Hubbard, Lake Hazel and Columbia all intersect with Meridian Road.  Columbia got a traffic light after a few serious accidents.  When Zach started driving it was sort of our "rule" that if you have to turn left off Hubbard or Lake Hazel you need to drive to one of the streets with a traffic light.  A while back Zach came home to tell us his buddy was out driving with his mom and got hit turning left onto Meridian Road.  He also commented that He guessed my freakishness over the whole thing was warranted.  Seriously you need to have proof that I know what I am talking about??

We picked up 3 blackberry plants tonight, the old gentleman that we go them from said I should have blackberries next summer.  We shall see, I am still waiting for Raspberries from the plants I put in 2 years ago.  Also still waiting for my peony bushes to bloom with more than 1 flower...



.

Vacation--Colorado or Bust-- 2011

When you saying "Driving Family Vacations" people cringe and I have to admit I cringe.  16 hours in the car with my 16, 13, 12 and 8 year old-doesn't  sound fun.  I do always prepare for the worst--someone is GOING to puke it happens every time the 6 of us go on a road trip, thankfully we have moved passed the part of the trip where someone has a blowout diapers!!.  Our first stop on the first day was a Walmart, as I see my oldest son approaching me looking very pale with bloodshot eyes he says "Can you get the dramimine and tylenol please?  You bet!! and then dosed them all just for grins.  I already had wipes, paper towels and a bucket just in case.  So far no puke, well  in the car anyway, there was a small incident at the hotel but it was small and contained!!.... It has been decided that the 13 year old does not ride well, he gets to be downright irritating..I think the answer is bungy cords and duck tape..our answer to him, for every question, was 6..6 miles, 6 minutes, 6 days, 6 hours.  Z says by the end of this trip they are going to be curled up in the fetal position terrified of the number 6. 

Humor from various days on the road.

As seen on the rear window of the SUV we passed on the hiway somewhere in Idaho...
"Dear Dave Tell ur girlfriend ur wife and kids say hi, I cleaned out the bank ur broke. Nicki and kids"

Road signs seen on hiway somewhere along the way:
"Drowsy drivers cause crashes"
"Drowsy drivers next mile"
"Drowsy drivers pull over if necessary"
   Who spent time identifying these Drowsy Drivers and if the drivers are drowsy would they really even see these signs??

At a truckstop somewhere in Wyoming the handicapped man who thanked me "for raising my daughter right" apparently she waited and held the door open for him and he was grateful.

Question from the younger teen child "Do they have urinals in the ladies bathroom?"  Are you seriously asking me that question?  Fast forward to check in at the hotel.  Family bathroom as I am walking in, I see the urinal-yup you guessed I backed out and rechecked the sign on the door--so I guess in some cases the answer to that question is "Depends".

Listening to Nick tell a story in the car, he ends with "and so on and  so forth.." 

My biggest traveling wish "Can we please just get in the car without fighting over who needs to move where and just sit down, if you are in first you are in the back"  Someday I am going to drive off and leave them all arguing in the parking lot on who should get in first.

Integrity, Intiative, Good Judgment....oh my...

My parents taught me to do the right thing even when nobody was looking, they taught me to use my best judgment, if it doesn’t feel right, there is a pretty good chance it’s not, take initiative and be the change you want to see in the world.    Maybe they didn’t use those exact words and phrases, but the point was still the same.  I look at my kids and think are these the same values I am instilling into them?  I asked my teenage son the other night “Okay so here is the deal, I have a job interview at the company I am working temporarily for, it is jeans day and I already work there so can I just wear the jeans?” and he looked at me without hesitation said “But mom it is still a job interview.”  Since he is a teenager my expectation, or maybe it was my hope, that he would say “yeah it’s okay to wear the jeans.”  So needless to say today I dressed in my Integrity, Initiative and good judgment interview outfit.  The outfit showed my integrity because he was right “it was the right thing to do”, it showed my good judgment because “it was the appropriate thing to do” and my initiative because “it was a responsible thing to do.”  I am not sure how the interview went,   but I will say that with all the other employees in Jeans and casual work attire, I absolutely stood out.  What better way to boost your self esteem before an interview than to have a large group of people all dressed in jeans tell you how great look.    Back in early November my 2^nd son found 12.00 on the floor at the middle school, I did not realize this and put some money on the buffet.  Ben saw it and said “hey is that the money I found at school?”  apparently it was about the same amount.  He explained what had happened and that he turned the money in to the secretary at the school.  I expressed to him how proud I was of him and he said “yeah well I only turned it in because someone saw me find it”  “Really, Ben that would make me so sad to think you would not do the right thing” “I am just kidding” and he wandered off.  Now, was he really kidding, I can’t be sure but I am really glad that someone was watching because maybe next time nobody will be watching and he will still do the right thing, of course the fact that  a few weeks later they gave him the money didn’t hurt things either.  A little positive reinforcement goes a long way.

I have Never.....

**I never made it back to the break room today to check on my black hole theory.  Okay so that is not entirely true, I did go in there to get a desperately needed Diet Coke, but I forgot to look at the tables, or maybe it was all the tables were filled with people eating their lunch.
**I have never been told I smell before today--well Amelia tells me all the time that my perfume stinks and it hurts her nose, but she is 11 and she has REALLY stinky soccer feet! --I guess I should be grateful "you smell" was  a reference to my perfume and not my inability to make it to the shower or hold my gas, now that would have been a really humiliating conversation!! --Of course those of you who know me well, know I don't offend easily and I have that incredibly dry warped sense of humor-so of course I giggled to myself all afternoon.  Every time someone said something I would think to myself "well at least you don't smell" and giggle a little more.
**I have never run away from home, but some days I think it might be a fun adventure.
**I have never beaten my kids, but they beat me down fairly regularly.
**I have never used a cuss word, and if you believe that I have some "Ocean Front Property in Arizona" I would like to talk to you about.
**I have never not for one second in almost 16 years wondered where my children get " it" from! I know exactly where they got "it" from!! and if you know my kids at all, I don't even have to put a definition of "it" on here!

Misc

     Stupid must be tattooed in invisible ink on my forehead, it can be the only explanation.  I would say as parents our follow through has been about 90%, so 90% of the time the consequence we set forth is GOING to happen!  You would think that after 15.75 years of life that when we lay out the consequence the little light bulb would go off and the thought would be "Ah crap they mean it, I better get my act together" but oh no, some lessons, must be taught and re-taught, 15 and 3  not much difference if you want my opinion!!
    The weight loss journey continues, I am pretty pleased with the fact that I have maintained my weight since our final weigh in in December.  Believe me I know what I have eaten and so this really is an amazing fete.
    As most companies do, we have a break room complete with microwave, sink, tables, vending machines and a giant black hole.  I haven't quite figured it all out, but I have been taking baked goodies in and leaving them on the tables in the break room.  I return later in the day and the goodies are gone!  I don't ever see anyone eating anything, it is just gone.  I am testing my theory again tomorrow.
   Eye Doc for son 2 on Tuesday, bet this is the year he gets an extra set of eyes.  Orthodontist on Wednesday, Cast off on Wednesday, Soccer Practices, Soccer games...a stop by the store for clairol.. thank goodness for the driving teen! I think!

Food and Birthday's...

It is Friday!  Why does Friday think it can arrive with an open invitation to not eat healthy???  I don't get it ...all week I have done well, without much of a struggle...then here comes Friday...It wasn't too bad all day, I was chasing myself around in circles all day long so that left little time to chase junk food.  I am sitting here now with 3 liter bottles of water next to me thinking that if I drink them all I might actually manage to stay out of the chips and dip...Only made it to Curves twice this week, maybe I will try to go tomorrow morning, but I am thinking that I might actually sleep in. I still haven't braved the scales this week, but I did try on my 2 favorite black dresses and they both fit so now I just have to decide which one to wear to the company party tomorrow night...such decisions..I was just hoping that one of them would fit....I am also hoping that even though I am a temporary employee that I will be eligible to win some of the awesome prizes they are going to be giving away--not that I am that lucky!

Today is also Son2's birthday he is officially 13, even though he has been acting like a teenager for a year now.  His request is Chinese food and internet on Sunday (which is usually not allowed).  Today he went to Wahooz to take advantage of his free birthday coupon, had donuts delivered by my incredibly AWESOME neighbor to his 4th block class!  Krispy Kreme and teenagers...Paradise....Today is also Grandma's 70th birthday, she has been receiving items in the mail all week.  Very fun!  I am going to get a cake and have it brought to BINGO on Saturday night, so she can share with all her BINGO buddies!

Just another Day!

Totally cool new Tech toy to test out for the IT department. I think the husband brought it home tonight...I can't wait!!
I was really busy today, I have decided the best diet plan is WORK outside the home, not around food.  Unbelievable chocolate cake for Rachel's birthday didn't even have a piece so proud of my will power--  We did the file cabinet shuffle this afternoon and now are officially ready for 2011...Inventorying (for lack of a better word) the 2009 files for offsite storage...something like 30 boxes..wait let me get on my virtual file cabinet soap box!!
When I got home this afternoon, okay more like evening I sat down to log my food and realized I had barely eaten anything today.  I wasn't starving or even really hungry feeling all day so I guess I thought I had eaten...it must have been the fiber one cereal mixed with the fiber one yogurt...So healthy eating and food logging has been good today.  Did not make it to curves, decided I needed a day off, but I did do a walk around the outside of the building in the crisp winter temperatures....all in all I will mark this down as an incredibly successful day!!

..Another Day...

Today was the day we visited with the orthopedist for son 3's broken thumb.  It was too cold, too early and way to dark to be driving in downtown Boise on unfamiliar streets,  for this visit and son3 was a little more tired than usual. He curled up on one of the chairs in the waiting room and took a little nap while we waited, needless to say his hair did this static thing that made him look like he hadn't combed his hair in months...the doc said "hey Nick is your comb missing few teeth?"  I was already feeling like such a great parent so that just rubbed a little more salt into the open wound!  So immediately after the beautiful red cast was applied we made a quick trip to Supercuts for a haircut and then back to school by lunchtime.  It was my goal to get my workout in before I went to work and I am proud to say that even though I came up with 100 reasons not to go, I went and did my 30 minutes...and still made it to work by noon. 
  Today's food log/healthy eating (so far) has been highly successful!  I even got home-ade vegetable soup into the crock pot this morning before I left the house.  It smells so good! and it is all vegetables, you really can't get much more healthy than that!  I find that it is much easier to be successful at healthy eating when dinner is planned ahead.  No chance for snacking and making bad choices!  I am hoping tomorrow morning to brave the scales, but we shall see. My clothes still fit the same as they did before the Christmas holiday so I am hopeful that scales will be kind!! 
   Stay Tuned!!
 

Another Good Day

I am trying to figure out how to blog about my daily successes, because if I put it in writing I feel I will be held more accountable for my choices, by the 5 or 6 people who actually read my blog..  So far today, I have been very successful with eating healthy and logging my food choices. I find it easier at work to make good food choices, because I can only eat what I bring right?  although there are those wretched vending machines, but the only one I have a real relationship with is the soda machine.  I just can't quite give up the caffeine!   I joined Curves on Friday and went straight there when I was done work today.  I am very hopeful to be able to do that Monday through Friday.  I still need to figure out the walking thing because I know I need to do that as well--a little cardio is good for the soul!!.  I must confess, I was terrified to get on the scales this morning....so I didn't...I decided I need a few days of good healthy eating before I face the scale.  Afternoons and evenings are the worst for me, I think in part because everyone is home and it is comfortable, so my biggest challenge is to make it until bedtime without some major "food breakdown". 
  In other news we now have a teenage driver, In 4 days son2 will be 13, and son3 has an appointment at the orthopedist...and life goes on...and on....

More tomorrow...

"Chubs Away" Round 2!!

During our "Chubs Away" weight loss challenge which for those of you who didn't know our team took 1st place losing 50 pounds in 8 weeks (Jim lost 27 and I lost 17 and there were 5 people on our team) ...anyway during that challenge one of the contestants said "when I signed up I realized I couldn't do 8 weeks that was such a long time (this person also went on to lose 30 pounds), but I realized that if I had one good day and then another good day and then another eventually I could string them together and it would be 8 weeks."  I really thought this was a great strategy, so coming off an incredibly fat and sugar infused Christmas/New Years, Jim and I have decided to continue our weight loss journey and see what happens....So beginning tomorrow morning (and believe me the thought of facing the scale tomorrow is making me ill right now!), and each Monday for the next 9 weeks (I wanted 10, but the 10th Monday is the day after my birthday and who wants to watch what they eat on their birthday),  we will weigh in at home and see how it goes.  On Friday I went and joined Curves by our office so my 1st goal is to make it there Monday through Friday.  My next goal is to have one good day at a time.  Today was day One of getting back on track with the healthy eating, and keeping a food log, and it was very SUCCESSFUL day. 

MOM! look at NICK's Thumb!

I arrived home from work on Thursday afternoon, and I was greeted my daughter and the following "MOM! check out Nick's thumb."  followed by Nick "Yeah Mom look at my thumb, but don't touch it, 'cause it hurts when you touch it".  I looked at his right thumb and NO joke it was more than twice the size of his left thumb.   Now son 3 is very good at getting these types of thumb injuries, we usually wrap it, give him some advil and within a couple of days he is as good as new.  When I looked at his thumb this time, I just had that sinking pit in my stomach...they have never looked that big or had that pretty of a blueish purpleish color.On a positive note at least it was still semi straight, and no bone was sticking out.  I was also pretty sure I didn't want to know the answer to the question "How did that happen?" and I was right, a hackey sack, a jump rope and his sister.  Really that was all I needed and wanted to hear about it.   He didn't seem too upset or whiney about it, so I told him if it still looks like that in the morning I will take you in to see the doctor.  About an hour later the dad got home and I advised son3 "Hey go show your dad your thumb"  I looked at it again too, and the blueish purpleish color had gotten a lot brighter, "hmmm I am sure tht can't be good."  The Dad's response "OOO I think that looks broken" and then he said to me "should we take him in?"  I figure since we have Friday off, we can run him down to the docs in the morning, they do x-rays right at the office, shouldn't be a big deal right?.  Luckily, I called the doctor's office and  the voicemail said "We will be closed Friday December 31st"  Of course, because I have that kind of luck!!  I have this great neighbor who has 7 kids so I trust her "mom" judgement.  "Hey son3 get shoes and a coat and go show Marci your thumb"  He gets back and says "Yup her and Heidi (the teenage daughter) both say it looks broken, and I didn't even get to give them all the details".  Now the parental debate begins.  Do we take him to urgent care tonight or wait until tomorrow when URGENT care will be overflowing with all the people who can't get into see their doctor's because of the impending holiday.  So the kind and wonderful dad put him in the car and off they went to urgent care.  After filling out 10 forms, I am sure in duplicate maybe even triplicate, and then sitting around waiting they finally got the X-ray and sure enough it was broken.  Next comes the splint, I did mention he is right handed and this was his right thumb.  He told the doctor, "Well I did on Wednesday night and when I went to tell my mom she gave me a job to do and then my dad told me to go to bed, so I didn't tell them"  In my defense when he did come to tell me he and Ben both came in screaming at each other about the gum on the floor, not a single mention of hurting himself........Oh won't school be fun!  

When they got home I looked at son3 and had the following conversation:
"I think you get the prize"

"What Prize?"

"The prize for being the first kid in 15 years and 11 months to break a bone"

I think he is still waiting for his prize!

So next week we will be visiting a hand/orthopedic doc to see what if anything else needs to be done.  Never a dull moment when you have kids! 

Happy New Year All!!

The other night I asked son1 to start a fire, of course as usual I was the only one who though it was cold--I always think it is cold-- anyway the topic of conversation changed quickly and Son 1 asked me how I had ever survived Vermont in the winter.  When I told him, I used to where shorts in the house during the winter, I thought he was going to fall over.  I still don't think he believes me...

You have to understand that I have never worked at a place where people have blankets on the backs of there chairs, or are wrapped up in them in the middle of the day, but now that I understand the vicious battle that is raging on at work, it makes a little more sense, I think!...The heat and the air conditioner just can't figure which one is in charge..They each want to be in charge, but they just haven't learned which one needs to be in charge during which season....The heat comes on at 70 degrees and warms things up nicely and when the building temp reaches 73 the air conditioner comes on and cools it down.  This goes on all day. Kind of like that saying if you don't like the weather wait a few minutes.  YUP if you don't like the building temp just wait a few minutes...

Traditions or Things we do??

Our Christmas Traditions:

1. Around Thanksgiving time we put the number 1-4 in a hat and each child draws a number beginning December 1, that is the advent calender opening order.  The order is written on the calender so if there is a question/argument it can be easily solved.

2. On Christmas Eve we have an open house.  We invite all of our friends, family, people who would rather be with us than with there family, Our "homeless" friends (they are not truly "homeless" there family just lives far away and they can't be with them at Christmas).  We eat snacks and visit, people leave, more people come it is a very relaxing and fun time!  Sometimes we give out little bags of treasures to the kids, sometimes Santa has been known to show up.  We have had guests from as far away as Japan and as close as next door.
3.  We don't shower, get dressed or leave the house on Christmas Day, we nap, watch movies, read books play with new toys and eat leftovers. It is one of the quietest laziest days of the year.
4.  Our Christmas Dinner happens the weekend before Christmas, sometimes it is just us and my parents, and my brother sometimes it includes close friends.  It all just depends on how it falls together.
5.  The kids stay up late on Christmas Eve and that means they sleep in on Christmas morning, I think there has only been one year that we have been up at some ridiculous hour of the morning.
6.  Jim and I always watch "It's a Wonderful Life" together at least once.  Last year we watched it Christmas Eve after all the children had gone to bed.  It is one of those movies that we should watch once a month all year long to remind us that it is a Wonderful Life!
7.  Since we have 2 birthdays right out of the blocks in January the tree usually comes down within a day or two of Christmas being over.
8.  We celebrate Grandma's Birthday on January 1st, So she can have a roast beef meal and then on her real birthday (which she shares with Ben) Ben picks the meal and dessert.
     I have never thought of these things as "Traditions" they are just "things we do" but now that I  have had time to think about it, a tradition really is something that you do.  I can only hope that some of the "things we do" will be carried on by my children when they are older.

Today's Post brought to by.....Abraham Lincoln??

"Mom can I play baseball this summer?"
"Well that depends on when you go to Gabriel and Ethans"
"What does Abraham Lincoln have to do with it??"

I think someone needs to get his hearing checked!

The "ToothFairy" hasn't come yet..

Last week all of my children had a break from school.  We had orthodontist appointments on Monday so I decided why not follow that up on Tuesday with appointments at the dentist.  They all needed a good cleaning.  Note to self:  8:30am dentist appointments for 4 children on school break...not one of my better ideas!  We got a lovely ice storm on Monday night so our 15 minute drive took a weeeeee bit longer, as I let the teenager drive...again not one of my more banner plans!!   Anyway, Son3 had to have a tooth pulled.  Apparently the 2nd tooth was in enough to loosen up the baby tooth just enough that food was getting stuck in it and creating an abscess.  The dentist let me know he was going to "help" it a little bit.  Now Son3 has a mark on his lip because his siblings wanted to see if he could feel them pinching his lip.  Anyway, with Thanksgiving and the ice storm the tooth fairy missed our house.  Last night in the kitchen the conversation went something like this..
Son3  "Mom, the "toothfairy" hasn't come yet"  (making little quotation marks each time he said toothfairy)
Mom "Well if you don't believe you don't receive"
Son3 "You said it was because of the weather"
Mom "Well, last week that was the case, now I think it is because you don't believe"
When did they get so smart??

Rub a Dub Get Rid of the chub!  The Weightloss Challenge began today, with weighs from 9am to Noon...now mind you it wasn't as exciting as Biggest Loser their were no competitions for a place on the ranch and the only crying was from those of us who didn't want to face the reality of the scales.  Our team team the "CHUBS AWAY" is made up of 2 men, myself, 1 woman, and Jim.  Their are 20 teams of 5 participating in this wellness campaign.  I am hoping it is the motivation I need to get back on track. (Both the walking track and the healthy eating track!).  Stay Tuned....

Football season is over so our Monday nights from 530-700 will now actually be used for dinner at the table as a family.  It seems that in the past several weeks some of us have forgotten how to sit at the table and use manners and polite dinner conversation...

Soccer has a few more weeks.  We played in McCall this weekend, it was a quick family get a way.  I enjoyed listening to the kids play there DS games in the car.  I guess we need to leave town more often to get them to be civil to each other! 

I have started back to work, at least temporarily.  I was offered a 6 week temp position at the company  Jim works for.  It is also the test to see how working at 30 hour week will affect our home and family.  At the end of last week I was seriously questioning whether it was the right decision.  This week so far seems a little calmer, but then again it is only Monday.

Dear Fred Meyer,
     THANK YOU for the grant money you awarded to Kuna Life Church!!  With this money KLC was able to re-open "The Zone" an after school outreach program.  Now that "The Zone" is open I have something to use as a reward for good behavior and a consequence for bad behavior!  Amazing how quickly the behavior changes!!

Amy

....and I laughed!!

We are down to 1 chicken.  She roosts at night on a chair near the cat's bed, she climbs through the cat door into the garage and eats the cat's food and a few different times I have found eggs in the cat's bed though I have never actually seen her in the cat's bed but....today when I got home from my walk I found this.....and I laughed all the way into the house to get the camera.

 

and then a little while later I found this......

 

Officially 8!!

 

Son3 is now officially 8!! 

Pronunciation and Busing

The routine goes something like this...Middle School is released at 2:50pm, they load onto the buses and drive to the high school getting to the high school around 3:15-3:30, they load the high school kids and are off.  Son2 complained yesterday about being on the bus for an hour and  could I please pick him up.  The pick-up zone at the Middle School makes me absolutely insane!!  So today I went to the high school to pick up Son1 and decided to pull Son2 off the bus when it arrived at the high school.  A fair compromise to having to battle the middle school pick up zone.  Anyway he sees me approaching the bus and waves excitedly, I approach the bus and he leans out the door and says can you pick me up?  "no son, I walked all the way over here to say hello to you so hi how is it going, now I will see you at home" I got the pre-teen eyeroll and he got off the bus.  Son1 drove us home and son2 was extremely chatty.  "hey mom, I was elected as assistant Librarian of the band" "I wanted to be VP but 5 people were running for that and they only pick one person so my odds weren't very good I decided to run for librarian because there were only 4 people running and they elect 2 so my odds were better of getting elected"  This is another one of those moments in my life where I sit in awe of Son2's ability to analyze a situation and quickly adjust his plan to get the best possible outcome for himself.  I may not have the title of his position exactly correct because when I asked him about it, I got the "it is my life and I don't want you blogging about it.
     In other news Son3 is a human bean with eyebulbs who is not afraid of eartwigs.  Obviously he has some pronunciation issues, since he is really a human being with eyeballs who is not afraid of earwigs.