Whoa May, Slow Down

Ok, May starts tomorrow so I was taking a good look at my calendar. IT IS SO FULL! Whoa. 

Now that it is getting nice weekends are bound to disappear before we even get to them (full of fun things of course.) But, it seems as my weeks are terribly busy too. More so then usual. 

Here's what's coming up this month:

This is the extent of my doodling.
I should write a story about a snail...

May 1st-May 31st is Doodle Day May. I am not an artist, nor do I claim to be, but this has the potential to get some more creative juices moving and I can involve the kiddos! Can't get much better then that right?

May 1st-May 7th is NaPiBoWriWeek or National Picture Book Writing Week. The challenge here is to attempt to write 7 picture book drafts in 7 days. I have my list of ideas ready and I'm hoping they are ready to be written. Sometimes those ideas can be quite stubborn and the first drafts are SUPER bad, but a draft is a draft and the habit or writing a bit every day would be a great one to develop.

May 1st - July 31st Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories Contest is open to New Authors. They pick 3 finalists and then in early November he public votes for their favorite. The winner gets their story in a whole bunch of cereal boxes and in the hands of millions of little readers. Not to shabby!

May 13th -May 19th is National Children's Book Week. Their about the week page says "Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country." How awesome is that?!? Go kid lit!

May 18th is the Gaithersburg Book Festival where they are going to have an awesome amount of stuff going on. Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, and Christopher Myers caught my eye quickly! I'm volunteering for the morning of the festival and hoping to be in the children's area to rub a few elbows!

May 19th is a Picture Book Panel at Politics and Prose in Washington DC. Part of the panel are Neal Porter (editorial director of Neal Porter Books) and authors Mac Barnett, Meg Medina and Jon Scieszka and author/illustrators Christopher Myers and Laura Vaccaro Seeger. I'm hoping to meet up with a few other SCBWI members before hand too! 

SO! That's just the picture book/writing/creative bits on my calendar this month. I hope baby #4 likes to go because we are going to be doing quite a bit of it this month. With tee ball, swim lessons and (what we like to call) "Mom's Stroller Workout" during the week and the end of trimester two coming up fast, I'm hoping I have time to sleep!

I'll apologize for the state of my house now, I won't be bored enough to clean it. :)

The Helpful Speed Bump ( aka Finding my Path)

There are two things I wanted to be when I grew up: a mom and a writer.

As other SAHMs (that would be: stay-at-home-moms) will tell you, it is the greatest and hardest job staying home with your kids. Some days are full of fun, laughter, and seemingly unending joy. But other days it can be hard to make it to bedtime. It can be terribly lonely if you don't seek out other adults, but these kiddos are endless sources of energy and boring is NEVER how I would describe my job.

Thank goodness for Spring!

It has taken me a bit longer to realize that being a writer was at the core of everything else I thought I wanted to do professionally. Before working at a television station in college, I was sure that's what I wanted to do. I was going be the next Katie Couric. But, that career ended before it began. The three years I did television in college were the only three years I had anything to do with television production.

From college, I volunteered for six months with Boys Hope Girls Hope in Detroit as a house parent for five teenage girls. This volunteer opportunity opened my mind to a career in non-profit and after a few months as a substitute teacher, I joined Talbot Mentors as the Program Coordinator. I loved the freedom to create new programs and monthly newsletters. I loved working with the elementary and middle school students after-school with homework, projects and other educational enrichment. After the Politician was born, no longer wanting to work full time, I signed on with Caroline County Recreation and Parks as a middle school After-School Coordinator.

Then came PT and with two little ones at home, I took on full time, stay at home mom status. Lots of play groups and story times. And along came the Enforcer in 2011. By then I was really looking for something to call mine, again. Ok, and a way to get rid of some baby weight. :)

So, 2012 was my year of running. With the three little ones at home, I relished the short time away to have something I needed to do alone. Each month I conquered another race. One was a half marathon! I loved the community, the commitment, the determination, and the persistence that running asked of and provided to me. As 2012 came to a close, I was already planning my racing calendar for 2013.

Enter baby number four and my running came to a screeching, stalled out, halt. Our new addition will be arriving late into the summer and has changed all those plans I had for 2013.

I wanted something like running. Something that required so much of me, but brought me so much in return. Something that got me out of my house and even though I could share it with my kids there was much I would need to do on my own. Something with a wonderful community and a way to grow and evolve in many different ways. I found just what I was looking for in writing.

I've always had journals and stories floating in my head, but I finally feel like I have taken the path I was supposed to take. Just like any crossroads in life, without a speed bump (mine is growing daily :) ) I probably would have missed the exit and passed right on by. For so many reasons, I am thankful for my children, but number four will always have a special place as the one who helped me realize a dream I had forgotten.

Many thanks to everyone in the Picture Book Community. Through 12X12 and the PBA (Picture Book Academy,) I have felt right at home and surrounded by amazing, intelligent and like minded people. I look forward to what is in store for 2013 and beyond!

I would love to hear your journey! Have you had a helpful speed bump?

Dream Writing Space

As part of a conference I am going to in a little less then two weeks, I have started participating in their blog's Conference Challenges. There will be eight when we are all finished and I am playing catch-up right now since they are already on number six! 

I finished the first four so far. Each one only takes about half an hour and it has been really fun to take the prompts and get creative!

The third challenge was to describe our dream writing space, the ideal place for us to create. The challenge was to make the reader want to go there. It didn't take me long to decided on exactly where I would like to be:

With my journal in hand, I trek down the well-worn path away from the joyful clamor of a full house. As the shouts of laughter, and sometimes tears, blend then disappear within the melody of the soft wind and sweet refrain of the forest chorus, I find the wispy limbs and strong trunk of my favorite willow. My handmade quilt sewn from everyday memories is still warm from swaying on the line in the streaming sun. On the cold stone bench, I rest my jug of sun-kissed sweet tea in a cooler of ice and let my pencil fly with abandon in hopes of capturing the words before they slip away on the breeze. 

So, tell me, do you want to slip away too? Where do you dream your ideal place is?

The conference I'm attending is the regional Society of Children Book Writers & Illustrators conference for MD/DE/WV on March 23rd. You can find the blog for the MD/DE/WV region, SCBWI here. 

FOOD FIGHT!!

In celebration of World Read Aloud Day this week, a fellow 12X12er and blogger, Marcie Colleen, has started the Inaugural FOOD FIGHT through her blog The Write Routine. So, as part of my dive into picture books this year, I am super excited to participate.

The rules for stories:

1. Begin a story and post it on March 4th
2. Your story should have a clear setting and at least one clear character.
3. Write your story up to the moment where the food fight begins. THEN STOP.
4. Get creative!

Rules for Food Fighting Participation:

1. Add to my story (and others linked here) in the comments through March 8th.
2. Read the story and all the comments that precede yours.
3. Post your comment
1. Your comment should build on and further the existing story.
2. The story should read as written by one person from beginning to end.
3. Your comment must include at least one word of onomatopoeia that has not already been used in the story (examples: SPLAT! SQUISH!) and one piece of food thrown.
4. You can comment more then once on a story, but you may not fight with yourself. Meaning you have to wait until someone comments after you to comment again. 

Over the weekend, I'll wrap the story up here and we will have a had a wonderful week of food flinging fun!

Let's get to the main event! Have fun!!

On the Way Home From Grandma's

Everyone was tired,
cranky and upset.
And from the back someone yelled,
"why aren't we home yet??"

Mom was looking frazzled,
as Dad stared at the road,
these long drives back from Grandma's
were always worse when it snowed.

SCREECH! SHWOMP! KAPOOM! and HISSSsssss?!?
The windshield went solid white!
One look at Mom and Dad
said it'd be a longer night...

First, Dad pulled out his phone
to get a tow here right away.
But, "I'm sorry dear," he murmured,
"it'll be an hour or more delay."

"WE'LL STARVE!" Moaned sis behind me
through the baby's high pitched howl.
With Mom lost in a silent stare,
 Dad's face began to scowl.

"At least we have the turkey,
with the fixin's, sides and sweets!"
As these words came out my lips,
Mom's stare turned on the backseats.

It's a look I've never seen before,
that one in my Mom's eyes,
still sis and I cannot forget her smirk
as she started throwing fries!

9 down 3 to go (AKA the Underwear Race)

Early last Saturday morning, the 29th, a few hundred of us gathered in Rock Creek Park in DC to run in our undies. It was a bit chill, but there were lots of us sporting our undies over tights, leggings, or other shorts. There were racers in capes, with an underwear covered wagon, and many signs of love and support for those who have battled and are battling with colorectal cancer.

I was hard to miss in those orange tights.

For me, this race felt different then a lot of other races. Maybe it was the location, maybe it was that I didn't have a timed goal going into the race, or maybe it was the purpose of the UNDY 5000 race series. The team that puts the UNDY 5000 together at the Colon Cancer Alliance did an absolutely wonderful job making the race a celebration of a community coming together to conquer something, seemingly, small while working through the trying, testing fight of battling cancer. The energy was one of celebration for those who have battled and won, support and cheers for those who continue to fight, and a joining of community and understanding for those who lost loved ones because of the disease. It really seemed like a small community race, even though there were almost 300 racers. Other racers cheered on those they passed and on the way back up the rather large, daunting hill, that was the last leg of the race someone was stationed at every turn applauding and giving us all a helping hand up the hill. 

Our Race Team!

I ran the race with my youngest sister, the Tumbler (she volunteered at the ZOOMA Annapolis back in June,) and I came to a realization while we were on the second half of the course. While we were running, I realized I really do enjoy racing along side other people I know. Racing with a friend. Pushing each other and having a great time all at once. Now, I think I realized this a while ago (when I started a Saturday morning women's running group last month maybe) that I run better, more efficiently, and enjoy my solo runs more, when I run along side someone else every so often. In a race, I realized on Saturday, I find it more enjoyable to race together with someone at little slower then what I think my pace is and enjoy the journey of the race together instead of blazing off (and probably going a bit to fast at first) and racing solo. As I told my sister, I would rather run with her at her pace then run the whole thing a little faster on my own. So if you have a race and don't want to race alone, I would love to race along side you. And if you are too fast, then I will try and keep up! 

UNDY 5000 Course Map

The Politician and PT raced too!

The UNDY 5000 really was a wonderful race. The weather was great; a bit chill while we were standing around, but it was perfect racing weather for me. I really don't like it when it's too hot. Or hot at all. Running through beautiful Rock Creek Park, the course took us down past a little stream and through a mostly wooded area all on pavement. As I mentioned before, the course went downhill at the beginning, but uphill at the end. Most of the course was seemingly flat with little changes in elevation, but that last hill was a BIG one. It just seemed to keep going and going. Getting to the top of the hill and then turning to see the finish line was a really great accomplishment. Then I saw the clock. I PRed! (Got a personal record.) By about half a minute. That was quite exciting. Running with a buddy really does help!

Both the Politician and PT raced on foot. Though, PT did get carried a bit from time to time. The Tumbler and I walked back to meet the group and joined them back to the finish line and as we grew closer to the finish, the Politician broke into a run, he was wearing his fast shoes after all, and crossed the finish at a sprint. PT crossed with the Dad and that was quite a cute sight!

She loves to hold hands when she runs.

So my stats for this race: I ran in 32:27 for a 10:27 min per mile average. I was 97th out of 293 overall and 25th of 70 in my age group. I was definitely excited about bringing down my 5K time. I'll break 30 minutes one of these days!

PT held this sign for about 3 minutes...

They had a great spread for post race food. Waters were readily available (and were handed out as we crossed the finish,) PopChips (who doesn't like those,) Rice Crispy Treats, Fruit Snacks, bananas and oranges. I think there were some granola bars too and I feel like I'm forgetting something...

Things I learned from race #9:

1. Cheap tights from Target are incredibly comfortable to run in. I had no idea. This was actually one of my most comfortable running outfits. Who knew!
2. Bike riders, who are usually at the park on Saturday's I'm sure, can be quite rude to those racers taking up their bike space. There were times they made me feel like I was going to be run over!
3. Racing with the family and friends always makes for a more enjoyable race for me. I truly enjoy the community aspect of races. 
4. The stories from the survivors and their smiling face of accomplishment at the end of the race were absolutely inspiring. You truly never know what someone has really been though. 
5. Fall weather has always been my favorite, but I didn't realize how wonderful it is to run in!

*Quick note: coming up with 5 things is really getting tough! I didn't think it would get this hard. What did you learn from your last race?*

If you still want to donate, you can do so at the Colon Cancer Alliance by going my participant page and clicking the"Donate to Sarah" button on the right side. I understand this will be open till the end of the year!

We are really looking forward to the next race, Run for Your Lives Zombie 5K obstacle course at the end of October. This is going to be a great time! I'm trying to figure out how to get pictures of this one...

A Simple Marvel of Modern Life

Do you remember the first time you had an ice cream cone? Nope, me neither. But I will remember the Politician's first cone. Such a simple joy that he hasn't had before (he'll be five in September) because of his dairy allergy. His summers have been full of those confections frozen on a stick, but this was his first drippy, sloppy cone. And I will not forget the excitement and joy on his face when he had eaten enough of the ice cream to dive into the cone itself.

The Enforcer is back there with a Nunna Cookie. Treats all around.

Politician: I can eat this?
Mom: Yup, it's like a cookie.
Politician: A cookie?

Upon hearing this, PT skips the ice cream and goes straight for the cone with a look of amazement when she realizes there is ice cream in there too! The Politician chows down and squeals with enjoyment.

Politician: Can I eat the bottom too? (pointing to the tip of the cone)
Mom: Sure, you can, but it might drip.

At this point PT discovers that with a hole in the bottom she can suck the ice cream out and the Politician follows suit. I was pleasantly surprised that they figured that out with out any hints from me or the Dad.

Growing up, I had an aversion to dairy also as did a few of my siblings. I can have dairy in small doses now, but since I cut back to almost no dairy while nursing the Enforcer (he seems to have the same problem,) I have switched most of our diet to soy, almond and coconut milk. (PT isn't affected at all and she has no problem letting her brothers know when they can't have something because it has "cow milk" and will make them sick.)

It seems that most grocery stores have dairy free products and organic markets have an even larger selection. Dairy-free ice cream, yogurt, cream cheese, pudding, sliced cheese (for grilled cheese sandwiches), and, of course, milk for drinking are all easy to pick up during a normal shopping trip. No need to make a detour for these "specialty" products. Thanks to this convenience of modern life we have soy ice cream on hand as a frozen treat. It definitely doesn't taste as creamy or decadent as some traditional ice creams can, but our older two didn't seem to mind one bit. It wasn't long before the only evidence of ice cream cones was sticky hands, messy cheeks, and great big smiles.

A Toilet Tale

I just found this gem as I was going through some old documents. This was written as an entry for some sweepstakes by a bathroom related object a little over a year and a half ago. Enjoy!

Sure, my one-year-old likes to eat toilet paper. And yes, she thinks the water in the toilet is her own personal pool. But this toilet tale is not about her. My three-year-old has a mini-toilet in his room to use at nap and at night. One day, during naptime, I heard a lot of movement upstairs. I went up to discover, yes he used the potty, but he was completely naked, the floor buried in pooped covered wipes and the poop was nowhere to be found. I asked him where it was and he told me “I put it outside.” Wondering what he really meant, I cleaned up the mess and put him back to bed. When he woke up from his nap, I was met in the room by a wave of stench. I hunted through the room for the source of the smell while my son kept repeating, “Mom, the poop is outside.” After one last sweeping look of the room, I noticed a small spot on the window frame between the frame and the AC unit. I opened the window to find, my son was telling the truth. Squeezed through the gap, the poop was outside.


So you can see just how adorable they were a year and a half ago:

PT at 1

The Politician at 3

 I could write a book on PT and toilet related tales...

National Running Day Fun!

Last Wednesday was National Running Day and the kiddos and I went out in the morning to do a lap or two at our local park.

The Politician has really started enjoying he "big kid bike" now that he's about an inch taller and he had a blast racing on the flat trails. Any time there was an hill he would get off and push it up or raise his feet in the air over the pedals and run smack into a tree. He really enjoyed himself.

On the paved trail and loving it!

She's ready to go!

PT is a whole different biking story. She is learning how to use the tricycle and amidst the "I can't" and "will you push me?" she has figured out how to go backwards pretty well. She ended up running along side me and the Enforcer instead. She either wanted to hold my hand or hold onto her brother's which did not help me steer the stroller very well.

Beautiful day!

Here's a lovely like poem for you about our NRD adventure:

As a celebration,

(And to kick off summer fun)

my little ones and I,

We all went out for a run.

The oldest he prefers,

Riding fast by on his bike,

And it’s some wheels as well,

For the youngest little tyke.

My little lady, well,

Like mom, enjoys a good run,

We all had quite the day

Lots of racing in the sun!

I was entering for a chance to win a neat pair of compression shorts (with ice pack pockets for post run) and wrote the poem as my entry. I let you know if I win! (Today is the last day to enter. Click here for a chance!)

I love the baby swinging pictures.

Of course since we were at the park, we had to hit up the playground before we left! The Enforcer LOVES the swings. Just like his brother and sister!

He was pushing both of them!

The Politician goes to Washington

Ready for the Metro Ride!

All hyped up and ready to go, the Politician and I head out to DC after breakfast on Sunday, April 29th. We drove down to the closest Metro station to take the train into the city. Not only did we avoid a parking but we got to ride "the train" which is always a big treat.

We needed to switch trains and as we got off the first train and headed toward the next platform we met the MC for one of the stages at the USA Science and Engineering Festival where we were headed. If you picture a "mad" scientist in your head, your picture would probably look a little something like this guy. Tall and lanky, long scraggly grayish white hair, glasses and a shaggy goatee (also in grayish white.) Oh, and a white NASA jacket (quite awesome I might add.) He was telling us about the day before at the expo and suggested a few places for us to go first when we got in. It was great to hear someone so excited about it! I knew we were going to have a good time. (We saw the gentlemen at the stage when we got to the Festival and he gave the Politician an enthusiastic wave.)

We got to the convention center about 10 minutes before the Festival opened and there was a line waiting at every entrance to the exhibit hall. So, we picked an entrance closest to the PBS Kids booth inside and waited. After putting on his "CALL MOM" bracelet with my cell number on it (in case we got separated), the Politician checked out the map and peered through the hall windows with excitement!

Soon we were inside and on our way. The PBS Kids booth was first on our list, but we stopped at the Southeastern Lousiana University booth so the Politician could paint a Maggot Monet. They put drops of paint on a piece of paper and then set fly larva into the paint and as they wiggled out they painted for you. They gave him a small pair of tweezers to put the larva back into the paint to make a new trail. Surprisingly it turned out looking pretty neat and he didn't squish any of them!

At the PBS Kids booth, the Politician measured, blew bubbles, and played an online game using a webcam (which I need to look up, so we can play at home,) and saw a few TV friends, the Cat in the Hat, Buddy from the show Dinosaur Train, and Sid the Science Kid was on stage. (This was one of the day highlights for him!)

(You can see the guy we met on the metro in the bottom right.)

We had a few favorite booths:

1. The American Association for the Advancement of Science - The Science of Our Senses
• We tried out touch (trying to pull out a matching item without peeking,) sight (different optical illusions,) and taste/smell (jelly bean challenge.) We skipped the hearing section of the exhibit.
• The Jelly Bean Challenge
• I was so excited by this one that I had the Dad try it when we got home. It works with a lot of different things, you don't need jelly beans. It's just a good excuse to eat some delicious Jelly Bellies.
• Hold your nose, pop in a jelly bean and start chewing. Let go of your nose. That's it. You should taste something different after you let go of your nose. (Let me know in the comments if you tried this!)
• The first Jelly Belly we tried was Buttered Popcorn and as soon as the Politician let go of his nose, he spit the jelly bean out and exclaimed "Ah, this has milk in it!" (He's allergic to milk.) His reaction was so immediate, he definitely did the experiment right!
2. Michigan Tech MIND TREKKERS - Get your GEEK on!
• This booth was full of hands on activities for everyone. The favorite was walking/running across a pool of water mixed with cornstarch (there were lots of activities with this mixture there.)
• He didn't move fast enough the first time and almost did a face plant. Here is a video of his second attempt which went a little bit better. 

• They had a few things with liquid nitrogen and breaking frozen food. Graham crackers dipped in liquid nitrogen were passed around for those who wanted "Dragon Breath" or steam coming out their mouths. The Politician wasn't interested, but wanted me to keep having some. 
• The liquid nitrogen was also used to make some chocolate ice cream, which sadly we couldn't try due to the milk allergy. It did look neat while they were making it though.
3. West Virginia University - Sci ID-The Science of Identification and Discovery


• We explored the possibilities of biometric science with iris scanning technology. Everyone's iris creates a different pattern. It was interesting to see the b/w photos of a few different people and how unique the iris patterns were. 
• The Politician and I booth got and iris scan. Can you tell which eye belongs to me and which is his?

We went to so many different booths and had a really great time. We didn't even make it to one side of the exhibit hall. It was really busy, though I think Saturday had been busier. The guys from Myth Busters and Bill Nye the Science Guy had been there Saturday, which I am sure helped draw the crowds!

Next time, I will bring a lunch instead of spending $8 on a hot dog (I KNOW! Just a hot dog for 8 bucks, not again thank you.) I'm glad we didn't bring the whole family, though people did. I don't think chasing after PT or pushing a stroller around the masses of people would have made anyone happy. 

I think we both learned a few things and we had a great day. Just the two of us. 

Only for the SERIOUSLY Advanced

Yesterday, the kids and I walked over to our local elementary school to get the application to try and enroll the Politician in to kindergarten next year. The cut off is five by September 1st and his birthday is mid-September.

The deal is you fill out this application and then the reading specialist calls your kid in for a test before the end of the school year and then if they pass that test, there is another one before school starts in August. If the child passes both tests, they can be enrolled in kindergarten early. Before we left the lady we spoke to in the office said, "Just so you know, only about 3% of the kids that submit applications for Early Admission get accepted."

3%?!?! The whole elementary school has less then 500 kids. So that's about 80 kids per grade level and about 7 kids have a birthday per grade each month. With the window for Early Admissions at September 2nd to October 15th, about 10 kids in our school's area are eligible. Of those 10, say maybe half (that's probably high...) of them want to try to be admitted to kindergarten early. If my math is right, that means our elementary school admits one kid early every 6.5 years. On average.

Well, this made me stop and think for a bit. We brought the application home and there is a checklist of things to assess your child on, each with an ALWAYS, SOMETIMES, and NEVER category. There are few that the Politician does ALWAYS, a few more he does SOMETIMES and then quite a few we haven't even attempted. Counting in 5s and 10s?? Counting up to 31? With the right numbers?? And there are no periods at the ends of his sentences. Just lots and lots of Os.

With there being a few checks in the NEVER category, we're thinking the Politician isn't in the top 3% just yet. Early Admission is clearly in place for a significantly advanced child. I definitely think the Politician would enjoy and do well if he went to kindergarten this year, but why put him, and us, through the testing process unnecessarily. I think we will look for something a bit more structured, even if it is something a little different at home. Who knows, maybe we'll try for getting into 1st grade early instead, or maybe not.

There is a lot out there on how, and when, to start a more "formal" education. There was an article in the Washington post not to long ago about the Finnish education system. Their kids don't start school until they are seven years old. They also have a government funded childcare system, but kids aren't expected to sit in a classroom and be taught. Learning through young childhood is so much about exposure and less about rote memorization. Do we ask to much of our kids to soon? Do we set them up for failure by pushing to far? Or are we not challenging them enough and boring them into laziness? Way to many questions and finding the right balance is definitely not easy. And we will ALL make mistakes. (Yup, even me. I know hard to believe right, haha. I do happen to be right quite often, but I have a problem following my own advice sometimes.)

The Enforcer is already starting to enjoy books and learning.
 At least he's not eating them here.

While looking up some information on kindergarten homeschooling, I came across this comment on a post: "My children’s education is an overall plan, of which public schooling is only one component. So I don’t supplement their education, I am in charge of it. Some pieces are outsourced to the public schools."

I love this. Really, it is exactly what I needed to hear. I have to say, I don't have a lot of faith in the direction of public schools today. So much of the emphasis is on getting good test scores, kids forget how to be creative, artistic, innovative and pure genius. On top of that, technology is moving much faster then the schools can keep up with. The world our children live in is smaller then ours. Everything is global. And sometimes seemingly instantaneous. The comment above really eased my fears a bit. Outsourcing some pieces of their education to the public schools doesn't seem so bad to me.

Watching an Era End: Discovery Shuttle's New Home

For awhile this morning I couldn't decide if we would drive into DC to try and catch a glimpse of the shuttle Discovery as it made a loop around the capitol. We had heard there was going to be a lot of traffic and traffic is one of my least favorite things. But, the excitement of shuttle flight won out. Watching it on TV wasn't going to be enough for me, especially if I didn't at least try and see it.

We left a little later then I would have liked and there was a few minutes that I was afraid we had missed it!

We were driving along the DC beltway and out of the trees to the left flew, the most gigantic plane have ever seen, very close to the ground. Excitedly, I hollered to the kids in the back to see the plane. I wish I could recreate my excitement for you, it was like seeing a celebrity from far away that you think might be someone important, but then second guess yourself, thinking there is no way that was who you saw, all the while you are freaking out just a little.  At first I wasn't sure that this was the 747 we were hoping to see because it quickly disappeared above the trees to the right of the road. And it was about 9:45, about 15 minutes before the predicted viewing window. All we saw was the underside of the plane, it really flew just over top of us.

As we drove up towards our exit, at the National Harbor, we got a REALLY good look at the shuttle piggy backing on the 747. We were in a nice open space and a little higher up then a few other roads. I pulled the car over to the shoulder behind a line of other spectators with their cameras standing on the side of the beltway.

Now is when my hands were shaking I was so excited. It was an amazing site to see! The kids were still strapped in the back of the van, but had a great view out of the window. The Politician was pointing and exclaiming in delight. It was awesome.

I'm not sure what PT is doing with her tongue out.

After the pair flew over head, we pulled back onto the road and went off the exit. On our way cars lined the exit and when we found a spot we pulled over again, hopping to catch another glance. There were so many people our on their cars with cameras and binoculars. It was so great to be apart of. Felt very American. I reminded me a little of the scene in Armageddon before they fly out and there is the little kid playing with his toy spaceship running around in the grass. The Politician and PT were running around in the grass with two other little boys who were there with their mom. Every so often, a cry would go up "There it is!!" and everyone would turn around frantically until we could find it in the distance. Binoculars in hand, the Politician would stop running and glance up into the blue sky and yell "I see it!" We stayed on the side of the road for awhile with everyone else after the normal flight patterns had resumed and we watched a few flights go in for a landing in DC.

Today was definitely the end of an era and I am happy to say I got to witness it. And so did my kids, though they probably won't remember. The Politician might though, he has one amazing memory for a young guy. PT and the Enforcer will remember the stories for sure. Maybe one day one of them might help get America back in space. Being an astronaut is going to be something different for our kids generation. With so much new, smaller technology just how an astronaut looks will be different. But for now, we'll keep exposing them to new, exciting things as often as we can because who knows what might spark a dream.

Kid Spa Day, Not so Relaxing

Growing up, I vowed to myself, that if I ever had a daughter I would let her grow her hair long if she wanted too. I vowed not to cut her hair into the "bowl cut." Everyone knows the hair cut. My sisters and I all had it. the look where it seems the "stylist" sat a bowl on your head and trimmed around the bottom.

Well, all my vowing was in vain. My daughter, PT, has a new do.

The kids were being so nice and quiet on Tuesday morning. PT had joined the boys in their room and they were all laughing and talking together. Even the Enforcer was adding in his coos. About 10-15 minutes after I heard them all wake up, PT comes in to see me to ask for something. And I see it. Or don't see it. Her hair that was past her shoulders when she went to bed is gone on one side of her head. Yup, chopped off. Not there. And she tells me, "I need to throw my hair away, my brother cut it so no more tangles." Well great.

PT has pretty fine hair which tangles quite easily and I had been asking her if she wanted to make it a little shorter, but apparently the Politician has some persuasive skills of his own. He had gotten out a pair of their craft scissors and chopped off a few inches of his sister's hair on various places on her head. Not such a good look.

Politician's Scissor Skillwork

Kinda like half a mullet

Back after I fixed it. 

So before breakfast we got to fix that up. Luckily I was able to keep some of the length in the back (it's about to the nape of her neck), but she has some pretty short bangs now.


Now, I thought we were done with the spa adventure for the day, but PT had other ideas.

For the first time in awhile I got all 3 kiddos down for a nap at the same time. AND they were all quiet! I should have known this was a bad sign. I went up to check on them and the boys were both resting quietly (the Politician wasn't asleep, but he was reading quietly.)

As I opened PT's bedroom door I heard her scurrying around trying to hide something. She had gone into my room and pulled out pink and purple nail polish and tried to paint her finger and toe nails. Surprisingly, there wasn't paint all over much besides her. She didn't spill the bottles or pour them on herself. I looked like she really had tried to use the nail polish brush.

After cleaning her up with A LOT of nail polish remover, we had a good talk that I'm sure had little to no effect. (Evidence: 2 days later she had found the small bottle of baby powder in our room and poured it all over herself and her bed. At least it smelled nice in there...)

My last spa day was much more enjoyable then the Day at the Kid Inspired Spa...

What's a Little Pee Among Friends

Here's a little laugh for you:

A few of the of neighborhood kids were over in our backyard playing with the Politician and PT while I watched from the kitchen window making dinner. I had the window open since the weather has been AMAZING and then I could hear while my eyes were busy elsewhere.

All of a sudden I hear "WHAT ARE HE DOING?!?!" from the little girl who lives next door to us. I look outside and I see the Politician pulling his pants back up. Yup, that's right, back up.

So I call him inside and he tells me he "just had to pee." Apparently the bathroom, that he past on his way to come talk to me, is too far to walk too. He proceeds to tell me that one of the Dad's friends pees outside and that makes it ok. I assure him that it is not ok to pee in the backyard and send him back out with his friends.

I then call the Dad an relay this story and learn that on their disc golf adventure over the weekend, where the Politician accompanied the Dad and friends around a few courses (most at State Parks,) they would pee in the woods. When the Dad came home from work, he had a nice talk with our oldest son about when it is ok to pee outside. Oh the joys of boys!

Vomit is Never Convenient

Moving, itself, is not fun. Where you are moving to, the opportunities available where ever you are going maybe fun and exciting, but the actual packing, looking for a new place, leaving the old place and all the cleaning in between is not fun. Then add a few sick kids. Awesome right?

For the past few weeks we have been looking for a new place to call home in hopes that we could be in said new place before The Dad starts his new job. All was well until we put an application in on a property. Then we were in the "waiting place." While in the "waiting place," a lot of thinking happens (or doesn't sometimes.) Thinking and worrying, in my case. Especially after the obligatory 3 day waiting period and still no word yea or nay. The I start getting antsy and begin to worry about a back up plan. As part of this back up plan, we decided to go look at a few more places late in the today.

Looking back there were signs that we should have stayed home: relator called while we're driving over to tell us two of the properties still have tenants and need more notice to be shown, two others do not allow pets (though why they don't make a note of that on the public pages I have no idea,) one other has been rented already, leaving only one property to see. (Which when we went wasn't even high enough on The Dad's list that I didn't get out of the car, I stayed and fed the Enforcer.)

So we see the ONE property and now everyone is hungry and a bit cranky so we head out for a nice dinner. (Mistake number two for the evening, we should have just gone to Chick-fil-a, but that's a post for another day.) Everyone eats a bit, though I might have been the only one who semi-enjoyed myself. Got everyone back in the car and headed for home.

Now, let me give you a few facts about the Bay Bridge. It is one of the longest over water structures in the world at 4.2 miles long. It is actually two side by side bridges. There is no where to pull over on the bridge or for over a mile after getting off the bridge. On this bridge is where PT began vomiting.

The Politician is hollering from the back seat "Stop, stop! She's Sick!" I immediately begin looking for a place to pull over, knowing full well there is no such place. And as the poor little girl empties her stomach the smell makes it's way to the front of the van. Vicious. Pink lemonade does not smell good on the way back out. Whoa. Though apparently it does not bother the Politician because he kept asking us to close the windows back up.

Luckily, I keep a change of clothes for everyone in the van (except the adults, though I've been meaning to change that because you never know when it would be good to have a spare shirt in the car.) We pulled over at the first gas station and cleaned PT off, changed her, and got as much out of the carseat as possible. It was here I was informed that the Politician had bug bites on his tush and I would need to see them when we got home. Glorious.

The remainder of our drive was fortunately uneventful.

Get PT in her bed and check out these bug bites of the Politician's. NOT BUG BITES. At first we think it might be some kind of rash, possibly poison ivy. Quickly, went to check PT and she's fine. The Politician has some kind of itchy blotches all over his legs, butt, back, arms and even one on his face. So he gets stuck in the tub with some oatmeal, while I freak out accordingly. We go through the whole day and evening and cannot figure out where he got this rash or what it is from. Our best guess is there was some thing at dinner with milk in it and he's having an allergic reaction. So he got a dose of benadril, some anti-itch cream and he catches a ride on the dreamland express.

All in all a terribly unproductive evening because in my inbox when we got home is a note from the realtor that our application has been approved. Awesome.