I am still enjoying catching a glimpse of my airbrush tattoo on my upper arm. I feel somehow empowered to have it. It is the Chinese symbol for Truth. I want two real tattoos. One where this one is now and one on the back of my neck. If I didn't have the ugliest spider veins on my legs, I'd want one on the side of my leg as well.

The one on my arm would be the Chinese symbol for Patience, reminding me to show patience in all I do, especially right now as a mother. The one on my neck would be the Greek letters for ixthus, ΙΧΘΥΣ, written inside the fish symbol. It identifies me as a Christian.

I - Iesus (Jesus)
X or CH - Christos (Christ)
TH - Theou (God)
U - Uios (Son)
S - Soter (Savior)

Well, that was a long explanation for me and my want of tattoos. And I didn't even get to the part about how my airbrush one got on my arm in the first place.

My dear friend P loves Sugarland. Although I like their music, I am not as big a fan as she is. And she just loves going to their concerts even though it is hazardous for her health. For some people, the crush of bodies jumping up and down, clapping furiously, singing at the top of their lungs, clamoring to see the stage is quite appealing. For me, it is not. But I accompanied her to the concert anyway. I went mostly for company with P and the before and after of the evening, than the actual concert itself, truth be told.

So this past Saturday found us at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Before we entered the arena, we stopped off at the boardwalk and Steel Pier, walking up and down a bit taking in the sites, and eating much boardwalk food (the pizza being the best.) Along the way the sun went down and the wind was quite chilling. Even though I had on my new hip jacket, I froze myself to near Popsicle status. P was loving it. Next we went back to the hotel and checked out the gambling scene. Since most bets were eye popping high, and slot machines are a waste of money, we held onto our cash and headed to the arena. And P's legs were needing a break from all the walking we did.

The opening act for Sugarland could have stayed home in my opinion. Her music was fine, but her concert appearance was lacking. And people stood in line to meet her. I was a bit flummoxed by this. When Sugarland came on the stage, people stood up and then never sat down. That also flummoxed me. Didn't they get tired of standing? Apparently my head was at the right height to get hit no less than four times by the fan behind me. He stood, while I sat. He also consumed a few too many adult beverages. I didn't know they even sold them at concerts. I also believe the couple next to him was being a bit inappropriate for a public location.

Since we didn't care for Ashton Shepherd, we took the opportunity to look at Sugarland t-shirts. We each got one, and P says she lives in it when she's not in her work attire. She now has a rainbow collection of 5 Sugarland t-shirts.

P only had to use her two inhalers twice each and two cough pills. We didn't even need to visit the local hospital, though we took note of its location. Our ride home was interrupted by much traffic backup on the rode out. I decided to ignore Maggie, the GPS directions thing, and go around. P thought we needed to stay put, but I didn't and we saved at least 20 minutes. We also stopped off at the rest area to get some TCBY, but the time was late and the only place open was Burger King. So we got more greasy food and headed home.

Did I mention that the entire outing was wrapped in Sugarland music? Car rides included. However, so that I could sing too, we were allowed to listen to Chris Rice instead of Sugarland after a while on the way home.

I love you, P!

We've been having bank problems. Stupid us decided that we would open a Wachovia checking account to access our money while we were on vacation without any fees. [We hate paying bank fees.] We thought it a splendid idea, since we would be across the country and our regular bank is local. Mistake number one was thinking we would automatically get a check card. We had to do some last minute calling to get it before we left. Mistake number two was figuring it would be fairly easy to transfer money online. Mistake number three was not realizing we would be charged a fee to transfer money from a Wachovia account to a non-Wachovia account.

We had planned for Gary's boss (who also banks at Wachovia, so it would be one trip) to deposit Gary's paycheck into our Wachovia account, then we would transfer it into our Univest account via the internet. That would happen two times. What actually happened was no money was ever transfer and major fees were incurred when our scheduled payments went through at Univest and there was no money in our account to cover it. While Wachovia wanted about four days to process our request to transfer, our account went farther in the red. We ended up borrowing several hundred dollars from my aunt (still in PA,) who deposited it into our Univest account. When we realized what was going on, we asked her to pick up Gary's second check and deposit it right into our Univest account, but his boss had already taken it to Wachovia.

We also took out all that one is allowed to at an ATM and gave it to my mom to deposit when they got home, since they flew and would be home sooner than us.

We should have just stayed with our local bank, used an ATM when we needed and paid about a hundredth of the fees that we actually paid.

But the story has a part two.

We somehow managed to keep the bad bank history going. A friend of ours gave us a significant portion of the fee for IVF. She gave us a check. We deposited it. Well, would you know it bounces. Her funds were on hold because she used her debit card to rent a card. [She won't ever to that again, by the way.] So, she went to her bank and made a fuss. She told us that it was OK to redeposit the check, at least that was what I thought she said. But yet again the check bounced. Foolishly I believed the check would clear and already put the money towards the credit card bill. So again our account went in the red. We were told she'd give us cash this time around but have yet to receive it. We borrowed more money from my parents, enough I thought to cover everything that would need to be covered. But no, the stupid oil company decided to finally cash the check we gave them nearly three weeks ago, and I missed seeing it hadn't cleared yet. Red again. There it stays until Friday when Gary gets paid.

We really need to pay better attention.

And we will never do business with Wachovia again.

This morning while Ellie was taking care of her potty business, she informed me that when she puts food in her belly, it comes out in her diaper. I made a mental note to remember what she said, because I thought that was worth writing down.

Today was the embryo transfer. I dropped Ellie at preschool, Josh at Pam's, and met Gary at home to drive down to Abington. When we arrived back home, I plopped myself on the couch and stayed there the rest of the day. I watched the last three episodes of season three of "Doctor Who," part of two movies (the children came home, so I had to switched what I was watching and just haven't finished either yet.) We had Taco Bell for dinner. Oh yes and there was an apple that Ellie gnawed on for a bit, then was passed to Josh to eat. And since he was saving us the touble of taking the core to the compost bin, he decided to eat that too. He left no waste.

Gary took care of everything, while I got a free pass to sit on the couch. I did a little more TV watching, while children were put to bed, then I fell asleep while listening to the Phillies and while Gary talked with his mother, woke up around 11:30, and then up to bed.

Phillies won, but the Mets did too. We have one embryo left.

P.S. I am typing be-bopping to my music being played on my "new" MP3 player. My sister acquired a free iPod with her laptop purchase, so I acquired her MP3 player. Now I need new head phones. These old ones make my ears hurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you ever felt that you are playing house? I have.

And Gary and I have a house? How could we have a daughter and a son? We are too young. It doesn't seem like I could possibly be responsible for such things. I'm fresh out of college. (Yeah right about the college thing.)

But there it is, my house. With my children running around in the yard playing.

Lately I've thought on the word mommy. Over time it metamorphoses. It starts as ma ma, sometimes ma ma ma ma ma ma. Then becomes mommy. The next change is to mom. Sometimes mo-om, said with an impatient tone.

And with each new form of my name, I see my children grow and become more an individual. And if I keep thinking about it, as they grow up they also take tiny little steps away from me.

Ellie started preschool this week. She's there three days a week. My mind wanders to next year, kindergarten. She'll be gone every day. Then first grade will be every day, all day. I'm losing my little girl, what horrors will find her out in the world. Then I mentally slap myself and say she's here at home right in front of you, knock it off.

But really, I do wonder about her future, how I can keep her safe. What parent doesn't? But all I can do is pray and leave her in the loving hands of God.

I did some more searching and found this. All you need to know about "following" on blogger.

Happy Following!

I discovered today, among many other things, that one could be a follower of a blog. I apparently have two followers. I didn't know what that meant so I took a look. I don't actually know exactly what it means to be a follower, but I am guessing that the two people are reading what I'm writing and have let me know it by using this follower tool. I knew the one - my sister-in-law. But the other was a mystery to me. I wondered who could be checking up on my blog? It was guy, and I was a bit concerned.

With a little trepidation, I decided to click on the link to his blog to see who is following my blog. I started reading to discover who this fellow was. Reading the blog didn't help, except to learn that he likes coffee.

So, I looked at the list of blogs he likes. I found that he likes my friend, Jocelyn's blog, so I followed that link. I found that I haven't been to hers in a while, because she has a new, cool picture on it I haven't seen yet and posts I haven't read yet. And I found a link to her husband's blog. And what do you think I found?

The guy isn't a stranger at all. It's Sean, her husband. I imagine you are laughing by now, Sean and Jocelyn.

Now I have another blog to read. And I have to check out this follower thing.

I forgot that I didn't share this little fellow with you all.

He was on the wall outside the bathrooms at the KOA Kampground in Lawerence, KS. I think he might not have liked me shoving my camera in his face.

Hey - maybe he stole our camper keys.

Update: The miles are in. Check August 23rd entry for # miles traveled. Well, the actual number is lost to us, because of reseting both of the tachometer instead of remember to use the one to measure cumulative miles and the other to measure between fill ups. So, after many tedious minutes of adding and using google maps to retrave our treads, I figured out the total miles between locations, and not accounting for the traveling we did at each location.

I am thirty five, and I still like it when my skirt billows as I come down the stairs or flares out when I twirl or just simply swooshes as I move.

I found a skirt (for an economical price of $3.00,) and it has the swoosh and flare and billow effect that I like. I bough two of its friends for a dollar each, and they also are fun to wear. Now if I could only find jeans for an economical dollar.

Ellie also enjoys a good skirt twirl. She gets a little more energized about twirling than me, or maybe it's just her young balance, but she ends up on her bottom. Or like Sunday with her head smacking the cabinets.

Life after vacation.

Unpacking is such a bore. Most of it stays in the camper, but I still had several bags to address. Some weren't looked at until today.

The whole house needed to be cleaned. Tell me this . . . how does a house get so dirty when no one is living in it for 3 weeks? It looked like we were home the whole time. Dust bunnies skirting around chair legs. Toilet water growing stuff. Crumbs and other grit scattering the kitchen floor. The yard was a mess as well. The fellow who was suppose to mow never showed. Gary did a fine job with it Sunday.

Half of our mail went right into the recycle bin.

Independence

Josh has found his independence streak while eating. It is no longer acceptable for me to feed him. He had apple sauce today for lunch and insisted on feeding himself. He didn't care if he made a mess, he didn't have to clean it up. Currently he is flippin ghis plate around. Since it is entertaining him while I type, I am letting him. He can't any more of a mess, could he?

Ellie currently is licking her apple sauce off the table. It apparently landed there on it's trip from the container to her mouth.

I am abstaining from lunch until the kids go down for their naps. I'd like to eat in peace and quiet. I also plan to watch Dr. Who and/or post photos to my posts.

Bright but not early. That's when we left on our finally journey home. We weren't shooting for early, though. We have had enough of "early."

I was hoping to leave by 9:00, but we didn't leave until 9:45 or so. We also tole ourselves we wouldn't get home until 9:00. This way if we did get home earlier, it would seem like we made great time. We did in fact make great time, because even with our two stops totaling under 3 hours, (yes, somehow we managed to only stop twice) we were home by 6:45 PM. We were so glad to get out of the car for the last time.


Here are the Totals and a Recap.
Miles driven: over 4000 (just for actually traveling)
Hours on the road: way too many
State lines crossed: 14
Photos taken: 511
State license plates seen: 40
States traveled through in order: PA, WV, OH, IN, IL, MO, KS, CO, NE, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH, PA


There's no place like home, there's no place like home!

David took off today and our gaggle headed to the Akron Zoo. Four adults, five children, a double stroller, and a wagon.

We saw a passel of different animals. The kids all loved it. And guess what. At the farm animal section, I found a sign that explained the difference between straw and hay. Gary and I had been curious.

I have mixed feelings about zoos. It just doesn't seem right. The animals have hardly any room compared to their natural habitat. I wonder how animal rights people don't shut them down. Or is it OK as long as they are being treated well?

Speaking of animal rights people, and total off subject, why do they get all up in arms about animals not being treated humanely? Last time I checked they are not human.

Back on subject, at the end of our visit to the zoo, we were coming down a hill. David decided to be a boy. Here's the video.

And to end our night, we watched "The Incredibles." Last night we watched "The Astronaut Farmer." I liked them both, but I think I would only like to see "The Incredibles" again.

We had a nice visit with Mike, Karen, Daniel, Abby and Sophie. They treated us to local pizza for dinner. Gary and I like to try local pizza. The girls let us invade their bedroom. And Ellie tried to sleep beside Sophie. It didn't work out so well. By 11:00 I had to move her. And by the morning both of our kids were in bed with us. It was a little crowded. I am not an advocate of a family bed with my family.

Karen made us pancakes and sausage. Very yummy. It was nice to not have to make meals.

Happy Birthday Mike! Karen gave Mike his presents - a grill, a grill tool, and some beer. What more could a man want?

Daniel had a football scrimmage so we didn't get to see him this morning. He was gone before we woke up.

The rest of us went for a walk. It was suppose to be a nice, relaxing walk to the elementary school playground. It turned into a big headache full of time outs and a screaming child. Josh was the culprit this time, though Ellie wasn't completely innocent. We even elicited neighborhood stares. One women actually stood, shielded her eyes (the sun was behind us) and stared at us. Twice. I waved to her the second time.

If it was just Gary and me, we would have turned around and gone back. But we plodded on. After a fun forty minutes, we reached our destination. The play time was much less than travel time. The way home went slightly faster, for we agreed to carry Josh and Ellie.

We got on the road after lunch. Sweet sensitive Sophie didn't want to see us go.

As we've entered each state, I've taken a picture of the state sign. I miss calculated the distance to the Ohio State line and missed the sign. Gary's warning was not in enough time. He graciously got off at the next exit, turned around, got back on going into MI. Used the next exit, got back on going towards OH. I had my camera ready this time and got my photo.

The Harkleroads welcomed us at 6:30 PM.

Nathan, Elizabeth, Timothy, Ellie and Josh all had fun playing in the back yard after dinner.

At bedtime, Ellie tried again to sleep with another person in the room. She ended up falling asleep in our room. We moved her when the two girls had fallen asleep. At least they could wake up together.

We did it again! We were ready in an hour and a half! But even better, we were up an hour earlier, so we were on the road an hour earlier. You'd think we would have made better time, too. But not so. Traveling with children hinders quick progress. Especially when they are uncooperative and require many a time out. I think today was the worst travel day, yet. Or maybe we just didn't tolerate as much poor behavior.

Our destination changed. We veered off our I - 80 course and went north to my cousin's house near Lansing, MI. We where going to see them on our way out, but it didn't work out. So, we made a change and stopped now. It's only for one night, but it's good to see them and their "new" house. New to them two years ago and old in age. We got here around 5:00 PM. I had thought it was 4:00 but forgot to account for the time change.

Tomorrow will be our shortest drive, about 4 hours. And we get to stay a day without driving. Ellie and Josh are surely tired of being in the car. We are too.

Wouldn't you know that it just kept on raining this past weekend. Matt and Claire decided to reschedule their party. It was too wet and cold and soggy. So now we unfortunately will miss it. I am glad that we got to see them for a week, anyway. They have a great little farm and beautiful flowers. We were sad to leave on Monday morning. Colorado was sad to see us go too, or maybe it just didn't want to see us leave, for it was so foggy Monday morning that we couldn't see very far ahead, causing us to drive slower.

Saturday we decided to get out of the house, because it was still raining and we didn't want the kids to watch another day of TV or videos. We headed into Greeley. They have a mall with a little play area. And conveniently located next to the mall is a Chucky Cheese's. Guess where we had lunch. Note to parents: young children should not attempt to play skeeball. We got pizza and 50 tokens. The kids had a blast and so did the grown ups. Well, my dad looked a little bored. One game is a precursor to slot machines and the object is to stop the moving lights on a particular spot. You can win 1, 2, 3, 5, 100 or 200 tickets, or some prizes. I tried it several times, my brother did, Gary did, my mom did. None of us won anything higher than 5 points. Ellie walks up to the thing, puts her token in, pulls the arm down and stops the light on 100 tickets. Just like that. And with the tickets the kids won, they picked out candy.

Sunday was spent at Matt and Claire's church, then Claire's parents' house. Mary Ann cooked us a yummy breakfast for lunch. Josh finally realized that eggs are good to eat! It was a nice relaxing afternoon. Our stuff was waiting to be packed when we got back to my brother's. We put the camper down and Gary even hooked it up to be ready in the morning.

Yesterday we camped in Henderson, NE. And on the way there we stopped in Gothenburg to see a pony express station. It was moved from it's original location somewhere else in town and now sits in a park. We lunched there and did a bit of sightseeing. The kids got to swing, too. They do enjoy swinging. It's a cute little town.

We are in Geneseo, IL tonight. I find it interesting that although we are not staying at a KOA (Kampgrounds of America,) we are staying at a KOA. I think this campground and the one from last night were previously KOAs. They have the telltale triangle building. We have been trying to avoid KOAs. No huge reason, they just seem too commercial. But ironically we found them anyway, sort of.

We were on the road this morning by 8:30 AM! Amazing, I know. We did forgo breakfast at the campground and went through the McDonald's drive through. But still, we got up at 7:15 and were on the road at 8:30! I think some 'good jobs' and 'well dones' are in order. We are planning for the same procedure tomorrow morning.

Ellie likes to do dishes. Who Knew? She asks to help, and I, of course, do not say no, though she does have a tendency to play a little too much while doing them.

We finally had a fire tonight. We ate S'mores. Josh likes his a la carte. Gary just had coffee. I think our driving east camping is far better organized than our driving west camping. I didn't load us down with all this extra food. What food we do have fits in the camper and in one bag in the car. Our refrigerator is not packed full. And we still have enough food.

Our next destination is my friend Laura's. We are trying to make it there by dinner tomorrow. We don't have to cook dinner, so we have a little more driving time. The kids are getting tired of being stuck in their seats all day. I am too. We have two more days of driving, but it's split by time at Laura's. I do want to try to see my cousin Karen tomorrow, but I forgot to call her today. I hope they are available.

Although this has been a trying vacation with uncooperative children at times, I am glad we did it.

Tuesday morning we did some weeding in the vegetable garden. It is so overgrown that you really can't see the vegetables for all the weeds. Notice the before and after photos.

After lunch we went into Fort Collins. We were going to tour the New Belgium Brewery but forgot we needed to make reservations. The beer tasting didn't work out either - it was too crowded. Not that Mom or I would have tasted. Gary, Dad and Matt would have partaken, though. All we ended up doing is buying new beer glasses. Then we walked through old town, looking through some shops.

In one of them, I found a very cute shirt made from bamboo and cotton. It is very soft. Gary got one, too. Oh, I forgot to mention that our trip to Fort Collins was childless. Claire watched the kiddos for us. Once we had children with us again, we ate dinner at an authentic Mexican restaurant. Josh had no less than 5 time outs. Most before our food came. Nor did he want his burrito, just Ellie's quesadilla.

Wednesday was spent on the road to Estes Park. It took us forever to leave (of course.) So when we got there (after some stops for time outs for Josh), after visiting the potties, we went right to lunch - at the Estes Park Brewery. This time Dad and Gary got to taste with no wait. We didn't bother with a tour because we could see the whole operation from our seats. Then we walked the main street and took in some shops. Dad looked in vain for a bamboo shirt. He and mom headed back to the bamboo shirt store, before going home, to get him one but got there when it closed. On Thursday Claire was going into Fort Collins. He finally got his shirt.

The drive to and from Estes Park is very beautiful. There is a pass through the mountains following the Big Thompson River, called, conveniently, the Big Thompson Gorge. Gary was most awed by the sheer rock faces with trees growing from them. I liked the river. I also scanned the rock faces for big horned sheep but saw none.

Thursday was spent in the field again weeding. Did I mention it is hard work? The kids had weed patrol. We'd pulled them out, the kids would drag them to the end of the rows and make piles of them. Biggie, the puppy, would help by dragging one back and gnawing on it. The kids also helped by picking some vegetables. Josh got bored easily and wandered about, which is not safe because of the ditches and pond. So, I took him back in the wagon and he sat and ate fruit leather and a granola bar, while I vacuumed out the back seat of the car. It was seriously in need of vacuum attention.

Last evening a storm blew through. Much rain fell. At two in the morning, rain came again with heavy winds. Gary and I couldn't decide if we should move inside in case the camper blew away. OK, the wind wasn't that bad, but it was a bit scary, knowing it's open range and tornadoes like open range.

Now with all the rain, it's been raining since 2:00 AM, and the forecast of rain all day today and tomorrow, Matt and Claire decided to reschedule their party. So we will not be here for it. Maybe we can still do our acts for the variety show.

NOTE: A day of rain and four kids stuck inside is a super fun day. Actually the kids did great for being stuck inside.

Monday - A day of rest. Our first one. Gary and Josh got long naps. Ellie fussed and carried on about a nap, not actually taking one. I am sitting watching "National Treasure" and typing this post. I also took care of laundry and reorganizing our clothes. Don't know what this evening holds.

We have reached our farthest west destination today - my brother's house. It was our shortest drive, about 2 hours. Ellie and Josh slept for most of it. We pulled in in time for a late lunch. We are so glad to see family and to be in one place for a while. A place that's not a camper.
My brother has two children, Madeleine and Simon. All the kids all got along right from the start. They were excited to see each other and got right to playing. Later that afternoon a large storm came through bringing lots of wind and rain. Couldn't see very far at all. I am glad we waited to set up the camper, because the wind was very blowy. We did get it set up before dark, though, since we are sleeping there.

Matt took us around the barn and told us about their little farm and some fun stories. They have a great place and big dreams I hope come true.

Today we graced Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve with our presence. It was a 3 hour drive one way. A little far, but I wanted to go.








We found their picnic area and enjoyed another picnic lunch.



The kids had fun in the shallow creek that runs near the dunes. Apparently it is quite the hotspot. People were everywhere playing and enjoying themselves. Several volleyball nets were set up, people had beach chairs, canopies, and the like.




They had fun on the dunes, and you can see I did too. Then the kids got tired. The whining and carrying on began. We also had two gross incidents that involved a nose with a cold and no tissues. We also had sand everywhere.

Dinner was at the one restaurant near the park. We decided to drive home through some mountain passes. It turned into night and we had more . . . you guessed it, rain. Both kids slept on and off. Josh missed having his blankie, which we all suffered through.

It was a long, long day.

Today we visited Garden of the Gods. It was very interesting. Gary remembered it from when he lived in Colorado Springs as a boy for a short time and wanted to see it again.

Ellie took our photo. She did a good job. I think we are sitting in front of South Gateway Rock.

This one is called Steamboat Rock.

This is Balanced Rock.

The kids didn't find it all as interesting as we did.

We packed our lunch and planned to stop at the picnic area. The was a great plan, the rain foiled us again. So we ate in the car.

We rested some at the site and readied ourselves for a Colorado Sky Sox baseball game. The kids did fairly well for a while, but it got to be too late for them. We ended up leaving early, missing the fireworks. They were losing when we left, but they pulled off a win in the 9th. We found it on the radio.

Up by 6:30 again. Josh and Ellie need to work on sleeping in later. We were up, so I figured I give Ellie her bath. She does not care for showers (and that's all that you find at campgrounds.) And I don't care for all the crying that goes with one. By the time we were all ready, and our stuff all gathered and in the car, we missed our free continental breakfast. But since the lady wasn't completely finished putting food away, we got some cold cereal and oatmeal. Just one more thing on our list of things that have gone wrong.


We made our way back to our campsite. We moved the camper to a better position in the site and realized we couldn't level the camper right. Gary cut off the other lock, and I wedged my arm inside the camper to unlock the door. We then discovered the metal bracket for the propane tank was broken. So, we all got back in the car and set off for the local RV store. They couldn't fix the bracket, nor did they have any to buy, but they did give Gary the name and directions for a place that could weld it back together.





Here is our old lock.










So, we mostly spent our day doing errands, shopping and not seeing much of the sights. We did have our first (and so far our only) campfire. We have been toting wood across the country but haven't gotten to burn it.

Up and at 'em by 8:00 AM, thanks to our two little alarm clocks. And since we didn't have to make breakfast or pack up anything. But of course we can't have an outing without some sort of drama. It seemed that Josh and Ellie woke up on the we-are-going-to-give-our-parents-grief-about-everything side of the bed. If my memory serves me correctly (and I am trying to forget,) we literally dragged two kids back to the car kicking and screaming, cutting short our day at Dodge City. Now mind you, not every moment was a battle, but probably 80% was unfortunate. Ellie did get deputized and learned the Can-Can. We had Sarsaparillas and popcorn. We took a stagecoach ride. We looked at an old steam engine. We watched a little video about Dodge City. We walked up and down the recreated Front Street. We walked through Boot Hill Museum. And we tried to watch a gunfight, but that was were the children thought it meant kidfight.










A great place to stick the misbehavin'!










We got the heck out of Dodge around 1:00 PM. Made the kids wait to eat lunch (they actually fell asleep, so we kept driving.)

NOTICE TO ALL BEEF EATERS:

THIS IS WHERE IT COMES FROM, AND WE'VE SEEN AND SMELLED WORSE.


Pulled into Colorado Springs in time for the skies to pour down the rain all night, throwing in a little thunder and lightening. We headed to the campground with intentions of setting up. As it continued to pour, we thought maybe not. We could not decide on setting up or dry hotel. The main issue was already having paid for our campsite. We ended up getting soaked getting the camper situated, then driving to the hotel. Even in their parking lot, we thought maybe we should go tough it out and set up. We opted for the hotel. Unfortunately, we paid double that night. Our soggy camp site and our dry hotel room.

We decided to go to Dodge City instead of the Pony Express Station and ghost town.









But on the way, if it could go wrong, it did.

First, we were again late leaving Tuesday morning (nearly afternoon.)

Second, at our stop for lunch, two hours into the drive (doesn't that say something that only two hours into the drive we had to stop for lunch,) we discovered that I lost the camper keys at the KOA in Lawerence.

Third, the nice rest stop workers' hack saw did nothing to cut the lock on the camper.

Fourth, we packed up to head to Wal-Mart to buy bolt cutters. Once there we realized we left Josh's seat at the rest area.

Fifth, although the seat was still there, some other things stuffed in it were not.

Sixth, Wal-Mart was out of bolt cutters.

Seventh, went to True Value to buy bolt cutters. (They did have them, and they did cut off the locks.)

Eighth, forgot to buy new locks, had to go back in to True Value. Couldn't actually get into the camper at this point. Just cut the padlocks off.)

Ninth, back on the road to Dodge City. We decided to drive there anyway, even though our trek put us into Dodge after 9:00 PM. Since it was so late we stayed at Super 8 Motel. Once there we remembered we needed to plug in our refrigerator. Well the motel staff hooked us up with an extension cord, since we couldn't get into the camper, and an outlet. We happened to park next to the pool, which happened to have an outlet. Some good news.

We arrived in Lawrence, Kansas today around 5:15 PM. We are enjoying our trek across our great land. But it is so stinking hot and humid. I don't know for sure what the temperature was today, but I venture over 100 with the heat index. There has been no reprieve from the humidity, just the heat, as the sun goes down. We thought we'd relax and cool off in the pool. The water was warmer than the air. So much for cooler. It did help to have a breeze to blow on my wet skin. And then when we got to take our showers, the bathrooms, though they claimed to be air conditioned, were more like saunas. Finally leaving the bathroom brought some coolness. It is raining now. Perhaps the humidity will go down.

I did get to do some laundry.

We definitely need to work on our tear down routine, because it stinks. It takes us about 4 hours from when we get up to when we leave. We really need to shave many minutes from that time. It would help if we didn't have to chase the kids around.

And lastly, Ellie and Josh have colds. Josh is worse, at least right now. He's woken up twice coughing and sputtering from not being able to breath. He desperately wants to shove his blankie in his mouth, but then he has the not being able to breath issue. Poor thing.

We made to St. Louis!! Yeah!!














We pulled into the campground, though a industrial setting (which not very encouraging,)










and found a green "oasis" of a place. It isn't perfect, but it is better than the tankers and other industry around it.











Yesterday we got on the road by 6:00 AM. Slightly later than we hoped, but not too bad. We did have some errands to take care of before we left. We made several stops and pulled into our site at Buck Creek State Park near Springfield, OH around 4:30 PM. We were pleased with our progress. We decided to go past Columbus, OH to make today''s drive shorter. (Good thing.)

We set up and had dinner on the table all in good time. I had prepared beef-a-roni ahead of time and only had to warm it up. Josh and Ellie weren't hungry enough to eat. More for Gary and me.

We even had time to take a dip in the lake to cool down. The swimming area had a sandy beach, but the moment you stepped in the water, your feet got an unwanted massage. Little stones line the lake bottom and felt not so nice to walk on. Ellie wanted to go in the water but didn't want to let go of my hand. There was much crying and not much swimming on her part.

Today is Ellie’s birthday! She is 4 years old. She opened her first presents from us at 4:51 this morning. Today is also the day we start our drive west on our way to my brother’s house.

Go West Young Man

Howdy. Might I dare say that in 24 very long hours, we will be at our Friday destination?

We hope to get past Columbus, OH tomorrow, and to St. Louis on Saturday. We have a Phillies game to attend on Sunday. I'm excited about that. Three of us will be in Phillies attire.

I guess my break is over, and I should get back to packing.

A World Record??

Gary and I are doing some trip planning. Gary wants to stop at a ghost town. And to my way of thinking, Kansas is a good place to look. There's not much else to see.

During our perusing of the map, Gary found the site of "The World's Largest Ball of Sisal Twine." Now if that's not a reason to pull off the highway, I don't know what is.

Like I said, not much else to look at.

I'd also like to set my eyes on the Santa Fe Trail, Oregon Trail, a pony express station, and other historic things I might not know about yet. The pony express has always fascinated me ever since the TV show "The Young Riders."

What is Sisal Twine, anyway? Click here to find out.

A man and his Legos and a girl and her bear

Here is my husband with his most favorite toy. My parents, his parents, and I all pitched in and bought him some Legos for his birthday. It is a set called Town Plan, and it's the 50 years anniversary edition.

And here is Ellie, not going to bed. After being rocked and having prayed and being put in bed, she declared, as she does most every night, that she did not want to go to bed. She even went so far as to come up with an 'I have to go poopy to take up more time' excuse, even already having gone potty not 10 minutes before.

I told her to go ahead and to call me when she was done. She whined that she wanted me to stay with her. I told her she had two choices to go back to bed or go potty and call me when she was done to make sure she was cleaned up properly. She whined some more, I told her I wasn't playing this game, and I walked away.

Later when I went up to check on her, I found her like this, asleep, dangling off the top step.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY LOVE!!!

I made our oatmeal too healthy this morning.

I need to work on ratios. Too much flax seed, wheat germ, brewer's yeast, and bran can make for an untasty bowl of oatmeal. Josh and Ellie thought so too. I ended up making a plain bowl of oatmeal and mixing it in to the healthy version. I have enough extra for tomorrow.

This is too much work. Trying to go back and post about what has happened that I didn't post about.

But you still may want to scroll down and see if you missed something.

I will go on about our last camping trip. We went off to the beach. Ocean City. We camped at Frontier Campground. And if you want to know, they require two (2) weeks cancellation notice.

Why you ask do I mention that? Because we changed our reservation only one (1) week prior to our visit. The lady tried to keep our $40.00 even though she said we would get it back and the man I spoke with told me I only needed one (1) week cancellation notice. They shouldn't have been so stiff necked about it, we only changed the reservation, not canceled. And if the store had opened before 10:00 AM (what camp store doesn't open until 10:00 AM, especially near the beach when they sell beach tags) they would have gotten our $10:00 for beach tags.


We did enjoy the campground. We had a very nice site. We were able to set up in the daylight. I had fun organizing my little home for the weekend. Josh and Ellie enjoyed themselves also. And if you are a country music fan, this is the place for you. It plays uninterrupted in the bathhouse. Except for during quite hours. Gary REALLY enjoyed the music.


And if you are into biting flies, it is also the place for you. I have no less than 30 insect bites on my legs from the knees down. My legs already look pitiful from my pregnancy veins, but now they are downright pathetic.

Josh loved to play in the sand. Not so fond of the water. Ellie liked to play in the sand, but would rather it not stick to her. Not so fond of the water, either, unless clinging to a parental unit. But in all fairness, she did stand in the water as long as she was hold my or Gary's hands and jump with the waves. Josh would have none of it. But again in all fairness, it was a toe numbing 58 degrees. Maybe 59 degrees.

The boardwalk was fun. We took it all in at a quicker pace this year. We rented a surrey. It was more fun than I thought. My bottom disagrees.








Aren't they just so cute?












Here we are in our alternate mode of transportation.

Here I sit, eating double peanut butter cookie dough (sorry P) and thinking about my food intake. The former is probably not the best for the later.

P gave me a copy of The Bowel Book, and yes it is about what you think it is. I am actually finding it quite fascinating. And coincidentally, I am doing my reading while in the bathroom. I had previously just read snipits here and there, but then I decided I was going to read it from beginning to end. I am on chapter 3. And amazingly with two preschoolers in the house, I am able to get a bit of reading done each day.

I won't go into much of what I am learning about my bowels, but I should eat more fiber, bran, honey, and garlic. Those who know me would definitely advise the garlic.

I highly recommend that each household should have one of these books in their bathroom.

Note: I plan on recapping the last month and post the blogs where they happened, so go back to the end of May to catch up on the things of my life.

G and I tried to have a third baby.

We decided to try the IVF natural cycle, meaning no shots. Everything was going well. The no shots thing was great. The progesterone suppositories wasn't.

The transfer happened on a Saturday. The following Saturday I was bleeding. After my blood test on Monday, I was pregnant. Woo hoo! But why the bleeding? After my blood test on Wednesday my hormone levels were going down. They aren't suppose to do that when you are pregnant. By the next Monday they were back to zero. I wasn't pregnant anymore.

I was so upset on Saturday with the blood, convinced I wasn't pregnant. G said to wait and see. The positive pregnancy test just made me more confused. I was happy to be pregnant, but worried about bleeding. As the hormone numbers went down, I didn't want to believe that the embryo stopped growing, and I wasn't pregnant anymore. I told myself that maybe both embryos implanted, and one didn't make it, so the numbers went down some. But they just kept going down.

I don't think of myself as having a miscarriage. I wasn't pregnant long enough. But I still don't have my baby.

I wonder if it was a boy or girl. What she would have looked like. What his personality would have been. My little one that was with me for just a moment.

P introduced me to "Doctor Who." I find the show to be quite interesting. We watched 6 episodes, and I liked them all.

We also watched an episode of Stargate SG-1. But when P discovered she had missed watching many of episodes before the one we watched, we stopped watching.

We had a 4th of July picnic today. I made homemade hamburgers and hamburger rolls, Gary husked corn and cooked the burgers, my mom made potato salad, my aunt brought baked beans, P made brownies, and friends Ray and Nannette brought a jello dessert, and my dad showed up to eat it all (he came from work.)

First though, we played games. We had the meal mostly prepped, and games were on P's menu first. Chicken Foot, then when Ray and Nannette arrived, we played Phase Ten. After dinner, games were resumed. I don't remember who won, but I know it wasn't me.

For P's visit this time, Gary and I decided to get her a bed and make a space for a room in the attic. For her last visit, she had a plow up mattress that would stay inflated and the mattress from the pop-up. Not the best of beds, by far. So, we bought a mattress and box spring.

We attempted to take the box spring up the attic steps first. No good. All the shoving we could muster would not get it up the stairs. I think we turned the mattress and tried again. No go. We then tried our hand at the mattress. Much better, went right up. Tried the box spring again. You'd think we'd learn. After many attempts of trying to get it up every which way, Gary sawed through the one side of the box. Two more attempts and no, it still wouldn't go up. He sawed the other side. Bingo. We shoved and heaved and told it it was going up. And finally after 1.5 hours, it did.

When we ever move, the new owners get a bed.

So, back to the room. When P arrived, she was taken aback and overwhelmed. She had her own room, complete with a bed off the floor, a chair, a space for her clothes bag, a space for Kashi's bed and Fancy's cage, table space for her, a green tissue box, a green power strip, fresh flowers, a bed side "table," a trash can, a hand rail, stair treads, a fan, and most importantly a AC vent right over her head.

She has a place in our house.

Gary decided that he was going to take the train down to pick up P for this visit. He sure does like his trains.

It works out really, because than I have the chance to work on P's room. I want it to be perfect.

The children and I will not be heading to Pottstown today. Yes, Pottstown, not Norristown. The place in Norristown is not, from what I deduced from the lady I spoke with, an actual collection location. She didn't seem to know what I was talking about when I told her what I was trying to do. While she was trying to be helpful, she was not.

So I went to the plan of going to Pottstown. But there in lies my next issue. I thought I'd take a gander at the website of the recycling place in Pottstown. http://www.recyclingservices.org/

Want to take a guess as to when they have public recycling hours? Tuesdays (yesterday) and Saturdays.

Although I am slightly annoyed that I missed the drop off yesterday, I am very glad I didn't drive over there to learn they are closed today.

Needless to say we are not going to Pottstown today, the stuff will remain in the car for three more days, and dad is picking up Hunter.

I am trying to be good steward and recycle everything I can. But when you have to drive 45 min. to do so, and use a fair spot of gas in the process, one might wonder if it's worth it.

I am going to scour my house for all things recyclable that we don't need or want. This place in Pottstown does take most anything. If you are searching for something to read, try going to their website (see above). They have quite the list of instructions on recycling.

We did enjoyed ourselves the rest of the weekend, though it wasn't perfect.

We went the pool, went boating, E made G a Father's Day present, forgot G's coffee pot and our slow cooker for dinner, J got to put stones in any container he could find, ran out of propane, had some campfires even though it was hot and humid, drove into a town and bought a new slow cooker and a used coffee percolator, E bought more candy than a 3.5 year old should have, played on playgrounds, and forgot our refrigerator when we left and had to go back for it.

Doesn't that sound like a splendid time?

We went camping this weekend to Camp Swatara. We were smart and decided to go an extra day. We left Thursday evening and stayed until Sunday.

The plan was to leave soon after G returned from work. He even came home early for the occasion. In past years, we have gotten up there so late on Friday that it's dark, and we've missed the group dessert time with all the other families from church.

But not so this year. We got smart. We went a day early. Planned to eat when we got there after we set up.

Well, what do you think happened? Yep, we set up in the dark sometime between 7:00 and 10:00 PM, having eaten on the drive out.

I will start by saying we do get credit for arriving before it actually got dark. It just took us forever to get the camper set up.

First. We got the camper where we wanted it in the site. Forward and back. Forward and back. Forward and back. And maybe another forward and back.

Second. We set to unhitching the camper from the car. But the handle to the wheel jack, what raises and lowers the tongue of the camper, was too close to the spare tire on the CRV. So we couldn't lower the wheel enough to raise the camper to get it off the hitch. We did know this could be a problem depending on the alignment of the camper and car. It's a very annoying problem. G used the car jack to raise and unhitch the camper.

Third. We needed to level the camper. What fun that turned out to be. To avoid some rocks and gullys in our site we had the camper on a slight incline. To get it level, the front stabilizer jacks would need to be open too far to really stabilize the camper well. After consulting with a neighbor camper from our church who also came a day earlier, but actually during the day, G decided to rehitch (remember - not as simple as the word sounds) the camper and move it over some to a flatter section of the site and unavoidably closer to the rocks and gully. (Which turned out to be not that bad.)

Fourth. After about the thirtieth time he moved the camper forward and backward, G got it to a better spot.

Fifth. Unhitching. It think it went better this time.

Sixth. Raising the roof. After unhooking the hooks, the top goes up, the sinks flips up, the door comes down, a bed transforms into a table and benches, B organizes stuff and makes the beds, and children (who behaved rather well stuck in their seats the whole time) finally go to bed. Parents follow shortly after.

Yesterday I went to get my son after his nap. He was in his crib crying. I walked in and saw a patch of orange on the floor. This alarmed me, becasue I had put him to nap wearing an orange cloth diaper. When I checked his bottom, sure enough the diaper was missing. It is a velco one, which Josh has apparently figured out how to work. Amazingly the diaper, his crib, and surrounding areas were not wet.

He is again wearing the orange cloth diaper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's finally gone. She finally ate it. E was served a leftover twice baked potato for Saturday's dinner. After being served it at least five more times, it's gone, in her belly. Today, it's all she was served. If she wanted food, she got a bowl of potatoes. And since eating it, she has also partaken of her quesadilla (half of one) she didn't get Sunday night, and her mini shredded wheat (biscuits) she wanted for breakfast. Frankly, she's eaten more for lunch today than in the past two days. And get this, she just asked for more biscuits, because she's still hungry.

She is a wonder.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, P!

Today we went to a different church with P. It was too warm in the sanctuary for her. We didn't leave in time. She spent may moments on our couch cooling down.

Though she might have waited a little longer to get up. The stairs were not her friend this visit.

We were concerned about P driving home, but she decided to try it and did make it home alright.
I think that I won most of the games we played. (I don't really remember, but I am choosing to remember that I won.) Unfortunately I do remember that she just slaughtered my mom, aunt and I at Chicken Foot. It was embarrassing how badly I did. I think I lost by over 200 points. Disgusting.

I love my visits with P. She is always willing to lend a hand, change a diaper, do the dishes. Even when it hurts. Literally. She also gives much needed advice to G and I about parenting E and J. I also love to hear her opinions on things.

She does have this one flaw, though. She absolutely loves to win and hates to lose. I think she should work on that. And lose more. :)

Today P, my mom, and I went out.

First P treated us to Applebee's fare. I think we tried one of everything.

We then stopped by Wal-Mart. It sucked us in for many a minute, as it always does. We bought what wasn't on our list and forgot what was.

Our next stop was pedicures. There was only one lady working, so it was a longer time than I thought it would be. I had envisioned us sitting three in a row in the relaxing chairs, our toes dipped in the teeny whirlpools, chatting about anything that came to mind, while our toes, feet and legs were massaged, rubbed, cleansed, trimmed, and painted.

I didn't quite happen that way.

But we did all walk out with beautiful feet. And P was sporting her new fabulous flip flops. And bare naked feet. (A thing that never happens.)

Our next stop should have been home, but since we forgot the AC filters at Wal-Mart, we stopped off at the local hardware store.

Earlier this week I hypothetically had asked P that if a cake was made, what kind she might like. And if a few people stopped by for dinner, if she'd be OK with that.

Hypothetically she said she'd be OK with people over for dinner and that she WANTED A CAKE!
So party preparations began for P's Birthday Party.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was a lovely evening filled with family and friends all joined to wish my dear friend P a wonderful birthday.

We had kabobs, twice baked potatoes (which P made because there was poor planing on my part,) baked beans, and for dessert yellow cake (which although the batter tasted scrumptiously like yellow cake, the batter tasted more like white cake) with milk chocolate icing.

P bested my mom, aunt, and I with a game of dominoes chicken foot, which consists of ten rounds. She won most of them and I had many many points nearly every round. I didn't have as much fun as she did. But that's OK, for it was her birthday.

I think she went to bed happy with her day.

I went on a train to drive P back up to my house. It is always worth a visit from her.

She tried valiantly to be ready when I got there, and Amtrak thought they'd help her out, by my train being an 1.5 hours late.

But we made it safe and sound to my abode.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so begins our game playing.

G and I had a wonderful long weekend for our anniversary. E was with G's dad and step-mom, and J and Hunter were with my parents.

After dropping E off, we headed north. G had a surprise for me. He took me to a drive-in movie. We like drive-ins and Becky's Drive-In Theater is the closest. It's about 45 min. drive. But it was on the way to the cabin.

We watched the "Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles." It was a double feature, and although we left the drive-in very late, we watched them both. We figured since we didn't have children to care for, we could sleep in.

Sleep in we did. We got up at 11:00 AM. We then headed to Honesdale, PA. We were suppose to eat breakfast at a little coffee shop, but I forgot to remember their name, so we ended up at a diner. We then strolled Main Street and checked out the local shops. Most of the shops weren't of huge interest, but we did happen upon one "little" place where we purchased some finds. At first look, we weren't much interested, but as you went back in the store, it opened up to some fun antiques. And when I say antiques I don't mean pristine expensive stuff, but the cool somewhat practical old stuff. And it was priced in our range. I had been on the look out for a b-day present for a certain someone and found just the things. He had a lot of green stuff. G left with a small wooden level, an old scoop for our wood pellets, and an old map of the railroad lines of New Jersey. Now you ask what does a man who lives for his hometown area of Lansdale, PA want with a New Jersey railroad map? Besides that he does like railroad stuff, if you look on the PA side of the map, because it isn't just NJ, you will see the town of Lansdale. Need I say more?

Unfortunately, we spent too much time strolling and missed getting into the museum and visitor's center. They closed a half hour before we got there. The main draw to the museum was that it "contains the full-scale replica of the famous Stourbridge Lion, the first commercial locomotive to run on track in America." But we missed seeing that famous locomotive. An the visitor's center? Well, we thought we'd at least see what was in there.

On our way home we stopped by an antique car show in a shopping center parking lot and then spent way too much time at Wal-Mart.

We did get to see trains. For on Sunday, after missing church because we got up late again, we headed to Scranton's Steamtown National Historic Site. Here "you can relive the era of steam as the engines come back to life. The cinders, grease, oil, steam, people and stories of railroading have returned."

Here I realized that although I enjoy looking at all the engines and train cars and some memorabilia, I don't care much for reading every word printed on every sign. I leave that up to G, and if it's important, he'll tell me.

We rode a steam train, watched a video, walked around a lot, rode a pump trolley (a maintenance railroad car powered by its passengers), watched the engineers put the steam engine into the roundhouse, and heard the shorten tale of a hobo (it was shorten because we left to watch the locomotive.) And as we left the park we stopped at the park shop and bought an engineer's cap for the kids.

In the evenings we watched StarGate: SG1. We are into season 9, disk two.

On Monday we stayed at the cabin, watched more StarGate, cleaned up some shingles from the roof project a while ago, and relaxed. On our way home we stopped at a park so I could take some photos.

We picked up our children from their locals and came on home.

Every day that my children (note plural) take naps is a good day.

While children napped, I puttered in our camper. The previous owners left everything they had. I pulled it all out, went through it, kept some of it, included what we had from tent camping and put it all back in the way I wanted it. G claimed one cabinet as his, but I get all the rest. I didn't change the essence of his cabinet, but I did straighten it up for him. All that organizing was quite satisfying.


I am not finished, for some items, which were brought home dirty on Sunday are sitting waiting to go out. They are calling to me - take me out, put me away. I want to put them in their rightful place, too.

E just asked for cheese. I told her to wait until I finished with her sandwich, and I would see to her needs. She looked down at her leg and told me her knee was okay. I chuckled, rephrased and gave examples of "needs." And while typing this little story, I burnt the one side of the grilled cheese. I pulled off the offending piece and quick buttered a new one, and it was good as new.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the way to drop off a meal for a new mom tonight, I pointed out girl's Lacrosse at the local middle school. I told E I liked Lacrosse. I had to repeat the name several times for her to understand it, since I think she has never heard the name. She then declared that she loves Lacrosse and J loves it. And Daddy likes it, and so on naming all she could think of and stating that they liked Lacrosse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I cut E's bangs tonight. She really likes her bangs. When I was all finished she took a gander at herself in the looking glass. She pondered a moment and declared "I'm like a different person."

Camping was wet and wild. Well maybe not so much wild, but definitely wet. The forecast, we thought, was for a shower or two Sunday afternoon. Instead we got steady rain for most of the day. It did finally cleared up once we packed up and left. While drying out at G's dad's place, we saw the sun for the first time that day.

One might consider the wild part being when we had to calm J back to sleep when we went to bed, at 2:00, 3:30, and 5:00. E need some readjusting a few times as well. G and I were lucky to actually sleep until 9:00. I guess the late night wakenings helped the kids sleep longer, though I highly recommend sleeping through the night instead.

We only were at the camp site over night. Since Friday night was rainy as well. But we wanted to get some camping in with our new pop-up camper. Pop-up is a misnomer. Only after cranking, pulling, tugging, zipping, lifting, wedging, and rearranging does one get to rest in a "pop-up" camper.

My family and parents went to the cabin this weekend. Although I was there with my husband, I rarely saw him or my dad. It was a work weekend for them. The roof near the chimney had been leaking, and they were there to fix it. The project has consumed their time. I pretty much only saw G for meals and falling into bed tired and sore. He apparently has muscles about which he didn't know.

It took them a long time, longer than they thought. In fact the kids, my mom and I left last night. They stayed. Even though the forecast was for rain today. They still had work to do. I talked to G tonight. They finally finished this evening - in the rain.

He said he would call after they got on the road to let me know they were on their way home. It's 10:39 PM and no call. I will be heading to bed very soon. I'd like to actually see my husband before this day is over, but I may have to wait until tomorrow.

Good news! I enstalled our three new retractable 40 ft. clothes line, complete with 12 soft touch clothes pins.

Bad news! We need line longer than 40 feet.

Good news! One can purchse retractable clothes line longer than 40 ft.

Bad news! It's $22.99, plus shipping. (The 40 ft. one was $15.99.)

All this to hang my laundry outside.

Notes to self: Measure first. Install only one of something and test it's use before installing several of something and then testing their use. Don't assume that since retractable clothes line was previously used in said location, that it was used correctly.

The following is an email from my husband about his experience going to Quest Diagnostics.

I write this letter to you not with much elation and lack of fear, but with much of a sense of overwhelming relief. It seems that I was indeed in fear of my life being extinguished this morning, alas before I could even complete the task with which I had set out to complete. Apparently one is able, via the “internet”, to make an appointment with one Quest Diagnostics with such a sheer amount of ease it is truly astounding that one would not use such a service. Also quite amazing, is the immense number of the population that chooses not use this service. It is again apparent that this same multitude will resort to intimidation and threats to discourage others to use this service.

And such was my fate this beautiful morning when I visited this Quest Diagnostics. I came upon this multitude of advanced years, some of whom had been waiting for over 35 minutes, when my name was called after a mere wait of only 3 minutes. The woman who called out my name to the crowd, thus knowing I was numbered among them, graciously used my surname and only the first initial of my family name. Obviously, she had knowledge of the capabilities of the restless multitude and wanted to spare my person possible future retaliation for my thoughtfulness.

Amidst grumbling and fervor of sharp comments directed to me, I quickly and quietly completed the pre-test procedure. After I slinked off to perform my test, I dashed through a storm of daggers thrown at me as I darted through the room of waiting to the vestibule of safety.

Perhaps if I am required to visit this Quest Diagnostics again, I could instill fear into the crowd itself by not appearing to be prepared to withstand a long stay, and surprise them with my confidence as I uphold my convictions of a short wait.

I just returned from church. The program was presented by the Post Abortion Counseling Center. It saddens my heart that such a ministry is even necessary. One of the woman from the center presented "The Silent Cradle." It was her story of guilt, grief and forgiveness.

I don't know every woman's story. Why she makes abortion her choice. Why she doesn't choose life for her child. The grief it causes her.

I hastily say, "If you don't want the baby, give it up for adoption. There are plenty of couples who want to adopt." At least I used to say that.

Giving up a child is no easy thing. I look at my two children, snuggle with them, and I can't imagine holding them only one time, if that, and then never seeing them again. Never seeing those eyes look up to me in wonder or never hearing their little voices call to me.

The question of giving up a child, has given me pause. With going through IVF, G and I have more embryos than the number of children we wanted. Therein lies my choice. What do we do with our extra embryos? The only two options I'll even consider are to continue having children until we use all our embryos or to let them be adopted. And right now, I am not in a place where I can give them up. I see them as my children. They are a part of me. How can I let anyone else have my children?

So, now I don't quickly say just give up your baby, since I can't even think about giving up my child I have never carried.

But abortion still is an issue. For there are countless women who feel like their only choice is abortion. It might seem like the easy way out, but there is no other choice that will grieve you more than ending the life of your unborn child.

And no matter what choice a woman makes, God is there. Through Jesus Christ, He offers unconditional love, grace and forgiveness.

Life is a precious thing.

I have had it will E wetting her pants. The floors are sparkly clean in front of the toilet. There is a pile of four pants and underpants from just today, not to mention the other pile soaking from yesterday. What is her issue? It is driving me crazy.

I had to go pick up a prescription today, so I checked out the diaper aisle. I am loathe to buy diapers for my child who was potty trained, but I am also frustrated with her five outfits a day and cleaning the floor.

The token system is working fairly well with E in the earning department, but she hasn't really altered her behavior when in danger of losing them. That may be in part because she and I don't remember to ensure her redeeming them on a regular basis.

I am also frustrated with the curiosity J now has. He is into everything. He is constantly climbing up the stairs. He climbs on E's desk. He pulls thing off the desk. He empties the basket of twigs. The books on the shelf in the kitchen are not for reading, oh no. They are for pulling off and scattering. Once sufficiently in a two foot radius around him, might one be ready for perusal. The books on his shelf in his room are much better for reading. His favorites right now are The Little Engine that Could and The Very Busy Spider. And he doesn't like to linger on a page, mind you. In fact, I think he mostly enjoys turning them, not hearing what's on them. Many a book has been abridged in our house while J is in charge.

Good thing that Crayola has non-toxic markers. J decided to not wait for dinner and munch on marker tips. From the looks of it, brown and red. He actually bit the tip off of one of them. Maybe now E will keep her markers in the baggie.

We are on the last episode of Stargate SG-1 season 6.

K slept all morning. An easy $40.00. Or so I thought. I felt it would be nice to send her off with a clean diaper. She had other thoughts. Whilst I had her diaper off, she decided to poop. Not even my own children have done that. It was on my carpet in three spots and on my hand. I had the clean diaper ready to go, so I used it to block. E earned some tokens in helping me get things to clean up.

Is there anything more annoying than a dog with that plastic cone on his head? Hunter is still totally unaware of the area required to move about with an extra wide head, even though he has worn the cone for ten days. I am tired of being nudged and poked by plastic, of it getting caught on doorways and furniture, of him knocking over Josh.

But tomorrow morning by 7:45 am, it should all change. The stitches come out. I am guessing that Hunter will be just as glad as I am. He will be able to chew his toys, scratch, and clean himself properly. Watching him try to do so now is quite comical.

In addition to his obliviousness to head size, he is in great need of a bath. His stitches require dryness. His smell requires shampoo and wetness.

I have been doing better as of late at not getting too impatient with E when she acts up. My voice has been level, I haven't gotten short tempered, and I have been matter of fact with my instructions for if she continues to misbehave.

However, she did test me yesterday (with me failing slightly,) when after doing her potty dance, she refused to use the potty. I took her to the bathroom all the while she's telling me doesn't have to go. She stood there and refused to go. My patience was not so patient. She leaked a little in her underpants and the floor and refused to go. My voice was not so level. I stuck her on the potty and she refused to go. My temper was getting short.

This not getting to the potty in time and/or refusing to use it thing is getting old.

What is stewardship? Taking care of that which is entrusted to us.

God has entrusted to us His creation. What are we doing with it? We are exploiting it, using up the resources, polluting it. Well, some of us humans are, anyway.

I am trying to do better. I recycle, I reuse, I reduce, I conserve, I am teaching my children to do the same. Today I talked on this topic at my MOPS meeting. I feel I did a fair job of painting a "be a good steward" picture. I received good feedback. There is so much I could have said, so many more ways to help the earth. I gave suggestions, but really each of us has to find the place where God wants us to make a difference.

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I started watching Kaila yesterday. She is such a little peanut at 6 pounds. She slept the entire time (3.5 hrs), with nary a cry for food. She showed her eyes a few times then settled in for more sleeping. I guess when you're 2 months and 6 pounds, you have some growing to do. Her mother, Stephanie, said that maybe she'll be more alert in the afternoons. I watch her again tomorrow afternoon. We'll see.

E ~ How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love to snuggle with you and breath deep of your smell. Your laughter is music for my ears. You never tire of sending me inquiries of the world around you. You wrap your little arms around my neck and hold on tight. I love to sit quietly with on my lap and be close. I can never give you enough kisses. I love your attentiveness to your brother. You like to help me do tasks around the house. You want to be read to. You are my special girl.

J ~ How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love you snuggle with you and breath deep of your smell. I love to watch you explore, looking to me and saying with your eyes, "Look at this, Mommy!" Your chatter is endless. Your little hands are learning to give hugs. I can never give you enough kisses. I love to hold you and feel your head on my shoulder. You point and ask "What's that?" You find great pleasure in simple games. Your giggle is infectious. You are my special boy.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that during our time at the cabin, I managed to get the upper hand of a game called Quorridor. I lost many games in a row, but no longer. I will win some too.

I also must mention I am posting while watching the Phillies play. Tomorrow starts their season. G, my sister and I will be enjoying them at the game next Wednesday. It is a free retro
Phillies t-shirt day and dollar dog day. We like dollar dog days. And I like free t-shirts.

G and I finally officially instituted E's token system. Hanging in the nook is her chart of earning tokens, losing tokens and trading tokens. She redeemed two for me painting her finger and toe nails, while watching her "Emily" movie. I believe the token system will help with her behavior.

Thanks P!

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OK, the anomaly. Sometime several weeks ago, I got the notion that I might like to watch some of P's beloved sci-fi. While visiting my husband's friend, I noticed they had season 1, 2 and 3 of Stargate SG -1. I borrowed the first season and have been hooked ever since. I mentioned my new found like of the show to P, and she proceeded to buy the entire series. She's had it on her Amazon.com wish list for a while and saw the price drop dramatically, so she made a purchase. During the time I was with P at the cabin, from Friday to the following Saturday, we managed to watch nearly five seasons of the show. We had a blast watching together and laughing at the witty lines of the characters. I have missed her company while watching them alone. I find myself wanting to turn to her and share a laugh at something someone said or guessing the plot and being right.

Since I have become a fan of Stargate SG-1 and have been watching practically nonstop (P sacrificed watching her new purchase and left the series with me for my viewing pleasure,) I've managed to hook G into my obsession. He said today that he wants to watch them now. I don't mind him wanting to watch them with me, mind you, but it does put a cramp into my watching progress, since he works all day, and I can sit in front of the TV or computer all day.

I know, I know, it's been awhile. I've said before, that I'd like to write more often, but it just doesn't happen, though this might be the winner of the largest gap in my writing.

Since my last post, I have, well, it's been so long, I can't sum it up. I can say that the night before the last post I did agree to speak at my MOPS group about being good stewards of God's creation. I speak in a little more than a week, and I am still not ready.

I will highlight my week at the cabin. I love going to the cabin. I have gone there all of my years. I hold memories dear to me of my time spent there with my family. I now have memories of time spent there with my bestest friend. The five of us people and two animals drove up on a Friday, G drove back home for work on Monday morning, than back again Thursday night. The rest of us spent the week in our cozy cabin. We had many a fire, many a game, and many a Stargate SG-1 episode (I will discuss this anomaly in more detail later.) P has taken many a moss photo. Actually she has taken many a photo in general with her ten (alright, three) cameras (she did bring ones that she didn't use.) We even had a short power outage when on a windy day, a tree fell in a neighboring lot taking down another tree and some power lines. PP&L was snappy in fixing it but not snappy in taking my call.

I had a very relaxing week. I was a bit concerned that P would not find enjoyment during her stay at the place I enjoy retreating to most. But she embraced "my" little "Rock Haven" (the name my grandparent gave their mountain home) as much as I did. She could have used an elevator though. It does have a few steps to the "first" floor. And I think she wouldn't object to a dishwasher either.

My weekend with P is almost over.


We have played many a game, of which she thinks I have the most wins. We have watched 9.5 movies (we are watching one now,) eaten copious amounts of Double Peanut Butter cookies and other foods, stayed up late and slept in late (as much as possible with a 3 and 1 year old.)

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I just realized I never posted this.

I just won my third game of scrabble. P's rating is almost into the 500s. She finds the 500s to be loathsome, but I don't mind her being there. She does however start playing like a pointmonger when her rating gets to low.

We could have played much sooner than we had, but P fell asleep. I tried calling, but she didn't answer.

E was an extra pip tonight. She didn't like my decision to have her leave her brother's room so I could put him to bed. She stomped her foot several too many times. With her foot stomping, she was put to bed first. She liked that even less. She cried and carried on for half an hour and finally succumbed to sleep on her floor next to the door. She usually goes to bed fine.

I still can't connect to the internet, using the laptop. I got the new wireless adaptor. the router is not picking up the internet signal or something like that.

I tried again with Verizon today to fix it. He did a bunch of tests on the line and all was for naught. Still can't connect. He gave up and told me to call Sony, the brand of my laptop for new settings or drivers or something. Big help he was.

Anyway, I am also packing for a trip to the cabin (see my very first post.)

I hope to have relaxing weekend with my family - G and the kids, my parents, sister and the dog.

We might even be able to leave on time.