September 2005 Archives

Last week the granny-mobile had a little problem. Just as I was pulling into the driveway--thank God--I noticed the battery warning light come on. At the same time, the A/C powered down and the lights dimmed some. After some research on the ole internet, I figured out that the alternator went out.

I talked to our friend Oscar who said that changing it out should only take a rookie like me 30 minutes. Somehow, Ricky and I managed to stretch that 30 minutes out to an hour and a half. We had a little help from Myra and some from Christina, too. While we were working, I noticed Noah raising the hood of Myra's Barbie Jeep; no doubt he was looking for the alternator. In the end, we won.

The grannymobile is purring once again--ok, maybe it's more like
coughing and wheezing just like always, but at least it's running. No more getting dropped off at work by my "mommy." Some pics that Chris took of the ordeal:

The Monkeys hard at work...

Still working...

Ricky's turn...

Myra trying her best to fix her Jeep.

Thanks goodness Noah was there to save her in the end.

- No Wife, No Kids, No putting down the toilet seat

- You can't possibly eat ice cream for every meal...OR CAN YOU?

- The George Bush Turnpike still owes me 10 cents. Do you think he'll write me a check for it?

- Why is it, when you watch an ESPN Thursday night football game, they always say "He's the best young receiver/linebacker/nosetackle in college football" when the guy plays second string D for Idaho Tech? Are they afraid I'm going to change the channel if I'm not watching some great players? On Thursday night THEY ARE THE ONLY GAME ON!

- We live in a nation of panickers. Case in point. Today at work I received no less than three memos today telling me how to act when Hurricane Rita hits the city. I finally received a fourth telling me to disregard the other three after they realized that Rita IS 400 MILES AWAY!

- Ain't no weather ever gonna kill me. Ever!

Noah has been climbing anything and everything. Josh caught him climbing on the bricks on the fireplace the other evening. Last night he climbed up on one of Myra's little tea party chairs and then stood on it. This morning he climbed into the rocking chair and started rocking so hard in it that it scooted and starting banging against the wall. And I don't know how many times he's climbed all over me, Daddy, Sissy and Hannah. Well look what I just caught him climbing into...

If he's looking for wheels, he should stick with this...

Much better...and safer.

Myra brought home a poster "All About Myra" last night. Josh and I found out some new things about her favorites. For example, her favorite food is "dips & chips" but she requests hot dogs every night for dinner. Hmmm. Her favorite place is "the zoo" but she always begs us to take her to "the turtle house" (better known as Ridgmar Mall). She did, however, draw a turtle for the picture of the zoo. Hmmm. My favorite answer that Josh and I have actually known for a while ... When I grow up, I want to be "everything". Her picture of her future career is a picture of her smiling the biggest smile you have ever seen. It makes me proud to know that Myra truly believes that she can be anything (and everything) she wants to be.

"Take a picture of me and my 'painting with balls', Mommy!"

OK, I know, we're years behind on this Harry Potter thing. I've caught little snippets of the movie before, but never sat down and watched it. I think part of my aversion to the movie was the enormous amount of hype surrounding it. So we stuck it in the NetFlix cue and Myra was real excited about it when she heard we got it. It turns out, she'd watched a little bit of the movie with PaPa in a hotel room in Woodward. She told me how she LOVES PETIE POTTER! We watched it tonight, and to tell you the truth...IT ROCKED. I loved the whole thing. I can't wait until the next one comes in the mail. There were a few scary parts, but Myra liked it just as much as me. The movie is 2 1/2 hours long and it held her attention the whole time. Whatever you do, don't tell me a thing about the next Petie Potters.

BTW - We passed 200 posts! Go US!

The first couple weeks after Hannah's return to "Davis Day Care" were pretty rough. Both babies are able to roam where they please which, at that time, was basically around and up my leg fussing the whole while. Now that they have adjusted, I've actually caught them playing together. Yes, they still have their occasional "scream-offs" but for the most part, they're getting along. This week's photo is Noah and Hannah having their first picnic together. This was NOT posed; they did this on their own.

I placed a blanket on the floor for Hannah. It seems like no matter how much I pick up and vacuum she is able to find something to put in her mouth. Noah crawled on up beside her and plopped himself down. They enjoyed some crackers and milk. Of course, no picnic would be complete without some Baby Einstein.

I'm so very proud of both of "my babies". Next week, we're going to learn to put our toys away when we are done with them.

Four years ago today the world changed forever. I remember when I first heard the news, I didn't believe it. In the days, months, and years that followed, our shock turned to sorrow and then to rage. It has settled down into a steadfast resolve. We've grown accustomed to making sacrifices in the name of security. We accept long airport lines, less privacy, and a more powerful central government. Our biggest sacrifice is in the men and women that we send to the Middle East. Today, my brother Nate boards a plane that is to carry him back to Iraq after a two week vacation from the nastiness that is the modern Arab world. We wish him the best and we'll pray until he comes back home (hopefully in a few short months). Myra has prepared a special video for him.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Yes, they're back and they're hitting us harder than ever.

Last Saturday, Myra began complaining about a stuffy nose. She was sniffing and sneezing and coughing and all that other good stuff. Getting her to take medicine used to be easy. She would beg for it. Now, it's nearly impossible.

Monday, my allergies started warming up. Tuesday, the hit me head on. I felt like I had been run over by a semi with a full load. I just wanted to stay in bed all day. Lucky for me, Hannah and Noah were very good babies, taking their naps like every parent dreams they should, allowing me to sneak in a few minutes of "shut-eye".

The good news is the allergies have moved on from Myra and me. The bad news is they moved onto Noah. Poor baby.

Checking my email this morning, I noticed a snoring/growling noise coming from behind me. I turned around to find this...

...Noah watching his Baby Einstein movie and trying desperately to breathe.

At the moment, we're on stand-by waiting for the doctor to call us back. Hopefully there's something out there that can help our stuffy little man.

Today I taught my students how to solve absolute value equations in class. It's a simple concept, really, but they were having a hard time grasping it. The sticking point was that they didn't know why we had to come up with two answers. The easiest way to come up with the two answers is to split the problem in two and work one with a positive answer and one with a negative answer. I spent 10 minutes trying to explain that this must be done to account for both possibilities. Every word of it flew over their heads. Exasperated, I finally told them that it worked by magic. Suddenly, everyone understood. We developed the Magic Arrows of Mathematics which split absolute value problems into easily solvable equations. Now, they can solve these problems lightning fast. They have no idea how or why, but they're ok with that. It's funny how kids are like that.