She Never Ceases to Amaze

So Audrey was running in a circle in the TV room here at Steve's parents' house and I told her to stop. She started walking in a circle. I pulled her over to me, took both her hands in mine, looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Quit running in a circle. Quit walking in a circle."

I let go of her hands.

She immediately returned to walking clockwise around the room. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "Walking in another shape. A square." The implied So there, Mom! came through loud and clear.

How fabulous is she?

I finally told her to sit down.

I have a challenge to post to all my readers and friends. If you, like me, are either currently on a weight loss journey or will be starting a weight loss journey as of Tuesday, I invite you to join my "Marvelous Adventures 2008" e-mail group. To subscribe, e-mail 2008adventure-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and you will get instructions via e-mail about joining.

My expectations are that it will be just a place for us to encourage each other, cheer for each other, commiserate and celebrate. It will be a small group, since not that many people read my e-mail, and if you have friends you think might want to join, they're welcome. It will be like those message boards they have on WeightWatchers.com or eDiets.com or other weight loss sites, except we'll have an intimacy to our group that those don't have.

If you're interested in joining, weigh yourself first thing Tuesday morning. That will be your starting point. If you're doing something like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, eDiets, etc., keep doing those! This will just be your personal group of cheerleaders.

I'm excited. Is anyone else? If you're not excited, I *would* offer to thrown in a set of Ginsu 2000 knives if you join now, but I'm fresh out. Sorry.

I'm off to eat dinner.

Pink is my favorite color...

...Except when it is followed by the word "eye."

Audrey has pink eye. Again. She had it last November/December in England and Steve noticed that her right eye was a bit colorful and gunky this morning. He and his dad ("Poppy" to Audrey) took her to the ER this morning, since there is no urgent care facility here in Clovis.

They gave him enough ointment there in the ER to last her through the course of treatment, but I decided to fill the prescription for the medicated ointment anyway. We're traveling to south Texas tomorrow (a 10 hour trip from here) and then the day after that is, of course, Christmas. I decided to err on the side of caution in case one of the other kids (or me or Steve, for that matter) comes down with pink eye in the next 72 hours.

I'm going to sign off now and do some research for my next manuscript - a children's biography of Nathan Hale. I was uncertain about the angle I wanted to take for America's first spy (since he sucked at spying, got caught, and was executed within 12 hours), but I was reading a book yesterday about a potentially exciting naval escapade. I'm going to go with that.

Christmas in Clovis

We're in Clovis at Steve's parents' house for a couple of days before we head to Texas for Christmas Day. His brother & fam from Texas are here, in addition to his sister & fam who live here. So we're enjoying family.

Before we left LA yesterday, I got my materials for my writing course. I brought the stuff for assignment 1 with me and I'm ready to start. I glanced at the lesson and it's a character sketch. Five hundred words. I think I'm supposed to be describing somebody I know. Who to choose? Hmmm....

Makes me think of a sweatshirt I saw this week: Careful or you'll end up in my novel.

I got an e-newsletter this week with other writers' goals for 2008. The one I liked best was the lady who said she wanted to increase the number of rejection letters she received. What a realistic way of looking at things! If I choose to have the same goal, I need to get a thicker skin. But that might come along with the territory.

I'm going to sign off now. I need to see what I can do to help with lunch (brisket) or cleaning up the TV room...lots of grandkids around means lots of toys out.

For Nana and Uncle Aaron

"No way, April!"

The Mystery of the Ice

Saturday afternoon Audrey had been banished to her room for losing her tickets. So, too, had Caleb. We told them they could either play in their rooms or go play outside. Caleb chose to play in his room, but Audrey chose to go outside.

I was sitting here in the office when I heard Steve make a loud exclamation from the back porch. It wasn't one of those words they substitute &%$#@ for in the funny papers, but it was spoken in such a voice that I knew something was wrong.

Our back porch was covered in ice. Our COVERED back porch was covered in ice.

Steve thought at first that a water pipe had broken on the back side of the house, but quickly discovered that the faucet was turned on a quarter of a turn. The last time anyone had been outside in the backyard was Tuesday or Wednesday.

We got both big kids in the living room and told them this: we knew that one of them had turned the water on. We wanted to know who did it. If neither kid fessed up, both would get 5 spankings (our usual maximum for spankings is 3). If the guilty party confessed, they would only get 2 spankings, unless they continued to lie about it, then he or she would get an extra swat for lying.

Caleb began panicking immediately. After a couple of minutes I was convinced he didn't do it. Plus I knew that he hadn't been out back in a week.

So we turn our attention to Audrey who immediately says, "I guess I'll just take my 5 spankings," with a straight face and no emotion. It was scary. At that point I knew she was the guilty one. Plus, she had been outside Tuesday or Wednesday to play in the snow.

Steve begins to grill her about it and she keeps denying it and even goes so far as to suggest Julie did it (she doesn't accuse Caleb because he's in the room). Finally Steve tries a different approach and asks her why she did it.

"I wanted ice."

Lovely. She wanted ice. Then she asks Steve, "Daddy, how did you know I did it?" He thinks because you just told me with that question but instead says, "Parents know things." Good answer. So instead of the 5 spankings she was prepared to take instead of confessing, she gets the 2 plus one for lying because we had to interrogate it out of her.

A little while later I look outside to see what she's doing. Audrey is playing on her ice.

Equal time for Julie

This video is just a bunch of Julie. Entertaining if you're related or are a McCullough-type grandparent figure to the kids.

Anyway, enjoy Julie's verbosity! (Is that a word?)

Audrey is So Fabulous!

This is from Audrey's preschool program last night. Laborious is the word that describes it best. But I'm going to send this clip to America's Funniest Home Videos. Pay attention to what she says beginning at about 1 minute into the clip. Look below if you didn't understand her...

What she says is:

"Daddy, when are we gonna eat dinner?"

Jungle Book Video

Pardon the jumpiness. I was on the floor among lots of other kiddos with Audrey in my lap. She was very enthusiastic to see Caleb.

The Morning After

I'm fine now after yesterday's disappointment. I think that I had built this up in my mind as a sure thing because of how God has led me into this. I'm confident that I'm supposed to be writing in this season of life, but confidence in the task is different than confidence in the outcome.

I received another piece of this writing puzzle yesterday: part of my first assignment from Long Ridge Writers Group. That's the course I'm taking. I am excited to get started - that helped balance out the irritation I felt at getting a rejection letter.

Caleb's school play "The Jungle Book" opened last night. I was there to help back-backstage. I was in the hallway between the stage and the music room being the "door Nazi" to keep kids in the music room until their turn onstage. We'll go see it Saturday afternoon and record Caleb's bit to post here (hopefully).

I'm going to go now. I need to get ready for the day. I'm still not feeling 100%, but I'm functional.

P.S. Happy Birthday Gwen!

Officially Bummed

Got this via e-mail today.
----------------------------------
Dear April,

Thank you for sending us “The Pencil Bully Affair.”

We appreciate the considerable time and effort you have put into providing us with this requested piece. With that in mind, we take great pains to ensure that proper attention is given to each manuscript.

Although your article no doubt would encourage many, we feel it does not meet our current editorial needs. We receive many good pieces and simply cannot publish them all.

I wish we had the time to offer specific criticisms of your article, but the volume of material we receive does not permit a more personal response.

Again, it is always difficult to reject a writer's manuscript. We do not do so casually. Thank you for sending your piece for consideration and for your interest in Today’s Christian Woman. I hope you'll feel free to query us in the future.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Thomas
Editorial Coordinator

I Feel Ooky

I don't feel well. The entire left hemisphere of my head aches. I feel pressure from my uncomfortably over-full sinuses. And it's hard to swallow. That bit doesn't hurt, it's just hard.

Caleb has his first performance of "The Jungle Book" tonight. I won't be watching it, since I volunteered to be a "hall parent" and run between the music room (holding area for the actors) and the stage. We plan on going Saturday and will take our video camera. Caleb wants me to tape him then post it here. We'll see.

Since I've last posted I've enrolled in a writer's course. I should get all my course resources by the end of December. A friend from the Los Alamos Writer's Group recommended it to me. I'm excited about the course. I figure any education about this new pursuit will be helpful.

Shifting gears now-------------
I perpetuated an e-myth. I feel stupid. I usually check things out before I pass them on, but I didn't even think about checking this one out: "To Any Recovering American Soldier" at Walter Reed. Not only did I pass the e-mail on without checking it, but I also SENT A CARD. Oh well. If it comes back, I'll go to the Red Cross website and get a correct address to send it to. If it doesn't come back, I'll try to forget my embarrassment and move on with my life. It will be hard, I'm sure, but I will do my best.

Musings about my youngest

Julie. Sweet Julie. What a little gem.

Her favorite show is "Dora the Explorer." For those of you not in the loop about current children's shows, Dora teaches children simple words and phrases in Spanish. Julie adores Dora and often sings the little songs that are from the show. One day at the grocery store, I asked her and Audrey if they were going to help me push the basket from their perches in the multi-child grocery cart. Audrey started singing the "embujen" song from Dora. It's the "pushing" song. Julie chimed in with both voice and arm motions.

Imagine my delight when, as she was pushing a kitchen chair over to the stove to watch me cook, she started saying "embujen." I didn't tell her it was the wrong verb tense, but I was pleased nonetheless. I guess she is going to be our multilingual child. I'm already looking out for the BBC's "Muzzy" Spanish DVD set for children for her.

Another delightful thing she does is dance. She loves to boogie-oogie-oogie. And it's adorable. She makes little fists and moves her arms around while she bounces up and down and shakes her hips.

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You won't believe what just happened. As I was finishing up that last paragraph, Audrey comes into the office, wailing and crying huge tears with Caleb hot on her heels ready with an explanation. Being the good mom that I am, I immediately put my laptop back on the desk and knocked over my cup of coffee. It flowed under the fax machine and I had to sop up the mess before I could deal with the kids. But I finally got it dammed up and learned that Caleb rocked into Audrey's head while he was in the rocking chair. She's certain it was intentional.

Then Julie got hold of a magic marker and colored her left hand blue. It took 3 baby wipes to get her non-blue, but her hand still has some reddish marks on it. I know they'll wear off. Now she's wandering around with the 4th baby wipe, which is only slightly tinged blue, and the baby Jesus from the kids' nativity set. He was lost for a few days earlier this week - I found him on my closet floor wrapped up in a dried-up baby wipe. She likes to get wipes and use them as baby blankets for her various little figurines.

*So* cranky

Me, not the kids.

Steve is out of town again - this time at a wedding in Texas. He left yesterday and will come back late tomorrow. This morning, I decided to be fun mom and I took the kids to a Kiwanis pancake breakfast with Santa. Not too bad. We met Terry & Gwen and their girls, ate a breakfast that was as you'd expect, but not too bad, then stood in line to see Santa. Julie didn't want to stay with us and Audrey kept crying because she didn't want to talk to Santa.

As Audrey hid behind me, holding on to my back pockets, Caleb went right up to Santa, and Julie kind of skirted around the edges of the scenario. She finally go close enough to Santa for the "elf" to take a picture and we left.

Next stop: Children's Christmas Bazaar. It was bizarre. It was at a local church and they had a "no parents allowed" policy in the shopping area. Audrey was very torqued up about this - she was afraid she would get lost or "stolen" and didn't really want to go. But Caleb really wanted to do it, so I figured we'd get there and then she could make a decision. Emily, Terry & Gwen's oldest, offered to take her. Audrey decided that was a good compromise and went. This left Julie. She wanted to go, too. One old lady, when she discovered Julie wanted to go into the shopping area, looked at me and said, "What's the purpose of the baby going in?" I looked back at her and said, "She wants to go." Meany. When a shopping helper came to take her and Caleb in, she didn't want to go. So I was going to keep her with me. But that was unacceptable to her, too.

Gwen decided to ignore the "no parents allowed" policy and took Julie in. She said they didn't stop her. She reckons her Christmas sweater and the baby in her arms served to convince people she belonged there.

The upside of this whole thing is that all 3 kids got to buy gifts for me and Steve for VERY cheap, but the downside was that it about drove me batty waiting. It was crowded, there were no places to sit, and each of the girls came back crying. Then we had to wait for another long while for Caleb to emerge.

I won't go into the ugly specifics of the wait, but when we left, both girls were crying.

Yikes.

Now we're home. I'm cranky. I wish I would get something back about one of my manuscripts. We only got Netflix DVDs today. But that's a nice thing. I got 2 "Doctor Who" DVDs with the episodes from season 2 I haven't seen yet. So I'll be catching up this afternoon.

But I also have to make a sun/moon-on-a-stick for Caleb's school musical. I have an old broom handle I've sanded and painted dark blue and 2 36-inch-diameter cardboard circles I'm going to paint and attach to the stick. Before I attach the circles I suppose I'll get the celestial orbs painted.

Mom's on the phone. Gotta go.

Steve's home

He caught the mouse.

For Your Entertainment

A convergence of events occurred last night that just about drove me over the edge. Right here for your amusement.

1 - Julie went into the kids' bathroom and made some mischief. She got a plastic cup the kids had left in there and poured potty water on her head. To make matters worse, Audrey has not developed the habit of flushing and she was the last visitor to the bathroom. Nasty. So I gave Jules (who was stinky) a sponge bath in my bathroom sink.

2 - After the cleanup, it was bedtime for Julie. I took her to her room where she immediately started throwing a fit. She refused her usual bedtime comforts: blanket, stuffed giraffe and lamb, and pacifier (a.k.a. "nini"). Instead she started throwing a tantrum. Fine. I turned on her night light, turned off her room light, shut the door and decided to let her cry for 10 minutes.

Ten minutes later I could hear her winding down, so I decided to go in and offer her the nini. Imagine my surprise when I peered down into the crib in the darkened room and saw blood on her face, pillow, sheet, hands, and pajamas. I think she bumped her nose on the crib when she was oh-so-dramatically flinging herself down during her tantrum. I got her up, cleaned her up, gave her the nini, changed the sheets and put her back to bed. She was very happy to get her nini and lay down quietly.

3 - All kids were in bed, it was after 9:00, and I was watching a show and knitting. I hear the cat flap open and shut and see the cat walk past with something in her mouth.

A live mouse.

Oh, joy. I hate mice. I do that weird "stand-on-a-chair-to-flee-the-scary-mouse" maneuver when small furry things are in my house. And this is a regular occurrence, unfortunately, because Gray Cat thinks she needs to stalk her prey in my living room. Stupid cat.

I sat in my chair (feet safely above ground level on my ottoman) and calmly watched her toy with this mouse for a few minutes before it escaped.

It ESCAPED and fled to parts unknown in my house. All I can think is, "We're gonna find that stupid thing, alive and well, when we pick up the kids' rooms tomorrow after school ." Sheesh. I even shook out my slippers this morning before I put them on.

So that was my evening. It's now been 7 days since Steve left for Reno and I'm ready for him to be home. He comes home tonight. I just have to live through the day.

The one gigantically bright spot of my day happened when I went to wake Caleb up this morning. I've set his clock radio alarm to come on at 6:40 to an easy listening radio station. It's the same station that plays Christmas music 24/7 during the holidays. I thought they started after Thanksgiving, but discovered...

...they started already! Caleb was laying in bed listening to "Oh Holy Night" and it made my heart glad to hear my favorite Christmas song the morning after last night's wonderful events. All the radios in the house (and my car also) are now set to 99.5 for the next 6 weeks. I love Christmas music!

So now when my MP3 player runs out of the financial guru dude MP3 files, I can switch it over to radio and listen to Christmas music. I like that. Especially today because I have a lot of housework to do and my MP3 player is the only thing I need to make the job go smoother.

Manuscript Submitted

I did it - got my first book manuscript "out there." I mailed off 2 manuscripts to 2 publishers yesterday. I'm hoping I'll hear from somebody before Christmas, but we'll see.

I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to get the house picked up before Steve gets home tomorrow from Reno. I unloaded & loaded the dishwasher, which was a tricky task because there were no less than 3 sippy cups with solid, chunky milk. Nasty. I'm getting worse about letting the cups sit (and not dumping them out) but getting better about not being squeamish when I clean them up.

Speaking of cleaning up, I want to buy some hot pink rubber gloves and hot glue feather boas around the openings. Maybe add some large sparkly gem-type things, too. I watched several episodes of BBC's "How Clean Is Your House?" and the ladies on there wear fancy-schmancy cleaning gloves. I need me somma those. Maybe it will motivate me to clean more. Or not. But maybe.

Going to sign off now, fire up the MP3 player (with my oh-so-exciting financial talk show to listen to) and work on the living room. I need to go get the kids' muck tubs so that we can muck out the public rooms of the house. If you have kids, you need muck tubs.


We have blue, red, and yellow and we stick all of those stickers that children accumulate on them for decoration. Audrey's is pretty much covered. It's impressive. I found our tubs at Target and Smith's but the ones I have pictured here are from a British "Retail & Storage" website. Whatever that means. While we were in England, we used empty fan boxes for the kids' muck tubs.

What a Weird Day

Steve is gone until Friday at a supercomputing conference in Reno. The kids and I have done reasonably well so far. I don't want to kill any of them yet, which is a huge accomplishment!

We actually did some laundry today and I had them put away their clean clothes. I feel like this is a big step because when Steve is gone, I usually just maintain the status quo of the cleanliness of my house instead of trying to improve it. So we all have clean nice-smelling sheets on our beds tonight thanks to my initiative.

I decided to just get all the pictures of the girls. When I added up prices, I was getting a better deal if I just bought all 3 prints of all 6 poses (plus the class picture) than if I tried to pick and choose. It was actually just $10 more for 20 photo sheets total instead of just 8 photo sheets. They have a racket going there.

I've finished up with 1 2/3 of my knitting projects for Christmas and ran out of yarn. While I'm waiting for the rest of my alpaca yarn to arrive, I'm going to start working on more projects. I think these 2 little projects shouldn't take long, then I can get back to working on my sweater I started in England last August. I ran out of yarn for it and had to order more from Wales. I haven't opened the bag yet because I like looking at the Welsh label. They don't use many vowels and get a little carried away with their Ws, Ys, Ls and Fs. It cracks me up.

I'm going to sign off now and go watch "Heroes." I like that show.

Oh - I sent off another query letter to "Today's Christian Woman" today and am getting ready to submit my Stephen F. Austin easy reader book to 2 publishers. I'm waiting on one more technical critique, then I'll print it out (on my new laser printer I got from Buy.com for $49.99) and send it off. I'm also working on a query to "Parenting" magazine for a Father's Day piece.

TTFN

I Need Assistance

The girls' school pics came in today. I have an idea which poses I'm going to order but wanted your opinion. So weigh in! By the way - there are no individual shots of Jules. There was a green thing on the scanner, so that's why there are green dots on some of the pictures.

I've Lost Audrey

She weighs 38 pounds.

I've lost 37.

I've lost an Audrey.

;)

Feeling Oh-So-Smug Right Now

I just finished watching an episode of "Oprah" from last week. It was entitled "The Great American Haircut." Basically Oprah did her celebrity thing and got 5 or 6 stylists-to-the-stars to come on the show and between them they gave 99 women (and 1 very hairy caveman) new hairstyles.

The style I saw the most was the swing bob, or A-line bob. This is my hairstyle. I am feeling smug because I have had this style for over a year now. My posh stylist back in England is the one who gave it to me. I'm so fashion-forward! The only other time this has happened (me being ahead of style) was back in the 80s. I cut the legs off an old pair of my little brother's overalls and attached a cute short skirt - it was plaid flannel. I was the only one in my high school wearing such a thing. It became all the rage just a few short years later when I was in college.

So here I am, 17-ish years later, basking in the glow of good fashion.

Plus I'm down 30+ pounds and I wore the sweater today that gets me more compliments than Audrey gets on a normal day. :)