boychik & his amazing friends

2008-11-26T16:10:00.001-06:00

Flexible intelligence

2008-11-22T10:46:00.000-06:00

I'm tired. We're cleaning out the hotel. Amazing how much stuff was in that small space.
Right now we're pretty much furnitureless. We have a twin bed someone gave us and a king sized foam top the mister bought. Several people have offered furniture after the storm and I need to call them and ask for the furniture. The mister wants to go out and buy furniture. I want free hand me downs.

sweet

2008-11-21T20:40:00.000-06:00

Or not so sweet. This is a tale of tv woe

As most of you know I hate tv (total lie - I love tv with all my being and will even watch infomercials if there is a tv close by - which is why I decided to stop watching tv cold turkey) and the mister got cable (it was only 4 dollars more!)at the apartment.

The mister was bringing over the computers, tv, toys and stuff and as he was lifting the tv out of the truck we heard a loud CRASH.

Tv totally ate it. The mister had to throw it away as there was no way to salvage.

Had a test today and another on monday and tuesday we have internship orientation clinic. If I pass the test on monday then I can start my internship after tuesday.

2008-11-21T07:47:00.000-06:00

Fyi I'm not pregnant now. That was earlier this year. Sorry for any confusion

In other news - first night in apartment was freezing! The lightbulb went off at 1:30 this morning. Turn on the heater. Wowza, I'm the smarty pants.

test

2008-11-20T16:17:00.000-06:00

Posting from phone. See if this works

moving day!

2008-11-20T15:32:00.002-06:00

we're moving into our apartment. kidlets are packing up their stuff and we're heading over. they are so so excited!! and i am so so excited that there is a washer and dryer in the unit. yay!!

starting to blog again

2008-11-20T12:52:00.002-06:00

just made the youngest cry i had lots of words in this box and she climbed in my lap and pushed a button and it all disappeared. i made her get off my lap.

let's see if i can keep this up. life is stressful and i need some type of journal to help keep my thoughts. i want to get back into rc so if you spambots know of any sessions in my area let me know. :)

2008-06-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

I really like this blog

girlies today

2008-06-17T20:37:00.003-05:00

Lou debut the Penis Song when a friend dropped by. About an hour after said friend left.

"Mom, here's my song dedicated to the penis.

Penis. Penis. Penispenispe-eeenis. Vulva. Vulva. Vulvavulvavu-ulva. Crack. Crack. Everybody has a buttcrack."

Penelope - brought her Radio Flyer sit down scooter into the house yesterday. Was looking for scooter today.

"Where my cooter? I ride my cooter, syes?"

2008-06-11T22:20:00.001-05:00

June 7

possum

2008-06-11T21:48:00.002-05:00

So so jealous. I tried getting people to fund my Led Zeppelin at the O2 Arena November of last year. No one was down with that cause. And here they are again, well half, playing with some scruffy, smelly looking "where the hell did I put my bowl it must be under all these Coors cans and Funyun bags and, oh shit! last night we put a whole egg up K's girlfriend's vagina and she had to go to the ER to get it removed, man we were so fecking wasted, then we rocked out to KISS, passed out and Mom made us breakfast in the morning"* kind of guys.

If only Pat Smear and I would have become BFF in '95 I would have been there!! Pat, if you read this, call me!

*true story.

christmas music

2008-06-09T21:48:00.002-05:00

Mom, is this a Christmas song?

ummmmmm

Yeah, yeah it is. He says "Under the mistletoe is where I give my love."

He can be a royal pain but I love that sweet boy.

boychik sez. . .

2008-06-07T20:24:00.003-05:00

Dad, can black people sense the future?

No.

Well, R is black and he can sense the future. He says the future is in trouble.

R isn't black.

Then what is he?

A person.

Oh, well, he can still sense the future.

My baby is 2!!

2008-06-05T22:28:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Penelope! No recent pictures - third child-itis.

She's passed out on the couch wearing a girlie skeleton shirt, sans pants, with pen marks all over her legs. A sleeping angel. If you look closely you can see her horns peeking through her hair. Kinda look like mine. :)

one time

2008-06-03T20:44:00.002-05:00

before we had boychik, maybe i was pregnant at the time, the mister and i were at the library. we were on the same aisle and i let out this huge loud-ass fart. "Man, dh go to the bathroom to do that!" and i'm laugh laugh laughing without making a sound. i looked like "Crazy Woman" in a silent feature film.

the mister was mad because other people heard and thought that was him.

and i wonder why my littles get such a kick out of passing gas in public and proclaiming loudly, "Mom has stinky farts!". they are their mother's children.

rip maisy

2008-06-03T20:24:00.003-05:00

we had to put the dog down today. we got her in january(?) and she has been sick the whole time.

she was 3 and lived a crappy life. her original owners had her chained to a tree because she kept chasing cars. when her rescuer found her she was bad off but he nursed her back to health. he had her for a couple months and then we adopted her.

poor mate.

chafing is bad m'kay

2008-05-31T21:36:00.001-05:00

it's like crotch carpet burn. well, more like inner thigh carpet burn. Body Glide to the rescue!

how timely

2008-05-30T08:04:00.002-05:00

"Blocking Thoughts" to good relaionships

by David Lake, MD

Hi All,

I know of a sure way to ruin your relationship. Be a critic. Of all the relationship poisons, this is the deadliest. Over time, it is guaranteed never to improve the quality of your life. I suggest that EFT is the most useful antidote to this poison. Using EFT initially doesn't solve the problem. Instead, it helps you to get straight emotionally first. When you can be more neutral, both parties can confront and negotiate the truths of the situation more evenly.

The urge to criticise and blame comes from deeply-felt ideas about the world and how it should be. There are two kinds of people in the world, those that can tolerate crumbs in the bed, and those who can’t (actually, it’s those who think there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t). As such, the hurt feelings are your own, and are triggered off by others—not caused.

Criticism can’t work because of the world of hurt feelings that it stirs up in both participants. The price for being a critic is often the appreciation, acceptance and friendship inherent in a good relationship.

Here’s how I would use EFT personally, both for the criticiser and criticisee. I think it has more leverage if you focus on the negative and “hot” aspects of a problem, especially the irrational and awful/terrible/horrible ones. I use a light touch with the affirmations because I find this helps. Make these personal for your situation.

If you are the doer, you might feel the need to right a “wrong”, and to restore your sense of order in your inner world about excess chaos—typically caused by another (often someone you “love”).You could say:

"Even if I feel like I can’t let this go…I’m going to do the best I can."

"Although I can’t put up with this any more….and I shouldn’t have to anyway…and he/she should know better by now…I am going to find a way to deal with this."

"Even though I know I’m right about this…so he/she must be wrong, I’d rather be happy than completely correct."

"Despite this personal insult…I won’t let it get in the way of our friendship."

"Even though I’m so upset about this I don’t even want to tap, I’ll do it anyway to keep the faith."

"Although this is the last straw…and homicide is against the law…I suppose we both make mistakes."

"Even though this makes life harder/more work for me, which I don’t need, I will work hard for our friendship."

"Although this reminds me of a whole lot of other bad stuff, it’s only Monday; I’m going to handle this."

"Even if this is proof that I live with a criminal/fool/idiot/dolt/hopeless case, he/she is my idiot—and I love him/her dearly, the last time I checked."

"Although he/she promised to love, honour and cherish, so did I—and I’m going to do it right now."
Blocking thoughts to treating the frustration about the “crime” include the following: I would say “I accept myself deeply and completely, even if…”

Nothing will ever change around here

I could become a doormat/martyr if I don’t speak up

Things have to be done correctly…the right way (my way)

They don’t do it, and they don’t care…so I don’t matter to them

They will never learn

I do things better

It’s deliberate on his/her part

It’s serious/important to me and I must prevail

I’m with the wrong person

I can’t respect someone who does this

If he/she loved me they wouldn’t do this

I feel/am helpless
Very often we lose sight of the awful fact that we are just as much a bother to our partner. Naturally they will remind us in due course. You become the criticisee, the receiver. When you cop the lot (Australian for receiving criticism) you could use EFT like this:

"Although I’m really hurt and upset…and he/she shouldn’t have said those things, I’ll settle myself the best I can."

"Even if he/she is really angry, soon we’ll discuss this like friends."

"Although I don’t think this is so bad, I’ll fix it if I can, just for her/him."

"Even if this is a storm in a teacup…it’s our teacup, and I can help out here."

"He/she obviously hates me…and two can play that game, but I’ll do the tapping and prevent World War 3."

"Although it’s ridiculous for him/her to get so upset…and upset me as well, I’m going to hang in there, despite everything."

"Although I’m guilty until proven innocent…the trial is today and the hanging tomorrow, I can weather this storm."

"Even if technically it’s not my fault, I’ll stay calm and apologise if I’m part of the problem."

"Although he/she’s not blameless, I’ll find the useful reaction here."

Blocking thoughts: “I accept myself deeply and completely even if…”

My good deeds have gone unnoticed

I can’t live up to his/her standards

I am a bad person to him/her

Here we go again

His/her crimes are worse than mine

This whole thing is useless

He/she hates me

This is just too much/over the top/the end of the line

I can’t help it if I’m not perfect
One objection to using EFT for these common hurts is that it could lead to feeling relaxed about a legitimate issue of abuse or bad boundaries. This is possible, but in my opinion only if there are severe personal problems to begin with; this would manifest as a poor sense of self in a damaged person.

I would still use EFT in this situation as it is very likely to lead to greatly increased self-esteem over time. Here the relational aspects of good therapy are as important as Energy techniques. When EFT does it’s magic to our dysfunctional feeling-reactions, there’s little danger that we will become too saintly or forgiving for the wrong reasons; we lose neither our common sense nor our time-tested ability to say or do the wrong thing from time to time.

Persistence and more persistence is the key in treating the deep anxieties and fears underlying our critical actions.

Of course there is much to do in negotiating the compromises of partnership. Some habits and faults are never going to change. If we criticise, in essence we have forgotten the Golden Rule with respect to forgiveness. My daughter once said to me “I know I did the wrong thing, but why are you so upset?” Exactly.

If you can imagine a world where you are treated so well, so kindly, so graciously, by someone who thinks the best of you, then naturally you will reciprocate. Nelson Mandela said in Sydney last week “If you treat people with impeccable integrity and honesty, then that is how they will treat you”. Do we really have the right to criticise others?

Use EFT to help yourself and others to move beyond our limiting negative beliefs about the world. Start at home.

2008-05-28T21:48:00.000-05:00

i saw the mommy kangaroo, looking sad cause she got eated.

remind me to never go camping in australia.

lou and boychik

2008-05-28T21:36:00.002-05:00

yesterday
boychik was picking on lou

"You're stupid."

"NO! I am not stupid. I am WILD and if you can't handle that then go back to bed."

today
Bad Company's Feel Like Makin Love came on the radio. listen a bit. boychik pipes up

"ugh, i don't feel like making love. i feel like making pannycakes."

i was watching live concert footage on youtube and lou digs drummers. especially the 'crazy animal drummers'

my lou

tooth and tattoo

2008-05-24T21:05:00.003-05:00

my tooth hurts. i went to the dentist in march? and i had an abscess and a fracture in the root? I don't remember, but the tooth needed to be pulled, bone graft done and then an implant. The dentist would do all the insurance prep first and then call to set up appointment.

I got a call back asking for my health insurance info - the dental insurance wanted to make sure they couldn't pawn off the expense to someone else. Gave that info and dentist lady said she'd give me a call when she knows something.

No call.

Other things have been going on so it slipped my mind. But my tooth started to hurt again. And I want it out. I'll call next week to see what's up. Since I am not pregnant they can knock my ass out to extract the tooth. They originally planned on local only.

**********

The mister HATES tattoos. He really does not like them. He's okay with boychik wearing nail polish but temporary tattoos usually illicit an eye twitch.

I'm thinking, cause I am such a supportive and caring wife, of coming back form San Francisco with a tattoo. Temporary but play it off like a real one. I wonder if a local shop will help me out with my marital subterfuge.

And it would have to be something meaningful to me to play it off. I think he would suspect if I came home with a unicorn making it with a dolphin.

one of those parents

2008-05-24T20:58:00.002-05:00

A few nights ago the littles and I met with a friend and her two at Burger King. Said friend and I were going over our fundraising plans and let the kids go wild in the play area.

Lou went a little too wild and puked in the slide. When she says she threw up that could mean anything from "I had to spit" to "totally puking guts out". She had a little wetness on her foot, but still couldn't tell.

Asked boychik to check it out and he climbed to the top and slid down. Cool! No vomit otherwise he wouldn't have slid down, right? Wrong. There wasn't much and what was there he wiped up with his butt and back.

Friend wanted to leave. We hustled the kids out of there and left. Without telling anyone.

yep.

running a marathon!

2008-05-19T22:36:00.004-05:00

october 19 in san francisco. the nike women's marathon. i'm training with the leukemia and lymphoma society's team in training. i have to raise $4,100 by september.

link to my training blog. now with comments! further down is the link to my team in training page. i'd post here, but this laptop isn't letting me access my site. oy, i was wrong. here is my fundraising site. :)

please pimp out my fundraising page - i need all the help i can get in raising the money for this awesome organization.

quick update

2008-05-19T22:21:00.003-05:00

bah - i keep meaning to come and pot on this blog but i don't think about it until after i am in bed.

ireally want to use this as a journal and just spew out all my dysfunction. i think that will help a lot. in the mean time bach flower remedies rock!!

i passed the babe april 15 and after all was said and done i was 11 weeks along (or 10 weeks 6 days but 11 weeks is easier to say) and it was a boy. i'll have to dig up the link but there was genital shots of 11 week fetus on line and our, uh fetus? baby? how does one refer to one that young? definitely looked like boy.

i wanted to name him. the mister didn't really want to but was fine if i did. he gave very little input for the name but i did get an okay. he said it made him to sd to think about.

oliver is the first name. a name i've liked for a long time. i suggested the name when we were pregnant with boychik but dh said it would be better for a subsequent boy. fine with me.

then i started calling my cat oliver. this is the best cat evah in the whole entire world. her given name was tsume renshu but i called her renny. i started saying 'i love her' in a stupid lovey voice reserved for favorite animals or small babies. and the 'i love her' morphed into oliver. when i saw her i would just say oliver in a regular voice and mean 'i love her'. we had to put renny down when i was pregnant with little miss crazy p - (feb 27 06 if you wanted a date).

i figured this would be the perfect opportunity to name a child with a name that i love and has a special meaning to me. cause the mister is adamant about no olivers cause of the cat.

middle name i was stuck with. finally chose daniel. heard danny boy at the kids concert which made me think of the name. cheesy predictable? yeah, but who cares.

i FINALLY stopped bleeding a week and a half ago. it got really bad. then get a little better and back to really bad. sucked big time.

Happy Tax Day - it's done

2008-04-15T22:40:00.000-05:00

I passed the baby/fetus/whatever you want to call it tonight. Last night I felt some really weird flutterkicking in the uterine area and some slight cramping. This morning I started spotting and went through about 7 or 8 pads. Cramping on and off most of the day.

Took a long bath around 6ish. Got out and was setting up a nice comfy spot in the bed with a laptop (yay we have one now! It belongs to dh for his business, but I play on it until he needs it). Right when I was getting to lay down I felt a pop and fluid started to come out. It was the water breaking. Very sweet smelling. I'm always amazed at the smell of birth fluids. It's sweet. You wouldn't think that though.

Went to the bathtub, stripped, passed the baby (it didn't look like a fetus. It's probably been 3 weeks since it died so it disintegrated? Body reabsorbed? It looked like greyish blob with a spine. translucent live a live shrimp) and then squatted over a bowl and passed the placenta (with what looks like a cord??) and loads of blood clots.

All in all from the pop to cleaning up it was a little over 2 hours. The worst of the cramps felt like bad period cramps but not in the league of labor cramps.

Jeff was outside with the kids for the beginning part and then they came in played and he realized what was going on and then did his best to keep them away.

It feels like after birth. Some crampiness and still some bleeding. Not sure about after miscarriage. Will this bleeding lead into a period or will there be bleeding for a couple of days and then nothing until the next period.

I do question why this happened. This was something we were avoiding and then it happened and then it didn't happen. I am one of those annoying people that want to know WHY. But there is no answer. bah.

sike

2008-03-28T09:03:00.003-05:00

not pregnant. went to a scan yesterday and baby measured 8 week 6 day and no heartbeat. no way to know when baby stopped. psycho doc said that fetus had a genetic abnormality (thickened nuchal fold and some large pockets of fluid along the spine). he was very nice in the scan room. in his office a different story. i swear i was in some bizarro world. black funerals, irish funerals, his uncle's funeral, pastors who are buttholes.

i saw him one time before. he's our midwife's back up ob and we met him during t's pregnancy. he seemed like a perfectly sane person then.

the mister is having a hard time. i was thinking blighted ovum so it's not too much of a surprise. it was sad to see the weeness. we've opted to let nature take it's course.

2/3 Little Free

2008-03-15T10:49:00.002-05:00

I & T went with their grandmother and great-grandfather to a cousin's first birthday party 3 hours away. They are spending the night at a hotel! get to swim! watch tv! eat whatever they want! They are beyond excited.

still sleeping in their beds

2008-03-11T22:15:00.003-05:00

yay!!!

Must be the universe's way of keeping balance in teh force cause *coughwearepregnantagaincough*

The 5K is in a week and a half. Day before Easter. The dog is a big pain in the butt. Remind me why we have her again? I am seriously thinking of giving the dog back. She's had diarrhea since we got her (7 weeks ago? 8?). We took her in to the vet and she took her antibiotics and parasite treatment (the kind that can pass to people and dangerous to littles) and she's still poops rank-ass water poo.

And she bit Penelope. Didn't break the skin. P unintentionally woke the dog up from a sleep. I was sitting RIGHTTHERE too.

Our house smells like sick dog butt. And Bonus!!! She has heartworms.

growing up

2008-03-03T09:53:00.002-06:00

THe older two (6 & 4) slept in their own beds last night. We set the bunk beds up and they snuggled happily and went to sleep. This is the first time ever they have slept without us. pleasepleaseplease stay this way!!

Obama and Penelope

2008-02-23T22:00:00.003-06:00

Feb 22
Penelope with the podium behind her left ear.

The blurb is Senator Obama

Coach J

2008-02-23T21:48:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we had a lot of errands and then T's appointment. I stopped at Sonic (yeah yeah I know) and let the kids sit at the picnic tables. Their sitting looked more like running around so back into the van.

boychik saw his gymnastics coach at Sonic. Sweety pea didn't want me to say hi to Coach J and I kept playing like I was going to. "Mom, stop that! Moooom!"

Mom, can I tell my friends I saw Coach J smoking at Sonic.

Um, that's private. You can tell your friends that you saw Coach J at Sonic though.

Oh. okay. Can I tell them that Coach J met a guy and when the guy came then they left together.

!!! What about you just say you saw Coach J at Sonic.

okay Mom.

2008-02-23T21:05:00.003-06:00

Hey, Mom, thanks for making us kids all in the ABCs. abcdefghI, abcdefghijklmnopqrS, A, A, abC. Our names are in the alphabet just like yours!

Sweet! I get props from the boy for using the english alphabet to create their names!

week 4 completed

2008-02-22T21:30:00.003-06:00

and my knees are killing me. I wussed out on my last run. I walked some when I was supposed to run. So, I'm redoing today on Sunday. Tuesday we start week 5.
Day 1
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes)
Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)

Day 2
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then:
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)
Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)

Day 3
Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then
Jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.

:whimper:

When I run I feel His pleasure

2008-02-04T14:29:00.001-06:00

erm, not today. Probably not tomorrow. All I feel is nap's pleasure.

Sorry Eric Liddell.

Carrot Honey Cake

2008-02-03T21:46:00.000-06:00

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup walnuts (optional)
powdered sugar

Beat eggs. Add honey and oil and mix well. Add dry ingredients. Stir
in carrots and nuts if used.

Grease and flour a 9 inch by 13 inch pan. Pour batter into pan and smooth it out.

Bake at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes.

CUPCAKES - (in liners) Bake at 350F for 25 minutes. Cool.

Just before serving, sprinkle liberally with sifted powdered sugar.

YIELD: 3 1/2 dozen cupcakes

*********************
I halved the recipe and it made 12 cupcakes.
Intead of egg I subbed milled flax seed. (1 T milled flaxseed to 3 T water)

I was going to use applesauce instead of oil but didn't want to experiment with what the right amount would have been. This is breakfast tomorrow.

Tallulah really liked the cupcake. She had one tonight. I think next time I'll use half applesauce and coconut oil.

2008-02-03T21:16:00.000-06:00

i want to be bawdy when I grow up.

i hate running

2008-02-03T21:07:00.001-06:00

it's so haaaaaaaard.

Week 2 Day 1
2 miles 25 minutes

my butt fat hurts when I run.:(

couch to 5k

2008-01-30T21:22:00.001-06:00

Veena and I are kicking ass!!

Or it's kicking mine, whatever.

2008-01-27T21:03:00.000-06:00

Scene: picking up her toys

:sigh: I wish I had a nice Mommy. One that didn't have the devil in her.

I <3 Pat Smear

2008-01-27T20:50:00.000-06:00

I want him to be my BFF!
Big Me

He's the blond guitar super-guy.

On my first love Dave Letterman

training

2008-01-20T21:45:00.001-06:00

this new dog is pretty cool. she is super smart and no potty accidents!

we started with raw feeding and the turkey is not taking to the new food. she is super excited when i put the food in her dish, licks the bowl and even the chicken. but that's all.

she does well with 'sit', okay with 'stay'. she hasn't pulled as much on her leash. i wrap the leash around my arm to shorten the length and she stays pretty close by without pulling.

kitten doesn't pay her any mind. she walks by the dog like she hasn't a care in the world and the dog leaves her alone. little cat (20 pounds of duh) growls and runs and the dog thinks it's fun to chase. the littles thinks that is fun, too.

2008-01-20T21:38:00.001-06:00

Nothing much going on here. Isaac wants to start triathlon training again. He can compete in races this year since he turns 7 in October.

We went to the park on Friday and Isaac ran around the track (1K) while the dog walked me. He did that twice.

Tallulah is another runner. I love that my littles love to run, bike, be active so much. I am one of the laziest people I know and would much rather lay on the couch and read a book than play/exercise.

Maybe that's why I gained 30 pounds this past year.

a new family member

2008-01-19T23:57:00.000-06:00

we adopted a 2.5 year old Border Collie rescue. The Tallulah of dogs. She is nameless. Foster dad named her but I don't like the name AND she doesn't recognize the name.

This is my first real dog. The dog whisperer and I are becoming fast friends.

2008-01-16T10:55:00.000-06:00

*Please Do Not "Home School" Your Kindergarten Child!

By Marsha Johnson

Recently I have read quite a few letters from parents who are 'home school'
their children, ages four to six, and who have questions and concerns about
what to 'teach', what to do, how to be, what rhythm to use, and what
materials or resources to buy for this task! Often parents are asking if
they can move their young child 'ahead' to a grades program as the child
seems to be 'ready' to move on! Each time I receive or read one of these
letters, written by very well meaning adults, I cringe!

This is why: being at HOME with your children is the HOME SCHOOL of the
Waldorf world! Just being at home, following your daily routines, including
the children, is the HOME SCHOOL of the child who has not yet experienced
seven springs (or Easters).

However, it is not being at HOME in the way we do in this modern century or
modern times with all of our entertainment gadgets and inventions. The task
of the parent with children under seven springs is to create and sustain a
home rhythm that would have been very strongly present before the 1960s. I
say the 1960s because that is when almost every household had acquired a TV,
a dishwasher, and dryers�.not to mention all the other boxes and machines
that have come along since. In addition, at that time, almost all
households had only 1 car, not two, and Daddy usually took it to work, or on
the farm, shared a car with all the relatives living around the farm.

Imagine, if you could, that you go around your home and unplug all those
cords! Imagine that you have unplugged those cords, and disabled the
outlets, except for the refrigerator and the freezer, and you have no access
to a vehicle for most of the day. Now you are back in the 1950s�..ok, you
can keep the washing machine (they came with wringers by the way I can still
recall turning my grandma's for her�.). Now you have the ideal setting for
a Waldorf Home Kindergarten Experience.

Waldorf education in the schools for the younger children is an attempt to
re-create the HOME in the school��you ARE at home, so make it a HOME�.not a
storage place for all the grown up toys that have been collected��create a
home where breakfast is cooked and served, dishes are set on a table with a
cloth and some flowers or beautiful arrangement in the middle of the table,
where please and thank you are heard, where food is passed around in pretty
dishes��..where butter has its own tiny knife, where the smells of the soup
pot fill the house, where the garden is tended each day, where the floors
are swept, and the closets are tidy, and the children have 'work' to do each
day, with you or with Daddy, and the rhythms are in place!

Home rhythm is what is missing in our culture: it went away with the
electric light, and now has nearly vanished with instant gratification and
instant entertainment and 24 hour stores and literally the loss of a strong
connection with nature! Hardly anyone observes sunset or sunrises any
more��our homes are curtained and shut off from the seasons, and our eyes
are glued to the SCREEN in front of us. Home rhythm is the critical piece
for home schooling the young child, and we must revive this knowledge and
provide a platform for parents to use as an anchor, which literally does not
cost anything, not even one dime!

Using a curriculum for a young child at home takes the activity out of the
daily rhythm that should be in the home already, makes it artificial, sets
it aside, makes it too conscious-raising! Now we will learn! That bringing
of 'now' awakens the child, hardens the nerve sense system, forces them out
of the dream-time that surrounds them with beauty and grace, and clips off
part of their childhood��.Now we will color, Now we will do a poem, Now we
will sing this song and so on��the singing and the poems should arise
naturally, out of the rhythm of the day!

When you make the bread on a particular day, you knead and knead, and out of
the rhythm of that motion, your voice emerges and you sing��.Blow wind blow
and Go mill go, so the miller can crack the corn, and the baker can take it
and into bread bake it, and bring us a loaf in the morn! You sing about
bread and grain and bakers and millers because you ARE making bread or
muffins or biscuits��it makes sense to you and to the child! You sing
about washing, you sing about cleaning, you sing about angels at bedtime,
you bring integrity and rhythm to the day in your home, with your children!
You say a poem about chickens when you feed them! You bring the table
blessings when you eat. You have a song about the wind when are outside,
taking a walk, working in the garden, and so on��what you bring in your home
is rich and repeated and steady and the children know that when the leaves
begin to fall, mama sings that song! Every year! They count on it and they
count on you, and this beautiful stability enters their thinking and their
bodies and gives them strength and wisdom and prepares them to enter the
world as free human beings.

In a daily rhythm, you can examine your life and think of how to order the
tasks and chores: mostly they fall into several distinct categories: taking
care of our clothing, our homes, our gardens, our food, someone else, and
creating what is needed��.in those general areas, we can begin to build a
daily rhythm for the children and ourselves��we clean our clothes on this
day: including bed clothes and human clothes and dolls' clothes, and so on.
We wash and fold and hang out to dry and iron�..another day we take care of
our home: we sweep and polish and dust and shine, we wash the porch, the
surfaces, and we beautify the nature table��.on another day, we prepare our
weekly foods, we garden, we harvest, we grind, we bake, we can, we dry, we
glean, and organize our cupboards or bake a pie or cookies for the
jar��..on another day, we go visiting! We share what we prepared, we
bring a small gift, we perform a small chore, we help our neighbor or
parents or friends to construct or fix something, we trim and rake, we
prepare lunch together, and enjoy the company of others��.these daily
rhythms are so strongly needed for the whole family and the art of
economizing and using our resources wisely is needed by everyone on this
planet.

For the daily feeling, for me at least, the mornings are busy, lots of
physical activities, lots of movement, lots of energy, and a mid morning
break with snack and tea, is good, followed by an out breathing time with a
walk outside for fresh air or play��..then perhaps a quieter period after
lunch with reading aloud, looking at picture books, telling stories, working
on the handwork by the cozy hearth, singing some quiet songs as fingers work
the yarn or needles, then a resting time, followed by a slower pace towards
the evening meal preparation, then the familiar comfort of warm bath, cozy
bed time, story, candle, singing, and so on��drifting into sleep with a
feeling of a day well spent, well balanced, well brought.

Provide for the young child a box of art items, that can be brought out
when requested, with beeswax stick crayons, in red, yellow, blue, green,
gold, brown, and violet. Have at hand, nice thick paper with rounded
corners, in various sizes, for using when requested. Do not allow the
children to just scribble a bit on many pages, keep a reverence for the
clean white paper and the box of crayons, care for them, store them
carefully away, and write on the paper the date and name of the child and
honor the work that has been brought. Often the parent must sit right at
the table, perhaps handwork at hand, being there, while the child
colors�..also the same for painting, once a week or so, bring out one color
of Stockmar Watercolor paint, premixed, in a small jar, and have ready a
sheet of thick water color paper, rounded at the corners, lay it on a board,
bring the rag, and the brush and the water jar, and allow this young child
to paint carefully, while you sit nearby, with your handwork or mending, and
just be there�..children 3 and 4, can paint with 1 color, age 5 and 6 can
learn to use 2 colors��.keep it simple, and save the paints and they will
last for years! Have at hand, Lemon Yellow, Prussian Blue, and Karminrot.
You can order these directing from Mercurious.com as a homeschooler. Later,
add Golden Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, and Rotviolet�..

Children and adults need more sleep than we allow in our time. Early
bedtimes and rising with the sun are good habits for everyone and leave us
feeling healthy and well. I have a natural feeling that if we leave our
windows uncovered, the child will rise with the sun and be refreshed and
ready for the day��bedtime for children up to seven springs should be at 7
pm. This is quite unusual to see families aware of this need: I see
chronically fatigued and sleep deprived children and adults
everywhere! Children
up to seven springs need 12-14 hours of sleep per day�..if they cannot rest
easily, examine the amount of brain stimulation they are receiving in the
form of screens! For some children, screens can produce a brain activity
like that of a person who just took several shots of espresso! Remove the
screens in your home, from your child's access, and you will find, over
several months, a gradual and welcome return to natural sleep rhythms.

A home kindergarten is a beautiful adventure based on real life with real
people and a house or apartment, and a dedication to rhythm, beauty, warmth,
and health! Too often I hear young parents say, well, I have to do
something with the kids to keep them busy while I get stuff done! So we
train our children, then, to immerse themselves in an electronic virtual
world of 'mind numbing entertainment' while we rush about to load the
dishwasher, reheat an already cooked product in the microwave, download the
latest computer program��.talk on the telephone��try to shovel in the
mountain of plastic toys and parts into a closet or toy box�.wish for a
dryer that also folded the clothes��and so on��.and so on��this in itself
divorces the child from her own world, his own work, her ability to feel
confident about being competent, capable, and proud of what has been
accomplished in this day. The child needs the full period of time of seven
springs to play, to imagine with a few objects, to be quiet and to be busy,
to rest and to run, to help others and to wonder. After the seventh spring,
the life forces are freed up for memory work, for learning the letters, for
directed academic projects and activities. Forcing or even enabling a young
child into more directed educational activities is like forcing a tulip to
bloom in winter: you can do it, but that bulb will never be as healthy
again, it has spent its forces, it has weakened its natural state of
development, for a temporary benefit. Be patient and rest in the knowledge
that you are on the right path.

Please do not buy expensive K teaching manuals or curriculums. Buy a few
books on how to knit, how to grow a bio dynamic garden, how to cook simple
whole foods (Nourishing Traditions is a great one), a song book if you don't
know any songs, learn to play an instrument (I highly recommend a Choroi
Pentatonic Flute and books at prometheanpress.com), a wonderful broom and
dustpan, some lovely bowls for baking and mixing��.and sit down to examine
your lives and see how you can bring daily rhythm into your home. The
parents must work together on this effort, and support one another, and it
is very good to gather once a week with likeminded families for play and
social activities and outings, and sharing. If you can commit to spending
2 hours in the morning on the day's activity, 1 hour outside each day in
play and exercise, 1 hour each day in resting, story telling, and
handwork��you will have a home rhythm that is satisfying and better than any
kindergarten anywhere! This is the ideal for the school life, later, those
first six years at home, with mama or papa, spent in a useful healthy rhythm
and time for the inner forces of imagination to develop and flower. In
time, the academic portion of the learning begins either in a more formal
home school in the Autumn after seven springs, or in a school setting.**

diagnosis, duh

2008-01-09T10:22:00.001-06:00

Tallou's diagnosis after yesterday's vist: BEHAVIOR DISORDER, DISRUPTIVE

There is also "hyperactivity" and "frequent temper tantrums" on the sheet.

And we paid for this??

I do have a problem with this though. I could understand if the behaviour recently started how this diagnosis might be true but this has been going on since she was BORN.

And temper tantrums imply that the one having the feelings is doing this in a manipulative manner and is able to stop the behaviour. Tallulah is not able to stop at all. She is quite helpless and looks frightened at how out of control she is.

appointments

2008-01-09T10:03:00.000-06:00

We had an appointment for Tallulah yesterday. We suspect she might have SPD, and while it was something we could deal with before it's becoming harder to handle now. She's wanting to do things that we don't feel comfortable letting her do and (ie - grandparent visit) in case she has her feelings.

We found the name of a developmental neurologist doc with great recs. and went to make an appointment. But he doesn't take our new insurace (our ins changed 1/1/08). They said call Texas Children's Hospital neurology department.

I called, told them my story and made appointment and saw the doc yesterday. She is a regular pediatric neurologist. After the eval she said that she doesn't normally see people like Tallou but a developmental neurologist does.

How am I supposed to know that? If I had known that before then I woldn't have made the appointment. She gave us a referral to the main TCH Meyer place and I called to make an appointment today. Afterr being booted to a voice mail every single time I pressed 2 to make an appointment I pressed 0 for the physician line.

Rude answer lady said to fax the referral, insurance card, our contact info and they will send us out a package. We fill that out, mail it in and are put on a 6-12 month wait list. oy.

Rock Star

2008-01-09T10:01:00.000-06:00

boychik is playing Pat Benetar on Guitar Hero and Tallou is playing (real-live kid size) drums. Penelope is eating soap.

2007-12-30T19:45:00.000-06:00

wheeng, wheeng, wheeng

2007-12-30T10:54:00.000-06:00

How P says swing.

We have a swing set! For free! Not what we were looking for - but you can't beat free. The littles adore the set and will work as an interim set.

It's one of those old school sets I had as a kid. If you swing high enough the legs pop up. Isaac's already done that.

Looks like this with added slide on the see-saw end.

Universe if you are still out there - how about a kick-ass wood play set. Something along this line.
xoxo

on the look out for a Play structure

2007-12-29T12:32:00.000-06:00

Know of a good deal?

Saw this MASSIVE playset on Craigslist. How in the world would we transport?

We are looking at the Home Depot kits. But my faith that the mister will get it up (heh!) is not very strong. I can imagine a half play structure sitting in the backyard.

For the 2 people who sometimes read this blog if you have any leads please pass them on. An inexpensive play set that the littles will lurve is what we are looking for. And if it's already built? bonus.

From my mouth, er, fingers, to God's ears (eyes?).

2007-12-29T12:27:00.000-06:00

Our neighbor gave the girls a hair care set each - see thru zipper bag with a comb, mirror, ponytail holders and a brush.

Tallulah opened Penelope's and put all the ponies on her person: feet, wrists, hair. She was showing off and said she put a beeper in her pants. What's that?

"It's this flower button (a pony that had a flower bead at the end) see. When I push the button a flower comes out. :beep beep: Here Mommy. A flower for you. And don't worry about putting it in water. This flower is special and doesn't need water - it's magical.

2007-12-26T20:57:00.001-06:00

going to hell. . .

I love LOL cats. They make me laugh and laugh. They know have a LOL Cat Bible translation!! zomg!

The Birth of Christ
Matthew 1

18 Now, teh burth of teh Christ was liek dis: After Marry and Joseph waz all "We's gonna get marrieded, kthnx", but before dey could had hankiez pankiez Mary was all pr3ggerz from Teh Forse.19 Joseph was liek "I has virjn - NOOOO dey be stealin my virjn! Must hied hur".20 But when he was tihnkin, zomg, a WallCat frm Ceiling Cat was liek, "Oh hai! I'm in ur dreemz, givin u messij. Don't be scairdy cat. Take Mary as ur wife - is virjn. But teh Forse is strong in tihs wun, lol! HoverCat is on hur, givn hur feetus, srsly.21 "And she gonna made a son, and you gonna call him Jeezus, cuz he save kittehs frum bein bad kittehs. Kthxbye."22 So all dis was all did cuz Ceiling Cat had sed it wud be. His proffet was all liek:23 "Hay guise, look! teh virjn iz all preggers, and dey gonna call him Immanuel", dat be joospeek for "Ceiling Cat wit us"24 Then Joseph waked up, done wat teh angel frm Ceiling Cat tolded him to, and was all liek "U wit me now lol" at Mary.25 And dey didnt has teh HARBL GOES WHERE!?!? til affer dey gets a son and calleded him Jeezus. Ktnx.

2007-12-26T20:55:00.000-06:00

You know when you lay down on your side and you are watching tv or reading a book and your eyes will start to water?

Tallulah is laying next to me on the couch and she said, "Mom, the tears are trying to sneak out of my eyes."

2007-12-25T18:12:00.000-06:00

Happy Christmas!

sensory issues

2007-12-25T18:05:00.000-06:00

I have seen this post by WuWei several times on MDC and I always think. "What wonderful advice!" And then I forget where she posted this. Here's a copy.

"choo-choo train" is when he lies on the bed and I "row" his feet like
a bicycle and we chuga-chuga-choo-choo (he does the train whistle
sound) and we repeat that over and over for about 5 minutes. The
engagement, physical motion and my participatory resistance/driving of
his legs back and forth provides a lot of sensory input in a
non-impact way.

Another is "pillow mash"-again he lies on the bed and I place a pillow
on top of his chest and firmly "aggitate" the pillow in a jiggling
motion and say "pillow mash, pillow mash", repeatedly. This provides
input to his chest.

And another one is "salt shaker", again he lies on the bed, and I hold
both legs up and "shake salt" out of him. He is sorta upside down
(legs up in the air, body on the bed), which gives input of vibrating
his head and back on the firm mattress.

Another is "burrito"-where he is wrapped tightly in a blanket and
rolled side to side repeatedly.

Another is "sack of potatoes" when he climbs in a pillow case and I
lift him up and down from the floor.

We also do "row-row-row-your boat" where we both lie on the trampoline
with full body contact and roll across the surface back and forth,
singing row-row-row-your boat. The total body compression is very
calming for him.

We have his bed mattress and box springs on the floor. So, he'll go up
to his room and bounce and jump for sensory input too.

Oh, also he loves to stand in place and jump up to reach my hands
above his head. This is helpful when waiting in line, where he is
restless, but needs contained activity. It creates jumping, reaching
and a goal/game aspect.

Another is where I hold my hands together palm to palm and move them
up and down and he tries to clap them with his hands. Again, this is
great for when out and about and he has too much energy for the space
limitations. A variant of this is where he tries to "give five" while
I pull my hands back quickly. These can be used to constructively
engage other people in the "game" also, which might free you up for
short periods.

He also loves to play in the sink with LOTS of soap, that seems to be
very soothing to him (but messy). Some kids really seek multiple baths
a day and having that planned before and/or mid-visit may allow a
connecting time with you; and a recentering activity, enough to make
it a longer night.

So, if we are going to have a lot of sensory stimuli like a cacophony
of sounds from a crowded party, we proactively do these games for 15
minutes several times throughout the day. It helps if we are very
careful to avoid dairy, HFCS and artificial colors which decrease his
ability to hear and consider other's needs. We try to plan activities
for earlier in the day, plan some outside play time, especially
swinging. Big tight, long hugs help in the midst of chaos to recenter.
We also freely use Rescue Remedy (and/or Cherry Plum) Bach flower
remedies before (and during) high stress situations.

I ran across this other comprehensive list of ideas for sensory
activities:http://www.coping.org/intervention/s...nsintegact.htm

It probably helps to practice some of these games so that they are
fun, known and can be anticipated. Perhaps, make a list, or place a
name of each game on a piece of paper and have her choose one from a
jar to play with you or others.

I have another list of activities that I'll send. Most of these can be done indoors, or improvised like with a pile of couch cushions, pillows; blankets over a table to make a tent to provide for crawling. All of these provide for deep pressure body contact and that could help. Also, "obstacle courses": climbing over the couch, run back and forth, bounce on the bed (our mattress is on the floor, etc.). Any chance you have space for a JumpOLene?

__________________

Here are some more:

Sensory Activities
Here is a another list of various sensory activities that child(ren)
may enjoy and benefit from. I am copying this from
ShineWithUnschooling. I find that proactively offering and engaging
our son with some of these sensory inputs really helps when we
have/had a busy day. If we have too much unfamiliar stimuli, he needs
a break to recenter with some of these soothing activities. Or
else......meltdown!

==========
CALMING ACTIVITIES:
Experiences that may help to relax the nervous system

* Stretches
* Deep pressure massage
* Slow rocking or swinging
* Fidget toys
* Progressive muscle relaxation
* Quite music with a steady beat
* Bear hugs
* Reduced noise and light levels
* Lavender, vanilla or other soothing smells
* Snuggling in a sleeping bag, large pillows or bean bag chair

>>>

ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES:
Experiences that can help an individual become focused and attentive

*Sucking or chewing on hard candy or gum
* Adding rhythm to the activity
* Vibration-toy massager, vibrating pillow, wiggle pen
* 'Heavy work' tasks to include hanging, pushing, pulling or carrying
heavy objects

Similarly:

To organize
*Swinging on a swing or climbing
* Rhythmical sustained movement: marching, washing a table, or bouncing
* Rocking in a rocking chair
* "Squeezie" toys (koosh balls, balloons or rubber gloves filled with
flour or cream, soft balls, gak, silly putty)
* Hanging by the arms on the monkey bars (20-30 seconds)
* Pushing/carrying heavy objects
* Carrying back packs weighted with books or bags of dried beans (this
should only be worn for 15-20 minutes with an hour or two between)
*A reading corner with a bean bag chair makes a wonderful place for
escape when there is too much stimulation. Some children may like the
bean bag on top of them.
* Play dough
* Tactile Bins (cornmeal, oatmeal, water, sand, rice, beans)
** A bin full of bird seed (brought outside) is merrily cleaned up by
the birdies -- no mess! :')
* Kitchen time (mixing, tasting, smelling, washing up)
* Finger painting

Some children also need extra sensory input in their mouths and hands
in order to organize their behavior:

* Drinking from a water bottle
* Chewing (you can use a straw, rubber tubing or coffee stir stick)

>>>

* Being brushed with a corn de-silking brush (in one direction
approximately 10 times with pressure brush their arms, back (but not
over the spine), legs (on the top, outer parts and underneath, avoid
the inner thigh area), top of the feet and the hands)
* Sucking on hard candy, frozen fruit bar, or spoonful of peanut
butter or marshmallow fluff
* Licorice tug-of-war, blow pin wheels or various types of blow toys,
bubbles and whistles
* Pushing against walls with the hands, shoulders, back, buttocks and head
* Cuddling or back rubbing
* Taking a bath
* Being rolled tightly like a hot dog in a blanket
* Being squished under a therapy ball, mat or couch cushion
* Tug-of-war
* Wheelbarrow walking, jumping games like hop scotch
* Crashing games-run and dive into boxes, bean bags and couch cushions
* Pulling a wagon, carrying a heavy book bag, digging in the yard or
carrying groceries
* Sports such as wrestling and football
* Deep pressure (giving a massage) and joint compressions (holding
above one joint and under one joint then doing a quick 10 repetitions
of compressions, pushing and pulling)
* A mini trampoline
* A sockem bopper or whatever they call those weighted kid-sized
things that spring back up after you knock them down

Oh, and going outside to blow bubbles is my cure-all. I always have
bubbles in the car for "emergencies" too.

the girlies

2007-12-19T21:04:00.000-06:00

Calm, Sweet, Peaceful

tried to embed but it wasn't working for me. bah

pants on fire

2007-12-19T20:53:00.000-06:00

Add Isaac to the list of lying kleptos.

Tonight was store night at AWANAS where the kids spend their shares that they earned throughout the year. My darling boychik tried to spend a stack of shares that weren't his. The other kid's mom put the kid's name on the shares which was the only reason Isaac was caught out.

Anyway, Isaac's teacher asked Isaac if he thought that was stealing. "No." He didn't spend the other boy's shares. Teacher told me this when I picked up Isaac.

I told Isaac when we got home that his teacher told me what had happened and if there was anything he wanted to tell me.

"No"

"I don't think it was very nice what you did."
"But I was just holding them for him."
"Your teacher said you were trying to spend them. That doesn't sound like you were just holding them."
". . ."
"Isaac how would you feel if someone took your shares?"
". . ."
"Don't you think you would be sad if you lost your shares that you worked so hard for and someone was spending them for himself?"
"No."

abort abort!

The teacher said that this is the age where this sort of thing happens and they are trying to test boundaries.

On the one hand I can kinda see where Isaac was coming from - "Woo-wee lookee! I found some shares!" I remember going to a waterpark when I was a young teen with 2 neighbor friends and I found a $100 bill on the walkway toward the entrance. Hot dog I was in heaven! And the thought NEVER crossed my mind to ask if anyone lost some money. And yeah we spent the money.

And you could see that wall come up when I started talking. He knew he made a poor choice but it looked like he was trying to protect himself. He has a performance = love mentality going. I hate that.

I really wanted to say, "Okay, well, I'll take the rest of your shares and give them away since you don't care about them. neener neener" Instead I told him I loved him.

If he is true to form then he will bring this up again in acouple of days, we'll talk about it and hopefully a lesson will be learned. :cross fingers: that it's not, "Don't be so stupid to claim someone elses stuff as my own when THEIR NAME is written on there! Be more devious!!"

2007-12-16T22:39:00.000-06:00

this is so funny. penelope is 18 months and prefers to be naked. which is okay around the house and she tells us when she needs to go potty. all is good.

yesterday the mister and i were laying in bed. he was laying face down on his pillow and penelope was walking back and forth between my head and the mister's head while holding onto the headboard.

She stood on top of the mister's head (who is laing face down) lifted up one leg, said "pee" and started peeing.

i would have peed myself laughing if i wasn't so consistant with my kegals.

"pee. daddy." laugh laugh.

it was no accident. and i am still lauging.

who is your god?

2007-12-16T22:34:00.000-06:00

the kids made gingerbread houses with grandma yesterday. the mister told tallulah today to eat 'one last bite' for today.

"No. God says I can do whatever I want."
"I don't know what god you are listening to but that's wrong."
"yuh-huh! My god is the ca-raaaazy god. And Isaac's is the crazy god, too. Mommy has the f-word god."

oy. she said f-word. any naughty word to tallulah is an f-word. i am doing really really really good with not cussing. but the young ones memories are long.

2007-12-13T07:38:00.000-06:00

happy birthday to me

2007-12-13T07:28:00.000-06:00

On the way home from Awanas last night Tallou was making this annoying weird humming noise and Isaac asked her to stop because it was scaring him.

"hum hum hum hum hum"
"Tallulah, will you please stop - it's scaring Isaac."
"hum hum hum, Did you ask nicely? hum hum hum"
"Tallulah, please stop making that noise. Please"
"No! MAAAAY you thanksgiving PLEASE *hum hum* stop making that noise Tallulah."
"May you please thanksgiving-"
"It's thanksgiving please" <-----from the mister

She was distracted and stopped before I had a chance to ask her nicely.

Hey Mom

2007-12-11T09:30:00.000-06:00

said the boy as we were coming out of the hardware store, "let's go to the hot chicken place and when the man says, 'How are you doing?', you can say, 'I'm doing mean.' Isn't that funny?"

No.

no rubber neckers :)

2007-11-29T23:26:00.000-06:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

omg, this is so looong! No need to read just needed to get it out.

I need to have a good cry but I keep stopping myself. The last time I was stuck like this I went to see our counselor and cried while he held my hand for the majority of the time. I thinking about the $$ I spent, time driving there and back just so I could be in a safe place to have my feelings.

Isaac's been having a lot of anger problems, internalizing things and that started 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Penelope. The mister and I went through a really rough patch and with the help of our midwife and the awesome counselor previously mentioned we have worked/working through our stuff.

We're doing all sorts of things to help Isaac through his pain and recently came across massage. It's worked wonders for DS. Since the massage started he did a total 180 and is the sweet loving boy he was before.

Until today. After our co-op class we went to Moody Gardens with a neighbor friend of DS/fellow co-oper. My 3 + 8 y/o boy + me for 5 hours. I know DS had a long day, was excited, tired towards the end and so hungry (he didn't want the lunch I had packed) and that explains the behaviour. Well, some of it.

Towards the end he was acting like a total shit - hitting me, calling me a stupid jackass, jumping in front of his friend's camera when he was trying to take pictures. I smarted up enough to just say 'let's go'.

Now, I feel like total shit. It was such an exhausting day.

Yesterday during DS' massage he started squirming around on the table and starts to wiggle off the head area and sliding to the chair that was right in front of the head area. I said his name as a "Get back on the table" but the massage guy said that DS is doing exactly what he needed to do.

As I was watching DS it reminded me of a child coming down the birth canal. And it struck me. That was the path DS took. He was anterior at the beginning of labor, went posterior and faced my left side, and then went back anterior 45 minutes before he was born. Here DS was doing the same exact thing he did while being born while he was getting a massage. It was freaky to witness.

Later last night I was on the phone with a momma friend and she said that watching that it probably brought up some stuff for me too (baaaaaaad birth).

It totally did and now I'm crying. The medwife was all 'push how you want, we'll catch where ever' and when I made those first grunting noises she told me to get on the table, put my legs in the stirrups and she and the nurse was yelling at me to push.

14 minutes later DS was born. no heart decel, no prolonged water breakage, nothing to make them so anxious for the baby to come RIGHT NOW. My first child and I pushed him out in 14 minutes.

I thought something was wrong because 2 days before she was so 'let your body take the lead' and now it's PUSH PUSH PUSH. I honestly thought the baby died and remember thinking how fucked up that was to be pushing out a dead baby.

God, I was shocked to see that the baby was alive when they put him on my stomach. I have never loved anything more in my life and this perfect being was staring in my eyes and pooping on my stomach. That proved he was brilliant because if he did that in utero then they would have wanted to take him away for observation.

They took him away anyway for CYA - 5 days of pure hell.

I love him so much and it hurts so bad to see him hurting and acting out like this. I know the massage yesterday brought up some things for him ( birth memory stuff) and it brought up things for me. gah.

While at Moody I was going through my bag of parenting tricks from childhood: hit him? nope, shame him? nope, shun him? nope, leave him? nope. I was left with nothing. We left at that point.

I told him in the car where the others couldn't hear, "You really hurt my feelings when you said those mean and hateful things to me and when you were hitting me. But I still love you so much. I know you are tired and hungry and have some yucky feelings that need to come out but Mommy doesn't like it when you are mean to her."

He didn't say much to me but he ate some rice cakes that he had in the car. He started coming out of his funk. By the time we were home he was sweet and loving again. I told him that my feelings were still hurt but I didn't love him any less.

While at Moody there was 2 young couples talking about those loud brats. haha, just you wait you childless couples. I was singing your tune as little as 4 years ago. For the record, crow tastes like shit.
__________________

Jean shopping

2007-11-24T12:50:00.000-06:00

Isaac, Penellie and I went shopping for jeans. I'm trying on several pairs of jeans and Isaac is going, 'nope', 'nuh-uh', 'looks bad'.

The last pair I tried on he said, "Mom, you look like an over-weight boy."

Really, where does this child come up with this. And he was right.

I put my pants back on and his face lit up, "Mommy, those pants look so good on you!" stinker.

Jean shopping =

moar funny pictures

The Mothership Has Landed

2007-11-14T21:07:00.000-06:00

I love Led Zeppelin. That is the end all be all of music. John Bonham was my first musical crush with his crazy-assed drumming. Aggressive, powerful and crazy. Love the chink, chink, clinks, crash, smash and then the boom bangs. Yeah, as you can tell I have wicked mad music skills.

I've been playing their new release almost non-stop since buying the beautiful disk set. I am still holding out hope that I will get to see them play in December. I don't have tickets, lodging, airfare or a passport. I knew I should have become BFF with Pat Smear 12 years ago when I saw the Foo Fighters in that dingy nasty club. He could have gotten me passes. le sigh.

Jason is taking over his dad's spot behind the kit (cause dead men don't drum) and that is just awesome to me. How many people can say that their child respected and loved you so much that they followed in your footsteps? How many children actually know what their parents do? I want to live such a passionate life that my young ones will be drawn to what I do. Wow, Mom, is so excited and in love with what she does. I want to have that intensity in my life.

20 years from now my sweet little sugar dumps will be crossing their fingers and lighting candles in hopes that they will see the greatest rock band of all. And according to them that band would be Tenacious D.

Moby Dick

The Best Song in the World. . . Tribute

2007-11-11T22:29:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcJwz7wu8_s
The kids totally are in love with this song. Isaac has 2 favorite parts "whip-crack went his whippit tail" (2:27) and they both share a special fondness for 2:35 on. And by special fondness I mean repeat the bit over and over and over. And when they aren't playing it on the computer they are singing it while playing. And if you are lucky then Isaac will rip off his shirt a la Jack Black.
:snort: be you angels?
Nay, we are but men.
ROCK
Ahhhh, ahhhhh, ahhh-ah-ah-ah-ah ohhh, whoa whoa, ohhh, whoa, whoa

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

2007-11-09T12:41:00.000-06:00

making the internet round

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List

From Secular Homeschooling Magazine, Issue #1

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?

2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.

3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.

4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.

5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.

6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.

7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.

8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.

9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.

10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.

11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.

12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.

13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.

15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.

16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.

17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.

18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.

19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.

20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.

21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.

22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.

23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.

24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.

25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

The Great Sippy Cup Mystery

2007-11-03T21:05:00.000-05:00

Where are all the bleepin' sippy cups? We buy them and then they go and disappear on us. Those darn things need a lo-jack or chip implantation.

All the scary leeching plastic stories has left me seriously considering buying Kleen Kanteen. But almost $20 a bottle? And our cups go AWOL all the time? I'm not sure we are ready for KK responsibility.

fae's last nurse

2007-11-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

This evening.

"What is it Pennette? You want Sister to nurse? Okay!"

"Wait, huh, who is nursing? Penelope?"

"No, me. You said."

"When did I say that?"

"You said I could nurse whenever I wanted to. This one last nurse."

"Alright, but you have to unlatch when Isaac is done with is song."

Isaac plays Guitar Hero, Tallulah nurses, Mom keeps Penelope away from Tallulah, Penelope tries to wrangle close to Tallou to pull her hair.

blah blah blah

2007-11-03T20:34:00.000-05:00

I went to an oil blending class this afternoon and it was really fun. I got a lot of good and new to me information. We made 2 personal blends - a 'rescue remedy' (lavender and geranium) and a thyroid/adrenal blend (cedar wood & geranium).

I should have made a 'get off your arse' and 'anti-bitch' blend.

Tallulah is such a lively person. She is absolutely loving, caring, sweet, tenacious, giggly. LOUDand forgiving. And she frustrates the heck out of me. She is always on and that really tires me out. I'm a much more quieter person. Unless I am angry and then I am not quiet.

Tallulah told me this past week- "Mommy, when you get angry and yell like a monster and it makes us so very sad, then my heart yells to you, too." "What does your heart yell at me?" "It yells, 'I still love you Mommy even though you are a mean monster.'"

And a few weeks ago - "Mommy, you know when you get angry at us and sometimes you yell? Well, that's not really the right thing to do, because we are just kids. And we don't know any better. We are just learning. You have green eyes; can I poke them?"

She just turned 4! How is it she is so much more emotionally mature than I am? She just gets interpersonal dynamics* intuitively. While I am still trudging away having 2 year old tantrums.

But that bit about them being kids, not knowing any better and learning? That was freaky. I got a massage in July and the massage guy was awesome. He knew things about me that no one knew and he knew it from just the massage. He said that the body never forgets and one just needs to know how to speak the language.

Anyway, he said the same exact thing that Tallulah did. Exactly. Well, not the part about the eyes. Total de ja vu I got when Tallou said that to me.

Isaac walked in, "Mom, I just did the funniest thing in the world. I farted in Dad's face."

*not really the word I want but it'll have to do.

Busted

2007-10-28T22:13:00.000-05:00

The mister, kidlets, mother-in-law and I went to the Renaissance Festival this past Tuesday. On the way up there, my mother-in-law was telling Tallulah about the night Tallulah was born.

mother-in-law = mil
father-in-law = fil

mil: We (mil & fil) were eating at Red Lobster and we got a call from your Daddy saying that the baby was on almost here. And on our way home we saw a lady pushing your brother in the stroller and Isaac was asleep.
me: (confused) what lady was pushing Isaac?
mil: Pat was.
me: (still confused) oh, but when did Jeff call? and when did you see Isaac and Pat?
mil: He called while we were at the restaurant and when we drove home we saw Pat and Isaac.
me: (still confused because Jeff did not call his mom and when Pat & Isaac were walking it was after 11 PM at night). But Jeff didn't call because you called our house and heard me in labor. And it was late when Pat got to our home.
mil: (she said something)
me: so you were stalking again?
mil: no, no, a prayer drive-by.
me: ok, so stalking?
I got this look from Jeff - he was amused but asked me to drop it.

In December of last year she was doing another 'prayer drive-by' and was pulled over for speeding. No ticket though.

Fae grows up

2007-10-28T22:01:00.001-05:00

Tallulah has officially weaned - I think. She hasn't asked to nurse in a week and when I asked her if she wanted to nurse I would get the 'in a minute' answer. But the minute never came.

I asked her today if she wanted to nurse and she said, "I don't need to nurse anymore Momma. Penelope can have all my nurses."

I remember holding her in my arms right after she was born and I told our midwife that I don't remember how to nurse a baby. Our midwife said it would come back. Ah, but no need because Tallulah latched on by herself and stayed latched on for over four years.

I nursed a human for four years! Who would have thought that? I was the person that thought breastfeeding was absolutely disgusting and only poor people breastfed. It wasn't until I was halfway through our first pregnancy that I thought maybe I might be wrong. I did some reading, attended LLL meetings and decided to give breastfeeding a try.

My sweet Tallou.

6

2007-10-27T08:26:00.000-05:00

boychik is 6 today. My sweet little bubs is growing up.

We have a busy day ahead of us with boychik at the helm.

Did you know Isaac totally rocks at Guitar Hero (II?). He unlocked a new level this morning. A concert arena outside.

Will be back later with pictures. famous last words

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

We went to the Pumpkin Patch today. The kidlets had a lot of fun. Penelope was scared of the scarecrow though.

Isaac and Tallulah asked to make pumpkin pie, pumpkin brownies, pumpkin french fries, pumpkin cake and pumpkin eggs.

There were a couple of school groups there - kindergarten and first graders. And there was a little boy that looked exactly like Tallulah. Totally identical except they were wearing different clothes. It was wild. He was with his dad and the dad was staring at Tallou and I was staring at his son, but neither of us said anything. I really wanted to get a picture of the little boy and Tallou but thought that would be too weird to ask.

Our song (to the tune of Down on Grandpa's Farm)

We're on our way, we're on our way;
On our way to the Pumpkin Patch.
We're on our way, we're on our way;
On our way to the Pumpkin Patch.

At the Pumpkin Patch we will pick some pumpkins,
At the Pumpkin Patch we will pick some pumpkins
The pumpkins they go a lot like this (high pitched scream from the kids). . .

Tallulah added her own special verse -
At the Pumpkin Patch we will smash some pumpkins
At the Pumpkin Patch we will push some people
The pumpkin people go a lot like this - waaaaaahhhhhh.

B.I.R.T.H. Fair 2007 - THIS SATURDAY!

2007-10-05T14:02:00.000-05:00

B.I.R.T.H. Fair 2007

THIS Saturday, October 6, 2007
11am - 4pm

United Way Center

50 Waugh Drive

Houston, TX 77007

Join us for our FREE 6th Annual B.I.R.T.H. Fair featuring guest speakers on a variety of topics including:

Preventing Cesareans

VBACs

Breastfeeding

Vaccines

Babywearing

Waterbirth

and More!

Watch films about birth and meet:

Midwives

Birth Assistants / Doulas

Physicians

Lactation Consultants

Birth/Child-Related Non-Profits

Family & Baby-Friendly Retailers

and Much More!

Plus...Mommy & Baby Fashion Show!

Free Give-Aways!

Free Gift Bags for the first 500 Attendees!

Free 2007-08 Resource Guide for Everyone!

B.I.R.T.H. Fair 2007 is generously sponsored by:

The Center for Health & Healing

Nativiti Women's Health & Birth Center

Holmes Chiropractic

A Woman's Work

The Motherhood Center

Women's Health & Birth Care

FREE 6th Annual B.I.R.T.H. Fair

Saturday, October 6, 2007
11am - 4pm

United Way Center

50 Waugh Drive

Houston, TX 77007

B.I.R.T.H. - Bringing Information & Resources to Houston

P.O. Box 541144

Houston, TX 77254-1144

Phone 832-344-6060

Fax 866-529-4034

Email info@houbirth.org

Website www.houbirth.org

The Baldwin Project

2007-10-03T22:10:00.000-05:00

This looks interesting.

The Search For a Good Child was linked on an e-mail group I was on. It's about Knights. Well, the search for one.

Isaac and Tallulah are very into knights, dragons, swords, slaying, etc right now. We are going to the Renaissance Faire at the end of the month and they are both over the moon. Isaac wants to go in to the dungeon and see the joust. Tallulah wants to be a princess and kill some bad guys with her sword.

Conflicting moment - gentle parenting versus squashing her imaginative play.

meh, babe is up.

Can fish crawl in the rain?

2007-09-30T14:13:00.000-05:00

Looking out the back window at the rain:

"Can fish crawl in the rain? You know like they swim in the water that's on the ground."

I love that boy so much.

Good Morrow

2007-09-26T10:36:00.000-05:00

The young ones are winning.

Birthday Parties and Pirates

2007-09-16T11:12:00.000-05:00

We have two birthday parties this weekend. Both little boys are named Elijah. Yesterday's Elijah had a wicked fun slip n slide and today's Elijah has a Pirate themed party.

Speaking of Pirates this coming up Wednesday is International Talk Like A Pirate day.

Zu den Haien schicken, arrrrgh!

Best Laid Plans. . .

2007-09-12T22:40:00.000-05:00

I originally planned on blogging daily. We see how well that worked out. Here is a mini-update on us with some bookmarks.

boychik

moved up to the big boy gymnastics level (couple months early)
earned his vest and Skipper handbook in AWANA.

fae

turned 4!!!!
earned her vest and Cubbie handbook in AWANA.

babe

growing teeth - which the allspice necklace seems to help tremendously
cute as a button.

Tropical Storm Humberto is moving in so we should see a bunch of rain, rain, rain in the next couple of days.

Better Late Than Early
The Moore Foundation

Happy Birthday Renny

2007-08-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

Today is the birthday of my most favoritest cat in the world.

Daily Rhythms

2007-08-19T18:10:00.000-05:00

This has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. I am not anti-schedule, but I donot like the rigidity of most schedules.

I know, I know. The level of rigidity is dependent on the person, blah, blah, blah. But the whole concept is a scary one. However, I think boychik will greatly benefit from a Daily Rhythm. Sounds so much nicer than a schedule or routine, doesn't it? His personality seems designed for this.

Here is what is on "The List"

Wake Up
Prepare and Eat Breakfast

I'm going to need some help with this!

We're Moving!!

2007-08-19T17:55:00.000-05:00

rooms that is. :) We are flip-flopping the kids room and spare room. Once all the stuff is out of the spare room then we (read me only with the help of 3 young ones) are pulling out the carpet, scraping the popcorn off the ceiling, priming, painting and prepping the floor. Then the mister will come in and lay down the wood floor.

The state the spare room is in now is enough to make the baby Jesus cry. It is something else I tell ya.

And at the same time I am decluttering and simplifying. We have so much junk it is unbelievable. When we do move I want to take as little as possible.

I'll post pictures of the room progress.

Doctor & Library

2007-08-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

The kidlets had an appointment with the chiropractor toady. Dr. April does craniosacral therapy as well as regular chiropractic work. Tallulah really enjoyed the visit. Isaac, on the other hand, was meh on the whole thing.

eta - I forgot to mention. The doc took some pictures of the kidlets spine. Tallulah's neck was at a 37 degree angle (should be 45 degree) with slight wonkiness to the lower part of the spine. Isaac had an inverted curve (almost straight up and down) on the neck with curve to the spine. It was enough that the mister and I could look at the x-ray and know something was off.

Afterwards, we met up with some friends at the library where Isaac got his very first library card! He is super excited about the card. My boychik is growing up so quick.

Great Perseids

2007-08-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

Did anyone see the Perseid meteor shower last night? The kidlets were asleep before the show started, and even though I went out twice to look the street lights were too bright. I was really disappointed. But other than chunking rocks at the lights there was nothing I could do.

And thanks to the mister for waking up and going in the backyard with me. I was too a'frightened to go out by myself.

First!

2007-08-12T22:05:00.000-05:00

Our first post of our first blog; how exciting!