When It Rains....

Seriously, why does all the silly stuff happen all at the same time?

A week after Jay's trip to the hospital (for which I am anxiously awaiting our first payment requests), our stove died.  Actually it was the oven. We were making dinner on Father's Day and the bottom heating element started sparking.  We turned off the oven and one side stayed on and kept sparking, freaking everyone out, so we had to unplug the whole unit from the wall.  The whole thing smelled that horrible, electrical smell and we were scared to plug it back in.  So Monday was spent shopping for and ordering a new stove.  Jay is excited because it has a double oven.  Notice I said Jay is excited.  I guess I am.  I'm excited that he's excited.  But he enjoys cooking so he will probably use it more than I will.

The next day the van started making me nervous.  The digital odometer display has been intermittently flickering for a while now but it got worse and the radio started blinking out for a second or so at a time.  I have had enough experience with dying and dead alternators to get nervous about Jay taking the van up to Scout camp on Thursday so we took it in to have it checked.  Thank goodness it wasn't serious - just some corrosion on a battery cable and a loose connection.  It could have been much worse.

So, yeah, Scout camp.  Henry is there this week.  I wasn't that excited about sending him.  He's only 11 but turns 12 soon so they invited him to go.  He's never been away from home for that long before.  It's only an hour away but still, I wasn't sure about letting him go.  Jay kept saying, "he'll be fine" and he wanted to go so off he went.  My sources tell me he is having a great time which is good.  Jay is going up on Thursday and Friday so that will ease my mind a bit.  I'm just a bit of a control freak about my kids, I guess.  I realize as time goes by and they get older I will have to relax a little but I'm not quite there yet.

One day.

9-1-1

Want to know a good way to scare your neighbors half to death on a Sunday night?  Call 911 and summon an ambulance to transport your husband to the hospital because he dislocated his shoulder (which happens on occasion) and can't get it popped back in (which has never happened before) and is in so much pain from said shoulder dislocation that he can't even sit up, much less walk to the car.

So, yeah.  Good times.  I felt so bad for our friends and neighbors.  I know if I had seen an ambulance (and whatever other vehicles responded to my call for help - there were eight people crowded into my bedroom trying to figure out how to get Jay down to the ambulance) in my neighbors driveway with flashing lights and people rushing in an out of the house carrying all kinds of medical equipment, I would have been worried, too.  Good thing it was something medically minor and somewhat easily fixed.  The doctor was able to pop his shoulder back in after they sedated him and we were home a little after midnight.  Not sure what will eventually happen - could be physical therapy or could be surgery - but we have a plan and a diagnosis - Chronic Shoulder Instability.

The miracle - the kids didn't even wake up!  I was shocked, with all the noise and people going back and forth and in and out of the house.  I guess those cool-mist humidifiers that we use nightly are good for more than just humidity.

Deep Breath

The end of the school year is so crazy and seemed more crazy than normal this year.  It seemed like 90% of the things that I had signed up to do at the kids schools came around in May.  It was a lot of work - field trips to chaperone, meetings to attend, carnivals to organize - but it was worth it.   I have to admit I'm glad it's over and I can take a deep breath and gear up for summer.

So - summer.  We aren't big into water things - swimming and such - but I have a goal to do more this year. The kids are taking private swim lessons starting in earnest in July so hopefully they will make some progress.  Henry really needs to be able to pass his Boy Scout swim test so that he can fully participate in scouting stuff.  He is actually going to Scout camp this year.  Since he has a summer birthday they invited him to attend.  I am a little unsure about it but he seems excited to go.  He is even missing two baseball games so he must really want to attend Scout camp; it takes alot to come between Henry and baseball.

So - baseball.  Both boys are playing this year so we have four games a week most weeks.  As long as the weather is good, it's fun.  Poor Henry and his team had to play a double header last week in a cold rain and they were miserable, but normally the weather is OK.  The boys are excited because they have tickets to a Yankees game (vs the Padres in San Diego) in early August when we take a trip to Southern California.

So - SoCal.  It is our year to head back to visit my brother Philip and his awesome family.  We love to see our California cousins.  We were all going to try and go to the Yankees game but tickets are pretty pricey so just the boys are going.  The girls will have to think of something awesome to do as well.  We are planning to hang out with the Royals for a few days, then head into Anaheim and a spend a few days at Disneyland.  The kids are really excited about this as well.  We went in 2009 but so much has changed since then.  I think everyone will be tall enough to ride whatever they want so we won't have to split up as much for riding rides.    Tessa has talked Jay into taking her to Ariel's Grotto for lunch so I guess I'm stuck with the boys and corn dogs or something.  Oh well.  We'll be in Disneyland so it will be hard to complain.

So - Summer!  Yay!

Oh and I have been meaning to post pictures of Tessa in her cute dance costume from her dance recital last month.  Once again, Jay took pictures on his phone and since he deems it necessary to take his phone with him every day, I haven't even seen them.  She was adorable.  You'll have to trust me on that.

The Sorry Song

Sunday afternoons can be hard.  I wish I could report that our little family sat around and just loved each other all the time, but of course that's not what happens.  Most of the time we are OK but then we have days like today where it just seems like everyone picks at each other.  

After church Henry was finishing a school project and Tessa was trying to get him to move his stuff off the counter.  He got in her face and she scratched him, resulting in a trip to her room for some downtime until she was ready to apologize.  After a while she came and said she was sorry.  But then she took her apology a step further - she wrote him a song, complete with a poster of the lyrics:

The song goes:

I'm sorry! For what you say?  Oh Yeah!  I'm sorry for scratching you in the face.  I heard that you got a bump or two! (insert frowny face)  I just want to say I'm really sorry!  From Tessa To Henry.

You can say what you want about Tessa (and we had plenty to say, believe me) and her scratching antics, but she sure can apologize in style!

Election Day

Apparently the last few weeks of school in 1st Grade is pretty kick-back.  They don't do core testing this young so they don't have tests to plan around and seem to try and fit in some fun, different kinds of projects. Case in point - what Tessa calls "Community".

Apparently they set up their classroom as a mini-community.  Everyone has jobs.  Tessa came home and informed me that she wanted to be the Mayor and she needed to make some campaign posters.  Here is an example:

The election was today.  She lost.  She didn't seem too upset, although she did tell me that she was "sad in my heart" that she didn't get to be the Mayor.  The Mayor is a good friend of hers who gave out candy (!) as an incentive for voting for her.  No wonder Tessa lost.  It didn't even occur to me to send candy - I just got out the markers and poster board and let her color for a while.  

Oh well.  She is the Mayor's assistant.  She seemed relieved because she really, really didn't want to be the garbage man.

Animal Farm

The end of the school year is full of programs and fairs and field trips and field days.  It seems like every single day has me doing something school-related.  It's kind of fun and a sign that the school year is wrapping up.

Today was Tessa's 1st Grade Animal Fair.  The kids had  researched and written a short report on an animal of their choice.  They made a model of the animal out of clay and a background of the animal's habitat.  Then they all stood at their desks while we (parents, teachers and other students) walked around and talked to them about their animals.

Tessa's animal, if you can't tell, was a Panda.

Unfortunately the Panda keeps breaking it's head and ear off.  I keep hot-gluing it back together again and it is incredibly fragile.  But it's cute and she is very proud of it.

The Mother's Day Conundrum

I have mixed feelings about Mother's Day.  I mean, any day where I get presents is obviously a good day.  This year Jay managed to surprise me (again!) with a new computer chair.  Either he thinks I spend all day watching Netflix on the computer while the kids are at school or he noticed that the chair we had was slowly losing all it's foam stuffing and sitting on it to check your email was like sitting on concrete.  At any rate, I am now sitting on a very comfortable chair that I may not move from tomorrow, especially since The West Wing is streaming on Netflix.

Anyway - mixed feelings.  I love being a mother and I think I'm pretty good at it most days.  But I'm not sure that I need a special day to reinforce that being a mother is kind of fun and great.  I don't need or even want to be told how awesome I am by my kids on Mother's Day because honestly it feels a little forced.  "Mom, you are a great cook" after a week where sandwiches were the norm because everyone was always busy around dinnertime just doesn't have the ring of truth, you know?  I would rather be appreciated every day of every year than blasted by Mom Love for a day and then ignored for the other 364 days of the year.  And to be fair, maybe I feel that way because I do feel appreciated.  I know that Jay appreciates what I do as a mom.  He tells me, just randomly.  I know that my kids, in general, think I'm OK and I don't think I have messed anyone up to badly yet.  I'm lucky.  Not everyone has that.  So when Jay asks me what I want for Mother's Day, I honestly don't know.  I feel pretty fortunate and don't feel like I need a gift to make me feel good about myself.  Don't get me wrong - I will enjoy this new chair a lot.  I loved the cute little gifts that my kids brought home from school and church today.  We had cupcakes.  I just don't feel like it's necessary, at least for me.

Also, there are many women in my little sphere of existence that don't have children for whatever reason.  I hate that Mother's Day, no matter how hard we try to make it inclusive, can be a painful reminder of something that they may want but do not have.  I hate that.  And I hate that there is absolutely nothing that I can do to change those circumstances and nothing that I can say that won't sound trite and cliche.

So I'll celebrate Mother's Day because it's just what we do in our culture.  I will call my Mom and make sure she knows I was thinking about her today.  But I won't make myself feel guilty because I'm not Mother of the Year and I won't pat myself on the back for all the sacrifices that I make as a mom. I'll just go about my business, like all mothers do.  And that's how it should be, I guess.