

Well, most of the card games I know (not many) need 4 competent players. We had 3...and that third one was a bit on the edge :) So I thought we'd try poker. Yeah, yeah, I know you're supposed to have 4, but the stakes weren't high: plastic pirate men. That's the only thing we could find in quantity to gamble with.

Now, I have only played poker a handful of times, so I am no expert. Fortunately, Zac pulled out his trusty "Dangerous Book for Boys" book, which had the rules for 5-card draw, plus nicely illustrated examples of all the card combos. Perfect. We put our initial pirates in the pot and went around the table. Unfortunately, the boys learned after one go-around that folding meant you lose, and I won the pot with a pair of aces. I briefly explained the concept of bluffing, and dealt again. I had to fold because I had nothing, but Seth won the next pot of pirates with three of a kind.

At that point we had to put away our game to fold laundry, but the guys got kinda hooked. As long as they play for pirates, I'm fine with it. I just better not find them gambling away their allowance at Argosy.

Swimming in the Ole' Swimmin' Hole

It's that time of year again...time for sunscreen and towels that smell like chlorine. School was out on May 27th and we started swimming lessons on June 1.

Zac is in Level 3 this year. He's getting into the real stuff...the freestyle, backstroke, diving, butterfly. We lucked out big time because he is only one of two kids in his class. So he's practically getting private lessons for the group price. He has really blossomed this year and I've seen a huge improvement in his swimming technique. A natural pool rat, he loves to be in the water and would be happy to while away hours at the pool.

Seth and Blane are in the beginners class, Levels 1/2 (Zac wanted me to put in the distinction that Blane is in Level 1 and Seth is in Level 2). Unfortunately, we did not luck out on numbers in that class. I was secretly horrified when 7 preschoolers and a 6 year old showed up. The poor little lifeguard did her best but she was simply outnumbered.

The next day she had reinforcements--a second lifeguard came to help. This made a big difference, but it's still a large class--10 (sometimes 11) kids, all but two who are under 5.

Seth is more comfortable in the water this year, but he's still struggling with getting his head wet. He just hates it, and that's really the thing that is holding him back. We told him that his goal for the summer was to feel comfortable just going under--no strokes necessary. We put the fire under him by offering incentives for his hard work. The last two sessions he has made a concerted effort to get his whole head wet, which is a big improvement for him. I think if we can just get him comfortable with being under the water, the strokes will follow with much more ease.

Mr. B is learning, but is basically just blowing bubbles and kicking at this point. I think we may try a later session this summer, when the class sizes are typically smaller. For Seth, we'll probably do some private lessons after the Grandparents Tour.

Life

As I've stated before, this is not a political blog. I write things down so that those who love my boys can catch a glimpse of their lives, whether to laugh or cry. Besides, I don't really think anyone else wants to really read my views--one of thousands out there. What makes my thinking on those subjects unique?

But this is a topic that moves me, because it does, in a way, relate to them.

The murder of George Tiller, the famous late term abortion provider in Wichita, has been a hot news item in the national and local news (the suspect was apprehended here in KC). Violence against abortion clinics and abortion doctors always angers me--is there anything less pro-life than murder, even if it is someone you disagree with? The egregiousness reaches sky-high levels when you read that he was shot at church, with his wife and friends present. This cannot be tolerated; the man who did this should be brought to full justice.

Last night we were watching TV as this case was discussed, and the commentator mentioned that Dr. Tiller had terminated 60,000 fetuses in his career. Pro-choice or pro-life, this number is enough to take the breath away. Even more, Dr. Tiller was one of only 3 late-term abortion providers in the country. In my understanding, abortion after viability is rarely considered "medically necessary" by those who are pro-choice.

Now, how does that relate to my boys? I will speak kindly, but truthfully, from my heart, because I know that there are those I love who disagree on this political football. Sixty thousand...such information makes me want to retch and curl up in a ball and cry. Now the issue is not a theoretical or abstract moral issue for me, because I carried three lives inside. If I was ever unconvinced by the argument that life begins at conception and is not mine to take, I personally can be so no longer having felt life (13 weeks each time) move inside me.

What hurts even more is that some (most likely, good sized) percentage of this babies were terminated at or beyond the gestational age of others kept alive in isolettes around the country.

This is why, more than ever, I support life. And I see, every day, the lives of the ones God has given me, children full of wonder, creativity, laughter, flaws---utterly and fully human. Lives that are gifts. I can only weep for the children of those others. I pray for those families who lost those little lives at the same time I pray for the family of Dr. Tiller. It is all I can do.

Afternoon at the K

For Zac's birthday present, we decided to have an "experience" instead of a present. So Scott had promised Zac a Royals game. But just before Scott bought the tickets for this Friday, Uncle Michael called and offered us four tickets for the Sunday game! He is very sweet to call us often when he has extra tickets--this time, he was headed for France and couldn't very well see the game from the Arc de Triomphe (I had to look that up). So we decided to put the money we would have spent on tickets towards some of the "extras" at the ballpark--namely, a real ballpark snack that everyone could enjoy and fun at the new K kids' area. Even better, we found out Zack Greinke was pitching for the Royals. Apparently, that is a big deal.

We ate our lunch on the way and arrived at the ballpark with about 20 minutes to spare. Since some of us hadn't seen the re-vamped stadium, we took a walk over to the fountain wall and looked out over the ballpark. We took a picture of the kids by George Brett's statue, then hurried to our seats as the color guard marched out. I took great pleasure in showing little Blane how to remove his hat during the national anthem and place his hand over his heart. Then it was, "Play ball!"

The game was actually pretty good for the first 4 innings, as the Royals and White Sox stayed neck-in-neck with four runs each. It was a perfect American day--a beautiful sky, everyone in ball caps and Royals shirts, the smell of fried funnel cakes and other delicious goodies wafting around. I was in a sleeveless shirt at the loveliest of temperatures holding a little boy and watching America's pasttime with my favorite guys. It doesn't get much better than that.

We ordered peanuts (Seth's favorite) and got the guy to throw the bag to us. Seth sat next to me and crunched like a squirrel while I held a couple of shelled peanuts under Blane's nose for his perusal. "Try it; it tastes like peanut butter, " I urged. He did, but decided the two nuts I had given him were enough. Then he got restless, so after the 4th inning, we decided to head to the fun zone.

Scott got a handful of tokens and we started with miniature golf. Scott had to show Zac and Seth how to hold the golf club properly, and the guys did pretty well. Zac even got a hole-in-one on one of the runs! It wasn't a full scale course--just about six holes, but the guys loved it. Then Zac "ran the base" and compared his time with a sample Royals player. Next Blane rode the carousel, which he just loved. The boys wanted to go do the batting cages next, so I took Blane to the play area and we rode the carousel one more time. We got off just in time to see Z & S take to the batting cages. By then, everyone was getting hot and tired, so after one more run of the bases for both boys (to use up our tokens), we headed back to our seats. Fortunately, we were now at the 7th inning stretch. When we got back to our seats, the people behind us told us that the boys would have been on the Jumbotron if we had stayed there, because a cameraman had pointed in our direction. Bummer. Imagine our delight when a cameraman came down and sat near us again. Next thing you know, Zac was 7 stories tall on the "Flex Cam", showing off his muscles (with his younger brother popping his head in on the side of the screen) What a great birthday present!

We left at the bottom of the ninth after the Royals pitcher allowed 3 runs in, bringing the score to 7-4. Seth had a headache and Blane was miserable by that point. But Zac was so happy. What a wonderful way to celebrate 10 years on the earth!

Garage Sale Finds

Well, I visited that garage sale again. The one I posted about a year (!) ago--with the great table that now sits in my living room. I knew in my heart of hearts that I would never come across a find to equal that one, but it has somehow become a beginning of summer ritual for me and the boys.

So two days into our summer vacation, we walked up our street to the Nazarene church on the corner. They were kinda into it, since I told them they could each pick out a toy. The boys headed for the toy table while I meandered through the other areas looking for treasure. I found a few--a platter from Pier One, a couple of table runners from World Market, a weirdly-70's era carved bunny that caught my eye. Zac got a metal Slinky, Seth found a battery powered robot, and I'll give you three guesses as to what Blane picked out. :)

Then we headed for the checkout, by which was the furniture. We rambled through and observed the wares: glass outdoor table with worn Heinekin umbrella--no class; little farm table with chairs--cute, but too expensive and didn't need; bookshelf--too ugly. I then found a great little chest with a hideous paint job--maybe I would have liked it in the 90's, because it was forest green and had painted roses on it. The bones were great and it was only $10. So I got that. Then the boys and I discovered a bumper pool table--also $10. Perfect for the basement! I told them we would pick it up later...and we did. That night, Scott and the boys worked on stabilizing the table as it was pretty wobbly, but when we got it fixed up, the boys were excited. It's turning into a regular lounge down there in the basement!

"My Great Life" by Zac Harnden

Zac presented us with a book he wrote chronicling his life. I have scanned it for your reading enjoyment. The illustrations were done using his thumbprints (everyone who's orange is in our family--see if you can figure out who is who!)

(Ed. note: Sorry, the paper got crumpled! Since Blogspot makes it difficult to move pics around in the post--and therefore, I might have to re-upload all these pics to get the new scan in--I'll just give you the text: "When I was 6 years old, I started kindergarten. I went to Pioneer Elementary School. My teacher's name was Mrs. Gilliam. I remember when I was doing my work the principal came on the loud speaker and said, "The president was flying over our school." We all went outside and waved.")

Mom and Boys' Weekend

Daddy was gone over the weekend and it was me and the guys. We ate what we wanted, watched "Space Chimps" and went to a picnic. All in all, a fun time! Scott was scheduled to be home about 11:00 pm on Saturday night and Seth desparately wanted to wait up for him. The request was vetoed. We would have had a bear on our hands come morning.

Even though the guys and I enjoyed our weekend, it was great to have Daddy back!

Existentialism on the the Swings

Seth and I were in the backyard one Sunday afternoon. I was clipping and trimming hedges and he was talking to me. I never cease to be amazed at the things my children ponder. So much mulls through their little minds. Anyway, Seth was swinging and asking me the Big Questions of Life and Faith: why are we here? why didn't people both long ago and now believe in Jesus? etc.

I am way too finite to answer these questions correctly! And I had to put it in terms that an 8 year old would understand. But this is the task of every parent who brings a child into the world--to give them direction, to help them see that they are part of God's work and story.

I explained my belief in Jesus as God's Son and my Savior as simply and succinctly as I could. I told him that I believed our main purpose on this earth is to glorify God--in our lives, in our speech, in our conduct and business, in our reaching out to others for service and to tell them that they too can be His. I told him that our whole goal was to demonstrate Jesus and God to others in every way.

Seth, in all his precious honesty, said this was hard to understand. I told him that big people have a hard time understanding it too. In his young life, he hasn't really hit any adversity or gotten a good taste of the injustice than runs rampant on this planet. So I pray every morning for my children, for their health and well being, but most of all, that their eyes will be opened to the all-compelling love of God. My number one job is to teach them that God provides a bottom to their world, a solid ground to dig into when the handholds of feelings and situations have long since crumbled. It's all I know to do, for I have answers for nothing else.

Birthday Milestones

As is always the case, Seth and Zac celebrate their birthdays within a month of each other. As they've gotten older, the "big-dealness" of the birthdays have grown--for instance, we have an official "birthday dinner" on the actual day (waffles, anyone?), and usually have something fun on the weekend, like a movie night and no chores. A Celebration Weekend of sorts.

When it came to parties, we had a bit of a divergence. Seth opted for the traditional home party, with a sundae twist. We invited his buddies over (three came) for sundaes on Sunday, then had a treasure hunt and a balloon pop relay. Everyone had a fabulous time, and it was a nicer environment than last year, when the law of the jungle was the rule (8 boys with a cold April snowshower outside--never again!)

Zac has decided this year that he wanted to just invite a few friends to the pool for ice cream and swimming. Of course, that means we have to wait for the pool to open! But I think the fact that he is TWO digits now has affected his thinking in several ways. We're officially in the "tween" bracket now, and I see it in a multitude of ways. He's more of a big boy in how he thinks and responds now, wants to look cool, put away childish things. The birthday "hang-out" is a part of this.

I'm actually excited about it. All the boys are getting into ages where we can go places and do things without breaking out a stroller or diaper bag, searching for a lost paci, melting down because it's WAY past naptime or stopping to wipe noses/wipe mouths/tie shoes (okay, still some of that). They're little people you can have a real conversation with now. And they're fun...lots of fun. Here's to enjoying the next stage, because, like babyhood, it won't last.

More Blane on God

Today, we were driving along in a residential area and Blane said, "God has to write a lot of numbers."

Hmmmm. I wasn't sure where that came from. "What do you mean, Blane?" I asked.

"On the houses. God wrote all those numbers on the houses."

:)

Thoughts on God, by Blane

By the way, we're back in business now on the computer front. Yee haw!

Lately, Blane has really been focused on how BIG God is. "Mom," he says, "God is the BIGGEST boss of everybody!"

"Yes, that's right, " I answer.

He'll talk about the fact that God is bigger than tall buildings, or me or anything he sees that happens to be bigger than him.

Today at breakfast, he said, "God can move big things because He has really big muscles!"

Later in the car, he said, "If God is going to build a Lego building, He'll need the biggest blocks, because He's so big!"

"That's right, Blane," I replied. I guess on some cosmic level, that is true. :)

The Sickies and the Stinkies

Last Sunday night, I heard Seth coughing in his bed. "Here it comes," I thought. Sure enough, when I woke Seth up the next morning, he sat up with a little scowl. "I have a cold, Mom, " he said.

But it didn't appear to be too bad. He bopped off to school, then he had a friend over in the afternoon. That night, as I was reading to the boys, I felt his hot little body as it snuggled up to me. I felt his forehead. "Seth, I think you have a fever," I said. "Let's check it."

It was 101. So I told him to go to bed and sleep in on Tuesday.

He was sick and running a fever pretty consistantly on Tuesday. He stayed home Wednesday and felt a little better, but the fever persisted. I had to get out to the store and to a nursery to pick up grass seed for Scott. As I was checking out of the grocery store, I reached down to feel Blane's little cheek, which was hot. Now it was two for two.

To bed they went, and I got them dosed up on Motrin. Then I started a little cough. I was supposed to help with the drama that night in the 2's and 3's class, so I called the teacher and told her I wouldn't be there. Home we stayed, and I started taking Zicam.

On Thursday, I saw a big improvement in Seth. He was really wanting to play more, though I was concerned that his fever might come back (it had done that before). But as we were playing a game in the living room, I kept smelling something distinctly funky. My two sick children had not bathed in a while, so I was not entirely surprised. "Okay, crew," I sez, "let's take showers."

So they took a very nice shower with strawberry kids' shampoo. I got them dressed in clean clothes and we resumed our play. But...sniff, sniff...I could STILL smell that smell!

I sniffed around Seth ('cause frankly, he's usually the culprit!). I still couldn't pinpoint it, though it seemed to be coming from him. Then I smelled his pants. Closer--definitely stinkier--but not quite on target.

"Seth, are your pants clean?" I asked him.

"Yes, Mom, I got them out of my drawer!"

Hmmmm. Then Seth said, "I think my knee smells."

Seth had skinned a nice big wound on his knee the other day playing kickball. Those large, scrape-the-skin-off wounds always take a long time to heal. In fact, we had been through several Band-Aids and I had finally covered it with a waterproof bandage so it wouldn't keep falling off. I had done that several days ago.

Seth peeled off the bandage. "Let me see that, " I said, and I took one whiff and nearly passed out.

Needless to say, we threw it right away, and I won't be getting those bandages anymore! It smelled almost fungus-y (which Neosporin does NOTHING for). So we opted for a nice airing, which worked beautifully. I did have to spray down his room and the living room with air freshener--it was that bad. The smell faded from his knee in a few hours (after all that great moisture under the bandage that the bugs were thriving in dried out).

Seth was back ato 100% by Friday, and the kids had no school because it was conference day. Then Zac began coughing. And we started the whole process again.

At this writing, Zac has a racking cough, but his fever is currently under control. Poor Blane is still suffering, with a fever that has popped up to 104 +. We are keeping him medicated and hydrated and watching him closely. I am cautiously optimistic that he will be improved by tomorrow. Please pray to that end.

Shopping with Daddy

Scott hates clothes shopping. But after a while, it becomes a necessity. So once a year, usually following Christmas or his birthday when he has a handful of gift cards or cash to spend, we go on a shopping spree. When I say "we", I mean all of us. Scott needs me for opinions on how things look, and, well, I can't leave my crumb-crunchers at home unattended. So out we trot to the mall or a major department store for hours of consumer fun and stimulation of the economy.

Scott needed some good professional shoes and pants this year. So our first stop was Designer Shoes Warehouse. I thought I might be needed for some serious fashion advice, but Scott had specifications for his shoes that I couldn't help him with. So I ended up herding the kids to the other side of the store.

I figured if I'm going to be in a large, department store sized shoe place, I might as well have a little fun and try on shoes. "Come on, boys, " I said, and headed down an aisle. At DSW, in case you aren't familiar with it, the shoes are arranged in long, waist to mid-chest high shelves that divide the aisles. An "example" shoe is parked on top so you can see it easily and then you just look underneath to find your size. I just started ambling down the aisle, slipping on whatever shoe caught my fancy. To my surprise, the guys thought this was a great activity. "Here Mom!" said one, running with a shoe to slip on my foot. "I like the button on this one," said another. "Here Mommy!" chirps the little one, running with a shoe from who-knows-where (which we then had to hope we put back in the right place!) I felt like Cinderella, except with three princes. This happened all the way up and down the aisles.

"You will all make EXCELLENT boyfriends," I told them. We then decided to try on hats. That was funny, but didn't last as long. The purses didn't quite have the same appeal as the shoes, though the boys did offer opinions on those too.

By this time Daddy was done, we had spent a very enjoyable 2o minutes in women's shoes area. Though Daddy ended up dropping his wad at Dillard's by the end of the night, I can say the guys and I actually had fun on this shopping trip--a win-win situation.

Painting Zac's Room

Zac has wanted to paint his room for at least a year. I would go and get color samples and bring them home for him to look over. We had a few things to keep in mind...Zac's striped bedspread, his very unusual blue dresser and of course, the grasscloth wall. We went through the green phase, then moved to red, then to the neutral tans. Zac ultimately decided against these choices.

I told him that we would paint together during Spring Break. So the first day the kids were out, we went to Home Depot and Zac picked four colors: a dark cobalt blue, a deep red, a color called "Red Hot" and one called "Volcanic Burst". I'll pause for a minute to let everyone imagine what the last two colors looked like..............(insert instrumental Barry Manilow song )........................................

Okay, most of you know how I feel about decorating in my house. I am generally not a controlling or anal person, but when it comes to my house, I am very, very particular about what I like and what I don't. It was really hard for me not to rip those blazing orange paint chips out of his hand, lean down and say in a low voice through clenched teeth, "Over my dead body, buster." But I controlled myself. I said nary a word (I think. Or at least I said very little.)

We went home, and I asked him to hold up the chips against the grasscloth and see how each one looked with everything else in his room. He did. Being the intellegent and tasteful person he is, he quickly saw that "Red Hot" and "Volcanic Burst" might not be the best complements to his current decor. I praised him for his precocious design sense, no doubt inherited from me.

He decided on the deep blue finally, but I asked him to lighten the shade just a bit so that it wouldn't look like a cave in his room. He finally settled on the color "Seven Seas", which is a rich, almost federal, blue.

We got everything taped and covered, and got to painting last Thursday. Zac and I enjoyed painting graffiti on the wall, yakking and transforming his room into a great boy's pad. This is how I connect with him now that he will barely hug me. He got a bit bored with it after a while, but I asked him to finish the large sections of the room, and he did. I trimmed and we both finished out the second coat.

It looks great. We rearranged the room and now he feels like he has a whole new bedroom! All in all, it made for a great way to spend a day with my kiddo over Spring Break.

The Impounding Lot

I have not been blogging much lately because our old computer finally died. We've realized how much it hurts to be suddenly disconnected from our electronic friend! Fortunately, we can plug in Scott's computer at night and conduct our business. We are getting all Dave Ramsey and waiting until April when we anticipate that we can pay for the computer with cash. Anyway, that little blurb had nothing to do with the Impounding Lot, but it does explain the scarce posts lately.

We have children who seem to shed coats, shoes and backpacks like a snakes molting. I got tired of it and announced that from here on, all stuff that was not picked up would be "impounded" in a box, and the owner of said items would have to pay to release their possessions. Today, Zac sidled up to me.

"Mom," he said, "Seth left his stuff on the floor over there."

Sure enough, he had. I know Zac tattled, but I had to follow through with Seth.

"Seth, I'm impounding your stuff. But I'll give you a break the first time...$0.25 to get your coat and backpack out."

He made a bad attitude comment and then got slapped with the full fee: $0.50. He paid it promptly in the cup and got his stuff back.

Turning to Zac (who is historically my worst offender), I said, "Zac, what motivated you to pick up your stuff? The money?"

He grinned and said, "Yes."

We'll see if the motivation holds up.

Pizza Party

Every year, the kids' Celiac Support Group has a gluten-free pizza party at Waldo's pizza, a local, and very hip, pizza joint. We're fortunate to have a place that accomodates GF pizza so well--it's a rare thing. Anyway, yours truly is the coordinator for kids toddler-10. I organized the party for all the kids, because our teen coordinator is having some pretty big health problems. Last year, it was a smash hit, so I expected a big turnout again this year. Saturday, January 31, was our date.

I had asked Waldo's to reserve 66 seats (according to my RSVP count), but had declined to fork out $200 additional dollars from our support group budget to reserve the room. Let me tell you, the seats they reserved were for people with very small rear ends. We were squished like sardines in every available booth and seat. But in the end, all was fine. There was tons of pizza, hot and good, and plenty of soft drinks to go around.

The bummer for my kids (the main thrust of my story) is this: Sethie had a B-ball game at 5 pm (the party was at 6 pm). All the boys went with Scott while I went to Waldo's to make sure everything got going. So the boys arrived about 45 minutes late.

When you order 23 or so pizzas, the most efficient way for the pizza place to do it is to run the pizzas through the oven in batches, generally in groups with the same toppings. I had ordered about 5 cheese pizzas (which is the boys' favorite), but unfortunately for the guys, Waldo's ran the cheese pizzas through first. So by the time the guys arrived, all the cheese pizzas had been devoured by the hordes. Poor babies. They had SO been looking forward to the party. Seth made the best of it by picking practically all the toppings (and cheese) off a Canadian bacon and pineapple. Zac and Blane flatly refused to eat anything else. So Scott and the boys were huddled in a corner of the restaurant, with two hungry children nursing their Sprites and a third one eating a naked pizza slice.

Now granted, the hunger was really their own faults. There were plenty of pizzas out there. In fact, Scott told them that this was dinner and they were not getting snacks when they got home. It was fair enough, but I still felt sorry for them.

The kicker came at the end. We have a local company in town called Olivia's Oven, which specializes in the best GF baked goods I've ever eaten. The owner had generously donated chocolate cupcakes for the event. The restaurant set out the cupcakes and everyone had at it.

Scott didn't know anything about Olivia's Oven, but he saw our group's oddball (very sweet, but a bit strange) carrying the cupcakes back to their family. Putting two and two together, Scott assumed that this person brought the cupcakes. So he told the boys, "No cupcakes!"

Poor, poor boys of mine!! No pizza or cupcakes, and they had to watch everyone else eat them.

Well, after a stinker of a party for the boys, I returned home with exactly three cupcakes (that's what was left). Maybe God was having a touch of mercy on them.

Pentagon pictures

The Pentagon is in the upper right hand corner, across the Potomac River.

Another view.


A bird's eye view of the Pentagon. Note the bathroom at the top of the picture. Guess everything just dumps into the Potomac.
**************

Here are some pictures of the Pentagon and the Washington D.C. exhibit at Briarwood Elementary. Zac actually won the drawing in his group and got to take the Pentagon home. So far, it's holding up, though the 9/11 Memorial bench was accidently ripped off by Seth.

How to Build the Pentagon in Four Hours

One of the big 3rd grade projects of the year is the building of Washington D.C. All three classes spend 3 days with foam core, hot glue guns, scissors, copious amounts of tempera paint and a little ingenuity to build most of the major landmarks in the District. Of course, the teachers need all hands on deck, so parents sign up for blocks of time when they can help the kiddos.

I had signed up to help Zac's group on Wednesday for about 3 hours. Fortunately, Zac and his compadres were assigned the Pentagon--better than something more obscure (Bureau of Engraving and Printing--anyone know what THAT looks like?). On the other hand, it was among the most complex of the buildings, for obvious reasons. On Monday, the basic structure had been constructed and painted by another parent. The boys had helpfully made a parking lot complete with stripes, a marbled entryway and a partitioned off a bathroom (about 1/10 of the entire building). They were yipped up to make a toilet for it when I got there.

It took a little while to figure out where all the supplies were. We were out in the hallway because of space limitations, along with several other groups. We had few outlets for the glue guns and had to squeeze everything against the wall to stay out of people's way. I delegated tasks and encouraged them to choose aspects to highlight that actually taught us about the Pentagon. So we dropped the toilet plans for a while and make a monitoring room with six screens, an office, the 9/11 memorial, and the helipad. By the time we cleaned up, we had made pretty good progress. One of the kiddos was a whiz at finding stuff on the Internet to print off and cut out (the school had a hallway cart with multiple laptops and wireless access which was very helpful). Even better, the boys were able to secure a dollhouse toilet and pedestal sink from the teacher to furnish their bathroom. Our internet whiz kid printed off a tiny newspaper for the Lego man to read when he vists the john.

I decided to come back for about an hour today to get the kids finished up. When I got there, Lego man was already on the potty reading his paper. I lost count of how many third grade boys walked by and were highly impressed by this aspect of the Pentagon. We created a satelite dish, a colonaded outside entry and placed the cafeteria in the appropriate place in the building. We were done! The guys proudly placed their masterpiece in the appropriate spot and I stole a look at several other building scattered around the rooms. The children were amazingly creative and I look forward to seeing the finished product at Open House night!

Texas Christmas

I'm finally getting around to writing about our trip to Texas--2 weeks after the fact. I'm nothing if not prompt. Anyway, we left on the afternoon of the 31st (after finding out that morning that the car had a huge transmission leak--Merry Christmas!) We got out of town at a good time, though and stopped for the night at a Ramada Inn on the south side of Oklahoma City. It wasn't great digs but it was adequate (let's just say the pictures on the Internet were much better than the reality). They did have a good hot buffet in the morning which we all enjoyed. We got a leisurely start at about 9:30 and pulled into Tom and Bethany's driveway a little after 1 pm on the 1st. The sun was shining, it was 60 beautiful degrees, and I soaked it up (it's been a cold start to our winter). Everybody was there except for Ben and Liz. Kamryn had been throwing up that morning and Ben called from the ER to tell us they were admitting her. Fortunately, an hour or two later, he called to tell us that after fluids she revived and they had cleared her of any diseases. As it turned out, she got sick from a mislabeled alternative med that she had been taking for sinus stuff. Ben informed the company, heads rolled and B & L will never be using that stuff again! Kam's fine now--no worse for the wear, but it was scary. Ben and Grant came a few hours later.

We enjoyed a great day and supper together that night. With all the sickness and upheaval (no pun intended) at Ben and Liz's house, everyone decided to crash at Tom and Bethany's. Stewart very graciously gave us his room. We packed ourselves quite nicely in there--Scott and I were on the bed, and the blowup mattress with boys filled up the rest of the floor.

The next day we had a great breakfast courtesy of Tom. We had decided to take the light rail from Fort Worth to Dallas, just for the sheer experience of it, and see a train exhibit at Northpark Mall. The boys were thrilled to be riding the double decker train, and though the scenery was pretty industrial, we all had a fun time click-clackin' down the track. We met up with Ben and Grant at the mall, ate lunch and saw the train exhibit. We ambled back down to the train station just in time to catch our train, but had a little mix-up--we all thought Grandaddy was on the lower deck of the station looking at something when the train pulled up. While we were searching for him, the train left without everyone...except Granddaddy! He thought we were on the train and had slipped on. We waited for the next train and met up with him at Union Station. Our next connection didn't leave for an hour, so we went down to the Kennedy Memorial, saw the window in the Texas Book Depository from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President and the little "X"s" on the pavement which marked the first and second shot. The grassy knoll was nondescript and has been overshadowed by the memorial, so there wasn't much there to investigate. We hung out at a little colonade built in the 30's by the WPA and watch a street performer with dreadlocks perform. His girlfriend was twirling this little dirty rubber pizza crust to the beat. Don't ask me why. All in all, it made for a weirdly engaging show. We gave him money just because it was a beautiful day and that girl could make that rubber pizza do anything.

We caught our train with everybody safely on board, though we had to stand for most of the trip as it was rush hour. We got home, ate Mexican and played our favorite pictionary/telephone game (you write a phrase and pass it around, having everyone alternate pictures or phases to describe it and it gets hillariously muddled in the process).

The next day, Dan, our family and Mom and Dad headed for Hallsville. We stopped in Frisco to see Ben and Liz, since we hadn't seen Liz and Kamryn all weekend. Kam was perky and feeling fine. We took a family picture and then it was off to East Texas. Mom and Dad had to get back by afternoon because the wound care nurse was scheduled to dress the brown recluse wound. We took a little more time getting back...we ate at Pei Wei's and stopped by this conspiracy museum in Canton (that was Dan's idea). We got in and the boys, big and little, took a walk in the woods with Granddaddy. We went to a local favorite, Fugler's, for dinner--which is a convenience store/bait shop/meat processor/restaurant. It was very East Texas. I had to have the fried okra, but only handle a bite of Scott's Bubba burger (what they're famous for). I'd hit my grease overload for the weekend!

Sunday we went to church at Alpine. I hadn't been back for probably 8 or 9 years. It was great to see faces from my childhood--now grown up, with their faces on their children! Alpine has changed tremendously over the years, but it was comforting to see those same folks again. (Aside: in my youth, I used to wonder why older people loved the old church song, "Precious Memories"---somehow, as I get older, I'm starting to see why memories are precious. Anyway...). The engine light turned on when Dan, Scott and I were driving to church, so Scott took the car to Auto Zone to have the car checked out during class. At worship, we couldn't find seats together, so the kids sat with Granmac and Granddaddy and Scott, Dan and I sat towards the back. Fortunately, the kids did fine, though Blane kept peeking over the seats and waving to us during the service.

We left about noon, and despite accidentally getting stuck on the loop around Paris, we made it home without incident. Uncle Dan stayed with us until Thursday, hanging out with boys, playing games, watching the Military History channel until he twitched, eating fish sticks, fries and other kid food and generally having a good time! And so, Texas Christmas 2008 (celebrated in 2009) drew to a close. As such, the countdown to Harnden Christmas 2009 begins...

Christmas according to Seth

I know, I know...I haven't written about Texas Christmas yet. But in the meantime, for your reading pleasure, I'm transcribing Seth's essay on his "Winter Break" (stinkin' PC name...):

"The 5 best things about my winter break are
1. Going to my Granthoders and Grandmutters cavin.
2. Playing with my noo toys.
3. having fun at my ants
4. riding tranis.
5. haveing funn at home.

Seth H."

Christmas Recap

Well, I'm back in the blogging saddle again, at least for the moment. I'll do my best to hit the high points from Christmas and New Years.

The Draney family (Scott's mom's side of the family) always has their Christmas on Christmas Eve. I recapped some of that a few posts ago, but not in great detail. We had some fabulous rotisserie chicken that had been roasted with veggies in the oven. It was simple and out of this world. The Zanders were marvelous hosts, as always. We all got a chuckle when Blane opened his first present, a can of Snoopy hot chocolate, and asked me in a loud voice, "Mom! Do I have any other presidents?" Of course later he realized how great a can of hot chocolate can be! But it was funny that anything without wheels did not spark his immediate interest.

Christmas morning we got up and opened gifts. It's always a pleasure to watch the kids rip the paper off and get excited about their gifts! We then had a nice Christmas brunch and later watched a pay-per-view of Home Alone 2 (the original Home Alone was not available, but the kids got a kick out of it anyway).

Christmas night is always spent at the Uncle Mack and Aunt Chris Harnden's house. We drove to Stillwell (which is now basically south Overland Park) and had a nice meal with Ty and Maddy Harnden, Jeff, Kelley and Tristan Jenkins, Jeff's parents, and of course, the Harnden(s.

On Friday, we picked up Nana and Papa at the airport, who were returning from their Hawaii trip and Christmas Day spent with Jay in Salt Lake. We ate tacos and chocolate pie for dinner (of course!). Saturday night was our Hannukah dinner with the Zanders. We ate brisket, and GF latkes (potato pancakes) with sour cream and applesauce. Mmmm good! Rachel taught the boys to play dreidels for M n' M's. We lit the menorah, listened to the Z's sing Hannukah songs and opened presents. Eight days of presents--how great is that?

Look soon for the Texas Christmas tour!