Now Hope isn’t another Sixth Sense kind of kid. But she does have a simple way of putting things.
Today she was playing with some Bible flannel board people and she had to show my friend Ethel how she had arranged the characters.
‘See my pretty Picture,’ she beamed. It’s full of Dead People.’
Yes, the scriptures are alive and well in our home. Now I’ve got to go pick up Hope’s dead people off the floor.
So if there were to be an award for Olympic Face-Glued-to-the-TV supporter. I might be in contention for a medal.
Yes, you heard right. I broke the No Electronic Entertainment Month Rules – Big Time. Starting with Opening Ceremonies leading up to today. And as I type up this blog the commentary is going full force in the other room. Turned up loud so that I know when to run in and catch the real action.
Olympic fever has been in my blood since I was a teenager and watched the Battle of the Brian’s in the 88 games. Way back when I only had 1/3rd of my half dozen kiddo’s I remember taking Abner and wee little T-rev to Salt Lake City to this big gathering seeing if Salt Lake was going to be awarded the 2002 Winter Games. I was in that crowd and remember screaming and crying, cheering and tossing my little boys up in the air as they nervously cheered with me when it was announced that we were picked. I even saved one of the streamers that they were shooting out of little cannons.
By the time the 2002 games rolled around we no longer lived anywhere near Utah and were going through $ woe's so I didn’t go.
This year the Olympics have never been closer. Less than 3 hours away, but again funds are prohibiting me from attending in person – So I’ll live vicariously through the T.V. Some day, it would be nice to go in person. I think I’d have to win the lottery though.
Yep, the fever includes long bouts of couch sitting, snacking and replaying those awesome moments for my kids when they actually wander into the room.
Last week I literally jumped out of the chair screaming when Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski won medals in the final turn of short track. Evo-man thought I’d blown a fuse or something. Surely the normal mom wouldn’t go nuts over roller-derby on ice. But Ohno and Celski are nearly my neighbors (okay a few cities away, neighbors). I also cheered loudly for Kristi Yamaguchi when she won the gold in 92, because at that time she was from the CA town we lived in then.
Then I cried right along with Lindsey Vonn when she won the downhill. My emotions are wretched when I watch the games.
I don’t think I’ve passed the Olympic spirit onto my kids. Maybe a little of it though. I can get them to watch the Ice Skating, not so much the ski jumping though.
One of these days I’ll get off the couch and make my own dreams happen. I’ll start the day after the Olympics are over. We’ve decided that March will be our new Non-Electronic Entertainment month during Olympic Years.
Until then I get points for hours watched, voice hoarse from cheering and bonus points for pathetic tears shed. Yes, I think I’ve won the Nerdy Olympic Couch Gold.
I ever so happily put the Valentine Decorations away today. It’s never been a favorite holiday of mine. Any other day of the year, I’d love to receive flowers from my man. But something about the 14th of February just takes the romance out of it. That and my husband knows that chocolate is a banned substance for me as it brings on my tremors. So the guy can’t win when his wife says no to flowers that die or chocolates that make her rock and roll. Prince Erik tries but I just don’t dig it. Last year my dear gave me 14 days of Valentines leading up to the big day. It was one of his brighter moments, and he did a great job. This year he teased that because he did 14 days of Valentines last year he’s covered for the next 13 years.
So you must imagine my overwhelming joy when I got this sweet child’s Valentine on Sunday.
And he threw in a work retreat art project that his team got to do. They went to a warehouse and blew glass. So I got a paperweight from my big guy. And no I’m not taking wagers on how soon it will get broken.
He told me that he thought of me the entire time he was making it, and that his turned out the best of all his co-workers, as theirs looked like lumps of poop. I didn’t dare mention that the coloring of the inside of my magical little paperweight bore a striking resemblance to the innards of chickens I helped my dad gut when I was a farm girl. I did like all the little bubbles and wisps of blue (my favorite color). Almost magical.
And in the off chance that Prince Erik does read this post. I Love it dear. Memories of the present and past all in one peculiar little glass ball.
See I can’t complain all I got him was a card. Our budget was that good.
Honestly we’re saving our pennies because in a couple of months we are going to try to remember to celebrate a couple of decades of wedded togetherness.
So back to packing up Valentines. I did it first thing this afternoon and pulled out decorations for one of my favorite holidays.
I can’t wait for St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s magical around our house. Lots of Irish stories, crafts and food.
And a visit from the Wee Leprechauns themselves.
I have a feeling it’s going to be a great month. I’m still begging for a new computer. Turns out, my laptop was mostly dead, which means it wasn’t all dead. The monitor is beyond resuscitation, but the darn noisy core still works if you hook it up to an external monitor. Since I’m computer challenged I couldn’t figure out how to do it. So Prince Erik graciously hooked it up for me this evening. So I guess I’m still plugging away on a half dead beast. I know, I know, yes I am grateful that part of it works.
Well, I’m off to see where if I can find where Hope put my new paperweight – She thinks it’s fairy treasure.
I’m up for air after swimming in Valentine and Fairy Crafting with my kids. I’ll probably dive right back in as soon as I’m done posting.
Every February we unplug from all Electronic forms of Entertainment. I consider blogging therapy and not Entertainment so that’s why you are blessed with me. Lucky you!
Anyway, we’ve been busy. I probably over-do it on classroom handouts. Okay, I know I over-do it. But it’s just so blasted fun to craft with the kids. This year we made clay heart necklaces for their girlfriends. You can see how we made them here.
I’ve also been mad at work crocheting little tiny fairy purses for an upcoming swap.
It’s much cuter in person. The purse is latched with a flower button that you just can't see in the picture.
The girls begged me to teach them how to crochet. Princess had a hard time and might try again in a couple of years. Lea however, after a few ghastly rows, took to it like a fish to water.
I couldn’t get the girl to put the darn hook down. She ended up making an afghan for her doll. The other kids have been busy in their various interests. T-Rev is having a hard time being unplugged so he draws his favorite video game characters during his down time.
Hummm, I think this is Castle Crashers on a Rock Band tour.
And Princess is entertaining us with her wildly imaginative fantasy stories. We have to give her a captive audience or she will follow us around until we sit and listen to and look at every page.
Abner is back at work testing video games for money. Whew, no more lazy lay-about. So he has to be plugged in. Just not at home though.
And we finally have the results from Hope’s Sleep Study. Yes, mom wasn’t imagining her lack of breathing while sleeping. She does have sleep apnea. It’s borderline between Mild and Moderate. So now she’s off to visit with the nose and throat specialist (please don’t ask me what they’re called) for a possible tonsillectomy. More fun.
We also finally bid adieu to the old Portable Swimming Pool. After nearly 200,000 miles and maintenance costs up the ying-yang, we traded the old gas sucker in for a nice portable little sauna.
Somehow we couldn’t let go of owning another truck. Too many future scout and camping trips require that we keep one in the family. Prince Erik has already claimed the little truck as his commute transportation so yeah, I can drive his little car around instead of the other Gas-Guzzler Family Bus.
Okay, that’s enough of my yammering. I’m way behind on sleep. But before I head off to bed I thought I’d make my Bro. jealous, once again, because we happen to have the best view of sunsets around. Nothing hugely colorful this evening, but still Beautiful.
Maybe if I can lure my family up to my neck of the woods with magical sunsets, I can convince them to move closer. Hey, it doesn’t hurt to dream.
Where’s Pollyanna when you need her? It seems that when darn near everything is conspiring against you it would be helpful to have the little lady around. Then you could either hug her tight and hope some of the gladness wore off on you, or you could give her a nice push and tell her she’s a wee bit Looney because there’s no way in Hat-ville that you can ever find anything to be glad about Unbloggables.
Then again if I don’t find something to be grateful for concerning the Unbloggable, well then, I might be cursed with it until I do.
So today we invited Pollyanna over. The one from my favorite Disney version.
And she thought that we might need some rainbows in our life. So, being the glad starved mom that I am, I acquired some fairy attractors crystals at the local craft store. The glass-cut kind that are nice and clear, not the foggy plastic kind. The plastic ones give off a hazy color smudge on your walls, but the real deals, well, they leave a bit of magic.
Next we strung them up on the bottom of my dining room window blinds and prayed for a magical break in the ever constant clouds.
And seeing how we live in a house of enchantment, the magic happened and we had a room full of rainbows to chase.
I do think I need to make a new house rule that you can only chase rainbows if you’ve washed your hands.
Na, on second thought, walls will wash but chasing rainbows doesn’t happen very often so you got to run when you can. I tell you, the mood lifted right up after our little experiment. Felt right good.
And when I’m feeling a bit down I just have to look around. There is gladness, even in the darkest of places. I think the stories that touch me the most out of Haiti are the people who are smiling, showing gratitude, singing praises. And they’ve lost everything including loved ones.
Yet they are so grateful for a kind word, a bottle of water, a soothing hand.
So, I guess Pollyanna is alive and well. There is still gladness to be found, and I intend to find it, catch it and share it.
