10,000 Words

To Rachel's delight (pause) - NOT - Quinn took a moment to bust a move to the High School Musical soundtrack. His shirt is on inside-out during this, his second song. For the first, he appeared topless.

Rachel's expression is priceless! All she wanted to do was eat her parmesan cheese with the slice of pizza on the bottom to hold it together.

Fire - Again

We have cleaned up the fireplace twice already this spring, thinking that we have lit our last fire for the season. Well, not so. It's less than 40 degrees outside, my poor bell pepper plants are limp and we have a fire blazing in the hearth. I'm glad we bought the extra load of firewood last fall!

I Felt the Earth Move Again Today

There was another tremor at lunch time today. It wasn't because of my bean burrito.

Buggin' Out!

I think I saw a cockroach in my van. It was dark and I was driving and it's raining out. But I think I saw one. Quinn saw something. Rachel felt something fly by her face. I left the doors open in the rain hoping it would go away. How would a cockroach get in there?! Now I think I'll have to get a new van. And I can't quit scratching my head! AAAHHHHHGGGGG!

New Shades

Daffodils are Up!

Smooth Talker

Quinn missed his class trip to the zoo Friday because of his recent illness. A thoughtful friend approached him today with the good news that she brought something back from the zoo for him. With her hands held behind her back, she asked him to guess what it was.

Quinn queried, "True love's first kiss?"

I wish I could have seen the look on her father's face! But alas, it was a small stuffed tiger from the zoo gift shop instead. The tigress is now named Roara.

Bill Murray-esque

Today was turning out to be a little boring. There was drizzle outside, antibiotic consumption indoors, and then . . . Mr. Rellim decided to hang a bird feeder on a young oak tree near the picture window. Unfortunately for the birds, it was a large brown squirrell who benefited most from the feed.

Fortunately for our entertainment relief, Mr. Rellim decided to make it his mission to rid the earth of that squirrell. He moved the feeder to several different branches, baited a small aminal trap with peanut butter and even chased Mr. Squirrell around the yard with a forked hoe. He has not used live explosives, yet I was quickly reminded of the movie Caddyshack. Poor little gopher.

4:36 am

While visions of sugar plums danced in my head, I was rudely awakened at 4:36 am by my son running down the hallway shouting, "Something strange is happening!!" I was alert enough to notice that he was not running from his room, but from the living room, and that the TV was on. I was also aware of the house shaking.

It was then that Rachel started shouting, "Earthquake! Earthquake! We are having an earthquake! What time is it?! Everybody take cover!" How amazing that she can wake from a sound sleep and begin shouting orders. Mr. Rellim says she gets that skill from me.

Not sure why Quinn was awake, but I'm considering telling him that God made the house shake in order to let me know that he was up watching TV instead of sleeping. I don't know. "Watch out for the big fish!" isn't working for me anymore.

The morning news just confirmed this earthquake was a 5.4 and lasted for 20 seconds. Yup. The last time we had an earthquake (several years ago), I yelled at Quinn to stop jumping, "You're making the whole house shake!"

Memory Palace

My friend's husband refers to his amazing memory as his "memory palace." Here is a tidbit from the famous Sherlock Holmes as written in his first mystery A Study in Scarlet:

I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.

I think this is why I tend to read nonfiction. Fluffy novels take up too much attic space.

This Morning

This morning at 7:45 I noticed Quinn walking slowly to the bus stop (too slowly). I decided to meet him at school at 8:00, where he admitted he had "a light head." He had a positive strep test (and bilateral ear infection) at the pediatrician's office at 10:30.

How can I be so super-sensitive to his cues and so off-the-mark with Rachel's?

Maybe it has to do with the fact that my brain has been shrinking since age 35. It must be true. I read it last night in a new book "Where Did I Leave My Glasses? The What, When and Why of Normal Memory Loss" by Martha Weinman Lear. Mrs. Bickerson, you'd better get yourself a copy!

Sorry

I took Quinn to the doctor a few weeks ago simply because I observed him stick his finger in his ear one morning during breakfast. The nurses love to hear that! (He did have an ear infection, by the way.)

I delayed taking Rachel to the doctor for a couple days even though she has been complaining of a sore throat, ear ache, headache and stuffy nose. (She is prone to over-dramatization.) Today I grudgingly took Rachel to the doctor and found out she has strep. Oh . . . sorry.

Noah

Quinn portrayed Noah today to help me with the preschool lesson about obedience. When it was time for him to explain how he sent a dove after the rains to find dry land, Quinn couldn't find a dove. So, instead, he threw a stuffed chicken out the window. The kids didn't really notice. Personally, I was thankful that he hadn't grabbed the elephant first.

Unicorn

Rachel bet me that "unicorn" is a word in the Bible. I lost. "Unicorn" appears in the King James Version six times. However, I am still uncertain whether the animal is a mystical or historical creature.

Unicorns are real in Harry Potter and the b l o o d of them will give eternal life - though it is a cursed thing to kill one.

That's all I know. And some people spend a lot of money buying unicorn music boxes.

Boys!

If you have a boy, this book is worth a read - or at least a perusal. He mentions that boys sometimes don't pay attention to what someone is saying (Really?!) and recommends trying this:

Up mix your words when you're to him talking - just to get attention his.

Hmmm . . . sounds like a Yoda trick.

Brownies

What's better than 76 trombones?
Seventy-two brownies!!!
We prepared them in muffin tins to make it easier to stuff into plastic bags for the 4H pork BBQ meal. Unfortunately, this particular boxed mix smells like fried chicken when baking. Next time, I'll be going back to the good ol' Baker's Chocolate Squares recipe. No school like the old school.

Three Trees

Quinn sang and acted in the church musical Sunday titled "Three Trees." He even nailed a solo! He was the tree who wanted to be made into a mighty ship. Here he is sitting on the captain's chair of a small fishing boat (he WAS the boat) talking about how he was chosen to carry the mightiest man of all - Jesus - whom even the wind and waves obeyed.

We all have dreams. God dreams bigger.

In Remembrance

Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968)
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

From a Middle School Youth?!

My daughter created a petition regarding how funds should be spent at church and convinced four other kids to sign it. Basically, it said that their parents contribute financially to the church in order to help others in need, not to purchase game systems for the youth area. Specifically, she advised the youth minister to spend less time playing games and more time studying about Jesus.

He was stunned to hear a youth request less fun, more work. Me too.

What Should He Call It?

"Mom, the rabbit scratched my tit and now it hurts."

"That's not a nice word. You may call it your 'nipple.'"

"Dad says pigs have lots of tits."

"TEATS!! AHH! Just tell me that you have a scratch on your chest, OK?"

Lost Key

Quinn had been looking for his house key for a day or so. Rachel found it this afternoon. It was in the keyhole in the front door. Oh. Now if we can only find that library book . . .

April Fools!

My teacher friends did not think it was funny when I told them the storage facility for the completed ISAT tests burned last night and that every Illinois school would have to re-administer them to their students.

Instead, I was told April Fools day should be called, "LIARS DAY!"

I guess I touched on a sensitive area.

Success!