Time is Money

So tired. No time or energy to blog tonight.

Must get sleep and finish staging a house tomorrow! Already shaping up and looking fresh and ready to sell! : ) Good work, Mom!

Will resume normal life after this weekend. And laundry is semi-caught up.

I sent all my pictures into Wal-Mart that I wanted printed. It's $46.00. Ugh. That does cost more than making a video and burning it to dvd for the kids to watch. Maybe it'll be easier in the long run, and time is money.

Ps-Keep using your Clorox toilet tabs. Just believe me. You'll thank me later. Keeps funk from growing in your tank. And transferring to your toilet.

My baby got locked in the bathroom today. He did it himself, so I didn't freak out. The kids were running around trying to find a key. He was not panicked, so I kept washing dishes (well, my Paula Deen fancy skillet cooker) until the panic passed. They got him out, so no harm done. Is it a Moment? When you mature into Non-Panic Mode? I think I had a moment today. Or I rather enjoyed washing without help. Hmm..

Fit in some enjoyable painting time today to paint a canvas. Fun, relaxing. I should fit it in every day! I keep canvases in the closet for an emergency. You know, a decorating emergency when you can't find the perfect art. You just Make It! : )

Really gotta go to bed. I guess I did have time. ; )

Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda

Ok, guess what I should be doing now? Yep-Laundry! What am I doing? Not Laundry!

I'm back in my groove. I've checked Facebook, updating the blog, uploading pix to my computer, and Wal-Mary simultaneously...fun stuff! Not boring old laundry. There will be plenty of time for that. : )

I get my hair done tomorrow, so excited! That always makes a new me. Feels fresh and fun! So, woohoo, Me! : )

Ok, airplane toilets are not made for two people. Namely, a small child and an adult. Less so for a small person who the big person forgot took off their shoes. Ick. Big Time. Note to commercial airplane designers: make at least one combo bathroom. I know you want me to spend as little time as possible in there, and believe me, I will get out asap (except see below). It's just so hard to manage! The postitive in the tiny compact space. He could stand on the toilet and reach the sink-it was just the right height! : ) Small Thankfulness.

Ps-Don't take more luggage than you can carry. Even with all hands on board, i.e. everyone's hands maxed out. Adds to stress. And NO junk/boxes/stuffed animals to be carried on. More stress. Ps: and stuffed animals do NOT get their own seats and snacks (like today). It was a Special Occasion (Low Occupancy Plane and Patient Flight Attendants).

Vacations Add Weight. Yes, baggage. But body too. I always come home with more than I left with (baggage and body).

Edit your camera pix on the plane to take out the blurred ones and icky ones. Saves time all the way around.

Don't take more vacations (or vacations pix) than you can "Scrapbook". This trip, I'm printing the pictures, slapping them into a premade photo album, adding some comments, and I'm done. Really. This scrapbook thing is out of my reach at the current moment. And the video was a great idea, but I'm still not done with the Disney one, so nix that idea too. Maybe when they're older I'll scrapbook all these vacations. Yeah, I don't think so either.

Sides of the road are not meant to be bathrooms. And you should go when one (that is, a clean, flushable restroom with running water, soap, and a door) is offered to you (and commanded). No names, but listen up. Ps: helps if you have shoes on too. If you decide to totally take undies/shorts off, it sucks to have icky sharp, dried grassy bits stuck to the bottom of your feet, then transfer into your undies on redressing. Little Itchy. Just FYI.

Your extra admission from this mom today: I went to the bathroom on every flight. If only to sit there and look at myself (yes, spending too much time), just to have a break and 10 cubic feet of emptiness around me. Well, empty except for a tiny sink, mirrored walls, paper products, and a call button in case I panic. What exactly would I call her for? Hmm..thought on that one for a while in there. Ok, what's yours? Coolest (real) admission wins a 2009 JDRF Mary Claire's Friends Who Care (about diabetes, but your funk too) Team T-shirt. : ) How's that for prizes?

Ok, that's just about all the excitement I can share legally. Very thankful to be home (although I still feel like I'm moving after the 100 mile-an-hour headwinds we flew into and all the turbulence). Thank you for safe travel prayers. My family thanks you.

Ps-wanna pray for Ches? He hasn't ridden his bike in a week, and he's freaking out. He rode off into the *dark* about 40 minutes ago. An absolute no-no, but he's losing it. Please, God, help him find it . : )

Lost and Honest (but not about being lost)!

I seriously need to be packing up for home instead of playing around on the computer. I have now caught up with my email, facebook, and here I am blogging. Maybe I'm procrastinating? I can't figure out how to get all the stuff we brought plus all our new stuff back in our suitcases. We almost always send stuff (like dirty laundry) home in a box via UPS. We planned to try to not do that this time. We exercised restraint. And still. The bed is full, the bags are full, ugh. But, the kids are *almost* asleep, and that counts for a lot!

(Philadelphia Center City, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Philly cheese steaks, gift shops, Love Sculpture in JFK Plaza, Chestnut Hill shopping, dinner at Rita's and more fun for the kids!)

Lost things:
1. Blow Up Toys:
We managed to retrieve the lost (new) floaties we'd brought, but didn't get to use. We left them last week when we stayed at this hotel (different room). I have asked about them a couple times, and got them back this morning!

2. Ches' iPhone:
At a restaurant today, my phone rang, and it said it was Ches' Cell Phone. When I asked him if his butt was calling me (not really), he said he didn't have it, so I answered it. It was a human. He'd found the phone and was calling the number most often called. Long story short (rare): Ches ran down to O-Doodles Toy Store where the guy was (I assumed it was an employee-not), Ches came back with no phone, I went down there, and got it from a customer who was reluctant to speak up about having it, or to even give it to me! Talk about weird.

3. Ethan's Beloved Kiki:
What a Potential Disaster! We were driving away from Ches' Aunt Rita's house, when we discovered Ethan's blanket missing (because he'd already kicked his shoes off, and he WaNtEd it!!)! We called her (she was driving us, leading us out of town), and then called the house, and Kelly, Ches' cousin, said she'd find it. We drove back by, grabbed it (thank you, God and Christian!), and then proceeded to leave. Funny. The big Leaving Party, and then we come back. heehee

Okay, must pack. Really. And get to bed. I talked to Mom last night till 12:51, and so I'm tired. I'll see you on the other side! : ) Pray for our safety on our drive, two planes, and drive home from Branson!

New Thing (and you can join in anonymously), Honesty 101:
Today, I had leftover chocolate peanuts from Ocean City, and I won't take them on the plane, so I tried to eat the remainder of a pound. By myself. While Ches was doing the first tuck-in of the kids. My gallbladder hurts now.

What thing do you care not to admit, but you will?

Not Spoiling. Really.

We really don’t spoil our children. Really. Sometimes I even think we (meaning me) can be mean. We make them brush their teeth, wash a lot, fold their clothes, take their dishes to the sink, say “Yes, Ma’am”, help their little brother, and be appreciative. When we took the Crayola Factory tour today, they were good and took turns. Afterwards, we went to the Crayola Store, and we limited their treasures-to-go to $5. Why? I don’t know. It just seems like spoiling to buy them every little (or big) thing they want everywhere we go. I know we don’t go on vacation (that) often. But I think gifts every day (or every day of vacation) would spoil them. I want them to appreciate little things, and if you always buy the big things, they begin to expect big things. Then little things don’t matter. It’s a theory, and I’m taking a chance, but I like it. And that’s what’s important.

We drove to Easton, Pa for the tour (and learned how crayons and markers are made). And learned a few things:
#1: After a new marker is made, it has a white tip. It takes about 15 minutes for the colored ink to reach the tip. So you can’t use it right away!
#2: If you (well, probably your preoccupied child) leaves a marker lid off all night, you can soak the tip in water for 30 seconds, recap it, and it’ll work again after about 24 hours. : ) Handier to know Before you have thrown away scores of markers. But it’ll still save quite a few too!
#3: You can use white Model Magic (by Crayola) to make tons of things. We used tokens to buy white, and they taught us some tricks. One is to pull off a piece of white, color it with (preferably washable markers), then knead it to color it! You can keep it up to make it darker. Clay made a mushroom, and Mary Claire made a flower. Then wash your hands!
#4: They have a Dryer! After you paint, finger paint, and make prints, you put your art into this big pizza oven-looking thing, and it slowly runs your art through a heater/fan, and dries it!
#5: Crayons are completely non-toxic (so you can eat them). They are made of paraffin wax, clay (to make them stronger), and pigment to color them.
#6: The glue that holds the paper wrapper on is just cornstarch and water!
#7: They also make the paper long enough to go around the crayon twice, and that also makes the crayon stronger and less likely to break.

We are back on the road, planning to see the new Disney movie, G-Force at an IMAX theater near where we had lunch (kids made their own pizzas at Uno Pizzeria). Ethan’s been sleeping till now, and now he’s awake and mad! He gets so disoriented when he wakes up away from his bed. We’ll pull over, and maybe make the movie. It starts in 15 minutes.
**Update: We did make the movie, and it was cute (and compared to Transformers and Harry Potter, it was clean! No really bad language except, “Get your butt out of my face”). Ethan kinda made it through. He had to go to the bathroom about 10 minutes before the end, and then he was crawling around between the seats, but he made it. Tiny Success.

Tomorrow: Shopping in Philadelphia, Major Landmarks like these, and dinner at Rita’s!

Extra:
We think Clay has dandruff. He was itching a couple nights ago, and his scalp had peeling bits of skin. Ches got him the nice (coal tar or something?) shampoo, and it’s helped so much. I washed it again today with the shampoo, but it says to only use it twice a week. How did I never notice? Or did I not know what it was?

AND, did I get to tell you about Clay’s ENT appointment? It went well, and the doctor was so nice and helpful. She’s going to take out his adenoids, and reduce his turbinates (the big ball-type things you see when you look inside his nose). He’s using a nasal spray to see if she can get the turbinates to reduce in size, if not, she can do it while she’s in there. The surgery is August 6th. It’s outpatient so it shouldn’t be too bad. He is frankly relieved that there is something to be done, and that maybe he’ll be able to breathe better, soon.