We're Ready For Vegas

Last night Peter and Zach were playing "Black Jack" as they called it.  I would just call it 21 since the only rules were the one closest to 21 without going over wins.  Zach was kicking Pete's butt .... what a run of luck.  So this morning Pete talked Steven into getting out the poker chip set he got for Christmas one year to make the game more exciting.  Lord knows I'm not a hard core gambler,  but I honeymooned in Vegas with Steven and Peter's dad, and while I was there I took a black jack class at our hotel.  McDonalds took us to Vegas several times for conventions, and we had a couple of Vegas night meetings with McD's too.  So when Peter started telling the other boys to throw their bets in the middle and whoever wins the hand gets all the chips...... well I had to step in.  I got them playing by the REAL rules and then went back to my crafting.  I must say, I heard A LOT of grumbling about how they just couldn't win against the "House" often enough.  And Zach wondering how he won so often last night and could not win today.  EXACTLY!!!!!  And a good lesson for you all.... that's the way the casinos work too... you just can't beat the house often enough to really win.   After black jack we made lunch and the big boys promised they would play "Go Fish" with Zach when lunch was done.  After filling their bellies with hot dogs and Mac and Cheese, they began dealing the cards.  Soon I heard them telling the rules of how to play Go Fish and bet with the Poker Chips.  What?????

Hello, Gamblers Anonymous....

Whewwwww

Looks like the big thunder storms we have been having for the last few days are finally out of here.   The first storm left us without power for about 12 hours.  The next night's storm had us running for the basement-  I have NEVER EVER seen so much rain and such high winds.  At least they were straight line winds, but it picked up Zach's metal swing set and rolled it twice.  (That was when Mike agreed we needed to get everyone to the basement NOW)  I had one of these swing sets when I was a kid and don't remember it ever being knocked over, I had one when Steven and Peter were little and that one was never blown over.  The wind picked up Molly's Little Tikes plastic slide and climbing thing and blew it from the back yard to the front yard, and was in pieces when we retrieved it or it still would have been blowing, I think.  We lost a plastic lawn chair that had the seat broken in half and two legs missing (that I still can't find) from hitting a fence post.  Most amazingly though, when we went out to assess the damage, the Amish phone booth that sits across the road from our driveway was blown over.  Now this is not your average phone booth, it's probably 8x10 and made out of 2x4's and plywood, so it's HEAVY.  And it is also anchored to the ground with conduit and wires from the phone company.  It took Mike, Steven, Peter and a few other neighbors to set it back upright and push it back into the old footprint of the building.  And their phone was out for a while :)  .  Needless to say we were on edge last night as we heard of the possibility of more strong storms last night.   The clouds were looking ominous as we sat down to dinner.  Luckily it blew past without any drama.  I can use some quiet, boring evenings around here for a while now.  Next storms aren't due in until tomorrow.  I guess at least we have tonight.

My kids

Molly likes to have LOTS of friends sleep with her in her Big Girl Bed!!

Why is it that ALL the kids like the box better than the present???

Revenge

As I was shopping with my mom the other day, we of course talked about the kids.  As we were discussing my concerns about Pete, she took the opportunity to point out how much he is like me.  Yes, I know that he looks just like me, he is the most similar to me in temperament, and we butt heads more than I do with the others.  She then smiled and told me how nice it was that her "I hope you have kids just like you" came true.  Now, hey, I was a pretty good kid- I didn't smoke or drink or do drugs.  I didn't sneak out of the house or go to wild parties.  So, yes, I do hope he turns out just like me.  I think in the grand scheme of things, I wasn't so bad. 

Shopping With The Kids

Yesterday I decided to take my mom shopping, to get her out since she is still house bound after her foot surgery.  I brought Molly along and left the boys at home, figuring too many kids would only cause confusion and that would make for a bad day.  So I strapped Molly into her car seat and off I went.  Mom was waiting for me, so into the car for her and I put her knee walker into the back of my car.  Got to the first store and get Mom's stroller (she hated when I called it that! :)  ) out of the back of the car and take to her, back around to the driver's side to get Molly out of her car seat and into the store.  Get done, put Molly into her seat, put the bags in the back of the car, go around the car to get Mom's stroller, put it in the back of the car, get in and go.  Repeat, Repeat, Repeat......   Once when I had a car waiting on me to get done in the back of my car, I set Molly in her seat without buckling her until I was done unloading the cart and re-loading the stroller.  I then came back around to buckle Molly, only to find her trying to figure out how to buckle herself.  My smart girl!  Mom and I had to share a cart since she could not push a one and work her scooter.  I had a big item to put into the cart that would not fit with Molly sitting in the child seat, so I had to put the seat away and stand her up in the cart next to my items (no room for her to sit).  Now mind you, my safety baby likes to be buckled in the cart too- she always lets us know when she is in there and we did not do the seatbelt.  She started out leaning against the seat so she could watch where we were going.  Then, when she turned around to look at me, she noticed the seat belt.  she then started asking  me to buckle her while she was standing.  Oh, what the heck, it would work- she is the right height so it buckled around her chest.  She thought she was pretty hot stuff.  Of course, with Mom needing so much help it was like having 2 toddlers with me.  Maybe I should have brought the  boys with me, they could have helped to take care of grandma! 

garage sale

I have been shopping garage sales on Facebook lately.  No, really, they have on-line garage sales where people post the stuff they want to sell, or you can post a question if anyone has something you are looking for, and arrange to meet.  Molly has started helping me shop.....  she sits on my lap while I scroll through the pictures, points to things she wants me to stop on to look at.  The other day she stopped me at a teddy bear chair.  She saw it and kissed the computer screen.  Daddy's a pushover, so when I told him that, he said to go ahead and get it.  Mike went to pick up the chair for me on Saturday, and Molly has been kissing that chair ever since.

The best garage sale item I have bought in a long time...... OK, Steven, what do you want for breakfast?

Wwhhheewww

Today is Zach's 8th birthday.  He came bounding up the stairs this morning when he woke up, looked at me and said "Happy Birthday!" 
Oh, thanks Zach, is it my birthday????  
NO MOM, IT'S MINE!!! 
Oh, yeah, I guess it is.... Happy Birthday, Love Bug.
This is our second birthday with Zach, and we can't wait to do this for the rest of our lives!!!!

When the mail came today there was a letter from Zach's school.  Mike handed it to me and we looked at each other nervously...... after all, at the end of third quarter, his teacher expressed the concern that he had missed too much school this year between his adoption trip to China and his bladder surgery.  Funny, when I told her we had asked the Principal about getting him a school tutor while he was out for the surgery the teacher said she wished she had known that, he really needed to have one.  Anyway, we were all supposed to meet in May to talk about whether Zach would repeat first grade or move on to second.  The end of the  year was busy as always, and we never did have that meeting.  Today's letter was his report card and his school supply list for SECOND grade!!!  I'm glad.  He's smart and I fear he would have been bored and causing trouble if he was held back.  We see what he needs to work on and all the boys have school workbook time every day this summer.  He even improved a lot on his English as a second language and extra reading class that goes along with it.  When I remind everyone that he has only been in the USA for 3 years and did not speak ANY English when he got here..... well it's amazing he does so well.  I'm not sure I would be as far along as he is.

Happy Birthday to my little cowboy.  Quit growing up so fast!!

And the Fence Continues

Last night the teenage boys headed back out to drive more fence posts.  Curious as to how they would handle this after they were both so graceful with the Slammer, I looked out the window a few minutes after they went outside.  Steve was holding the post while Pete drove the post - wearing his bicycle helmet while he slammed..... I so wish I had my camera handy- a Kodak moment if ever I saw one!!

I also bought a new weed wacker this week.  Mike's gas one is too complicated - the kids and I always have problems keeping it running.  The one that I brought with me when we moved here is electric- but with 3 acres and a lot of fence rows to trim, I don't have that much cord.  So I had been looking at the battery powered ones for the last couple of years and decided this was the time to buy.  I went with the one that had the extra battery and said it had a very long battery life.  I charged the first battery (8 hours to charge when totally dead, 3-6 hours otherwise) then put it in while I threw the other battery on the charger.  I didn't seem very long when Pete came back in and said the battery was dead.   HHHMMM, maybe we got a defective battery.  The next morning the other battery was ready.  Sent Steven out this time and after not very long, back in he comes with his dead battery.  Well, THIS is long life?  I know things are grown up so that is harder on the trimmer until it is only maintance, but come on.  So on to Amazon I go, first to check the reviews - ok, other people saying they had called the company and 20 minutes was what could be expected per battery.  Wow, and then so long to charge.  Other people talked about having 4 or 5 batteries to do their large yards.  OK, price 2 pack of batteries, but they don't come with a charger.  Price the one battery plus charger and it is only $20 less than I paid for the whole weed wacker, charger, 2 battery set up.  I also see there is a 40 minute rapid charger.  Well, I am seeing in my future buying the whole set up and a rapid charger.  At the rate we are going now, the yard will never be completed.  And here I thought the price on this was so reasonable when I started this project earlier this week.

Good Night

I was just getting things ready in the house to go to bed, running down my usual checks:
-turn off TV   check
-turn off all the extra lights in the kitchen (just because we have several lights, placed in strategic spots for cooking and food prep does NOT mean they all have to be on every time someone goes into the kitchen)     check
-I reach for the switch to turn off the living room light, right next to where my desk used to block the hall, and I notice the front door has not been locked yet.  I turned around, walked through the kitchen to lock the door, and when I turned around to go back, I realized the desk no longer blocks the hall - heavens, I was just standing in that spot- and I could have simply walked down the hall to the door.  Nope, not me, I'll take the scenic trip through a whole other room.

It's Divine Intervention

Last night Steven and Peter went outside after dinner to drive fence posts in the yard.  They were not out there very long when the boys come back inside.  Steven was driving the posts with the Slammer - and was on a roll getting his post into the ground- when on an up swing of the Slammer, he hit himself in the head with it.  OK, let momma look.... no blood, no goose egg....... this is the one time I am glad my boys are hard headed.  I gave him some ibuprofen and an ice pack and sent him off to bed. 

Steven- but what if I don't wake up in the morning because I have a concussion
Me- then I save on the grocery bill from now on... goodnight

So tonight the boys go out to drive in more fence posts with the Slammer.  I stepped outside to see how they were doing and Pete starts getting all snarky about his brother (as Steven is holding the post steady and Peter is doing the Slamming)

Pete- Hey, Mom, Captain Concussion here is afraid to touch the Slammer and drive in the poles (snicker, snicker, SLAM)

Up came the slammer, right into Pete's head!  He dropped the slammer and walked over to me telling me that his whole body was vibrating to his toes. 

Pete- Mom, it REALLY hurts!

Me- (after checking for blood and goose eggs) You know what that was, don't ya Pete?  That was God, getting you for making fun of your brother, by making you do the EXACT same thing he did.

She's Not Spoiled

A couple of weeks ago Peter started giving Molly ice in her sippy cup of water.  Mike decided it was a good idea, so he picked up on the habit.  Now don't get me wrong, I like a good cup of ice water too, but there are some times when you are just thirsty and ice does not matter...... but not to Molly. 

Two nights ago, Molly woke up around midnight, she was hot and pointing at the kitchen so I got her a sippy of water, rocked her a little and put her back in bed.  I had JUST gotten back upstairs when she started to cry again.   {{{{BIG SIGH}}}}   Back down the stairs and in to see what Molly needs now so we can both go back to sleep.  I looked down into the crib.  Molly looked at me with disgust, shook her cup to inform me there were NO ICE CUBES in her cup.   YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!  Back to the kitchen with her cup, add 2 cubes, and hand it back to the baby.  She shakes her cup, is now satisfied the ice is in there (never took a drink by the way), stuck her fingers in her mouth and closed her eyes.