Feeding the Mouth Parts

L-o-n-g driving day..or it seemed that way! : )

We drove from Pigeon Forge to Memphis, Tennessee.  We stayed last night in Germantown-on the Tennessee side.  It's a beautiful little city (and has shopping, heehee!).  I swear my husband is trying to get in good with me.

Yesterday morning (in Pigeon Forge), we were in Outlet Land (even Champion and Under Armour-we don't have those at home!) (and since we lost our Nautica-I went there too!).  Anyway-I discovered the kids were out of clothes, as in..they'd worn them all.  Unless they were going to wear their beach cover up shirts (with choice of red Arkansas or red Phillies), and I'd have to do laundry.

He said we should buy them some clothes. : )  This is always good, but I'm a sale girl.  I have coupons for my coupons-I plan with online discounts (this coming weekend is Sales Tax Free!), and it's a total game for me.  I got my coupon book (since I'm a lifetime member), and went in the first store.  I didn't want to do big shopping since our van had NO extra room, and our driver insists on a clear back window. : )  You usually have to spend at least $75 to get the first level of discount (other than store rewards), so I didn't do as well as I'd liked.  I did score $25 in Gymbucks though! : )

We just love the lobster tank : )

Check out those tail flippers!

..and he had a little claw broken off one of his smaller legs.

We also played around at Red Lobster with the very black and blue lobsters.  We examined their mouth parts, claws, little secondary claws, touched their eyes (I promise we disinfected!), and did you know they have bristles like a whale and teeth-they appear to have three mouth parts! (not googling..still tired!) They also have to be "burped" before they go back in the water!  Apparently the air in their tummies can kill them.  You hold up their big claws, kinda shake them up and down (and they flail and splash water a-l-l over you!), then you drop them back in.  And..he didn't die.  (He crawled to the window to give us the evil eye us for having him out so long!)

Anyway, I continued and we got the kids some tennis shoes, and the boys some shirts.  By lunchtime (we couldn't have been there more than an hour...maybe an hour and a half?), we left and ate in the car to make up the time.

..We've had this awful trouble with Mary Claire's blood sugar for the past two days.  I'd already set her basal up to 200% of normal, and was checking and correcting every hour, but we weren't getting anywhere.  We are talking units of insulin at a time..not tenths of units.  I was starting to get panicky.  I'd just changed her site the day before, so I was assuming it was good?  But yesterday, somewhere along Interstate 40, I changed her again.  I was so worried-it was my last full insulin pen.  It had to work, or I was going to get desperate.

I am also down to my last alcohol pads.  I don't count when I pack for a trip-I just pack them in her supplies case as tightly as I can.  But we've never been gone this long!  I know I can buy some, so that's not scary.  It's her site I want to hold on.  I do have one more set for changing her site, thank goodness.  I'd have to use the bottoms of some insulin pens or reuse a cartridge though!  (Goes without saying..no hotel swimming till we get home!)

Today is our drive home.  We are going to the Pottery Barn and William Sonoma outlets (the originals!) in Memphis before we hit the road.  They always have some amazing deals I can't live without.  (Last time they had the pink and lavender chenille raised dot drapes for $14!) (I didn't get them..but want them now!)

I think we have five hours of drive time?  I never remember.  It will turn into seven or eight with all our bathroom and snack breaks.  I know, I know..they cause each other-it's a vicious cycle.  But when your child cries for a drink, you can't resist. : (

I have to tell you..I'm SO excited to be going home!  I miss my house, with room for us to all move around.  Rooms and beds for everyone.  My own laundry room.  (I know, weird, just go with it!)  ahh..home.  I'll have to remember how to cook!  Ok...we should plan to get home after dinner so I don't have to turn old food into a miracle in under an hour!

Moms

FiSH in my braces!  Oh golly, I've started eating "better", but now I can see problems forecast ahead...I am really having to use that little purse toothbrush to keep my teeth clean.  Anything bread- or potato-related really gets lodged.  Then there are the cucumbers (ack-with peels!) that feel like they are going to break a wire!  I can feel the pressure.  I'm easing back into breads, but still having oatmeal for breakfast and yogurts or soup for lunch.  (and yes, I've lost 4 pounds!)  Not bad for a three weeks with braces (ya'll just wait, it'll catch up with me!)

I had a wonderful lunch today with one of my old students and her (*gasp!*) husband and son!  Am I old enough to have a second grade student married and with child??  Yes, apparently I really am.  She is beautiful-and I mean on the outside and inside.  She has a precious spirit which doesn't give up easily, and she is an awesome mom doing her very best.  I'm so proud of her!  (I have to tell you, this is why Mary Claire's middle name is Elizabeth-that girl would make you want to name your child Elizabeth too!)  I was so thankful to get to see her (and her family!), share a meal, and catch up!  Ethan was a little crazy, but it'd already been a long morning, and he'd been so good.  He was wearing thin!

Next we went by Mom's for a visit (an hour to kill-woohoo!), we played dominoes till Ethan got bored, then he played outside and visited my dad in his shop-and got to have a snack down there.  Dad has a refrigerator stocked with drinks (for his friends), and snacks to keep his blood sugar up.  The kids all love stopping in and having a "break" with Papa!  They feel so sneaky having soda (usually with sugar, but not today-but Ethan didn't know!).  It's a "secret"!

Then we came home to recharge, and after Ches got home, we all went to a matinee: Mars Needs Moms!  It was a sweet movie, and I was getting really stressed for the mom at one point!!  I thought it'd be all about moms, but it wasn't!  It was more or less about the son that hitched a ride on the spaceship back to Mars, and him rescuing his mom, who was "asleep" in a seat-belted pod-thing (totally unaware!).  It was still good--the son, Milo, met one other human who'd followed his mom there in the 1980's, was now an adult, and they became friends on the rescue mission.  It was good, and the boy really was touched and loved his mom.  Good movie.

We had dinner (late!) at Red Lobster in honor of Spring Break (that almost started today) (and a Lenten Friday!)!  By this point, Ethan was plum silly and goofy.  He was getting argumentative, he was hungry and sleepy, and almost without reason...But.  I had Play-Doh!  It always pulls him back from orbit.  He was starving (I had five coconut M&M's left that I gave him, and a piece of Extra's new mint chocolate ice cream gum-yum, by the way!), and we made orange play-doh cars and colored (I always buy about 20 packs of Crayola crayons at back-to-school time when they are 19 cents! and then dish them out s-l-o-w-l-y! I love new crayons!).  Totally did the trick!  We made it through a long dinner-from lobster dip (gag!) to salad to crab legs..Can you tell seafood is not my thing?  It's always a long Lent...

Anyway, when we got home (because I was in the mood!), we all got out our beautiful rosaries (Mary Claire's is delicate pink Swarovski crystals) (well..Ethan's is chunky wood beads!), and started a rosary (we got through the second decade).  I was super-impressed that Ethan kept his little fingers on the right beads the entire time, prayed the prayer he knew (the Our Father), and didn't fall asleep or go nuts!  The Holy Spirit was definitely with us!

I'm praying that you decided on something to give up (or something good to add?), and that you are successful, with God's help!  Only five weeks and two days...can't wait for Easter!

Home!

We are finally home, and thankful to be here!
It was a long drive in from Dayton, Ohio, but thanks to lots of Red Boxes, we made it!  (I LOVE those!)  We stopped for dinner at Red Lobster-and had to snap a few pictures, the last of our vacation.  Bittersweet.

Two cutie boys-glad I caught those two lobsters!

And then we headed to dinner..Clay chose crab legs-that boy loves seafood! (it proves just because you don't like something, doesn't mean your kids won't!)  We let him be adventurous-and he likes nearly everything!

And then Mary Claire wanted to smile for the camera-and she's always darling:

And then she wanted to take my picture (and we'd been on the road all day-so I put Ethan in front of me..):

Look at our messy table!  Ick.  And then we had to get back on the road.  Here are the three sweet kiddos outside-ready to get back to their movies (while I was scrapbooking!):

I

I know I told you this before, but I love, love, love My Digital Studio-I have already scrapbooked our entire trip.  No, I am not kidding.  I did it as we went, and on the way home in the car.  It's all on the computer, I just have to get it printed.  Wanna see a couple pages??

This is my first page of the album, so a compilation:

This is one of the beach pages:

And this is one of the New York pages:

I actually have 29 pages all together!  And yes, they are done.  This could revolutionize my scrapbooking intentions.  I mean well, but I never get them done.  I can even add little things after I get them back, like our Museum badges, maps, and little ticket stubs.  I'm excited to have something accomplished!  I just have to find somewhere to print them now...

All kinds of birthdays

Yeah, I know. It's been a while. I've started two posts, but never finished or actually posted them. It's been that kind of month. And it's over! Tomorrow begins a new month, so I'm starting fresh too.

Clay had his movie birthday party-absolutely the Best Party! A little fun with the kids, as much popcorn and soda as you can hold (oh, yes, it upped the bathroom frequency..), a movie, and that's it! They clean up, and we go home. It was lovely, really. I would SO do it a million times over! : ) I hope there's a movie coming out for Mary Claire's birthday next year...I'll have to work something out with Disney. Heehee.

Then we had Thanksgiving here, very nice. More cake for Clay with family. Then we had his big dinner out Saturday night (he had his choice: Saturday for dinner or Sunday for lunch), and he chose Red Lobster. We like it too, but we remembered why we haven't taken the kids for a while: the $72 bill. The kid orders like a pro! He had the Ultimate Feast (only $22.99!) with lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, fries, and I don't know what else. He ate every single bit of it, and brought the crab claws home and put them in the refrigerator (yes, it freaks me out just a tiny bit to see them). We actually do this from experience. If you let him keep them in his room, they begin to stink! Anyway, he got the big song and dance, and was adored. He was so sweet! He is very happy to be truly nine, and says he doesn't feel much different than he did at seven. (I don't feel much older than I did at 16 or 17, so I understand!)

Now we are back to school for the last three weeks, a countdown to Christmas. Advent has begun, and we already have two loops cut off of our chain. We are inching so close to Christmas. Is it me, or is this year going super fast!?

We've begun our Christmas card list (well, actually I've printed labels, and am halfway done sticking them and stamps on the envelopes!), toured the Lights of the Ozarks on the Fayetteville square, Christmas shopped with the kids (ha-fun, until Ethan no longer was allowed to keep adding to the cart-for himself!), and have put up one Christmas tree. I don't know why, but I'm feeling like keeping it so much more simple this year. I have two more (big) trees, and bazillions of garland for all the curtain rods and stair rails, etc. but I'm just wanting to celebrate more and decorate less.

The kids did get their trees out, and each got a new ornament Saturday afternoon. Mary Claire's lights aren't all working, and it's on my to-do list (to buy a new set!). We'll get there.

I like that Ethan's birthday is right after Christmas. He knows that it's coming, and I think he understands the "celebration" that goes with it. It's good that we have a Little People Nativity that he can play with, and we can remind him that it's Jesus' birthday too! Let's remember the Christ in Christmas this year! : )

Luke 1:30-33 (NRSV) The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

Advent begins a new liturgical year for the church, so we begin fresh with the birth (and preparation!) for Jesus. I can remember finding out with each child when I was pregnant, and every time it was with immense joy. I can only imagine what Mary must have felt like to learn she was pregnant from an angel of God (and not a pregnancy test!). But to think that her tiny baby would grow to be a king and have an unending kingdom? How hard to conceive. I'm thankful for my humble kids who will grow up not as kings, but mere servants. I know she was an amazing woman to have found favor with God!