Sunday, May 27, 2007

Should I even admit this?

Last week the kids and I went to my friend Tina's house to hang out after school. The boys swam in the big pool and the girls splashed around in the kiddie pool. Kamryn and Lilly, Tina and I went inside for a snack and while Tina and I were chatting at the kitchen table, the girls ran off and we didn't think much of it until Lilly came into the room with something red on her finger. "My nail polish!" Tina yelled. I ran so fast into the living room and saw Kamryn at their desk with an open bottle of burgundy nail polish happily painting her nails. Too bad she missed her nails and got mostly her fingers and her arm up to her elbow. Unfortunately, she also left some nail polish spots on the desk. On the bright side, she didn't decide to paint her toes on their carpet.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Field Trips are so much fun


I've been lucky this year to go on a field trip with each of the boys. I went to the Field Museum with Brendan's class and just last Friday I went to Cantigny with Matt's class. (probably my last field trip with him, boohoo) I've always wanted to go to Cantigny and never have surprisingly. (after college one man wanted to conduct a job interview there which creeped me out so I instead met him at a mall and wasn't interested in his job opening anyway) Cantigny was very interesting. I never knew anything about it except that it was known for its wonderful gardens. There is so much history there! It's the Estate of Colonel Robert R. McCormick (1st Infantry Division of the U.S. Army) whose family helped make the Chicago Tribune the World's Greatest Newspaper. The kids just learned about World War I so this was the perfect educational and fun field trip. They loved climbing on the tanks and going through the war museum which kinda made you feel like you were right in the trenches. http://www.cantignypark.com

Differences in chaperoning a 3rd Grade Field Trip vs. a 5th Grade Trip

1. Brendan sat with me on the bus; I sat alone on Matt's field trip.
2. The third graders sang at the top of their lungs the whole way back from Chicago; the fifth graders were pretty quiet and instead played competitive games like "which group of kids on each side of the bus could get the most waves and honks from the other drivers on the road." From now on, I will wave and honk if kids on a bus encourage it. I never knew how much it makes their day:)
3. Third graders talk about nothing mostly; fifth graders start talking about girls . . . yikes! By all the tanks there was a sign telling about it, how fast it went, what type of tank it was, etc. One sign had the word "hotchkiss" on it. It means a rapid firing gun I think, but one of the boys started telling everyone that this tank shoots out hot chicks! I couldn't believe it!
4. The third graders listened pretty well to me when I gave them directions; the fifth graders seemed to have a hard time hearing as I had to repeat myself several times. Okay, the third grade field trip was indoors and the fifth grade trip was both indoors and outdoors. Maybe the fresh air had something to do with it.
5. Third grade trip I had 4 boys in my group; fifth grade trip I had 7! That's alot of boys!

Thanks to Kevin who was able to stay home with Kamryn. Thanks to my mom too since she came over to stay with Kamryn in the afternoon while Kevin went to be the mystery reader in Brendan's class. It was something I committed to before the field trip came up. Brendan was happy to see his dad though.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

False Labor


Well yesterday was a bit stressful for me and Scooter. I noticed in the morning that she was acting differently . . . laying with her head down on her bedding, stretching out her legs and rolling over to lie on her back. Then she'd sit up on her hind legs and then her body would sort of "hiccup" and I swear she was having contractions. So when the boys got home from school, we took Scooter to an animal hospital. The vet examined her and confirmed that she is pregnant so our instincts have been right all along. She showed me how to feel for the separating of bones in her pelvic area which is a sign that labor is coming. She said she could feel at least two babies but there could be more. She didn't seem to think Scooter was in distress so no c-section would be necessary at this point. She felt that Scooter's body is just getting ready and told us that the pups would be born shortly. She asked if she could take Scooter back to show the other doctors and nurses because it's very rare that they see a pregnant guinea pig. I should have asked for a discounted rate on the visit since we were helping them out:)

This morning we all woke up expecting to see mini-pigs but we didn't. So we are still waiting for the birth. The doctor did recommend different food pellets for us to give Scooter since she is pregnant and will be nursing. I can't believe I've turned into a guinea pig "midwife" as my friend Kendra called me. This idea of "sure we can get a pet" has really turned into an adventure!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Mother's Day


Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!

Last Thursday, Kamryn and I road tripped to Carmel, IN to see my friend Carol who recently became a new mom again to her fourth little one, Logan. It was a quick trip but well worth it to see them. Lindsey is a now a big sister and loving it. Garrett and Vincent seem to love having a new brother to train. Logan seemed so little, and Kamryn suddenly seemed so much bigger to me. I came to the realization that Kamryn is almost at the age that Matthew was (2-1/2) when we had Brendan. Oh my, Matt was moving into a big boy bed so we could use the crib for Brendan. I surely hope that Kamryn stays in the (same) crib until she turns three or four! Our bedtime routine is finally getting easy and moving into a bed would complicate things:)

This is the first Mother's Day in four years that I could be with my mom without one of us making a road trip! The first year we lived in Indy, we tried to find a restaurant halfway that we could meet at. We found one with a brunch near Lake Shafer, IN that sounded great on the phone and online but when we got there, it was just this little place that was just so-so. We never did try to meet halfway after that. This year, we barbecued at our house. The boys made me their own Mother's Day cards and gave me a box of dark chocolates. The day was very sweet indeed.


Sunday, May 06, 2007

We're getting close to having mini pigs!

Scooter is definitely pregnant. No, I haven't taken her to the vet yet, but I can now see the pups moving inside her belly. My friend Denise was over and saw it too, so I now have a witness and a second female opinion.

A guinea pigs pregancy lasts 68-72 days and we haven't had her that long. We got them on March 11th. I've read that when you start seeing the movements, she is about a week away from having the babies. This is going to be an education!

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

When a mom is too busy . . .

This is how I caught Kamryn walking around the house . . . pajamas, boots on the wrong feet and her backpack . . . while I was trying to clean out the basement and bring up my extra inventory that I have left from my Home Interiors and Gifts business venture. After 8 years of doing that, I've decided to call it quits, so I am having a "going out of business" sale this coming weekend.

Besides that, we got our home office built-ins installed last week so I am trying to find a home for everything and clean out our files. Hmm, a little too much to do with running to Lacrosse practice and dodgeball twice a week. At least Kamryn can entertain herself somewhat by dressing up! I still have to keep my eye on her though because I found her upstairs by Razor's cage with the door open. That's all I need is a loose guinea pig in the house.

Speaking of guinea pigs, I am fearful (the boys are hopeful) that Scooter, the other guinea pig is maybe having a mini pig. Yep, I think she might be pregnant. She seems to be getting really fat and after careful examination several times of Razor, we think he is a boy even though the pet store said they were all girls. They've never been together at our house except for "playtime" and there were times I had to shoe Razor away from Scooter, if you know what I mean. But I guess it doesn't take much for a guinea pig to get pregnant. Next week I'll take Scooter to a vet. That is unless she goes into labor before then, probably during my open house.
Kevin's dad & Dianne were in town last weekend for cousin Maddie's First Communion. We were glad that they stayed at our house. Grandma Dianne played cards with the boys ever spare moment and came to Chinese baby playgroup with Kamryn and I on Friday. Yes, I scoured the FCC group lists for girls around Kamryn's age and formed our own little two year old playgroup. We are happy to be meeting these wonderful new friends.


The boys keep themselves entertained most of the time too. With empty boxes in the basement, they got creative one day and made these box costumes. Too bad it's not closer to Halloween. They will be destroyed way before then.

Enjoy the pictures! I'll post pictures of our office next.