Getting Lit

 

After enjoying a leisurely Thanksgiving week spent celebrating Jack’s Birthday, eating turkey, sleeping in, and finally getting to some stuff that’s been idling on the ‘to-do’ list it kind of felt like I woke up on November 25th and Christmas reared up and slapped me across the face. It was like a complete 180, toss the turkey and hang the tinsel! I told Kevin I like to wade in slowly to the Christmas season…or at very least a Cannonball where you get a running start before making a big splash. Usually that’s not the way it goes for me, but for some reason this year just felt like an in your face, “WHAM,” here’s your Christmas!

 

 

Needless to say I’ve had to blink a few times and shake my head, but a week later I’m catching my stride. The kids are a big part in that. It’s hard to resist feeling Christmassy when they are so wide-eyed and excited.  We’ve go the tree up and decorated. Pageant rehearsals have started at Church. We’ve even got this years Gingerbread constructed and decorated (Emilie did the boxcar and helped with the station, Jack did the flat beds and helped me with the Engine, I did the Caboose and Engine, and Kevin did the Station). If all that doesn’t get you in the mood looking at Christmas lights will.

 

 

 

While we still haven’t gotten our own lights up…we got them out and are in the “assessment phase” if that’s worth anything…. We did got view the Neighbor’s epic annual display and went to view the lights at Rock Creek, as well as the holiday light parade downtown. The kids have also spent an exorbitant amount of time on the phone with Grandpa Duchow consulting on his light display. That’s almost as good as putting up your own lights right?

 

You never know, light could still happen around here. First we have to figure out where the staple gun got to though. I think this next week may be a baking week…I feel like making gingerbread men, but you never know until it happens (kind of like my blogging lately ) Jack is going to blow a gasket if he doesn’t get to make kiss cookies soon (Seriously, we’re really low on peanut butter and have no kisses, and we’ve been putting him off for about three days now, but it’s to the point that he wants to just take the peanut butter we have left and just fashion one or two cookies…pleaaaase, Mom…puhleeeeeease!) and my coffee would like some egg nog snickerdoodles to complement the holiday. I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned and find out……

The Great Pumpkin Rides Again!

Unless you somehow missed it, Halloween was on Monday. This group of mine always has fun dressing up and doing fall things. The only disadvantage this year is that Kevin has been working a big work project that keeps him gone Mon-Thurs (and occasionally Friday) right now. That means most of our Halloween/Fall festivities ended up being pushed into a long weekend this year. Not the way we prefer to do it…but that’s just how the chips landed this year.

Thursday kicked it all off when I took the kids down to Tubbs Berry Farm after school. The kids enjoy the big slides, duck races, and the corn cannon (both hit targets this year). The Hay Bale maze is fun and there is always something new to see, do, or learn. For example: Did you know the average Honey Bee only lives six weeks and produces about 1/4tsp of honey during it’s lifespan?

I think the kid’s favorite element this year was the giant jump pad. This thing was huge, and we got there at a time when it was also devoid of other kids….My kangaroos went wild.

Saturday, after helping out at the Church’s fall cleanup and roaming the canal bed catching Crawdads we headed into town to the CSI Corn Maze. It wasn’t too many years back when we couldn’t make it through this thing without carrying people. Now we have to worry about them getting too far ahead and turning a corner on us. Not too many more years and they won’t have to stay with Mom and Dad the whole time….that has some potential

For now however I’ll enjoy the time as a family….besides these kids still come in handy when you get yourself truly turned around. “Okay sweetie, can you see the exit tent?”

Once we got done with the Corn Maze there was really only one thing left to do before Halloween itself…pumpkins!

This is another area where I’m always impressed by how far the kids have come. Jack doesn’t require any assistance anymore (except for some muscle to pull off the lid) and had some creative ideas up his sleeves (he turned his pumpkin on its side to use the nose as part of the face). Emilie still wanted help cleaning out her pumpkin. She also needed some carving help. She drew on the face (and hands, because all pumpkins have hands) and did a little carving (like one eye), but then, it seems, she suffered a career ending hand cramp and Mom had to step in and carve the rest under Emilie’s careful guidance and commentary. They turned out pretty good if you ask me.

Left to right: Kevin’s – Traditional Face (originally slated to be a trio of ghosts but the template allegedly ‘slipped’ so he went with option B), Mine – Butch the Cougar, Emilie – Hands! (I think it looks like ‘The Scream’ a bit). Jack – Stem-nose Pumpkin.

Then came Monday – Halloween Day – All Hallows Eve – Reformation Day and lots of parties. I attended three myself (Jack’s, Emilie’s, and Kevin’s Work)…how about you?

KINDERGARTEN PARTY

SECOND GRADE PARTY

Once the partying wrapped we had just enough time to go home and breath a bit for hitting the candy train to Tirck-or-Treat town. This year we did group costumes. Kevin/Jack went as Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and Snowman (Jerry Reid) from Smoky & The Bandit. Emilie and I went as Rapunzel and Mother Gothel from Disney’s Tangled. Both kid’s costumes turned out great! Jack got an extra handful of candy at one house because the homeowner was a trucker and said it was the best costume he’d seen all night…right down to the dog (Fred) strapped on back as his dog rides with him when he’s on the road. Jack was also stopped for a photo on the sidewalk by a parent who worked at a truck repair shop. Emilie wasn’t left out either, In fact her Rapunzel braid inspired a fellow mom to whip one up quick for her daughter who was also going as Rapunzel (Imitation is flattery people). In all we had a great time, are loaded down with Enough candy to easily make that Gain-10-lbs-by-New-Year goal, and have two kids already scheming up costumes for next year.

Oh….and those Crawdads I mentioned earlier…..

Babes in the Woods

We went wood cutting this past weekend. The weather was great and we had use of a friend’s pickup and it seemed the opportune time. Kevin decided to go up outside Ketchum where there was a fire two years back and there is tons of firewood within easy reach of the road, so Saturday morning we loaded up the kids, stopped off at the Flying-J for what the kids have dubbed “trucker breakfast” (aka Hostess chocolate donuts and Gatorade) and drove north.

We had everything we needed for a successful day of woodcutting, but there is always that one detail you forget. For us it was a change of clothes for the kids. I knew we’d all be dirty and dusty by the time the day was over but I figured we’d all be filthy so who cares? Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in water. See we parked up this canyon that had a creek…you know where this is going?

It was a teeny tiny creek with just a little  trickle of water this late in the season, but that was all it took. By the time Kevin got the first tree down the kids were making ‘Caveman Glue’ (aka mud) to build an epic mudding arena for their monster trucks. Realizing my mistake when they asked for something to scoop water with I had issued futile warnings to stay dry and not get mud all over their clothes….like that worked. Both of them ended up with wet shoes trying to scoop water out of the creek, so they took those off, which in turn got their socks dirty and wet so those went next. Then Jack splashed mud on his shirt, and being the loving sister she is and not wanting him to get in trouble, Emilie had him take it off and  ‘washed’ it in the creek for him getting her sweatshirt sleeves soaked in the process.’’ We’re not even there 30 minutes and we’re half naked in the woods…yep, these are my kids.

 

It was hard not to get too mad since that’s what you want them to do in the woods right? Have fun and get dirty. I just kick myself for not thinking to throw in spare clothes. That way you don’t find yourself putting your daughter’s half wet too small sweatshirt on your son because he didn’t bring a jacket and his shirt is wet and this option is better than trying to fold Dad’s button up to fit just so they are clothed when you go back into town. Screw dry, that’s not going to happen, but if you wring the pants hard enough they’re just damp and not dripping wet. Shoes are a lost cause any stops to be made will be limited to locations where bare feet are acceptable. Hopefully nobody requires a public restroom. *Sigh* Oh well, at least they had fun. Next time, there is always next time.

Summertime Blues

Anybody who follows the blog on a regular basis is well aware my summer blogging activity is somewhat lax. Too much here, there and everywhere goes on and I often just plain don’t have the time to post anything. This summer has been particularly stagnant in the blog writing area as once the main weeks of summer business passed I ended up with appendicitis (woo-hoo *inset sarcasm*) and spent a good two weeks going stir crazy on the couch. But more about that later. A brief pictorial recap of what has been going down since school let out.

1) 4th of July – My side of the family came for a visit and we enjoyed several days of just chilling in the backyard and hanging out. Blowing up a watermelon using rubber bands was a highlight for the kids.

2) Swimming lessons – No sooner had the family departed, when we started swimming lessons. This year we tried lessons at the Filer City Pool. It was a fantastic experience and I’m sure we’ll be doing it again.

3) Ice Cream Social at Ritter Island – A fun day of watch horses and antique tractors plow and plant, exploring the old dairy and waterfalls, plus a wagon ride, impromptu game of ‘Red Rover’ with other visitors and, of course, ice cream.

4) Malad Gorge – We had several water days out at this state park taking advantage of the flood irrigating of the picnic area. Water Safety put on by the park was a favorite. It was a free event and the kids (and adults) got to test out canoes, kayaks, and stand up paddle boards.

5) The Appendix Goes - I had felt fine at Water Safety Day pictured above, but the next day I woke up feeling terrible and thinking I had food poisoning. I couldn’t keep anything down. Around noon that part abated and I just felt uncomfortable and really bloated. Took some gas-x and ibuprofen and figured it would all work it’s way through. Monday there was still no relief and my lower abdomen felt like It’d been worked over with a baseball bat. Since nothing OTC was providing any relief I got an appointment to see my primary care physician. He looked me over and said, “Well,it could be a virus, but have you had your appendix out?” Since his clinic doesn’t have the equipment (CT machine) to diagnose appendicitis he told me to head over the the hospital ER and said he’d call ahead and talk to a Dr. friend who works the ER. I kid you not the guy’s name was Holliday….Doc Holliday, go figure. Anyhow, I got to the ER about 2:30. They had me back in a bed for observation and in live for a CT by 3pm. By 4:45 I was back for a CT scan and by 5:15 Doc Holliday informed me the appendix had to go. By 5:30 I met the surgeon, Dr. McKain (Who was AMAZING btw…if you need a surgeon I’d recommend him. Excellent beside manner. It’s obvious he really cares about his patients. I mean how many surgeons ask for a hug after your last follow-up appointment because they’re glad you’re okay??). By 6 I was in the OR and by 7pm all was said and done. I was in a room by 7:15 and up and walking by 9pm. They released me at Noon the following day. ‘

My appendix had ruptured, but it was only a “pinpoint perforation” so no major infection outside the appendix. Still got to take some heavy antibiotics for several days post-op. 4 weeks out I’m feeling about 90%. Two out of the 3 incisions are well healed and the third (the largest of the three…it was laparoscopic surgery) is looking really good. I’m moving well, there are just days where I have no energy still and I’m not allowed to lift more than 15lbs (which is harder than you think). Give me a few more weeks and I should be back to ‘normal.’ I was humbled by the support we got from friends and family. My mother in-law came a stayed for  a week which was enormously helpful, plus my parents and sister sent dinners even thought they live over 300 miles away. Plus some local friends stopped by with meals. It really did ease a burden and we are so grateful.

6) California Cousins Visit – For the first time since we moved to Idaho eight years ago Kevin’s brother and family came to visit us. Usually everyone just meets up at the folk’s in Washington and we see each other maybe once every year or so. Having them come to our place was a nice treat and we got a chance to show them some of the local “tourist attractions.”

This was pretty much just July – whew! Hopefully August is a bit more laid back, but knowing this family I doubt it.