Their ears are ringing.

So Fred has been saving his Christmas money that he gets from his mom for a few years now. he has been wanting to purchase himself a toy. Not a real toy. A man toy. A handgun. Well this was the year. He had enough money. We live in a state with very liberal gun laws and he actually has a little time to spend on a hobby. He also has two sons who think that shooting is COOL!

He bought himself a cool handgun and took himself to an indoor gun range two weeks ago. He decided today that he could take the boys and go to an outdoor range. They took a couple of rifles that belonged to Fred's dad and shot them for the first time in many many years. The boys each took a turn or two and although their excursion was short I think they had a good time. They did decide that beefier ear protection would be necessary in the future. So tonight, I think that each of them would say that their ears are ringing just a bit.

On a personal note. I knew very soon after I met Fred that he had experience with shooting, hunting etc. It was never anything that I was interested in and while we were moving around the mid-west, growing our family and working hard he only spoke of this topic occasionally. Now that we have older boys who love to play army/shooting games with their dad. We are a bit more settled and we live in TEXAS! (Where the right to carry a weapon is acceptable in most all situations.) He had been talking about it much more frequently. We have guns in our home but haven't had ammo for said guns until quite recently. I have generally considered them more memorabilia and collectibles than useful tools or even a hobby. Fred bought this gun with his own gift money, taking nothing away from the family to do so. He deserves this hobby and I am actually a bit excited that he has something new to be excited about. He was so pleasantly surprised when he went to the gun club a few weeks back at how well he shot. He was like a kindergartner showing off his target to me! We could have hung it on the fridge if it were smaller.

I have had a hobby or two for as long as I can remember. I always had something to keep me busy on a rainy Saturday or a frozen weekend. The desire I have to create somehow now rivals his desire to shoot out. He has been faced with deciding the "value" of investing time and money into his hobby and thankfully has decided that his leisure warrants the investment. For that I am grateful. He deserves it and so much more.

Will I be running to the range with him in the near future? Probably not. But I will support his desire to get out and blow off some steam and perfect a skill and I may even join him sometime, just to take a photo or two to make into a scrapbook layout of course!

Back to work....

Well, just a few weeks ago I posted about how thankful I was that I had been given a choice about working or not when my kids were growing up. Well, at the time I chose to stay home for the most part and now financially contribute to the family beyond spending Fred's hard earned $$$$$$. When we moved to Iowa an opportunity to work at the school near the boys was offered and we needed the money to help us while we owned two homes. I worked full-time but kid-friendly hours and no one suffered too terribly much. (Maybe you shouldn't ask my kids about the suffering because they still recount that as an awful time in their lives.)

Well, moving to TX I chose to not work which worked out well since rebuilding my house and my household's stuff was practically a full-time job last year. Spring '09 I signed up to sub at the elementary school where the kids attend and worked just a few days. This past fall I subbed even more but still not too much and I guess that I did well enough because now I am subbing full-time for the next 6 weeks in the school office. It is VERY different than subbing in a classroom but I have a feeling that it will NEVER be the same day twice.

I am pretty pumped about working but am less than enthused about being at work at 7:15AM daily. I realize that many people do this daily and even earlier than that but Ugh! that was tough this morning. Will and Nic may pay a bit of a price and need to rise earlier too but they are old enough to understand the responsibility of the job and that me working will provide them with some benefits as well. Hopefully a win win for everyone in the family.

Well, I had my first day of many today and am happy that it happened mid-week. I have three days of work this week to get geared up for a full week next week, another full week and then SPRING BREAK! I may be around there until mid-April so that will be a stimulating way to start my spring! Guess I'll have to limit my spring cleaning to just evenings and weekends! (insert snide comments here..... If you know me you probably wouldn't believe that I spring clean!)

The staff at school all seem to happy to have me around to help. I get to see Will a few times a day and hopefully we'll even get to have lunch together on occasion. I have often thought that being a school secretary would be a great job within education so this will be a good taste of it with an early summer vacation. The sad part of the job though is that I will not be subbing with my kindergarten friends any time soon. Since I have accepted the longer-term spot I have gotten two requests and had to turn them down. I LOVE my kiderfriends and I hope that they won't forget Mrs. Bakery and how much I love hanging out with them!

Snow... do I miss it?

Texas snow on Christmas Eve 2009

As my friends out east struggle with feet of snow and my friends in Iowa are digging out of the drifts. My family in Indiana are also enjoying the "white stuff." We here in Texas are being told we might get an inch or two tonight. My boys are counting on a snow day tomorrow. They are desperate for the white stuff! We have seen more than usual here in TX this winter but still nothing near what we have averaged over the last 10 years or so.

Possible view of the backyard in MI or IA. Really a random pic from Flikr

So, I ask myself.... Do I miss having a real winter with snow pants, boots, scarves for everyone and an accessory dryer rigged by the fireplace? I think that the answer is a very honest NO!

I have never been a fan of extreme weather, which I do have to deal with here in the summer, but the two winters in Iowa and the six winters in Michigan were harsh. I do not miss that. I enjoy the milder temps, the grass, even though it's dead under my feet, and the occasionally sunny day tossed in for good measure.

Possible Texas summer temp.

So for my friends and family dealing with the blizzards of 2009-2010 I wish you luck and I admire your fortitude. As for me, I will enjoy the dead grass and will welcome a late start if Mother Nature decides that my kids deserve that.

Homework homework homework

All I can say is that if it is this hard now.... what do I have to look forward to? Not much!

So both boys have MAJOR projects due this week. Nic's is actually two projects about The Bull of Minos or Minotaur. Will is studying Blind Lemon Jefferson who is a historic African American Texan who was big in Jazz music in the 1920's. We divided and conquered as parents this weekend, each tagging along with a boy and encouraging them to focus, stay focus and make progress. This is not an easy task for either of us but it was made slightly easier because of the knowledge that we were both doing it. Not like I was off scrapbooking or he was off.... sleeping. (just considering possible hobbies attributed to each of us)

We gathered the boys up around 11 on Saturday and made a plan for the day. It started with a break, showers, food and prep work. Then Will got busy researching and writing and Nic did some work on the computer and made a shopping list. A little later he and I headed out to the dollar store in hopes of finding a $1 male Barbie-type doll. No luck so we headed to Target and found Beach Ken for just $5.94! We also grabbed a t-shirt for Will for Valentine's Day and a couple of hot dogs from the snack-bar.

With Ken in hand and a plan we headed to JoAnn's to look for some furry fabric. Minotaur is half man and half bull so we were going to make him hairy all over. We came up with some fabric and bought as little as we could before making one more stop. Nic and Will both needed new tennis shoes so we ran into the Sports Authority and satisfied one of their needs.

We headed home optimistic and Nic got straight to work. We pulled out some Crayola Model Magic left over from an earlier school project and set out to turn Ken into Minotaur. Well we hit a road-block when we realized that the Model Magic was not a good consistency after being stored and we needed more, fresher medium to work with. We hopped back in the car and headed to Hobby Lobby but not until I printed a couple of coupons, and picked up some brown Model Magic and some sculpting tools. Checking our separately we each saved 40% and spent a little more than $5 to complete the project. Whahoo!

We as a family, spent the rest of the night tweaking our dear Minotaur. Fred printed pictured of bull profiles, I tried to mirror a horn that Nic sculpted then we baked them to harden them. Nic worked on embedding red beads as his eyes and I found a shoe box large enough to accommodate the Bull of Minos Action Figure for safe transport to school. It was a learning experience for all of us and Nic led us through it all with his vision and our support. Good stuff.

Blind Lemon Jefferson was a name never mentioned in this house before. Will had actually chosen another famous AA Texan but had come to a standstill when it was time to draw a picture of the cowboy he had chosen. It seems that my son does not feel that he excels in drawing of cowboys and horses and cattle. I can see the hesitation. The particular historic figure he had chosen wasn't too stimulating a character either. We reassessed how far he was into the project and opted for a new famous Texan to research and share information about.

Who knew that You Tube had recordings of "See That My Grave is Kept Clean" circa 1926?! They do. Will took a listen and was amazed that this guy was considered a pioneer in the Jazz Music scene in Dallas. He wasn't too fond of the songs but the story was intriguing enough so we stuck with it. Will and Fred worked throughout the day writing sentences, designing a movie poster and talking about how to draw a guitar, musical notes and records. Of course Fred had to first explain what a record was.

Among all of that accomplishment Will and Fred also managed to get Will's hair cut and have lunch at one of Will's FAVORITE restaurants since moving to Texas, Dickey's. A little pulled pork sandwich would be good for the project manager and the student!

Well, all in all I'd say we worked really well as a team. Both boys did pretty good getting their projects to a good point considering the time they had spent on them. Will's movie poster is due in Friday and got a little more attention before the BIG game yesterday. He still needs to draw the guitar, musical notes and records but he has his title completed and the informative sentences written.

Minotaur is complete with loin cloth and a sword accessory. Nic spent some time tonight on the product launch presentation that will accompany his action figure and nixed my idea of developing some type of packaging. The shoe box will remain utilitarian for transport and will not market the contents inside. I suppose he may not want to advertise its contents to every student in the hall. Minotaur action figures could be hot items at Middle School.

Once all projects are complete I will post pictures. For now... Have a little to a great jazz musician and try to picture Ken as "Minotaur Man!"

Manic Monday... try to keep up.

So I have a LOT of stuff going through my brain right now. I think I'll put some of it out there for you to digest as you will... Warning... this is random and not meant to start any arguments or even discussions. I am just rambling in my own personal forum. Read if you want. Comment if you want. Do not think that I am judging anyone except my husband. I do judge him and I find him to be pretty AWESOME (most days)!

Today I had a To Do list made up with included some domestic tasks such as a little laundry, cleaning the master bathroom and making Nic's bed with the sheets that have been clean since Saturday. Other items on that list included doing a blog post and researching ordering ants for the ant farm that Will received as a Christmas gift. Additionally I needed to defrost chicken for a couple of dinners I planned to cook this week and a couple of other items like reading, scrapbooking and getting some envelopes to a friend who needed pink envelopes that I have and will never use.

So, that list of things to do was written in pen on a scrap piece of paper and was a guide to my day. When AESOP called this morning with an automated request for me to substitute in kindergarten I passed. I had that choice and I chose to say, "Not today thanks." When my friend called while I was watching some very low quality programming on MTV saying that she could use a ride to CVS to get some VERY important medicine I had a choice and I said "Yes, I'll take you but can I shower first?"

Once I returned from my trip to CVS, that included a stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond, 1/2 Price Books and a quick lunch at Panera I got to my laundry and bathroom cleaning and I even read the info about ordering ants. (I will write myself a note to do that in March when the shipment is guaranteed for 30 days. If I order from Nov-Feb my luck with the ants is my own.)

I tell you all of this to make a point about my life right now. IT IS GOOD! I am so blessed to have a husband who works very hard and provides so wonderfully for his family. I am blessed to have healthy children who no longer begrudge going to school, as they have in years past. I have a working car at my disposal that can take me and my peeps where we need to go when we need to go. Be it lunch or a medicine run or the necessary Sonic Happy Hour trip.

I have taken in a little discussion about SAHP not getting a tax credit available to parents of children in day car and it has just caused me to reminisce about my own ability to raise my boys at home and not rely on a day care to wipe their noses and change their diapers, although there were certainly days that that reality may have been welcomed.

I remember when we lived in MI and Fred was working in France for two weeks at a time I appreciated the day care at the gym to which I belonged way back when. I know that on more than one occasion, but certainly not daily, I did drop off the boys and went straight to the locker room and sat and read a magazine. I could have done this at home after all of their needs were met but it was nice to have them happy and well cared for while I got myself recentered. It may not have been the work-out that I needed but it was the respite that I required at the time.

I also recall, as recently as last summer, when my kids have begged me to put them in day care. They had friends who went and had a great time. A better time perhaps than my kids were having at that given moment. Of course I explained it away as not an option and in the back of my mind thanked God that it was not required.

I understand the need for day care in its many many forms. I applaud awesome day care workers and wish they were all awesome (for the sake if the kids involved). I respect a parent's right to choose day care as a necessary means of childcare when working prohibits a parent from caring for their own kids. I guess I do wish however that parents who choose do not work, to not partake in daycare get a little pat on the back, or cash in their pocket. No, I did not contribute to the economic standards of my family for many years but then again, had I chosen work outside the home, it would have changed soooooo much more. It is confusing for sure. But ultimately what I really want to say is that I am grateful that my husband and I made it possible for me to be a SAHM and I would not trade those nose wipings and diaper changes for ANYTHING!

As I get back to the rest of the items on my To Do list I think I will add one more, Thank Fred for putting us first and for supporting his family with his time and talents and love!

Tulsa Roadtrip!

So the whole time we have lived in TX we haven't really been anywhere. We have headed home to Indiana a few times but haven't really explored our new region. I would have expected to check out a bit of Texas first but this opportunity to go to Tulsa came up so we started there.

The premise of the Tulsa trip was taking my pal Sabrina and her kids to Tulsa, where she is from, to see her grandmother and some other family members. The kids had a four day weekend so we opted to eat up three day on this little adventure.

We got off to a good start only about 30 minutes behind schedule on Friday morning and I think I made up the time so nothing lost there. Our first stop was at a hole in the wall restaurant called Robertson's Ham. At this little shack we all enjoyed homemade ham and turkey sandwiches and bought some famous Robertson's Ham Beef Jerky for Fred!

After lunch we kept on heading North and got to Tulsa around 3. We checked into our VERY nice hotel and took a few minutes to rest and refresh before we met up with the first bunch of lucky Oklahomans that had the chance to enjoy our company. We had a YUMMO dinner at Carabbas and everyone left VERY full and happy. We headed back to our hotel for some swimming and some sauna time for the kids. Our effort to wear them out so they would sleep well.

It worked! Saturday we got moving around 9 or 9:30 and started our day out right at the all you can eat breakfast buffet that was included FREE with our room rate! Will looked like he was on the Atkin's diet with his plate full of BACON but hey, he's young and he doesn't like too many breakfast foods so he had to fill up on what he could.

After breakfast we headed out to meet Granny-Wanny. Yes, that is her proper name! Sabrina's grandmother was a beautiful woman who lives in a wonderful Franciscan facility outside of Tulsa. We could have gone to mass but we needed to visit for a few so we skipped. It was Saturday anyway. The kids were a little freaked out by the St. Francis statue in the lobby. He had his foot up on a skull. I couldn't explain it but am open to any info anyone can share. It reminded me of the serpent often seen at Mary's foot but the skull was new to me.

We stayed for just a bit with Granny then I cut out with the kids and left Sabrina to visit for a bit longer. The kids, all 4 of them, and I headed to the Oklahoma Aquarium. It was a fun trip that included touch tanks, that I was able to avoid due to full hands, and a walk through a glass tunnel while being surrounded by SHARKS! The kids had fun and dare I say... may have learned something! Not sure though, no test at the end.

After the aquarium we hooked up with Sabrina again and headed north to The Scrapbook Store where I of course found a few treats. The kids ate lunch in the car while we shopped quickly and no one even complained!

Once our purchases were safely tucked away we headed to see Sabrina's dad Bill and his wife Donna. I hooked up the DVD player that Sabrina bought her dad for his birthday and the kids and grandpa bonded over a movie while the ladies visited. After the movie a ROUSING game of Farkle was played by many and won by only one person. Sad thing is I can not remember who won. I do know who lost though!

After the Farkle Fest we headed back to the hotel for another night of swimming and once again the kids slept well. We got up and out at a reasonable time on Sunday and started our trip at Krispy Kream! The HOT sign was on so we all got a free donut to go along with our first picks. We headed south by 11 or so with our sights set on a sunnier Texas!

The trip home seemed to fly for some. Not so much for others. The seating arrangement had WB in the way way back and that did not set well with his tummy so we had a near miss with some motion sickness. We shuffled the kids and set off again. He seemed to recover quickly once he got a seat closer to the front. (I'm guessing he may use that to try to fly first class from now on.)

We pulled into the hood around 3:45 no worse for the wear. I think that we all had a fun time, got to see some new sights and the Crawfords were able to catch up with the family they love and miss dearly. It was a success in all respects!

Now where to next?

GLEE!

I LOVED this show this past fall and was a very faithful viewer. I seem to have my favorite shows every season and this was the TOPS this year. I am so sad that we won't get a new episode until April but am certain that it will be worth the wait. In the meantime I am wearing out my new Glee Soundtrack CD's that my BFF Denise got me for Christmas. Can you wear out a CD? Thankfully I am listening to them on my computer, MP3 and in the car so I am spreading the love between formats.

My favorite song is on Volume #1 track 17 "Defying Gravity" I currently have it on repeat in the van. That can only happen when the kids aren't with me but it is fun when it does. I try to hit that elusive high F! Not even sure if I could but it's fun to try. Will gets really embarrassed when I rock out in the car but I want him to remember my silliness when I am too old to be silly. That won't happen anytime too soon though so I hope he has a great memory.

I sincerely wish that this show was more kid friendly but it is not quite safe enough for my audience. The boys were able to watch one episode off the DVR but it still had some challenging themes in it. Hopefully the good themes of tolerance and perseverance were what the kids took with them. Maybe once the baby is born, the divorce happens etc we can consider the boys adding it to their watch list. Maybe...

Ok, enough of my babble. I am listening to the soundtrack now and it just makes me smile!

Happy Hump Day!