One tough little girl

Last night, M kept getting up and coming into our room saying, "My ear hurts." About 11:30 or so I gave her some children's Motrin in hopes that it would help her sleep because by that time the only option would have been to take her to the ER and I wasn't willing to pay. This morning I asked her how her ear was and she replies that it still sort of hurts. I decide that we need to go the doctor as she probably has an ear infection and I new that we have family pictures tonight. We get to the doctor and he's looking in her ears. He says it's the right one and when M agreed he said that it was indeed infected and looked like it was getting ready to burst. I told him that all night and all morning she had simple stated, "My ear hurts." She never cried and she never acted like it was painful. It just hurt. The doctor laughed and said that he was amazed that she didn't complain more. M is one tough little cookie.

A bike ride

The kids are off-track for the next little bit and for playgroup it was decided to go on a bike-ride to a small park. As the big kids will attest the park wasn't the fun part as it was small and geared towards smaller kids; however, they enjoyed the bike ride to the park. We set off at 10:30 am to meet up with another family going. We were soon on our way when suddenly T's chain fell off. I noticed that it was looking a little loose but was hoping it would hold. Luckily we weren't too far from home so T managed to ride/coast home and I hurriedly called my friend up ahead and told her what had happened and that if she wanted to we would just catch up. Now on Saturday I had repaired flats on E, T and my trailer. T's required me to remove the chain and back tire but apparently I didn't pull the wheel tight enough so the chain fell off. I tried tightening it better and thought we did a pretty good job. I took the tools with me this time and we were off. Yet, just around the corner the chain fell off again. I knew T really wanted to ride her bike to the park but I also knew I lacked the man power/strength to physically pull the wheel further back. Then I noticed that the neighbors were out. I new the neighbor girl used to have an old bike and so we asked her if T could use it on our bike ride. Now I also know that these two neighbor kids might also like to go and since we are now using one of their bikes I only thought it appropriate to ask their mother if it was indeed alright for T to use the bike and also if they'd like to come with me. They are eager to go and so now the 6 of us start off again (I think M and H in the trailer were excited to get moving instead of sitting around). So for 2.7 miles we move upwards. The highlight of the trip was crossing Bangerter Highway on the pedestrian walkway so that they could see all the cars below them. We finally made it to the park and enjoyed the lunch that I was also carrying in the trailer. It was a grand time and the bike ride home was very enjoyable as it was now all 2.7 miles downhill. We only had a few falls during the trip and everyone was alright. All in all a very successful bike ride. The girls want to know when we can now take Dad with us--let's see how painful my legs feel tomorrow... But I do know that before they start school again we will be taking a bike ride over to see the buffalo and elk.

Glasses

I got my new glasses today. Last week I went in for the eye exam. It had been 5 years since my last visit--things just came up in life that prevented me from going sooner and to be honest I wasn't in a big rush. I know that my glasses are never cheap and I hate trying to choose frames. The last place I went to wasn't very helpful when I asked them to help me pick out frames; they told me that it was really up to me and what I liked. What!?! Apparently they must have thought that my prescription wasn't that bad and that when I'm trying on the frames without my glasses on that I can see perfectly well. Apparently the coke bottle lenses in my old glasses and the prescription in their hands weren't bad enough to warrant their help. So I did the best I could. I didn't hate them but it's really hard to see what looks good when you are literally inches away from the mirror. When Steve said that I should go get glasses before the year ended to use up the flex spending money I was excited to go but I didn't want to go to the same place as before. We don't have insurance that covers glasses so I wanted a place that was affordable yet helpful. Steve helped me search online for places that were close and had good reviews. I asked friends in the area. We had it narrowed down to two places and I went with the cheaper eye exam place after driving by and making sure it wasn't like our ghetto dentist experience. I had the exam and the doctor was nice and said my eyes hadn't changed too much--always good to hear when you have eyes like mine. Then we went out to look at frames. From 20 plus years of experience I know that I need tiny frames that are more circular to help hide the fat lenses. I found quite a few but then I was in the position I was in before--needing help to see what actually looked alright on me. The lady came back and I asked if she would help me and she said that she would certainly help me and then told me that she would be brutally honest. I told her I liked that because I couldn't see and needed her to tell me what she thought. She hated the first pair (which was fine by me as they were most expensive) and liked the middles ones alight and really liked the last two. She then called over the other lady in the office to ask her opinion. They both thought the ones that I had on were the best option and liked it with my coloring. Today I picked them up and am trying to adjust to the new prescription. It's amazing how different things appear right now--more in focused and vibrant. I remember when I first got glasses I stepped outside the office and I could see individual leaves blowing on the trees something that I had never recalled seeing before. I still find a tree and look at the leaves every time I get a new pair of glasses and am thankful that even though I might not have the literal eyes to see such beauty that I can have the opportunity to have glasses that will allow me to see those things. Each time I get new glasses I donate an old pair so that someone in some country that hasn't before seen the individual leaves on trees blowing for quite some time can now see the sight that thrilled me over 24 years ago and for which I'm continually thankful for being able to see.

The end of an era

I've walked the girls to school since E was in kindergarten. I've pushed strollers, pulled wagons, weathered the snow, the wind and rain; yet, now I find myself in the morning not walking the familiar route to school. Last year I took a big step in allowing E and T to walk home together since there are so many children that walk the same way and now this year E and T are riding their bikes with Mari, Isaac, and Luke. So now instead of rushing M and H to get in the wagon or stroller, I find myself waving to E and T as they ride off with their friends. They are growing up and I feel sort of not needed; however, M misses our morning rides so I will still pull the trusty red wagon as M and H and I take a walk around the neighborhood. It just won't be to drop off the girls at school. Our good-byes are now said on the driveway and not at school. I now wait patiently for 3:45 to roll around so that I can see them again and give them a big hug. I now pray that they make it safely to school and back. The neighbors were right in saying they grow up too fast.

Summer memories

I love sitting on the front steps on a beautiful summer night watching the children play. E and her friend, Mari, have lately been inseparable. They are two peas in a pod. They think the same, the enjoy the same things and I delight in watching them play. They both enjoy the Percy Jackson books and they have created for themselves an entire imaginary world where each knows exactly was is going to happen. They fight invisible monsters and plan counter attacks. They charge these monsters with celestial bronze swords (sticks) in hands riding their mythological pegasus' (bikes or rip riders). They shout out commands to attack and then fall back. They go on these monster hunts to find more monsters and they constantly tell me that I am just a mortal whereas they are half-bloods or sometimes they are full blooded gods. They went to the library last week with Mari's dad. Each came home with books about Greek mythology and monsters; yet, these books are books that I might check out and are not your typical kid book. They love them though.

Not to be left out, T has become quite good friends with Mari's brother, Isaac. They have a club and according to Isaac's mom, T has had such a calming influence on Isaac that she is happy they are getting along so well. T and Isaac run from house to house spying on the other neighbor children and then go racing off to their secret fort. Every day as soon as homework and chores are finished they rush off to the others home to see if they can play. They laugh and laugh and they are so good to include M and H in their games and it makes M and H feel so big to be included in the secret fort and in the tauntings and jeerings (all done in good fun) directed at the other children as the neighborhood kids exclaim that their fort is the best and the biggest and since they are all secret and well hidden forts no one knows for sure how big their own fort is exactly.

M is my little spark of life. She continues to race at high speeds on her scooter down the sidwalks as she tries to do tricks. If the trick makes her fall she will get up, smile her big smile, and then ride off again.

H is the neighborhood's little brother--they all love him. Once when there was a spider on H's tricycle and he started screaming and crying all the kids rushed to him and either helped him get off, calmed him down, or killed the spider that frightened him so. They love getting him to chase them and making him laugh.

I'm afraid that summer will end all too soon.

Rocket girls and boys

What do you do when the temperatures soar and there air is so still that nothing moves--you launch rockets?

T wanted to build a rocket with Steve on Saturday. She wanted to build the rocket out of cardboard. Steve thought it would be better to go and buy the rocket with launch pad, remote detonator and the likes. So we went to the store and bought the various components and came back and the girls helped Steve build the rockets. Only one was ready to launch by early evening so we took it over to one of the local parks and let it fly.



Now to justify my actions--the rocket was starting to fall right to where M, H, and I were sitting. I knew that if that parachute (which I was in charge of folding correctly) didn't come out that we would be bombarded with a that rocket now plummeting back to the earth at a rapid rate. However, as soon as I shut off the camera, the parachute deployed and the rocket was carried on the breeze away from us. I'm not normally afraid of things like that unless they are aimed at the little ones. M however was clear across the field because my "oh my" scared her. We sat and enjoyed the next launch and that rocket went so high that it blew into the neighborhood by the park and one gentleman, out in his backyard, saw it descending and offered to go get it for us. Everyone thought that launch was awesome. We now need to find a bigger open space if we launch the rockets that high because even the slightest bit of wind picks up the parachute and carries it away. H loved it all--the countdown, the lift off, the thrill of a speeding rocket traveling upwards, and then the descent of the rocket and chasing after it.

Bubble gum basics

We don't eat gum or very rarely do. I don't like it so I don't buy it. I don't let the children have it because it either gets swallowed, spit out on the carpet, or winds up in their hair. So the long and short of it is my girls are clueless as to how to blow bubbles. E had "Camp Cowabunga" this week where part of the time they had a bubblegum blowing contest. Being fairly competitive I never want my kids to feel like they can't do something compared to others so the day before I bought two packs of gum at the store. One for E to take and one for practice. That night we practiced. We practiced for a long time. We started at the basics--chewing and learning how to flatten a piece of gum. We then moved on to how to cover your tongue in gum and finally how to blow. Teaching how to blow a bubble is hard work. E, T, and M all had their gum and were so ready and anxious to blow a bubble no matter how small or how big. They liked practicing in front of the mirror so we went into the bathroom. Gum kept flying out of their mouths when trying to blow (we were still trying to learn how to cover our tongues). T was the funniest in how many times the gum kept flying out of her mouth. M just liked chewing and sticking weird gum creations out of her mouth pretending they were bubbles. E was eventually successful in creating a few bubbles and sincerely thanked me for teaching her. E didn't win the contest but she said that she did blow a bubble--one of her biggest in fact about the size of a lime. I'm mighty proud.