Sweater Vest Cont.

In my last post, James became fond of a sweater vest. I had no idea how fond. . . .

After I put him to bed, Mark came home from a business trip and checked on the boys. He came out and asked me, "you know James has a sweater vest on, right?" Nope. Didn't know that. I guess he wanted to stay warm in the night without the bother of a blanket.

Tinfoil People, 2 Pounds of Cucumbers and a Sweater Vest

Sunday afternoons are usually filled with reading, playing games, wrestling and quiet time (this last one is mandatory every week). Sometimes though, the kids come up with something to do that takes me by surprise. Last Sunday they asked me if I could teach them to sew. Huh?

The hottest thing at our house is Bakugan. They are a cross between Pokemon and Transformers. They are little balls that open up into battle dragons and other creatures. They might be taking over Star Wars even. . . well, no, Star Wars is too epic, too classic to diminish. But Bakugan is the current phase. These little balls are thrown by brawlers - kids who throw them onto a magnetic field where they open up and battle by points. The redeeming value is that the kids have to add double and triple digits and I always thought transformers were pretty clever.

So, on Sunday Spencer decides to make the brawlers out of tin foil then make clothes for them because he learned how to sew in scouts, so of course he can do it. And he does! I got out my bag of felt and thread and they were occupied - quietly - for three, count 'em, three hours! And that's after quiet time.

Here are the finished products:

Maybe next week I'll teach them how to crochet!

Then after a grueling afternoon of sewing, I offered some mini cucumbers. I kept peeling and they kept eating - the whole two pound bag. A strange, but nice day.

That was last Sunday. This Sunday, we are back to Star Wars (not surprised). Also, we have been trying to get James to wear a sweater vest to church for a while, but he has refused. Until today. He decided it was prudent to keep himself warm during church. He wore a sweater vest with a short sleeved shirt. He liked it so much that after he changed from his church clothes he put it on over his play clothes. Orange, long-sleeved t-shirt, gray sweats and fancy shmancy sweater vest:

Gravity Went to My Head: My First 5K

Mark and I participated in the Juvenile Diabetes Jingle Bell 5K on Friday night. Yup, night. It was 30 degrees F. But let me start at the beginning. Rewind to August.

I usually walk in the mornings for 30-45 mintues. I find that my blood sugar is much more managable if I do, plus I love that it's my time to listen and look at what I want. One day in August I was walking uphill and I met one of my friends who was running down hill. I said, "I didn't know that you liked to run." She said, "Well, I figure I can walk uphill and run downhill."

I pondered that for a while. Gravity can be my friend. I thought that maybe I could do that, but I might just have to eat some crow because usually when I meet someone who runs I suggest that they are off their rocker. One day I tried it. I didn't get far with the running, but I kept running a little every day. I now walk uphill and run downhill every time I go out to exercise. Well, running is probably not the appropriate work. In fact, jogging is still probably too strong. Just ask Mark.

In the middle of November the local newspaper started advertising a 5K run in support of Juvenile Diabetes. When I saw the ad, here was my thought pattern: I have diabetes, I can run, sign me up. I told Mark about it and he, let me make this clear, he, without any coersion, said that he would run it with me.

So, I figured out how many miles I usually walk/jog: 2.2 miles. No problem! What's another mile? The day before the race I made sure to walk/jog for an extra mile, no prob.

Mark and I get ready for the race Friday evening. Did I mention it was 30 degrees? We bundled up and after shuffling the kids around for babysitting, made it to the starting line five minutes before the race. People are dressed up as Santas and Elves. I usually love dressing up for things, but striped tights and short Santa pants did not seem fun in 30 degree weather. Strapping jingle bells to our shoes was enough dress up for me.

We started out running and promptly discovered that Mark runs faster than I do. Well, to be accurate, Mark runs, I trot. Being the nice supportive husband that he is, he tried to stay with me most of the time, which was a mind-numbing and physical torture for him I think. So, we walked a bit, then ran a bit off and on. We tried to get ahead of the Santa's helpers, and were successful until the last 100 yards. Well, Mark was successful at finishing before them. I figured they had an important job to get to, so I'd better let them go ahead.

Toward the finish line, the clock people were yelling "good job!", and I suddenly felt my throat tightening and my eyes watering. I may not have run that race, but I did finish and I took their accolades to heart. Mark finished 8th to last (though he would've finished sooner if he didn't have to wait for me I'm sure - thanks sweetie pie honey bunch!). I finished third to last and that's only because a Mom with a little boy on his bike fell over right before the finish line.

I had fun and felt happy that my body could even do it and not be too sore the next day. My goal next year is to trot the whole "race" and let Mark go as fast as he wants. You can join me if you want to! www.jb5k.org

I Love Harvesting (I am a food nerd)

OK. I just want you to know that I love food. I love growing food, I love preparing food, I love eating food. I love the science of food, I love the miraculous things food does for our bodies, I love the colors of food, I love the tastes of food (except for saurkraut, pickled beets, raw fish and brown bananas. Oh, and balogna, but that's not really considered a food in my book, vienna sausages fall in that category too), I love how food smells. So when I see these beautiful bottles of harvested and bottled food that comes from my garden or from local growers, I nearly weep with joy. I am a food nerd.

And I just had to take a picture of these. Mark was going through the pictures and said, "What is this?" "Ummm, those are peaches that I peeled," says I. Mark asked, "and why did you take a picture of them?" "Because right after I peeled them and they sat a while, the juices came out a bit and they were so shiny and succulent and they nearly made me weep. I had to preserve them in picture because I know they will be eaten soon," says I. "Okaaaay," says Mark. Yup, I'm a food nerd.

I just had to include these cute strawberry mice that I made for some clients of mine (three children). If they achieve their goal for the week, I bring a fun food treat.

Freaky Freakos

The last few years we have lucked out at the dollar store. Or maybe it's because I go there first with the kids and they think this is their only chance for a store bought costume. Either way, it works out for me. Because of the selection of 3 possible boy costumes at the dollar store, James chose to be a Robot.

Spencer chose his costume in the Spring. Wolverine! Mark started working on tongue depressor claws back then. He started and finished a new pair the night before Halloween and arranged them in gloves. We didn't cut Spencer's hair for a long time (which just about killed me) so he could have proper side burns. We went to a trunk or treat at the local grocery store and one trunk guy liked Spencer's look so much that he emptied the bag of candy into Spencer's bag. Unfortunately the candy was the next-to-worthless Three Muskateers.

For some reason I can't find the picture for DJ. He was Darth Sidious. I could probably go back for the last three years and find somebody dressed at Darth Sidious for Halloween and substitute it because we've had the same costume for years. It's a Halloween favorite. So here is a picture of him with the pumpkin that he chose that was big enough for him to fit into.

But it actually fit James much better (though he didn't happily agree).

And now onto the holiday about GRATITUDE!

I am Tainted

I am involved with the PTA at our school. I have two jobs this year: Membership Chair (which is relatively easy) and Education Specialist. This job is by far the funnest job I've ever had. I love nutrition, but this is REALLY fun. I focus mostly on literacy and I've taken it upon myself to dress as a character from a book and go read that book to all the classes at the elementary school.

In September I was The Man in the Yellow Hat. In October I was a real witch, not a fairy tale witch, from Roald Dahl's fabulous book, "The Witches." This month I'm going to be Amelia Bedelia.

We had a PTA board meeting yesterday and I gave the board a review of my fun and told them the theme for December is giving. Many people asked if I was going to read "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. I told them that I had considered it, but I hadn't decided. The principal said that she didn't like that book much because it encouraged co-dependence and the boy just takes and takes. This idea had occurred to me, but I prefer to focus on the tree that gives his all, which others in the room agree to do as well.

After the meeting, I picked up James from playgroup and the Moms there (one other was on the board) started the conversation again, with a Mom perspective. They asked if I was going to dress up as the stump. We laughed about it, but then a Mom who is busy with moving into a new house said, "I don't know, I feel like the stump quite a bit! Parents give and give and give until we just feel like stumps sometimes." We laughed some more and then I recommended a picture book called "The Mightiest" that I love because the Mom ends up being the mightiest creature above a bear, a lion, an elephant and a giant.

I will never be able to read "The Giving Tree" again without controversy.

I'm shying away from reading it to the elementary school kids that have a tendency to see right through you. I was a little concerned about reading it to them before, but now I'm hyperaware of different interpretations. Should I use it as a good discussion book? With Kindergarteners?

Does anybody have recommendations for a book about giving?

Lick Your Brother

This is my strategy for dealing with sickness.

My first strategy was to quarantine anyone who had the first signs of sickness. The problem with that is they are contagious at least 12 hours before the signs come along. During those 12 hours, my boys are wrestling, sharing cups, hopefully not spitting on each other, but I wouldn't put that out of the realm of possibilities. So, they all share germs when the germs are off my radar. This means that one person begins a sickness while the others have incubating germs. This means that one boy is sick one week, then the next boy gets sick the next week, and the third boy is quick on his heels. This means three continuous weeks of sickos at my house.

So, now I'm not even going to try to keep it from the other boys. I'm going to have the sick one drink in a cup, encouraging backwash (like that needs encouraging). Pass the cup to your brother please. Now the other brother. Done. Now we can get through the sickness in two weeks or less.

Here are other thoughts in the realm of sicknesses:

I love thermometers. D.J. has a tendency to tell me he's sick 3 out of 5 school mornings. "Oh, dear. . . let's check your temperature then. . . . . . 98.0. . . . . not sick. . . . get dressed and go to school." Irrefutable evidence.

In the realm of thermometers: Just to have a little fun, I sometimes tell the boys that I used to use this thermometer with them rectally and it's the only one I have now to take their temperature. I wonder why my boys think potty talk is funny? I am wicked.

James was so happy the night I told him he could come out of his room the next morning that when he woke up he opened the door and said, "Say hello to me!"

I will never home school. I cannot handle the workload that comes home when the boys have missed a day of school. I do not know how teachers get 20 or more kids to do school work. It's no wonder our school has supplied the teachers with a sound system in each classroom and microphones to hang around their necks.

Done with the sick rant. . . . . I hope.