Tag Archives: kids

Not Again! (a/k/a Time Change)

Posted on November 4, 2011 | 10 comments

Good morning Everyone!

As I am sitting here writing, listening to Tyra bark softly outside because she is ready to come back in, I am looking outside and noticing that it has gotten to where it is dark in the morning now for quite a while after we get up.  From the fall equinox until the start of winter in December, here in Alabama we lose about one to three minutes of sunlight a day, which doesn’t seem like much, but slowly adds up.  Fortunately, we still have some vestiges of light once I start home from work, which I do enjoy.  That’s all about to change.

Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend, which  means that here in the United States most of us will be moving our clocks back one hour.  This is annoying, because for at least a week I will be looking at clocks calculating  “If it is one p.m. now, last week it would have been 2:00 p.m.”  (I never said I was a particularly deep thinker!)

Daylight Savings Time is one of those really stupid strange inventions I don’t understand.  I know the reason Congress started it (in World War II, no less) was to help save energy, but has anyone really done a study to see how much energy it saves?  It seems that the energy we save by lopping off one hour in the spring should be equalled by the energy we use when we add that hour back in the fall.  I think it was Dave Barry who said something like “Try as you will, you can come up with no logical explanation for Daylight Savings Time.”  My favorite description of it, and I’m not sure whether it was by Will Rogers or O. Henry or someone else, is the comparison of it between a blanket where someone cuts off one foot from the bottom of the blanket to add one foot to the top so it will cover their head!  I really think we should just do away with it – I don’t really care whether we keep summer hours or winter hours, I just wish we’d stick with one or the other.

One of the most amusing things to do on the spring end of Daylight Savings Time is to park outside the day care of your choice and watch the kids as they enter on the first Monday after it begins.  The kids don’t care what the adults told them, they know that something about the time is not right, and it is a sleepy passel of young ‘uns that pass through the day care portals on that day.  (I suspect the adults are sleepy too; we’re just better at hiding it! )

I do like getting the one extra hour back this weekend, although each year it seems like the extra hour slides by without any special recognition.  That’s probably because I spend it sleeping, one way or another.

I am grateful to the person who invented the memory aid “Spring forward, Fall back.”  Without it, I wouldn’t ever remember which way to turn – uh, the clock, I mean!

Have a great weekend folks!

Nancy

P.S.  For a while, Indiana and Arizona (I think) refused to recognize Daylight Savings Time.  Does anyone know if they still do, or if there are any other states/regions out there that have decided to march to the beat of a different drummer?  Kudos to them, whoever they are!

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The Vegetarian, Veterinarian Veteran

Posted on November 3, 2011 | 12 comments

Good morning Everyone!

The following conversation took place between Mark, Kayla and I as we were headed into choir last night.

Veterinarian

Kayla:  Mom, some of the kids are saying we’re off next week.

Mom:  No, just Friday for Veteran’s Day.

Kayla:  Veterinarian’s Day is Wednesday, November 9.  We are singing that day.

Mom:  Veteran’s Day, dear, and it’s November 11.  You’re just singing Wednesday because you’re off on the 11th.  Do you know what a veteran is?

Kayla, dismissing the question with a wave:  Yes, they’re someone who served in the military.

Kayla, moving forward to essentials:  We’re singing the Army-Navy song, My Country ‘Tis of Thee and This Land is My Land.  Do you know that song?

Mom, looking over at Dad, who hates “This Land is My Land”: Yes, we know that song.

Kayla:  Did you know that Veterinarian’s Day is the day after my birthday?

Dad:  (Ignoring the temporal inaccuracies of the previous statement): Veteran’s Day.

Kayla:  Veteran’s Day.

Mom:  Do you know what a veterinarian is?

Kayla, scornfully:  Of course I do.  They’re the ones that only eat vegetables.

Mom, hastily smothering a laugh:  No, those people are vegetarians.  A veterinarian treats animals.  That’s different.

Dad:  Unless you have a veterinarian who is a vegetarian veteran….

The lady walking into church in front of us started to laugh.  She probably thought we were crazy, but then again, that’s what keeps us sane!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Halloween Present: Princess Rapunzel

Posted on November 1, 2011 | 12 comments

Hi Everyone!

Princess Rapunzel Checks Her Hair

You know I couldn’t post about Halloween Past without moving on to Halloween Present, didn’t you?  For those of you who are not enamored of pictures of someone else’s child, hang in there; I’ll have to find something else to talk about tomorrow! 

The princess ascends her throne

My Mom made every bit of this costume herself for Kayla, from the dress to the hair, and I think it is the most beautiful costume Kayla has had.

You called?

The first few pictures Kayla and I took Thursday night last week.  Kayla’s school was having Red Ribbon Week and the school book fair, and Friday they were allowed to dress up in costumes as book characters.

Kayla was a little indignant; other children in her class told her that Rapunzel was not a book character, and Kayla knew better. 

I'm not sure what she was doing here...

She decided to prove her point by taking the Rapunzel book she had to school with her.  I gathered from her Friday afternoon that producing the book pretty well squelched the “Rapunzel is not a book character” argument.

As Pretty A Princess As Can Be

The point is, though, that like any other wise mother who wants to have pictures of their child in a specific outfit, I decided to go ahead and take pictures on Thursday night in case the unthinkable occurred Friday and something – a stain, a tear or who knows what else – happened to the costume.

All modern princesses know how to use a PDA!

I needn’t have worried though; the costume came back home in pristine condition, and ready for its next escapade last night, when we went up to our church’s “Trunk or Treat” Festival. 

That first bite of candy!

The way Trunk or Treat works is that you arrive at the church as a family, register, and then you have a parking lot full of cars, SUV’s, trucks and even a fire truck that are decorated for Halloween with their trunks open and the child trick or treats her way around the circle of cars.  She came out with a pretty good haul!

Princess Rapunzel Considers the Best Way to Climb the Wall

After you completed the circle, the church had several blow up bouncy thingies (I don’t know anything more precise to call them, but I’m sure there is a term out there somewhere!) for the kids to play in.  The funniest conversation was listening to Kayla and a friend of hers from school that she ran into trying to figure out what to do with her skirt to help her participate in the bounce up and down house. 

Princess Rapunzel Climbs a Wall

In the end, she decided to leave it loose, since she had worn a pair of leggings underneath the skirt anyhow.  Leaving it loose didn’t hamper her jumping , nor did it restrain her when it came time to do the obstacle course.

Talking to Daddy

However, all good things must come to an end, even jumping on the bouncy thingies at the church carnival, so when we finally called her in, she had to put her sneakers back on.  (What?  You didn’t know that Princess dresses and sneakers are the height of high fashion at Court?  They are when it is cold outside!)  She did so talking non-stop to Mark.

She finally got her shoes on, and we headed back to the house for a quick supper, and then bed, one more Halloween under our belt!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

P.S.  Mom- thank you again for making the costume.  It is beautiful!

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The Ghosts of Halloween Past

Posted on October 31, 2011 | 15 comments

Hi Everyone!

In honor of Halloween, here are some photographs of the ghosts of Halloween past.

It will not surprise you , when you see this picture, to learn that I had to dig long and hard in the archives before I found it.  This is myself and one of my sisters in our Halloween costumes that I am pretty sure my mother made for us.

While there should be more pictures of my and my sisters from Halloween, apparently I don’t have them, but what I do have are plenty of pictures from Kayla’s Halloweens (except 2009, which was an odd year.)

Halloween, 2005

This was our first Halloween together as a family.  Kayla would have still been three, but just about ready to turn four.

We lived in a real neighborhood then, one with sidewalks and everything, so we knew we would have trick-or-treaters come by our house.  Mark’s mother was kind enough to come by to answer our door while we took Kayla trick or treating for the first time.

She remembered to wait politely at the door.

But there were some places she wasn’t altogether sure of!

Halloween, 2006

This was the year she decided to be Cinderella.  I think my mom bought her costume this year for her as a gift.  These pictures are from our church carnival.

I think she was happy!

Obviously, candy wasn’t the only attraction to the carnival!

The Princess Slide!

Halloween, 2007

I made Kayla’s costume this year, for two reasons.  One is, I just think every mother should make her child’s costume at least once.  The second is, she wanted to be a bunny rabbit and off the shelf bunny rabbit costumes can be hard to find!  I’ll let you decide which reason was more important.

 Even as a rabbit, she was a lean, mean pumpkin pushing machine!

Oh – and that year Mark’s work had a Halloween costume contest.  He won!

Halloween, 2008

This year was unusual because we had very little time to get ready for Halloween.  Kayla had walking pneumonia for the two weeks before Halloween, and was just back out and about, so we got her costume at the last minute.  She decided to be a fairy.

She and I went to the Halloween carnival together.

I think she had fun again.  I put a little make-up on her, which was (and still is) a very rare treat. 

Halloween 2009

I cannot find the Halloween pictures from 2009, (they’re probably hidden somewhere completely logical like in a folder marked “Football Game”) but go back up to the bunny rabbit costume, picture it with longer sleeves with elastic at the wrists, a stuffed cat tail instead of the short cotton tail, and done in yellows and browns instead of all white, and you will get the idea!  I made the costume that year both because I wanted to and because she announced emphatically that she wanted to be a cat with a real tail for Halloween that year, and I wasn’t sure else how to get a real tail besides to make it.

Halloween 2010

Last year, Kayla decided to be The Little Mermaid.  This costume, she and my mom picked out together.  We got a chance to have her put it on and take some pictures before we went out anywhere, and we had fun with it.  Here, the Little Mermaid is holding court in her….kitchen (?)

Kayla decorated a pumpkin last year by drawing on it, and she did a great job. 

And finally, what is the use of doing a photo shoot if you don’t get to goof around at least a little?

I’m not sure she knew I actually took that picture…

 Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Sunday Night Dinner – The Dog Invasion!

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 10 comments

Good morning everyone!

Kayla and Mark were kind enough to make dinner for me Sunday night.    In our family, we have two types of spaghetti – plain spaghetti, which translates as “spaghetti with the Ragu Traditional Sauce heated up straight from the bottle,” and spaghetti with the good sauce, which translates as “spaghetti with a sauce comprised of sauteed ground beef, mushrooms and onions with [you guessed it] Ragu Traditional Sauce poured over all ingredients and heated up in a pan.”  However, while they were waiting for the water to boil, I came in to help by dividing up some ham  and turkey we had purchased the day before for freezing, at which time two things happened – Mandy and Darwin invaded the kitchen (not for the first time that evening) and Kayla found a spare camera lying around to use for pictures.  So, courtesy of Kayla, we managed to get photographic evidence.

Me, not having my best foot forward!

In any photographic session done by almost anyone’s child, the first photo is the obligatory “candid” shot of at least one of their parents. Apparently, a child’s definition of “candid” can be loosely translated as “less than flattering”. This photo session is no exception, as I was in my pajamas facing away from the camera when Kayla started snapping.

Mandy's signature opening move

Mandy always begins a kitchen invasion in the same manner – she selects the spot nearest to the person working on food and slides in between that person and the bottom of the kitchen cabinets.  She is quite adept at it, really.  There are some days she gets in place without my even noticing until I almost trip over her.

Darwin Enters

Darwin, on the other hand, simply walks into the kitchen and wanders around.  Unfortunately, the kitchen does not leave much room for a dog almost the size of a small pony.  For those of you wondering, Tyra has no need to enter the kitchen; she is content to leave clean up crew to the other two dogs, secure in the knowledge that if anything is going to be handed out on a systematic basis, she will get first cut as well as an equal share.  FN.

Why my kitchen seems crowded

Once both dogs are in the kitchen, free space is at a premium.  Darwin, at least, will move to accomodate humans who need to travel to the refrigerator, stove or sink, but Mandy loves to park herself in one spot.  Her favorite spot is in the center of the kitchen, sprawled out to take up the maximum amount of available floor.  She simply refuses to budge, even as she sees your feet approaching.  Apparently, she believes it is my responsibility to watch out for her, not her responsibility to utilize the good sense I am sure she has somewhere to avoid being tripped over.

Come on Mom, just drop one piece of ham!

Here, Mandy feels that the ham is tantalizingly too close, and the humans too near for her to begin scavenging method number 2, which is just grazing the counters on her own, so she tried the cute approach.

All this scavenging makes me sleepy!

Still, scavenging/begging is hard work, and even the most dedicated dog has to stop and rest sometime!

And now, gentle reader, so must I.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

FN.  Does anyone else who keeps dogs in the house feel exceedingly weird when you go over to someone else’s house and you drop food – and you have to reach down and pick the food up yourself?

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Posted in Cooking, dogs, working mom

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Random Thoughts, Part Deux

Posted on October 13, 2011 | 12 comments

Good morning Everyone! 

Here are a few random thoughts/questions.

1) Where is Old Zealand? 

2) Why do we have New York, New Jersey, New Bern but not New Birmingham?

3) Did you know there is a road in California called Zzyzx Road?  I passed the exit for it once when I was a child.  I also thought of it as the end of the road!

4) Spell check is really unhappy with the term “Zzyzx.”

5) There are nine cities and towns named Atlanta in the United States.  They are located in Georgia, Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas. 

6)  If there is anyone out there who works full-time, has a child/children, commutes over 30 minutes each way to work and is not perpetually tired, could you please let me know how you do it?

7)  People who search for the terms “basset hound/Siberian husky” are NOT very good at explaining why they are looking for the information.  It’s driving me nuts!

8 ) Never let the copier at work know when you have a project that has to be completed that day.  If it knows, the odds of it breaking before the project is finished go up astronomically.

9) It is even more important to keep your computer in the dark about projects that have to be completed that day.

10) I can’t speak French.  I hope that I have spelled “deux” correctly and that it does mean two and not something else.

11) Mandy is a great footwarmer.

12) Science has proven that it was, in fact, the egg that came first and not the chicken. 

13) There is nothing much funnier than watching a 90 pound dog with legs he’s not very good at controlling rounding a corner at full speed on a wooden floor and losing his balance because he can’t get traction.  (Picture Darwin in a Scooby Doo cartoon.)

14) The expression on his face once he recovers from the slide is even funnier. 

15) The expression on Mandy’s face when he loses traction and she doesn’t is funniest of all!  

16) If you decide to make Christmas gifts, and they’re not finished by December 1, give it up and go ahead and buy them instead and save the hand-made gifts for next year.  Your life will be much easier.

17) Why isn’t an in-house masseuse a regular perk at businesses? 

18) If it is a choice between your job and your child with a very high fever, the child always wins.  He/she makes a lot more noise!

19) Why do children get sick at 2:00 a.m. in the morning or on the weekends and not at 5:00 p.m. in the evening when you still have time to make it to the urgent care center?

20) Even the worst of days can get suddenly better with a smile, a kind word or a hug from someone you love.

That’s enough for now since I need to get ready for work.  As Kayla said the other day, “It’s time to rock the roll!” 

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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A Highly Biased History of Bowling

Posted on September 20, 2011 | 6 comments

Good morning Everyone!

We begin the history of bowling by returning today to the story of Ugg and Uggette.  (Their history, lost until recently, was discovered in cave paintings found in the tunnels under Disneyworld, which were opened to archeologists for the first time two years ago.)

When last we left them, Ugg and Uggette had discovered laundry.  Ugg thought the task should belong to Uggette and Uggette agreed to it mostly because she felt guilty that she had pushed Ugg into the stream.  (See, A Highly Biased History of Washing Machines.)

The Stream Outside Ugg and Uggette's Cave

There was, however, one unintended benefit in laundry for Uggette and one unintended problem for Ugg – someone had to watch the 10 little Uggitos and Uggitas while Uggette was away at the stream, and by sheer process of elimination the task fell to Ugg.

Uggette's Laundry Basket

One fine afternoon, Uggette, desiring some time to herself, decided to take the laundry down to a better stream than the one on the front step of their cave, so she ventured off with the clothes, leaving Ugg, who had participated in a particularly difficult mammoth hunt the day before,  in charge of the 10 little Uggitos and Uggitas.  Ugg looked at his offspring, looked back at the cave, and, after fleetingly wishing that electricity, television and football had already been invented, threatened the Uggitos and Uggitas within an inch of their lives if they departed the clearing and slipped into the cave to take a nap.

The Entrance to the Cave

Unfortunately, Ugg neglected to tell the tykes to be quiet, so after about 30 minutes, he received a rude awakening when they decided to hold a wolf howling contest.  Infuriated, he snatched up his club to knock a few heads about, but then, reflecting that he hadn’t enjoyed his first stream dunking, that Uggette probably wouldn’t be happy with any head knocking on the offspring, and that he actually was sort of fond of them himself, he put the club down and snatched up a large round stone instead.

Ugg's Round Rock (Photo by Harmil on Wikimedia Commons)

The Uggitos and Uggitas were howling with gusto, lined up in several rows, with the littlest one in front.  Ugg held his round stone, took careful aim, and rolled it hard at the bunch of them.  Those who were in the direct path of the stone scattered, and bowling was born.  (For the record, the first bowl in history was a split; the little ones in the center scattered, but the two oldest on each end held their ground.)  Ugg never did get back to his nap – the kids completely missed the point of the stone and insisted that Dad continue to play the new game he had invented with them.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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The World According to Kayla

Posted on September 19, 2011 | 2 comments

Hi Everyone!

Kayla telling Darwin what to do.

We had the chance to take Kayla and a friend bowling this weekend, which meant Mark and I had the rare privilege to eavesdrop on the conversation between two almost 10 year olds.  The trip bowling put Kayla in such a good mood that her personality was still bubbling over on Sunday. 

  • “We already squealed about that.”

Kayla was invited to be in the Purple Ambassadors at her elementary school a couple of weeks ago.  It is the equivalent of an honor society for fourth graders and it is a big deal to be asked to be in it.  Mark and I did not know that Kayla’s friend, whom I will call “R,” had also been asked to be in it until we heard R and Kayla discussing the Monday morning 7 a.m. meeting.  I turned my head to R in the back seat and asked her if she was in the Purple Ambassadors too.  Before R could answer, Kayla said, “Yes, she is.  We already squealed together about that.” 

Apparently I missed the celebration.

  • Whale

R lives down a county road, about five minutes from town, and Mark and I are always afraid that we are going to miss her house.  Kayla reassured us from the back seat.  “I know exactly where it is; it is the house with the whale in front.”  I know R’s mother and grandmother and the idea of some kind of a whale decoration in the front yard seemed a little out-of-place, so I asked Kayla if she was sure.  Kayla said that yes, she was sure, then she said, “You know, Mama, the thing where the water comes out of the ground.”  Her Southern accent, in its most extreme form, had gotten us again – she was saying “well” not “whale.”

  • Multiplication

Sunday afternoon late, we decided to go get Mark’s mother and take her to Outback.  On the way down there, I asked Kayla what she had done while Mark and I were taking our naps that afternoon.  She told me she had practiced grammar on her computer (a hand-me-down, stripped-down laptop from Mark), combining sentences.  (For example, she would type, “Kate is running” then “John is running” then combine the sentences to “Kate and John are running.”)  I said, “That’s nice,” then asked her if she had worked any on her multiplication tables.  A half-laugh, half-“Mom you must be out of your mind”  “Huh!”  came out of the back seat.  Then she decided that a more polite answer would be appropriate, and added, “No, ma’am.”

  • Itch

The best line of all came that night at supper though.  Mark’s mom was talking about someone who has to have a medical procedure next week and that she had put that person on the prayer list at her Sunday School class.  “After all, ” she added, “Prayer never hurts!”  All of us nodded agreement at the table, then Kayla added, “But a bad itch does!” 

The rest of Outback must have wondered why our table was laughing so hard.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Cruise (Not!)

Posted on September 9, 2011 | 4 comments

Good morning everyone!

I called my mother the other day from the car, and since Kayla was with me, let her talk.  Kayla was in a chatty mood, so she and Mom chattered away while I was driving.  It reminded me of the first time I can remember them having a lengthy conversation on the phone.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

It was back during Kayla’s kindergarten year, when we had already moved to where we live now, but were still going to church back in our old town.  On the 30 minute drive back from Wednesday night choir practice and GA’s, I called Mom and let Kayla talk for a while too.  Eventually, Kayla brought the subject around to spending the night at my Mom’s house sometime.  Kayla said something like, “We’ll have to figure out what to do with my Mom and Dad.  I know!  I’ll send them on a cruise.”  I asked how much money she had to use for said cruise, and she proudly told me that she had a dollar she would use.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

Well, I let Mom and Kayla build castles in the air for a little while, but about the time Kayla started telling Mom what she would bring to wear “next Saturday” when she came over, I felt compelled to interrupt so that Kayla understood this sleep-over was not something that could happen right away.  (Mom lives about a six-hour drive away from us.)  I said gently, while she was still on the phone, “Kayla, I’m sorry, but you can’t spend the night at Grandma Dottie’s this week.”  Without batting an eye, she turned to me, with the phone in her hand, and answered firmly, “Then you ain’t going on no cruise!” and turned her back on me to continue her conversation with my mother.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

I laughed all the way home.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Out of Our Gourds for Gourds

Posted on August 11, 2011 | 4 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Mom and Kayla Working on Their Gourds

This weekend, my mom, who is visiting, Kayla and I had the chance to work on a craft project together.  My mom brought up two huge gourds, which she had allowed to dry for over a year, which she wanted to paint; one is to be a Christmas decoration, painted like a Santa, and the other is to be a Halloween decoration. 

The Picture They Knew I Was Taking

Well, I got a little curious, because it seemed odd to me that a plant would be developed solely for decorative purposes, and Mom couldn’t think of any food purposes behind the gourd, so I did what any reasonable 21st century individual would do – I googled “gourd.”  I found out several interesting things about them. 

The Picture They Did Not Know I Was Taking!

First, they are related to cucumbers and melons.  I wouldn’t have guessed either relationship, although had I seen the scientific name for the gourd family first, Cucurbitaceae, I might have been able to guess at the cucumber relationship. 

Hmmmm - Doesn't look much like a cucumber to me!

Second, they were brought to the United States around 10,000 years ago with the peoples who crossed over the land bridge which then existed on the Bering Straits.  Genetic tests have shown that the American bottle gourd is most closely related to the Asian bottle gourd.  The Asian bottle gourd is descended from the African bottle gourd. 

The gourd is not quite as big as Kayla, but close!

Third, and I find this most interesting, the gourd was the first domesticated plant in the Americas.  It was not grown as a food crop, but as a container.  The gourd itself is the fruit of the plant; its shell is strong and buoyant, and has been used for thousands of years as containers, for musical instruments, and fishing floats.  FN. 

Gourd fronts with finished base coat

Fast forward about 10000 years to my dining room table, where our gourd painting experience had begun.  Mom had downloaded directions on how to paint the Santa Claus from the internet, and had a much smaller example of what she wanted the Halloween gourd painted like, so art class was officially in session. 

Gourd Backs

We spent about three hours on Sunday afternoon working on them, and didn’t get much further than the base coats, but we had a lot of fun doing it!  I can’t help but wonder, though, if the gourds feel that they have taken a step down, from valued container or musical instrument, to simple decoration, but perhaps they are just grateful to still be useful even after 10,000 years!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

FN.  See, “An Asian Origin for a 10,000-year-old domesticated plant in the Americas, ” from the Dec. 20, 2005 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America for further information if you are interested.

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