Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope you get some great treats! ;)

(As for us, the doctor tried to help things along but we may not such a big treat today! If not, the doctor will try inducing tomorrow!) So I may be out with my knight-in-shining-armor and Hannah Montana after all!

I'll try!

Anyone aiming for writing a novel in a month this year? I'm still toying with the idea of doing NaNo again...though with a newborn, this is likely more of a dream than publishing a novel at all!
Anyone else?

My parents are here to help but no baby yet! I'll keep you updated on that front, too!

Still hanging in there...

No--I can't blame my lapses in blogging on actually giving birth. The little bean is still hanging in there! Between making sure he has a clean outfit to wear home from the hospital, making sure that I have a clean outfit to wear home, homework and costumes and reports for the other two--I haven't had much creative energy left!

Yes, my children will be wearing store-bought costumes for Halloween once again this year!
How are you? Are you ready for Halloween?

Rock Star

So the hubbie wants to take the kids to the Hannah Montana concert, along with all the other parents trying all means necessary now to acquire tickets!!

Shhhhhh!

I'm sending you off to another blog today but come back! I promise a post of my own, soon!

For now, go read this wise post over at Lessons from the Laundry!

In other words

Bad spellers of the world--untie!

Take a break from your crossword puzzles to check a few other word-related posts today!

Margie has a great post on favorite sayings and Sweetviolet posted a link to an entertaining lecture from Erin McKean. (I used to take issue with words-that-are-not-real-words being in the dictionary--like "muggle." After listening to this talk however, I've decided I should be much more open-minded!)

Respect

As I was finishing the book, preparing to put some new tactics to use, my daughter won the "virtue of the week" last week at school--for respect! My kids are pretty respectful out in the world already--what I really need is a book to help them remember to be more respectful at home! (Of course, the traits that really irk me --like sarcasm and the eye roll--are the ones she has learned here at home.)

Whether your children are the most or least respectful little people on the planet, Ms. Rigby's book offers some helpful, hopeful advice. Ms. Rigby offers suggestions similar to those I found in Sheperding a Child's Heart but her book is much easier to take. Check it out for yourself!

Simple math

I'm trying to teach our daughter that sometimes an answer is not wrong but you have to consider the context for the best answer. For instance, on a math word problem, your reply should be a mathematical answer.

She brought home "money math"--a sheet of money related addition and subtraction problems. However, at the end there was a word problem:
"If you put the money from each money bag into one large money bag, will you be putting in an amount that is greater than or less than $10,000?"

My daughter's answer: "Yes, you would."

Glamour is in the eye of the beholder

The woman who cut my hair yesterday asked if I worked before I had kids. I answered in the affirmative (without moving my head, of course) and went on to describe a few secretarial and administrative positions. I remarked, "nothing glamourous!"

Then I came home. I was actually happy to find that Sno-Bowl, unlike bleach and various other cleansers and toilet bowl cleaners, actually does remove hard-water stains from my toilet bowls! (Sno-Bowl was only 97 cents and actually advertised that it would remove the hard water stains but I thought I was too smart to fall for the hype on the label).

Then I did laundry and found several pairs of soiled underwear, stuck to the bottom of a hamper.

In the afternoon, I picked up the kids and my daughter--who had stayed up too late finishing a book the night before--burst into tears 4 separate times before 4:30pm.

We made it through homework, studying for quizzes, dinner and bedtime. As I sat down to read a children's book last night (to help quiz my daughter, who has been having trouble with reading comprehension quizzes), it occured to me that I was wrong.

I used to wear heels and makeup, drink coffee with adults and no matter how busy my day was, I could usually manage to still squeeze in a game of computer solitaire. My house was fairly neat (we weren't home a lot and we did not have much stuff) and I could go several DAYS without loading my washing machine. Ah, the glamorous life!

**************
I was going to insert a link up there for "Sno-bol" from Amazon.com but felt I should add a warning here! When you pull up the product, it mentions a "high acid level" and adds that it "kills Gems!" (Take off that jewelry before scrubbing the pot!!!) ;)

What is the what?

Valentino's father tells the story of creation--the beginning for the monyjang people.

--Yes, he continued, God showed man the idea of cattle, and the cattle were magnificent. They were in every way exactly what the monyjang would want. The man and woman thanked God for such a gift, because they knew that the cattle would bring them milk and meat and prosperity of every kind. But God was not finished.
--He never is, Sadiq said, to a wave of laughter.
--God said, "You can either have these cattle, as my gift to you, or you can have
the What." My father waited for the necessary response.
--But...Sadiq said, helping out, --What is the What? he said, with an air of theatrical inquisitiveness.
--Yes, yes. That was the question. "What is the What?" the first man asked. And God
said to the man, "I cannot tell you. Still, you have to choose. You have to choose
between the cattle and the What."

We catch glimpses of what the "What" may be as Valentino's story progresses. Dave Eggers has novelized the story of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese refugee now living in the United States and working to improve the lives of his family and countrymen back in Sudan. It is an inspiring tale of survival and hope.

Proceeds from the purchase of the book also go to the Valentino Achak Deng foundation, which is working to rebuild Marial Bai, Valentino's birthplace. So simply buying the book helps--and reading it gives you a better understanding of the civil war that raged for so long in southern Sudan and still affects areas such as Darfur.

You can read more at http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org/.

Invasion of the Webkinz

My son saved enough money to buy a webkinz for himself so now he's hooked, just like his sister.

Although they have a computer for their use in the basement, now they want to borrow the laptop, too so they can invite each other to their "rooms."

When I explain that they each have their own rooms upstairs that they can invite each other too--they just roll their eyes. I should be happy to have quiet, contented kids who are playing "with" each other; I am disturbed however, that I have no computer access while they use TWO to play 10 feet from each other!

(These kids are never getting cell phones! I can already see them sitting at opposite ends of the couch, texting each other!)

Roll over, Pachalbel!

A friend emailed me this link--I'm still laughing and crying! Go check out THE bedtime song!

http://www.readysetmom.com/readysetmom/2007/09/a-bedtime-song-.html

Step on a crack...

Step on a crack, break your mother's back. It's old, been tried and is tired. It's the 21st century -- a sidewalk crack isn't going to hurt anyone. You need something new--something different.

Look around your garage. If your family moves often, that will help. If you have a dad and grandad that might have built a custom crate for some of the items you've moved a few times--that would be ideal!

Wait until you and dad have opened the crate and removed all the toys you need in your new garage. Go ahead and play with your sister--act like having the scooter and the hula hoops out for the first time in months is enough diversion and your parents will let you two play in the garage unsupervised. After you've played for a few minutes, it is time to put the plan in action. If your sister is old enough to figure out how to pry the nails up from the plywood with the back of the hammer, this will save you much time.

The key is to do this quietly so that mom will wonder what you're up to and will come out to the garage--you need her to come to you for this!

When she wonders how you got the lid open again and extolls the dangers of playing near an open box with sharp nails protruding from the lid, simply explain that you desperately need a tire pump that is clearly not in the box.

When she looks once more to appease you, try to "help" by shifting the lid a little. This looks frightening and if you are 6 years old, it IS frightening so quickly drop the lid! Mom only yells for a second--the blood spurting from her arm surprises everyone!

This is much more effective than trying to find a crack in a brand-new sidewalk.

I am an underachiever

Granted, I'm not functioning at 100% with this head cold. I made it to Mass with the kids today but was looking forward to a nap when I got home! Having just one sick child home all day yesterday tired me out!

Before napping however, I made a bowl of oatmeal and turned on the TODAY show. They were interviewing the Duggar family. The couple brought all of their seventeen children to the show. Not only do they have seventeen children--ranging in age from a few months to 19 years old--but they homeschool all of them as well.

Devastated by a miscarriage many years ago that the couple learned was related to a prior use of some form of birth control, they asked God to please bless them with children. Mrs. Dungar even said that she'd love to have more!

God bless 'em! (I'm still trying to convince the hubbie that we will be able to handle 3 kids! We can. I am not promising that we will also retain any form of sanity but I don't think that is necessarily a requirement for good parenting!)

I'm not going to win the race!

I am still behind...at least on blogging! (...and exercising, and sleeping, and getting the baby's room set up--spent this morning trying to decide on a "theme" for the nursery!)

At least I'm getting caught up on laundry!

Still behind...

I'm still not keeping up but I'm trying! Both Pavarotti and Madeleine L'Engle passed away this weekend. You can find a lovely, albeit brief, tribute here:

http://www.novelspot.net/node/1862

Keeping up!

I guess we have not been keeping up with the latest trends. (Not that I'd advocate it, anyway.)

However, I thought my daughter was turned on to something new when her friend introduced her to Webkinz this weekend! Apparently, they're just new to us!

Up to now, my son has spent hours on video games and the computer and my daughter has just played along for a short while. Until she discovered Webkinz online!

When we moved here, I planned to share the laptop with the hubbie and let the kids use the PC in the basement. However, the PC is faster so I have not completely made the break. I may need to now as I had to quickly squeeze in my turn this weekend so she could get back and "do her jobs" online! If only I could get her to be so prompt with her real-life chores!

I am a bit off-balance!

I've already mentioned the stretching but I thought my expanding torso was less alarming when covered up. Apparently, this is not the case.

This morning I smiled at a perfect stranger.
"When is your baby due?" she asked.
"Halloween."
"You have that long to go?"
I nodded.
"Are you having twins?"
"Nope--just one boy." I'm still smiling.
"Wow!"

Still smiling/gritting teeth...

Just smile and wave, boys!

Last week, we had a great increase in the number of Canada geese in the pond across the street. I realize that they are migrating about this time. I don't know if my daughter's imagination was fueled by hopes that it was cooling dramatically here or if she saw one odd looking bird but she is convinced that among the geese, she saw a penguin at the edge of the water!

Random information

I saw this at Tracy's blog. Here is how you play!

• Leave me a comment saying anything random, like [the food you hate most in all the world]. Something random. Whatever you like.
• I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
• You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
• You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.
• When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

And now...my questions from Tracy!

1 - In what genre would you categorize your novel-in-progress?
Historical Fiction.

2 - What is the best parenting or baby book that you have read?
Hmmm...I need to find and re-read some of the baby books! This 6-year age gap between my youngest and this bean on the way makes me think I might need a review!
I am currently reading Raising Respectful Children in a Disrespectful World. I have not finished it yet so I can't give it a fair rating but it's worth a look.
I don't know that I have ONE favorite but I found Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline very helpful and I loved The Three Martini Playdate!

3 - What is your best advice for getting out and meeting people when you move to a new town?This one is hard but gets a little easier with each move--especially with children! I could sit at home all day and become a hermit but I can't let my children live that way (or have them kill each other when they are each other's sole playmates)!

Go to the playgrounds or even play outside in your front yard! Even if it seems incredibly hot, kids in the neighborhood sense when there are other kids outside--especially new ones! Sooner or later, they bring their parents along to say hello, too! Trying to get your kids involved with things means you meet other moms in the process. They're always my first friends!

My kids go to Catholic school which means they don't attend the same public school as most of the neighbors. My daughter especially is very shy at the beginning of school so I made a concerted effort this summer to track down families attending their school so the kids would recognize a few friendly faces on their first day. (I, in turn, knew a few moms on the first day, too!)

4 - How does Indiana compare to Kansas?
I see more cornfields!! ;)
We have found the people to be so friendly, welcoming and helpful both in Kansas and Indiana. While I've certainly seen "southern hospitality," our neighbors in both Midwestern states have really gone out of their way to welcome us!

5 - Is everything prepped and ready for Little Bean's arrival or do you still have lists of stuff to buy and organize?
I am most certainly not skipping around repeating Spongebob's motto! I am NOT ready! We have been getting other rooms in order so that we appear "moved in." The baby has a room but it's empty! I started shopping for bassinets, cribs, etc. but haven't actually purchased them yet. I will start this week!