Pierogi & Popcorn

age appropriate behavior?

2011-03-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

The phrase “age appropriate behavior” does not help me. It invalidates my observations and gut instincts as a mother. I sometimes feel frustrated and let down when I hear those words. And they're said for, what I believe, is one of two reasons. First, the person is trying to make me feel better. Thank you. Your compassion is duly noted, however, your dismissal of my child's erratic and inappropriate behavior as “normal” implies that I am wasting countless hours at therapy, doctor's appointments and crying into my diet coke. Second, perhaps they do not have a full understanding of the situation. “But she's so cute!” Yes, my 3 year old is very adorable in her glasses, but she should be able to say more than two words. Her cuteness does not excuse her lack of speech. “He's so smart!” Yes, he is smart. But his smartness doesn't stop him from running in the road, hiding in the car park and screaming for 10 minutes when I try to coax him into the van.

“Age appropriate behavior” tells me I am the problem. Those well meaning words convey the message that I can not cope with normal children. I must need some parenting education class because Simplicity Parenting, Parenting with Love and Logic, The Power of Positive Parenting, Successfully Parenting At Risk Kids, etc neglected to provide the skills necessary to raise my children.

Those who know so much about child development are right. I can not cope with normal children. God gave me the tough ones because I needed the challenge.

Gluten Free Success.. finally

2011-02-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

i have made some nasty tasting, gluten free food. i have proven that it is possible to make chocolate taste disgusting. {a culinary feat, i believe} i have also made brownies taste like edible sand. large pats of butter made my last batch of muffins edible.

tonight, however, my Mulligatawny Soup stole the show. so good, we all had seconds. here is the recipe. i tweaked it from one i found on allrecipes.com. i'm only giving guidelines on spice amounts... make your own to taste.

Gluten Free Mulligatawny Soup
2 carrots, sliced or diced
2 celery stalks, sliced thinly
1/2 onion, diced
1/4-1/2 cup butter
2 chicken breasts, cut into pieces
6 cups of chicken broth
1/2 tsp thyme
1 Tbl curry powder
salt
pepper
1 cup rice, white or brown
1 cup of heavy cream

1. in heavy pot, melt butter. saute carrots, celery and onion. brown chicken cubes
2. add chicken broth, curry powder, thyme, salt and pepper. simmer for 15-20 min.
3. add rice and cook until tender (about 20 mini for white rice, 40 for brown)
4. when rice is tender, slowly stir in heavy cream and serve

If you're not into recycling

2011-02-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

consider letting the kids tear apart your old electronics. They can use the parts to make entirely new creations. Like a doll house of one's own. Or a zepplin.

I think Fridays are my new favorite days. I volunteer for a bit at the girls' school, run a book club for high schoolers, then spend the afternoon cleaning while the kids craft and Zerin naps. Last week, Normandy and Meghan made this fairy house using electronic parts from broken items the kids in my book club broke. This week, another friend is making a lego laboratory.

good times.

Parallel Service

2010-12-29T09:08:00.000-08:00

The Holmes and Rahe stress scale is a list of 43 stressful life events that can contribute to illness. Each stressful event corresponds with a numerical life change unit (LCU) . The LCUs of a year's events are added together for an idea of how likely the test taker is to become ill due to their stress level. The greater the number, the more stress, the increase in illness.

I often reflect on our time as a military family. It was only 2.5 years ago. Dan's decision to leave the Air Force changed most everything about my life-- my health care, volunteer opportunities, school decisions, housing, grocery shopping. The odd thing is, Dan still works at DLI-- his last duty station. What shocked me most, however, wasn't seeing a specialist without prior approval. It was the stability in our life, in our family.

No longer do I wonder where we'll be living in two years. I don't wonder what job Dan will have or if we'll be separated. I know the girls can stay at MBCS for years. Speech and OT needs are being met by wonderful caring persons. I can paint the walls of my house any color I want. Dan knew this stability is what certain family members needed way before I did. After enjoying this stability most non-military persons experience, I marvel at the constant stress we lived under. We didn't even know it.

I took the stress test myself. (Try it here.)

My stress on the LCUs total 182. We moved, acquired a mortgage, got a medical diagnosis, changed our eating habits, got a speeding ticket and survived Christmas.

The typical military family could, in one year: move to a new duty station in February and the military parent deploys in September. The LCUs for this very, very common scenario: 364. This assumes the children in the family are all healthy and don't react poorly to the changes, no babies are born, no one gets sick, there is a vacation on the way to the new duty station and neither spouse is taking college classes.

This personal essay was written several years ago, while we were still a military family, experiencing 300+ LCUs a year. I will always be grateful for the friends, military and civilian, I made during those years. They taught me about friendship, love and sacrifice. This is for the Mandys, Hollis, Burgandys, Toris, Rebeccas and Michelles of the world. The friendships that endure separation, arguments and bowls of soup.

Parallel Service

“On this day in which the war with Iraq begins,

the confluence of events, lives, symbols

gather steam. There is a sense that we are

charging forward—but toward what?

Karen Houppert,,Home Fires Burning:

Married to the Military

—For Better or Worse

My friends and I served one another. We brought dinners when the day was bad, provided a soapbox, babysat for date and doctor appointments, drove each other to the airport, bought extra milk from the store, fed the dog fish cat or turtle and once I bought Heather’s WIC formula and mailed it to her because she couldn’t use the vouchers from Lakenheath in Salt Lake.

Heather and I walked everywhere together. I’d walk to the PX with her even when I didn’t need to just to give her company. She walked with me to Tennyson’s preschool, but never in the morning because Heather couldn’t get up and ready that early. When we needed to go somewhere and we couldn’t get there by foot, like Bury St. Edmunds or to the playgroup on Mildenhall, we jammed three car seats into the back of a car and went together. Mostly Heather and I just listened to one another. She listened to me describe apraxia and the workings of the inner ear almost every week. I listened to her talk about her mother who was slowly losing her memory and didn’t remember visiting England or falling asleep on my bed New Year’s Eve.

The only thing Heather and I didn’t talk about was what our husbands did for a living. I never mentioned that, although Dan never set foot on Kosovo’s soil, he participated in the bombings of buildings and lives. Heather never mentioned that Calvin probably loaded the bombs that fell over Iraq. Juliet’s husband, Alex, led the F-16 fighter planes into Iraq. But I didn’t ask what happened to the bombs Calvin loaded when Alex flew over Baghdad.

Caren’s husband, Josh, heard Arabic while in an airplane. He probably told Alex where to put those bombs. Amy’s husband, Martin, worked on the computers Dan, Alex and Josh depended on. He didn’t ruin any lives, except his own when he slept with a coworker in Greece. Amy left him. I babysat while Heather drove her to the airport.

Yesterday

2010-11-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

People tell me, "It feels like just yesterday I brought my baby home from the hospital, now she's a young woman". or "Just yesterday we said, 'I do', and now, here we are 12 years later....".

Sorry, but it does not feel like "just yesterday" I brought home a screaming, pooping, nursing baby. And it wasn't just yesterday that I naively said, "Yes" thinking all our tomorrows would be sunshine, with occasional showers. There were a lot of yesterdays with colic, depression, irritation, doctors and torrential rains.

I am, very happy to say, however, that we have survived the torrential rain.

Thursday Shorts

2010-10-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post some of my short stories for a while now. Sort of like a lazy publication... Here's one I wrote years ago during CSU Fresno's Summer Arts Program. I took an experimental narrative class with Doug Rice. The line up of visiting artists was spectacular, and they opened my eyes to a genre of writing I didn't know existed. Like Double or nothing by Raymond Federman. The words of the book are written in the crazy typography shapes and spirals.

One of the guest writers challenged us to write something erotic. Anyone who knows me knows I don't read, write or watch erotic. I wanted to be respectful of the request, but needed to stay true to who I am. So, after listening to my class read their works (the most memorable: Mark and his "tighty whities"), I got up and read this:

For the Atkins Dieter

Twinkie rests her bottom on the market shelf surrounded by her friends Cupcake, Jellyroll and Brownie. They giggle relentlessly, taunt your weakness and exploit their luscious curves and moist skin. You saunter over, glancing around. Does anyone know you? Will your Jazzercize instructor pass by and see you with Twinkie? You take the risk. But once you stand near Cupcake your Twinkie craving wavers? Are you in the mood for blonde vanilla or brunette chocolate? Both have a soft creamy center you can slowly savor with your tongue. Why decide now? You pick up both.

Cupcake is a bit more plump, round in all the right places and her shapeliness means more to enjoy. There are two in the package. Twins not to be separated in life, death or dessert. Twinkie’s cream tempts you, pokes out through three little holes on her bottom. She reminds you of the untouchable girls in high school, the ones too popular for you strutting their bare legs and smiling in that way. But now, here’s Twinkie waiting for you to help her fulfill her destiny: satisfying your neglected taste buds.

The time has come to decide. Will you consume Twinkie as she desires? Or is Cupcake more to your fancy? Before any judgments can be made, you walk with Twinkie and Cupcake to the door. Pay the bouncer to keep her 7-11 mouth shut and hop in your car faster than you walk on a treadmill.

Your desire consumes you before you get home to your glass of milk. You pull onto a side road, rip into Twinkie, throw her wrapper on the back seat and savor every ounce of sugar. You’re more careful with Cupcake, you peel off the chocolate frosting. Each bite melts in your mouth like whip cream in hot chocolate. Slowly you suck the cream out, leaving the chocolate cake. The last of your obsession waits while you indulge in the body of her sister. As you eat the twin, guilt creeps up on you. Remember the promise you made and held so dear and sacred? The commitment to forsake all sugar, all flour till diet do you and your derriere apart. Sadly you apologize to the last of Cupcake, explain your mistake and toss her out the window. Driving home you think: How will I explain this to my e-diet buddy? Will she understand? Will she forgive me? as you lick your bottom lip to be sure no crumb escapes.

a blast from the past?

2010-09-13T23:00:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't have enough going on in my life, I'm participating in the SITS Girls "Back to Blogging" Event.

The idea of actually posting on my blog has been on my mental "to do list" for a while, but the lure of Thelma and Louise won me over. Thanks to Standards of Excellence, Westar Kitchen and Bath, and Florida Builder Appliances for generously offering them up.

Thelma & Louise

I think Thelma and Louise will fit nicely into my laundry nook. They'll be right at home, cleaning the mud, ink, grass and chocolate stains off the kids' clothes.

Speaking of the kids, today's first blog challenge is a re-post of my first ever blog. Here it is:

"What are you doing?!?" I ask.
"Killing flies," she said. I think it's time to get a fly swatter.

Thank goodness for insurance

Field Tripping

2010-04-12T22:17:00.000-07:00

Today I participated on a team that chaperoned 24 fourth graders at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Two of my friends helped (at the last minute) by watching Normandy and getting her to and from preschool, so I only took Zerin. I didn't have any field trip appropriate lunch items Sunday night. Instead of staying up late baking bread, I decided to get some sleep-- good choice-- and hit the Subway in the morning. Yay for the $5 sub!

The kids in my group were great. They stuck with me and didn't wander away. In fact, those 9 kids were easier to manage than my 1 toddler, who hates sitting in the stroller. Zerin has so much energy, he can wear out a marathon runner. He's also unpredictable, running off in all directions- at once. Imagine all that spastic energy strapped down for several hours. When Zerin was finally released from his "prison", he decided to throw an abalone shell into the touch pool, splashing 2 moms, 3 kids and the volunteer docent. I quickly apologized, reminded Zerin not to throw and took him to the kid friendlier touch pool, where he splashed in the water and refused to touch the squishy kelp.

The sea star, however, Zerin was very excited about. He stroked it with his fingers, just like I showed him. Then he picked it up and threw it back down into the water. The grandma across from me said, "Oh no! Who is his owner?!?" I stared at her, in shock. "Are you talking about my son?" She just blinked her eyes and walked away. Really and truly, I have taught Zerin better than to throw living creatures. Second, it's a sea star. It the ocean it gets slammed against rocks.

Having addressed the woman's legitimate concerns, I can now complain about her Rudeness.

So, when did a mom become an "owner"? If political correctness was her goal, she could called me any number of things: parent, adult, nanny, mom, dad, uncle, parole officer. Instead, she chose "owner" as though Zerin were a dog. I won't even get into the subliminal message embedded in her comment that I'm somehow invisible. Even though I was standing next to Zerin and across from Rudeness herself. Ugh.

As I though about this, cause what else am I gonna do as I stare at the Sheephead fish for the 100th time in my life, I realized my true frustration with Rudeness's comment. She implied that I am not doing my job. My only job. Mom. Whether she meant it or not, that's how it sounded to me. She said, "Who is his owner?" and I heard, "Why isn't this boy's mom taking better care of him? Why doesn't she teach him not to throw sea stars? Why doesn't she control her child? She should be fired." Do I deserve to be fired from my Mommy job?

No. I don't need to be fired. I am not perfect, but the reality is Zerin is a firecracker. He learns by touching, jumping, climbing, throwing and hitting. He understands the world this way. Since Zerin likes to wrestle and splash, of course the sea star would like to splash. Since Zerin loves getting wet and seeing the drops fly from the touch pool, of course everyone loves to see the water splash from the touch pool.

I have no idea what Zerin will become when he grows up. I do know that right now my job is to help Zerin control his impulses and become less self centered (long term goals here, people). Most important, Zerin's self confidence, tenacity and love of learning must survive beyond these terrible two's.
I realize this woman was completely surprised by a flying sea star and said the first words that came to her mind. I'm sure she never meant to bring me so close to tears or shake the foundation I stand on every day. Nevertheless, she did. Who knew there would be so much time for self reflection while shuttling 9 kids around the aquarium? I told you I had a good group.

Rain, Rain...

2010-03-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

There is a lot of rain here. For Days. Which means my little ones are stuck inside. And so am I.

Today's Accomplishment

2010-02-23T16:39:00.000-08:00

So, since we were chosen to be the next Habitat for Humanity family, Dan and I get to do 250 volunteer hours each. Part of my hours have been spent registering Monterey County's H4H for Disney's "Give a Day. Get a Day." program. Shortly after getting this set up, I noticed a critical problem.

We didn't have control over what volunteer opportunities were posted.

Why? Because at some point, someone registered our local H4H with 1-800-volunteer, a service that hooks volunteers up with organizations who need them. The Disney program pulls automatically pulls volunteer information from this site. Sadly, no one at the local H4H knew anything about 1-800-volunteer.org Thus began my mission, to find out how to log into our account, so we could edit our volunteer opportuities....

It began by calling the H4H support center for affiliates. Last Friday I left a message. I called back today and talked to 4 people. Nobody knew anything about 1-800-volunteer. "Two phone calls?" you say. "That's it?" Ah, but let me tell you about those phone calls. Problem #1-- I really don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know the vocabulary I need to turn this 15 minute drama into a1 minute explanation about what's going on. The support center asks, "What's 1-800-volunteer?" and, quite frankly, I don't know what it is myself. But I do know it's what's getting in my way. Problem #2-- It's raining. Which mean Normandy and Zerin are running around the house playing, loudly. And every 5 minutes I need to fix Zerin's lego truck 'cause breaks. And they're hungry. And I can't get through a 10 minute phone conversation on the best of days. I can barely think about laundry, let alone how to talk to a stranger about something I know nothing about when they act like this.

At some point, I realize that I'm better off contacting 1-800-volunteer directly. And this is the gold mine I was hoping for. At 4:03pm, some very nice guy answers the phone. He knows exactly what I'm talking about before the I finish my convoluted sentence. He transfers me to the all powerful Gilda. She can fix it. Without batting a mascaraed eyelash or breaking a manicured nail. And that's it. I have a user name. And a password.

And hungry kids who demand dinner. And legos to clean up. And laundry to fold. And dishes to wash. They all threaten to destroy the success I feel from accomplishing one thing in my 18 hour day. The one thing that can not be undone by 4 busy, smart, beautiful children. No matter how hard they try, they can't take my username and password.

Lysa

Our house:

The stairs... they don't go anywhere yet.

The Living Room.

The kitchen.... "Hi, Heather!"

The garage and the girls' room above it.

Beef Stroganoff-- Gluten Free

2010-02-10T22:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight I made a yummy gluten free dinner. Here it it:

2 lbs beef, ground or chunks

2 cups stock, beef or chicken

1 onion

1-2 tsp red pepper

salt & pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups sour cream

Brown beef and onion. Add stock, red pepper, salt and pepper. Simmer 3o minutes. Stir in sour cream and warm through. Serve over rice.

Because Anya's eating casein free and gluten free, I took beef out for her dinner before adding the sour cream. This could also be served over egg noodles.

I served this with steamed carrot sticks, which was a nice change from carrot coins.

Cooking without gluten or any kind of dairy has been a challenge. I gotta say we're pleased with the results so far!

Family Government, Pt. 2

2010-01-01T17:02:00.000-08:00

So, about a million days ago I wrote about why socialism, at least on a family level, is bad. As mentioned before, when things are taken, the taker and the took from miss out on benefits. I focused on what the taker loses in the last post. In this post, I'm going to focus on what the taken from misses when the opportunity to "give" is removed.

If daughter A has $32.50 and daughter T needs $3 more to buy a DS game, you can be sure an interesting conversation will ensue. A used DS game typically costs about $25 at the GameStop, (my kids never buy new-- topic for another blog.) Which means that daughter A has about $4 that she doesn't need after paying for the game and taxes (money the government takes from you to pay for things like police, schools and roads). Daughter T will then ask if she can have $3, with the promise to share the game, letting A play first and whenever she wants, unless T herself is playing it.

A is always excited at sharing her excess $. She really and truly understands the meaning of giving. She knows her heart feels happy when she gives what she doesn't need. This is obvious by the smile on A's face and the excitement in her voice when she explains to me the terms of the $ giving. T is very grateful for the fact that A has shared and recognizes the goodness in her sister. T feels grateful and love toward A and shows it by keeping her promise and hugging. These feelings of love and gratitude extend beyond the store walls, into the van and our home. Seriously, there is peace for quite some time as the sisters share with each other, and their younger siblings.

The happy feelings associated with giving are universal. They extend to all who give willingly and with love. They come when we are honest about what we can give: time, talents, smile or money. When the government mandates that we share what is rightfully ours, those good feelings do not surface because the choice to give is not our own. It's the choosing itself that brings the feelings of happiness. Knowing that we did something good because that's the kind of person we are. We can also often directly see the benefits of our giving, when we give it. We get a thank you, a smile in return or a glimpse at the long term benefits of our gift. We have a personal relationship with the receiver.

The humble feelings associated with receiving are also universal. When we really and truly need, there is a unique feeling in the pit of our stomachs. A certain, I don't know, knot of emptiness. When that knot is relieved through the gift of a helping hand, food or $ donation, we feel our relief and gratitude. We understand what it means to be on the receiving end, and these feelings encourage us to give what we can, when we can. A pay it forward attitude. We feel our connection to humanity through the gift, we feel loved.

When the government takes and gives, the connection is lost. The gift becomes a tax. The humility becomes entitlement. And let's face it, if I give $10 to the guy pushing the grocery cart laden with blankets and empty soda cans, he gets $10. If I give it to the government to give to him, maybe he'll get $5. (A certain type of math I didn't learn at Pinelands.)

As a family, we're experiencing a time when we are less able to give. I'm realizing exactly how selfish I was prior to our personal economic downturn. I know that when we emerge from this recession, I will be more giving of my financial resources. I suppose if we had never had this need, I wouldn't understand this about myself. In the meantime, I am giving what I do have. My time, my talents. Perhaps instead of looking to the government for a hand-out, we should look to each other to see what we can share, what we can give to each other.

Sea Shell Returns to the Seashore!

2010-01-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

Sea Shell is back! This time she is joining the whole family at a more easily recognizable location! Post in the comments section if you think you know where we are!

Family Government, Part 1

2009-12-17T08:24:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of talk lately about the dreaded Global Warming being a highway that will drive the world to Socialism. The idea being that industrialized people/countries will be required to purchase "carbon credits" from less developed nations, thus distributing the wealth from wealthy nations to poor nations.

I don't know whether or not this is true, and the truth of the ClimateGate theory isn't critical to my blog today.

All this talk of wealth distribution got me thinking about the idea of socialism. I am not a philosophy major. I never was big on discussing the finer points of distinction between fascism, socialism, communism or Marxism.... that's a lot of isms.... My general understanding is that they all basically advocate taking from those who have and giving to those who don't because it isn't fair that someone has more than another. So, what's wrong with that? What's wrong with sharing?

Nothing is wrong with sharing, as any pre-schooler learns. Pre-schoolers also know that taking isn't sharing. Taking hurts the person you take from. Imagine the scene: A two year old walks up and takes the fire truck her brother is playing with. "I'll give it back in just a minute. I want to play with it." The brother's face falls, his eyes getting big, lower lip quivering with shock. The big sister walks away smugly and, having gotten something for nothing, plays with the firetruck for 30 seconds, tosses it aside (literally) and walks away. What has anyone learned? The brother learned not to trust his sister 'cause she takes his stuff and the sister learns she can have whatever she wants. And she doesn't even appreciate it.

On a more macro scale, a person who takes learns they can take. They don't appreciate it, nor do they treat what is given to them with respect. This applies whether what's being taken is a toy firetruck or money. It's could be called tax or carbon credit or welfare. Most importantly, the taker doesn't learn how to work hard. And let's face it, life is hard work, whether you have to study spelling words, take care of kids, jockey a desk or run a business. Without a basic ability to work hard, a person will never succeed at life, regardless of their job.

Taking also deprives an individual of the lesson that life isn't fair. It's not fair that one child grows up in poverty and another with extreme wealth. It's not fair that one family struggles to pay the medical bills for a sick child, while another family barely suffers from the common cold. The fact is, life is not fair. Through this understanding that life isn't fair, we can learn to be happy, despite what we don't have.

This is why we will not practice socialism in our family, however, we do occasionally practice dictatorship, capitalism and anarchy.

The second part of this little blog on family government will discuss what the "giver" and "taker" miss out on when things are given instead of taken.

Lysa

PS-- No children were ignored in the writing of this blog, which is why it took 2+ hours to write, and still sucks.

Important announcement

2009-12-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION:
Every banker, lawyer, political and last surviving family member who wants to give me money, please FedEx a check to my address. I'm in the phone book. Thank you for choosing me to receive large amounts of unearned cash.

Sincerely,
Lysa

Something to laugh about

2009-11-24T21:23:00.001-08:00

bwah hahahahahahahahaha. I'll save this one for Zerin, when he's ready... actually, the Tiger might motivate him....

The Death of Dairy

2009-11-09T15:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official. The doctor said we should seriously consider going dairy free. Then gluten free. I've been reading about the very positive responses parents or children with neurologically based disorders (think add, autism, apraxia) . I know I can do it, I just hate being the food police around my child. I also don't want to learn an entirely new way of cooking. I mean, come on, I just figured out how to make "normal" bread.

I just don't want to... whine, whine, whine....

So this week is dairy week. We are going to consume as much cheese, milk, ice cream and whatever other dairy products we can find. Then we're going to be done. For a very long time.... The dr said we should see results in 2-3 weeks, but the full benefits happen for about 6 months. Dan and I will decide when we're going to do gluten free. It might be easier to wait until after the first of the year.

So, for dinner we're have scalloped potato casserole. Dessert is a chocolate cake Anya picked out from Schwanns.

So, I just don't want to. And to be fair, neither does Anya. We're not expecting miracles. We know Apraxia won't disappear, but hopefully those l's r's and non-spontaneous speeches will get easier for her.

Still writing....

2009-11-07T12:21:00.001-08:00

house is cleaned... my goal is to maintain the cleanliness lest we lose a small child under the clutter.... children will be forced to help in this unprecedented effort.

My fingers are flying across the keyboard, typing words I hope make sense in the grand plot of this book. I'm hoping to write something not entirely horrible so I'll have an easier time editing when it's done.... ugh... I suppose I should get back to writing my novel... and the piece I promised Margie.... I'm going to treat myself to a manicure after this month... Meanwhile, here's a picture of the tire I put on the car a few weeks ago... yay me!

Lysa

NaNoWriMo HO!

2009-11-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm writing away, pounding out the story every night, at least until writer's block hits. The word count on my blog isn't working but I don't really have time to fix it, cause all the computer time I get I'm using for Relief Society stuff or novel writing or working on the Op Ed piece.

Kids are running a muck, although no serious injuries have occurred, Zerin has a few more "love marks" from Normandy. I call them "love marks" because Zerin seems to love the wrestling matches that bring them on. Go Figure. Although I do remember Michael sitting on my face and farting when he was still in diapers. I hope my kids relationship will survive their childhood.

Halloween was a blast. For the first time in years I dressed up.I went as the swine flu. Dan went as the vaccine. Very funny. I didn't see any other swine flus out there. I'll post a pic when I get one from Michelle and Sam, our personal family photographers.

The sugar crash from unlimited candy on Sunday has passed, the pleadings for the sugary confections getting fewer and farther between. The remaining candy, as well as some requested and unexpected items have been carefully placed into a medium, flat rate postal box for Michael, the face-sitting farter. It will be off an a journey to the deserts of Iraq as soon as I get a good address.

The toddlers pulled the cushions off the couch and are playing trampoline. I'm trying to decide how much I care.

Lysa

It happened today....

2009-10-26T13:00:00.001-07:00

I wondered when it would. While wrapping my hair into a quick bun, getting ready to change the unexpected flat tire, I was listening to the radio new report. Soldiers dead in Iraq. I wondered if my brother was on that helicopter. Then reality reminded me Mike is in Kuwait, waiting to go to Iraq.

Despite 11 years in the Air Force, Dan never deployed... which isn't fair to those who went 2-3x during those years... but I digress. We discussed what I would do if he died; where I would go, what memorial service he'd like, how best to spend that pitiful SGLI. Very practical stuff. It was all very superficial because an infected paper cut was more threatening (and likely) than a gun shot.

This is our first experience with a family member in a war zone. Beyond sending care packages and prayers, I don't really know what else to do. My preferred method of finding humor during a very scary, emotional situation is taking over.... we love you, Mike. I'll bet you could've changed that flat tire a lot faster than I did.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

2009-10-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have been blessed with a Frisbee Toss Award from Jenn over at Rook no. 17 ! Rook 17 has some very cool, non-traditional crafts. Her ideas will definitely guide your creativity into a new direction. So check it out ASAP!

In complete compliance with the Frisbee Toss guidelines I'm gonna direct you all to the National Breast Cancer Awareness site. It's stocked with information for patients, family, survivors and women with breasts. And those for who like to cook.... they have recipes!

Oh my Toast There's even a link to learn how to read a pathology report! Fa Shizzle! Who among us knows how to read a pathology report? My deepest respect to those of you who do. You've been through something way more serious than I've had to face in my personal health history.

So, now I'm tossing the frisbee to Vanessa over at V and Co. Vanessa's blog is filled with beautiful pics of her creativity at work. She's an awesome mom and all around great friend.

The second frisbee I'm tossing out to is Michelle at The Monterey HillBaileys. Michelle rallied up her courage to begin homeschooling her youngiest HillBailey. Her talent as a teacher surpasses her own expectations, but has come as no surprise to me.

So, Vanessa and Michelle, if you choose to catch this Frisbee Award, direct your blog-reading friends over to the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month website and then toss the frisbee onto your friends...

Love and hugs, Lysa

National Novel Writer's Month....

2009-10-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well, time to make another commitment I may or may not keep. lol. Seriously, I keep setting goals that always take a back seat to more important things, like making dinner, taking care of kids and facebook. A goal I've had for a long time is to write more. Not blogs or emails or status updates, but actual writing.

I have some great ideas and one astounding opening sentence. But none of these stories have gone anywhere besides my thumb drive. This time, however, I have an idea I think I could live with for a while. At least a month. November is National Novel Writing month. NaNoWriMo hosts a contest/challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. November, in case there was any ambiguity.

My house may get dirty, my kids will try to distract me and Dan may find himself washing a few more dishes. But, come November I'm gonna be a writing freak. Wish me luck!!

Lysa

See Shell by the Sea Shore - Part III

2009-10-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Shell was actually at the Garland Ranch Regional Park in the beautiful Carmel Valley. The rock that Tenny and Anya are near is part of the Rumsen Grinding Rock. Around the Monterey Peninsula, you can find indentations in the rock that the native Americans used to grind acorns, this rock is one of them.

See Shell by the Sea Shore, Part II

2009-10-14T19:43:00.001-07:00

This is Shell's first riddle. All good riddles need a hint though. We'll give you a couple. First, Shell will always be somewhere in Monterey County (California). She will always be.... well, that's all we know for sure now.

Tenny is learning about CA history this year. It's very appropriate that she, Shell and Anya stand in front of this rock, important to the Ohlone Indian, in our first See Shell riddle.

Have fun and don't hurt yourselves thinking about this one...

Lysa

See Shell by the Seashore

2009-10-13T17:02:00.001-07:00

Tenny has about a thousand "stuffies". Her favorite stuffy is a dragon named Legend, who is currently M.I.A. In Legend's absence, Shell the Sea Otter has been promoted.... until Legend reappears. The role of Best Stuffy is to accompany Tenny on any car rides, no matter how short and to listen to endless riddles. Most importantly, the riddles must always be laughed at.

To honor Tenny's love of riddles, we are going to put a little puzzler on our blog. Stay tuned for more details!

Finally Fall

2009-10-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Dan and I arrived at church early this morning, 8:40. The service starts at 9am. There were barely any cars in the parking lot. We immediately wondered if we missed the end of Daylight savings time. Nope. It's a holiday weekend, combined with the beginning of cold season.

So far our family has been spared a wide spread family-demic. Individually we've all had a cold or two, here and there. But for the most part, an adult has always been able to function, ensuring the survival of all our children. I have little hope of such success this year. I have this foreboding vision of the family, lying in the living room, camped out around buckets. Staggering to the refrigerator to get Pedialite or ginger ale. Zerin is climbing on us, jumping from head to head like stones across a stream.

Who knows what this season of colorful lights, baked goods and used tissues will bring. I'm sure it'll be an adventure though.

Lysa

2009-08-21T16:58:00.000-07:00

At our local goodwill Men's t-shirts are 3 for $1. I am bound and determined to take the stock pile I've gathered and turn them into a shirt I'd actually like to wear...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/diy_tshirt_surgery.php

http://www.marcytilton.com/index.php?cid=194

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/freezer_paper_stenciled_shirts

I really need to go ahead and spend some quality time with my sewing machine, before the shirts become clutter and they return to goodwill.
Where can I find the time? Do they sell that at goodwill?

Lysa

A Purpose Driven Life

2009-06-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

well, maybe not life, but definitely week. I needto find a solution to the gang of flies hoovering in my back yard. My neighbors have dogs and the flies are attracted to the dog piles. The flies cross the border into my yard. Occasionally they drift into my house and join the flight pattern of the 10 or so flies in my computer room. So, Monday I set about finding a way to eliminate those flies. I decided the best way to deal with the flies was to get them before they even find a way into the house.

My requirements were simple.
1. the trap had to be cheap.
2. the trap had to be made from things I found around my house.
3. it could not be poisonous.
4. it could not be that yucky hanging fly paper.

I decided to make a fly trap out of a soda bottle. Like this:
So, what should I put into the soda bottle to attract the flies? I think this discussion thread from Thrifty Fun had the most variety of ideas. And two or three met my requirements. I decided to start with the least gross of all the solutions.

I began with, what the author claims, is an Amish "recipe". (I wonder where the Amish get the soda bottle.) On Monday, I mixed 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of vinegar, a banana peel and water in the soda bottle. I made two traps using this method. I positioned one outside on my kitchen window sill and the second near my front door. It takes a week for the stuff to ferment and attract the flies. I had hoped the fly trap would work sooner. It doesn't.

So, today, a beautiful day, the kids are running in and out leaving the back door open. I have more flies than ever immigrating to my house and I need to implement a more immediate solution. So, on the same forum as above I read about how a plastic baggie filled with water above a door will keep the flies out. No body know how it works for sure (the flies are telling), but supposedly it works. Not for me. Maybe the light has to reflect off the water or something, but so far, no good.

My last attempt at keeping these flies away is the most disgusting of the fly trap recipes.
I took a piece of raw meat put it into the soda bottle fly trap and filled with water. An Australian guy on the forum suggested it. According to the Aussie the trap should begin to work in a day or two. We shall see.....

Free Stuff

2009-06-16T09:57:00.001-07:00

Well, low and behold a friend of mine has become an internet star.Vanessa, I always knew of your coolness, but didn't realize the whole world had caught on!

I love the 4 Dates necklace. That could come in handy at the dr's office when they ask when the kid was born. I can't be the only parent who has to take a moment or 3 to think....

The cranberry ear rings are also delightful. But they would require a new dress since I have nothing to go with them.

Here is a shameless link to Vanessa's give away and the PamperingBeki Shop where these delightful goodies can be found.

Love and hugs,
Lysa
P.S.-- A little word of advice from Normandy, "Peeing in your underwear and pants is not a good idea."

update....

2009-06-09T10:15:00.000-07:00

We are on the cusp of summer. The girls get out on June 12th after a final assembly, picnic and an afternoon of moving classrooms. I will probably be doing more moving than picnic-ing, but hey, that's the life of Mom.

Zerin expands his vocabulary daily. His latest acquisitions include nose, french fries and cheese. It is no coincidence that two of his new words are foods. He eats constantly. Zerin also continues to climb on everything and only fears Normandy's swift pinching fingers.

Normandy loves books, especially Fancy Nancy. She has been wearing a very fancy gymnastics leotard for two days now and, since it doesn't stink I have chosen not to fight this particular battle. She prefers to stay up late and sleep in, taking after her sister, Tenny. Normandy fears Zerin's swift sharp teeth.

Tenny's class play is this week, The Death of Baldor. It's a Norse Myth. Tenny plays Iduna, the bearer of the golden apples of youth. I'm not sure exactly what she does, because all the tellings of the myth I have read do not include Iduna. She and Dan survived the 4th grade class trip to California's Gold Country. They had a great time together and brought home many treasures.

Anya's class play was last week. She was the Parson in the Golden Goose by the Brothers Grimm. She delivered her line with passion and clarity rarely heard in a 1st grade play. It was loads of fun to watch her and her classmates enjoy the moment. And, because the Waldorf philosophy is all about living in the moment, we do not have a pic of Anya in her costume or a video of her theatrical debut.

Dan is applying for a PhD program at Argosy University. As long as he can switch to the new GI Bill, he will start in November. He is not looking forward to all the writing involved, and as his editor, neither am I. However, I know Dan will do a great job and this will help him take his career where he really wants it to go.

I am still dreaming stories and occasionally I have the time to put them on paper. My first essay should be published in the fall. The editing for print was a little more severe than I would have liked, but I am relatively happy with the end product. I adore the full product, which I have to say is a result of my editor, Heather's, help.

This summer, the girls, a friend or two and I are going to have a book club. We're going to start with Little House on the Prarie by Laura Ingles Wilder. Then we're going to read Frindle by Andrew Clements. I'm not sure what we're going to finish with, but it will probably have dragons in it. The girls are going to do two weeks of music camp, called Bach to the Future. They're able to do this because of the children's choir they sing in during the year. Zerin and Normandy will have a productive summer tearing things apart and learning to get along. All in all, I am looking forward to spending time with all of my kids together again, going to the beach and possibly finishing scrapbooking the hard copies of pics from before the digital camera age.

Here's a diet coke to a busy summer!
Lysa

Sam Fox, 54th Ward Elders Quorum President

2009-05-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

Very funny... I posted it here just in case you didn't catch it on FB.

Three little tidbits

2009-05-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture from the girl's school MayFaire. This is the parade, in the very front is Anya's teacher and her class shield. She dressed like a run away fairy princess in her cape and red sparkly shoes. Very cute.

I'm on a doctor approved diet that requires me to stick to a very strict low calorie diet. The last three days have been filled with too much baking, mother's day treats and lots of other culinary pitfalls. From leftovers to lemon bars to chocolate muffins my house has been quite a dangerous place to be. Fortunately, I'm still losing weight. However, I know that in the later stages of the diet I will have to buckle down-- starting tomorrow. Water is my friend....

Dan's taking a spanish class. He's been calling Normandy "Hija" which means daughter. Tonight he asked her, "What's your Spanish name?" She said, "Pija!" It does not mean daughter... Click here for the translation.... warning, it's not a word we want to say in our house again...

Yippy Skippy

2009-04-22T20:13:00.001-07:00

Well, almost. I'm working with an editor from Segullah Magazine and will be published this fall. I found out about the journal on Writers Relief. Thanks, WR!

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics)

2009-04-20T11:31:00.001-07:00

So, What's your hidden talent? Mine is knowing which of my kids is being bitten by their scream alone...

Lysa

Out of the Mouths of Filceks

2009-04-13T12:17:00.001-07:00

Macamowee-- Normandy for Macaroni

Scene: The girls are unloading the dishwasher Easter Sunday Afternoon.
Tenny: Come on Supervisor, help me out.
Anya: Why do you keep calling me Supervisor?
Tenny: Because you aren't doing any work. You're just watching me.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! This is why a collective 18 hours of labor was worth it. Actually, now that I think about it, we had to do 24 hours of foster care classes to get certified to bring Zerin home. So, technically, I was in labor with Zerin longer than for all 3 girls combined....

A slow, loud day

2009-03-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

My kids are loud. Very loud. Normandy is the loudest, but Zerin can hold his own during their screaming competitions. Anya has a great shriek, blood curdling yet angry. Tenny can talk the longest. I don't think she even needs to stop for breath. She'd make a great professional filibuster. Is that even a profession? If not, she'll develop it.

I suppose I should be glad my kids feel free to express themselves in exactly the way they want.

Lysa

Il Divo - Amazing Grace

2009-03-14T08:46:00.001-07:00

beautiful song. thanks for sharing, sheryl.

L

A revealing revelation

2009-02-12T13:21:00.001-08:00

A couple times this past week I was talking to some of my mommy friends. I only run into these awesome women a few times a month and we search in vain for a time to get together. Our lives are so crammed with homework, field trip, work and family it's hard to find time.

Then it hit me. These women would be around in 2 years when this hectic time in my life is ending. Not only that, but they'll be around in 10 years. Maybe 15 or 20...

AND SO WILL I 'cause we aren't military any more. HA!

Army Family Action Plan

2009-02-02T21:57:00.001-08:00

"you're not targeting, you're targeted"..... hehehe. I love that line...

This is what I've been busy with.... Oh, and changing diapers, cooking food and picking up toys. Occasionally I get to shower.... I wish I were kidding.

Lysa

I am a video posting nut....

2009-01-16T10:10:00.001-08:00

at least until my mom gets out of the shower and the kids get here for our homeschool co op. I''m going to be leading the kids into play writing. I've never done anything like it before, but I'll post about it.

Anya's baptism is Saturday at 4pm. She is very excited. My mom is visiting for another week and that's very exciting as well. I'd like to say we're taking it easy and having a relaxing visit. However, the nature of my life right now is anything but relaxing...

Lysa

Thanks to Burg, for sharing this video with me, it makes me laugh every time I watch it.

Yay! I finally did it....

2009-01-16T10:07:00.001-08:00

Here's the video, right on my blog. I have accomplished something. Does that mean I can go back to bed now?

Lysa

A new song that I love

2009-01-14T17:40:00.001-08:00

by Taylor Swift. If I could figure it out, I'd add music to my blog... which I know would annoy certain people (MB)... Here it is... I have to figure out how to put video from youtube on here....

Lysa

my rant against capital letters.

2009-01-07T09:03:00.000-08:00

capital letters are a nuisance to society. i think we should gather outside our state legislature's office and publicly protest. capital letters feel they're superior to other letters and therefore, must be banished. they way the lord over the smaller letters, taking more space in a word document and more ink when the print. capital letters take away from lowercase letters and infringe on their right to ink and space. i declare capital letters discriminate against lowercase letters!

Day After New Year's Day Post

2009-01-02T10:41:00.001-08:00

Still... no pictures. But, I did add a new widget. lds.org has a new site just for teens, and it's pretty cool. Mp3 downloads, videos, music and all kinds of other stuff I just haven't checked out yet. It looks like a fun and safe place for youth to surf the internet.

Lysa

The Day after Christmas Post

2008-12-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

So, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. In lieu of Christmas morning pictures, I've posted this video. Our camera is broken and so our children will have to rely on good old fashioned memory when they recall Christmas 2008. There was a tree, with lights and ornaments on only the top half. (Zerin undecorated the bottom.) There's a wacky red ball Rudolph with two different wiggly eyes next to a really old candy cane reindeer missing a red nose. Higher up are Pooh and Piglet staring at a baby cradle, marking Zerin's first Christmas. And, of course, Dan mentions the interesting creature made out of wood given to me by one of my Proven Uncles.... if any of you know what it is, please let Dan know.

Missing you all fondly,
Lysa

Hmmm... An idea for the next school bake sale....

2008-12-16T16:49:00.000-08:00

Alleged Marijuana Brownies Sicken 6 Students

So, I don't smoke pot, nor do I intend to start. However, Benadryl is still an otc medication. Cherry flavored brownies sound pretty good to me! HAHAHAHA!

Seriously, I would to have loved to be the teacher of this class. Can you imagine? And did the munchies hit these kids in time for lunch? "Can I have an extra cheeseburger?" Were they stealing fries off their friend's tray? And did any of them suffer paranoia? "The 7, it's coming to eat me!" (Get it, why was 6 afraid of 7? Cause 7 8 9.) And how did they figure out the brownies were laced with marijuana (which, btw is a cool word in print... not often you see an i next to a j)? Which teacher made the sacrifice and took a bite? Imagine being a student in that class.

Despite the legal ramifications of spiking brownies with marijuana and sending them to school with your kid, it's a pretty interesting idea. Mom must've been sleeping in after a rough night while her kid went to school. Poor kid thought, "Wow! Brownies for breakfast! Yay me." Little did he know, he just began his career as a drug dealer.

So, what would a recipe for Benadryl Brownies look like? Could you even legally buy enough to make the risk worthwhile? Seems like a potential Christmas Eve traditional treat to me.

***Just for the record, in case child welfare ever investigates, I have never and would never give my children unnecessary medication.

Lysa

I don't really know what to blog about

2008-12-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

blog. Today was a long marathon day. We started out early in the day with Zerin waking Dan up. Normandy followed at 6:30. Dan made breakfast. I woke up at 7:30... what a treat to sleep in! Woohoo. Church, followed by practicing for a clarinet/flute duet. Home for dinner. I made cookies. Back to church for choir practice. Home to check my 28 email messages and 67 junk messages. It's almost 10 pm and I think I'm going to bed.

Lysa

new gadget

2008-11-28T16:25:00.001-08:00

on my google home page that lets me blog in an instant! WOOHOO! Happy Shopping Day!

yay for me!!!!

2008-11-26T20:46:00.000-08:00

Today I went to the podiatrist and found out what's wrong with my legs! My Achilles tendon is super tight and so the ligament has been pulling on my calf leg causing the shin splints. It's also responsible for my plantar fasciitis and contributes to my ankle and hip pain. I am so happy to have an answer other than, "Stay off it." So in 4 weeks I'll have my orthopedic inserts, I'll do my daily stretches and wait it out. Eventually I'll be able to hike, walk and possibly run pain free! Maybe I can jump rope again....

Lysa

Now that I am in charge of fundraising

2008-11-25T22:49:00.000-08:00

for Tenny's class, I promise not to ask any of you to buy cookie dough, wrapping paper, calendars or unwanted tchotchkes. Who knew that's how to spell tchotchkes.... Dan, that's who.

Love and hugs,
Lysa

The Potty Song

2008-11-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

Oh, to Joy, Normandy is Potty Training. Today she sang a little song about it:
I do not like to put peepee in my pull up,
Oh no I do not it. I put peepee and poopoo in the potty.

This was the entire song, repeated and belted out in various keys, for 20 minutes as we drove home tonight. Meanwhile, Zerin was adding his own off key harmony. Tenny was calling for the book on cd to be turned up and I was doing some deep breathing exercises to keep from losing my mind.

I am thrilled that Normandy has taken so quickly to potty training. The peer pressure of Livvy going has sure helped. She had only one accident today. And no #2 accident. Which I think is one of the grossest things parents have to do. Cleaning up poo and barf. Yuck. Thank you to mom and dad and anyone who cleaned up my poo and barf. I just hope Dan stays out of that category of people.

Lysa

Lysa

A Filcek's Friday

2008-11-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

So, today I was searching for a way to watch last night's The Office, when a small knock came from my front door. It was Tori and Olivia... Yay! Tori has to decorate 4 boxes for young women's and so I invite myself along.

First stop, Michael's craft store. I love this store. The only thing it's missing is fabric. And patterns. But they've got a great baking sections. Anya decided Zerin will have cupcakes for his first birthday. Tori picks out a ton of crafty items for her boxes.

Next, I tag along to Sondra's house where we paint the boxes. I am quickly reminded that painting is not my most developed talent. Normandy put red play dough in her hair and lip stick all over her face. I tried to pull out the play dough, and left Normandy with a bald patch. The play dough stayed in a clump in Norm's hair all day. Just before leaving, Zerin got a hold of a leaky water bottle, while sitting in a pile of dirt. So, now Zerin, was covered in dirt, while wearing his spare pair of clothes. And I was out of diapers. He wore a borrowed diaper for the rest of the day. Thank goodness today was 70.

All is well that ends well, I suppose. I got gross pizza from Little Ceasar's and Norm's hair released the play dough easily enough. I can always put her hair up in a little pony tail to cover the bald spot. Zerin went to bed clean and in pajamas. The kids haven't lived on the east coast long enough to know exactly how bad the pizza here is.

Now that Zerin's in bed and the girls are being entertained by Meghan, a friend, I can watch The Office and drink my diet Pepsi from a diet Coke can... which is as dangerous as I can get on a Friday night.

Lysa

summit ward talent show olympics

2008-11-06T18:48:00.001-08:00

I thought this might make you smile!

The funniest thing....

2008-11-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

The other day I was sitting at the computer and I heard banging from the living room. I vaguely remembered Normie coming in and getting a hammer. Hmmmm, this triggered a response and I get up and find her. She's banging on the glass window.
"What are you doing?!?" I ask.
"Killing flies," she said. I think it's time to get a fly swatter.

Lysa