Charlie

I know.  I know.  Maybe I should re-title this "Photos of Charlie."  Even though living with him makes me crazy, there are some things I like about the dog. 

He was such a cute puppy. 

He has grown into a very handsome dog.

He is very good with the kids...

most of the time.

He loves to play.  Tickle-Me-Elmo was one of his favorites...

until he tickled too much.

Sometimes he just makes me laugh...

 

a lot.

Not Picking Up

My three children are wonderful.  I really only have two complaints:  their volume and their stuff.

There's not much I can do about their volume besides send them outside to play.  Sometimes they will disappear upstairs and then their volume is much better.  When that happens, however, I am bound to pay for it later via their stuff.

I feel like I am constantly picking up after them or hounding them to pick up after themselves.  Either way, it is wearing me out.  Here is my latest bright idea:

I put this box in the upstairs hall about a week ago.  They all came running when they heard me throwing things into it.  I could see the panic on their faces and hear it in their voices,  "What are you doing?  That's not fair!"

Here's the deal:  I will not nag them about picking up.  I will throw anything out of place into the box.  They have plenty of time to remove items from it and put them away nicely.  Each Saturday, I will take what's still in the box to be donated.

So far, this arrangement is working for us.  We are all much happier without my nagging.  The kids are doing a much better job of picking up their stuff so not much is being put into the box.  They have even found some things they want to donate.  Less stuff!

School Uniforms

I went back-to-school clothes shopping for my kids yesterday.  Considering they are homeschooled, I could have just bought them all new pajamas but we do actually leave the house most days so they needed real clothes.

Shopping for Ruby was easy.  She is four and everything in her department is still cute and affordable.  I really had to exercise a lot of self control or I could have spent the entire budget on her.  With all the hand-me-downs from her older sister, she needed the least.

Grace is almost nine and the choices in her department are starting to scare me.  Some of it is okay but a lot of it is trying to turn her into a little Hannah Montana.  Or is it just Miley Cyrus now?  Either way, I don't want Grace looking like that.  Oh, and the skinny jeans.  Really?  At nine?  I don't think so.  Even the pajamas have started to look a bit too adult. 

Then there's Daniel.  Daniel is eleven but I've had a problem shopping for him since the age of three.  That's when all the cute baby boy stuff was replaced by punk clothes.  Now his choices in jeans are either nerdy or trashy.  Nerdy is what we called "new" jeans when I was a kid.  Trashy is what those new jeans used to look like when they were worn out and ready for the trash.  Great choices.  Great choices that seem to get more and more expensive the older he gets. 

I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. My kids already risk being nerdy just by being homeschooled.  I enjoy the fact that they're missing a lot of the trendy crap other kids their ages do but I don't want them to be completely weird.  I needed to find a happy medium and not go broke.

In many of the stores, I kept seeing a school uniform section.  It kept drawing me over.  How easy would that be?  Three color choices: white, navy, khaki.  Three bottom choices: shorts, skirts, pants.  Three top choices: short sleeve, long sleeve, sweater.  Clothes that look like they fit.  Clothes that make children look like children.  No glitter.  No graphics.  No fringe.  No rips.  Done.

I am sure that parents still need to buy other clothing for their uniformed kids.  Those kids probably get home from school and can't change into regular clothes fast enough.  Taking non-school times into account, I would still have to find decent clothing for my kids and I suppose that means there would not be any savings.

I really considered the idea anyway.  I like the look of school uniforms.  Could I let them "express" themselves on the weekends and wear a uniform Monday through Friday?  Of course, that might be a problem for church.  Ah, they're too old for it now anyway.  I might have been able to pull this off if I had thought of it years ago but now they'd just know that I'd lost my mind.  It was a fun thought while it lasted. 

It took all day and too many stores to name but I managed to sift through the junk and buy reasonably priced, age-appropriate, non-punk, non-whorish wardrobes for all three children. Today we buy shoes.

Day of Dislike: Re-entering the State of Illinois

At the Indianapolis 500, there is a tradition of Jim Nabors singing a song, "(Back Home Again in) Indiana."  He has done it almost every year since 1972.  The song itself has been a part of the race since 1942.  It is not the official song of Indiana but possibly the best known song referring to the Hoosier state.

I lived the first 36 years of my life in Indiana and any time we traveled, we would break out into song as we crossed the state border on our way home.  I've even hummed it quietly aboard planes as we landed.  Vacations are fun but nothing beats that feeling of getting back home.  Having a song to sing makes it even better.

We live in Illinois now and while it's a fine state and not that much different than Indiana, I don't get that wonderful feeling when we cross the border on the way home.  I'm sure the problem is that I grew up in Indiana.  It will always be "home."  Maybe if Jim Nabors would sing something about Illinois for the next 30 years, I would start to feel at home here. 

Click here to listen to the song.

Straws

Day of Dislike: Intersection Solicitors

There is something very unsettling about a person approaching my car when I am sitting at an intersection.  I have purposely missed my turn and stayed in a center lane to lessen the chance of them coming to my window.  I have picked up my cell phone and had fake conversations so I can look too busy to notice them walking my way.  I know this is horribly immature.  An adult would respectfully decline their offer to take my donation and wish them a good day.  Perhaps even a "God bless" for standing out in dangerous traffic in inclement weather to support their cause.

Usually the intersection solicitors are there to collect donations for perfectly wonderful causes.  They come around toting buckets with pictures of terminally ill children on the side.  Evidently, this type of fund raising is very productive because they just keep doing it.  Really, I'm not a cold-hearted cheapskate.  I would gladly donate the change in my car to save a life but there's something about doing it this way that makes me very uncomfortable.

To further cement my discomfort, I was stopped at a red light back in February when a man approached.  I had seen him and his buddies my first time through the intersection that day.  The primaries were a week away and they were out there campaigning for somebody.  Here's what some of their signage looked like...

Anyway, the guy began to rant about how Obama was running our country into the ground.  How he was creating a socialist government with his "Nazi Healthcare."  I did my best to look like I was listening and kept glancing back to see if the light had turned green.  At first it was shocking, then amusing how angry this man was.  Then he asked for a donation to support so&so who was running for whatever seat so he could go to D.C. and battle the evil Obama.

My response, "Seriously?  I love Obama.  I think he's great."  I think I could see the blood pulsating through the veins in his face.  He walked away from my car at that point but I wanted to add, "I think a socialist government is the only answer for this country."  No, I don't really believe it but that remark would have sent his blood pressure soaring even higher.

Luckily, the light turned green and I drove home.  That's when I looked up the candidate and realized just what a wacko group supports him.  It made for an interesting read.  Needless to say, he did not do so well in the primary.  I'm saving my car coins for Juvenile Diabetes (when they catch me), not political crazies.

Free T-Shirts... I mean, Volunteering

In an attempt to meet people and get out into our new community, we have volunteered at a couple of charity walks this summer.  Also, there's a group we've joined to care for cats until they are adopted into a new home.  Last week, we volunteered at our church's VBS.  I think it teaches a good lesson to the kids.  Sometimes we do things for other people, animals and strangers even, without expecting anything in return.

Being new around here, I used a website (Volunteer Match) to find volunteer opportunities.  I just put in my zip code and a list of 375 activities came up.  I then narrowed the list by distance and age appropriateness.  There is usually a short form to fill out and then someone from that group contacts me.  So far, we've had nothing but positive experiences.

Almost each time we've volunteered, we have been given t-shirts to wear for the event so that others will recognize us if they need assistance.  I suppose it's also good advertising if we wear them around town afterward.  They even provide shirts for each of the kids.

So, maybe not expecting anything in return is not entirely true.  I expect to get a good feeling knowing that we've helped out.  I expect to use the event as a lesson while raising our children.  I expect a free t-shirt!

Breaking the Mom Rules

I say "no" a lot.  Sometimes I say it as a question, "Are you kidding me?"  Sometimes I throw in a bit of sarcasm, "Yeah, sure."  I'm not sure who gets tired of hearing it sooner, me or the kids.  Either way, sometimes I just like to shock them by saying, "yes."  "Yes, go ahead.  Why not?  Let's break the Mom Rules and do it."  

This doesn't happen too often which makes it a real treat for the kids.  Cookies for breakfast?  Okay.  Cereal for dinner?  Okay.  You want to wear a green St. Patricks day shirt with your purple tutu to church in August?  Okay.  

The picture below is from one of my favorite break-the-rules moments.  My aunt had mailed a fabulous telescope to my son and the huge box was full of packing peanuts.  Of course, kids love these things.  Packing peanuts are the cousin to bubble wrap.  

Usually, if I suspect a package has peanuts, I won't even open it inside the house.  Something crazy came over me this particular day and I poured them out and let the kids run, jump, and roll in them.  It was probably a week before I stopped finding stray peanuts.  Just look at the joy on my daughter's face.  It was worth the mess.  I like breaking the Mom Rules.  Sometimes.