and baby makes 6!

Oh baby

I got my husband another surf board for Christmas, because, well, you can’t have too many when the stoke hits. It doesn’t matter that he had just bought a 9′ Robert August board a month ago, oh no. See, this one is a high performance 9′ board. The nose is slightly turned up, like a snob, and she has beautiful angles. You might just have to trust me on this.

I didn’t plan on buying the board. I planned on getting him a wetsuit, but when I got there and called him to ask what size and style he wanted, I also asked which board it was that he had been obsessing over for the last 30 days. He replied “Oh, no, don’t buy a board…………..but its a Robert August Saber”.

And yes, I bought it. And the wetsuit. And lots of wax.

On the way home I glanced in the rear view and thought “how do you hide a 9′ long surfboard from a surfer in his own house”. I mean, it is not like it would fit in our closet behind my clothes. It certainly would not go in the attic. There was no way to just slip it in underneath the other 4 boards. So I called Billy and chit chatted on the drive home. About 10 minutes into the conversation, I said casually:

“Hey, I was just sitting here thinking about something”
Billy: “Oh yeah, what are you thinking?”
Me: “I was asking myself how to hide a 9′ long log from my husband, and I was wondering if you have any suggestions”
Billy: “You did NOT buy that! No!”
Me: “Are you mad?”
Billy: “Are you serious?”
Me: “Oh yes. The nose is leaning up against my head right now.”
Billy “You should NOT have done that.”
Me: “Do you want me to take it back?”
Billy, very quickly: “NO! Don’t do that.”

When I got home, we unloaded it and he unwrapped a bar of wax and, with something like reverence, began waxing his virgin board.

It was hilarious to watch. I felt like I needed to fan myself. Whew.

Why did I do this? Because he would not have done it for himself. It made me feel like laughing and clapping my hands when he saw it.

“But he already had a surf board”, you might say! “And the economy!!! Jody!! you are insane!” Well, you know what? Now he has a nose rider and I went with him to the beach and watched him ride it every day last week. I watched him wriggle into his wetsuit, walk down the beach with his Saber, attach his leash and paddle out into the line-up with all the young guys 1/2 his age….and he smoked ‘em. When he came in, his skin was salty and chilled, and as I kissed him I realized that you can bring yesterday back around. And it is better the second time.

That was worth every damn cent.

Storms

One after another, cold fronts are marching through our coast. They make some great waves for the Surfer dude, but the cold they bring is crazy. Warm, cold, warm, cold, warm, cold.

I was hoping this last one would blow out all traces of the flu, but no dice, our family is dropping like flies every 3-5 days. The bad part is that the ones that drop are remaining ill along with the newly infected. I am still sick. Like in feeling so weak a trip to the store to get milk just about did me in. And now Billy is down. Down like a rock. Both parents ill is such a bummer.

I will try and post something later in the week about our Christmas, but until then, may the flu pass you by my friends. It is one mean strain this year.

Deer might fly, why not? I met you…..

The first Christmas that we spent together, Billy set the standard tradition.

We were in Fort Worth, and it was the second time for him to meet my parents. As quiet as he is, I imagine he was a bit overwhelmed with the Italian loudness and fun. Christmas Eve at my parents house means an evening of visiting with friends and family over mixed drinks and a roaring fireplace. Dinner is at midnight, and I remember Billy was ready to go to bed.

The night grew long opening presents. It was close to 1 a.m. when he leaned over to me in the midst of wrapping paper, laughter and all the chatter and whispered in my ear “I want you for Christmas”.

My breath caught, and all the sounds around me grew muted. All I could hear were his words ringing sweetly in my ear…..his warm breath lingering like a promise.

That is all he has ever asked for at Christmas.

I hope he knows how pleased that makes me.

Tonight, after the kids are all tucked into their beds and the lights on the tree are glittering, Santa will visit, leaving green, red and silver packages shining under the tree.

Bill will be waiting for me. He is all that I want.

Merry Christmas From our family to yours.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Joseph was a hottie

I love our little church. The people in it are so very sweet and have welcomed us in with open arms. We love how, after the service if over, the pastor says “now lets all go have some gooood cookies!!” and we all file out into the large narthex and enjoy homemade cookies together.

Last night was the first ever, in the 12 years since our church was founded, Christmas pageant. See, almost all of the members are older retirees, and when we walked in the door one Sunday morning in August, every member turned to stare at the children. We quickly noticed that ours were the ONLY children in this church. But it felt like home when we went, so each Sunday we returned, and were greeted every time with love and enthusiasm.

Back in late October, one of the members approached me and asked if we would like to participate in a Christmas pageant. I was all for that! So, the ladies of our little church went to action. They hand sewed beautiful costumes for us all, and made all the props and organized everything.

Today, I am thankful that Mia and I were feeling good enough to be there. It was very stressful when we got so sick close to the day of the pageant, as our family made up 1/2 of the participants!

Bill and I were Mary and Joseph, the boys were shepherds and wise men, Cory read the scripture, and Mia was an angel. There were also 6 other children participating.

Lots of people came to see this Christmas play, and afterward there was spiced cider, cookies and everyone was so happy. The ladies sewed all the boys stockings, and made the little girls each a special pillow. They also hand sewed all the children Christmas bags with bells attached and filled them with candy, an orange and an apple. It was a true celebration of the Christmas story and everyone was just gushing about it.

Back in October, after we had joined the church, we started to receive the church bulletin, and one day we read something like this in the pastors note at the front:

“Our church family has wanted children, for years we have prayed for children, and now the Lord has blessed us with children!!”

Yes, he has. And He has blessed our family with the loveliest church family ever. Because you know, that is really what it is all about. People loving people. It is why Christ came. It is why we follow Him.

To be like Him and to bring love to each other.

It is as simple as that if you believe and live it with all of your heart and soul.

Memories

I have had time on my hands today as I nursed myself and Mia back to health, so I have been browsing all of my photos. Holy cow, no wonder my computer runs so durn slow. I have thousands and thousands of images!

The above image popped out at me, not because of it’s stellar composition or clarity, but because I remember that day very clearly. We were in Galveston to go to an interview for Bill. It was July 2006, just 2 months after he had his migraine stroke, and we were in pure panic mode. The giant, guttural pull to find a job with health benefits was consuming, and as I look back on it, I am so glad that he did not get that job.

I know that we were trying to find our past again. A past in which Bill was whole and healthy. A past that was filled with so much happiness. We wanted to go back in time, and that was not a good reason to move.

The day I took this image, we were at the hotel pool, and Bill was so quiet and abrupt with all of us. Early on, I was not able to pick up on how his moods reflected the intensity of his post stroke symptoms (mostly tingling on his right side), so I was feeling hurt.

It wasn’t until a day or so later that he told me he was feeling bad that day.

And so our life post-stroke began. He would get moody and I in turn would get worried. The ebb and flow of his symptoms came and went with no predictable pattern at all. It was interesting to see how my instinct kicked in with him, and our years of togetherness made him so transparent. I learned how to read his moods and realized that he needed his space on those days….when he was ready, he would come to me unexpectedly and tell me he had felt bad a few days before. I knew though.

It is hard to believe that it has been close to 3 years now. It doesn’t consume our daily thoughts. It is not the first thing I remember when I roll out of bed in the morning anymore. We have certainly not forgotten though. It shaped our lives and who we are today.

Today we are grateful. We are happy. We are together and we have learned how to love life with gusto.

That day in July, I zoomed in on him and snapped the picture. I wanted his image to fill my lens before he disappeared. When the shutter went off, it was burned into my mind forever.

Ghost moon over the Texas Riviera

Down with the flu. It is simply awesome to have the flu (sore throat, barfing, poops) and have your 4yo sit up in bed and puke everywhere. Words fail me. I mean, I never thought nausea could reach such a magnitude. It does and I pray that I never experience it again.

Then your fabulous husband comes to the rescue and baths 4yo while you, in a Phenergan induced stupor, strip the bed, clean the floors, walls and doors (didn’t make the bathroom) while he washes and comforts the tiny one.

I am somewhat relieved to be getting it over with, as I have been coming down with this for 2 weeks now, so to finally get on with it makes me know the end is in sight.

For me.

Now we wait as the other 4 brew.

Tonight is my husbands work Christmas party. I can’t tell you how much I have been looking forward to it. It certainly looks like I will be missing it, unless I have a miraculous turn around.

On the bright side, maybe we won’t be doing this on Christmas day!!

Another winner!

Congrats to Jillbert!!

“Ooooh! Love the mens slippers — for me!”

Enjoy the slippers!

I will send you an e-mail ASAP!

A Lands End give away!

Ho, ho, ho! What can I bring you now?

How about some Lands End goodies?

The great folks at Lands End sent me a few things to try out with my family.

For me, some Womens Regular Terry Travel Slippers with their own little satin bag. Sizing for me is always a pain, but these fit me perfectly. They are soft, and will be perfect on the boat and in the trailer so that I don’t have to walk through sand when I get up in the morning to make coffee. The soles are also non-skid, so again perfect for the boat.


Bill got the Men’s Regular Low Sherling Moc Slippers and I will let him tell you about them. Bill?

Bill: They are soft, and very warm….and they make alot of noise when I walk.

Me: So they are noisy? Could it be that you are dragging your feet across the tile when you walk in an attempt to annoy me?

Bill: Could be.

Me: Well, at least the kids will hear you coming and hide their DS’s under the covers.

Me: Do you like them?

Bill: Yeah.

Me: So….will you continue to wear them?

Bill: Um-huh. As long as it is cold outside.

Me: So that’s all you have to say? Nothing funny or clever or cute?

Bill: Yes. No.

And there you have it folks. The male version of a product review on a blog.

Quinn snuggled up in this Boy’s Fleece Pajama Set. Again, a perfect fit and he loves them. They are warm and toasty, and super soft. He ran around in them all evening the first night, and didn’t want to take them off to go to school (school is a long story I will share after the holidays). The little penguin is adorable, and the jammies are very well made. At first I thought they would be too warm for our climate, but he says they are not too warm at all.

Now, if you will leave a comment telling me which of the above 3 you would chose if you had your pick, I will randomly pick a winner and have the item of your choice, color and size shipped directly to you from Lands End.

Now, go! You have until 9p.m. Thursday to leave a comment and let me know which item you would choose if you were to win. I will announce a winner Friday morning.

The Deep Blue Pond

Mia had the opportunity to review a new toy by the WordWorld an Emmy-winning PBS show for kids ages 3-5. The WordWorld toys are designed to bridge the gap between letter recognition and learning to read, and a study funded by the U.S. Department of Education demostrated that the WordWorld television series works as an early childhood literacy tool.

Mia chose the Deep Blue Pond to review, and LOVED it.

The play mat is magnetized, and the child plays with little magnetic WordThing mini-puzzles. Included are six 3-D WordMagnets, 6 flat WordMagnets and a 2-sided fold-and-go mat.

On one side, is a pond scene, and the little magnets spell out things like “canoe” “turtle” and “frog”.

The other side is an ocean floor scene, and you can play with a crab, fish and use a little net to scoop them up. She played quietly on the floor with this set while I went about my morning clean up. I could hear her sounding out the work “crab” and matching the sounds to the letters on the crab. It was really awesome.

When you are finished playing, everything is stored in a little pouch connected to the mat, so the pieces don’t fall out when you are on the go.

Then fold the mat up, and off you go.

We will be keeping this on the boat. It is a perfect size, not to mention that it is flat, so stepping on it barefoot while healed over won’t send screams of agony across the bay.

Mia likes it because it was fun and has a turtle, her favorite animal. I like it because it is a nice, quiet toy that actually does what it says. Mia is learning how to spell, and using phonics quite a bit, so this fits perfectly with where she is in relation to reading, so it hit the mark for it’s targeted age group and its goal to to bridge the gap between letter recognition and learning to read.

Bravo to the folks at WordWorld!

This years seaside craft

Mia and I recently visited a shell shop here in town, and on the tree was a string of lights that the owner had made, with shells attached to each light.

It was just way too cute, and I decided right then and there that we would make one for our house. I have wanted to put some white lights above our kitchen cabinets and leave them up all year to give a nice glow in the evening while I prepare our dinner. A glass of wine, some glittering lights and the witching hour complete with tired children falling apart left and right. Folks, it is all about ambiance.

So, I talked with the shell lady, and she told us how to create our own.

Now a word to the wise on your supplies. Some of the shells I used are a bit pricey, especially if you make a large string. One way to save money, of course, is to collect your own shells. You will still have to buy the large, delicate, puffy sand dollars at $2 each if you decide you want to use them, but most of the others can be collected at the beach if you are coasties. As for the rest of the supplies, you will need a string of lights (I used a 50 light string bought for $1.69), and a glue gun. That is it!

Now, I did not want a shell on each light ($$$$$$), so I glued one to every other light in the string. I laid the sting out, and as you can sort of see in the above image, the individual lights naturally go one up, one down. I glued a shell to all the “downs” to keep it even.

By doing this, if you string them in a straight line across a cabinet top, the shells will all fall evenly and you won’t have to manipulate the string much……which can be a pain when you have little $2 a piece, paper thin shells clanging against each other.

Put a glob of glue on the main body of the light, just above where the bulb is inserted.


With the puffy sand dollars, the opening on top is usually large enough for the bulb, but if it is not, with a razor blade gently “shave” the opening large enough. Be very careful as they are fragile.

It took Mia and I less than 30 minutes to complete our string of shell lights.




Now we have some glittering, homemade lights to make the kitchen more festive this Christmas and beyond.

Winner!!

Our winner is Mindy!! Congratulations! I will get that out as soon as I can! Enjoy it, and thanks to the folks at SmartShopper Electronics for hosting this give away!

mindy Dec 9th, 2008 at 3:07 pm

I’ve been trying to be nice this year! I don’t really want much for Christmas, seeing my one-year old’s Christmas joy will be enough for me! I could really use this gadget, I’m pregnant and seem to have lost my brain! If I don’t win I’ll have to tell my hubby this is on my wish list!

A Merry Christmas give away!

There are few gadgets that really impress me.

Calculators will always be close to my heart, as 4 kids have reduced my mathematical mind to mush.

You all know my love for cameras. ‘Nuff said there.

IPods are pure genius. I would love to have an iPhone so that I could combine my love for gabbing with my love for music.

And then there is my computer. Or as Billy formally has named it….his competition.

The rest of the stuff I walk past on the shelves while shopping, and never feel much of a pull towards them.

Then I received a package in the mail that has changed Bill”s my life for the better. Let me introduce the “move over surf board, you have been replaced as a strange bed fellow” gadget……….the SmartShopper Electric Grocery List Organizer.

I received an e-mail asking if I would like to review the SmartShopper over the holidays, and after clicking on the link, realized that this gadget might just make me a better person.

See, I have a big problem. I forget things. Like, all the time. We will run out of trash bags, and Bill will say “We are out of trash bags”, which translates to “Please get trash bags the next time you go to the store” and then the rest is a blur. I will go to the store, and buy everything BUT trash bags. Then a day later I will go to the store again, and come home with 10lbs of oranges that were on sale, but no trash bags.

The trash? It becomes the big, pink elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. We start using those tiny plastic grocery bags in our 30 gallon trash can. I sneak the big stuff to the outside trash can, like a drunk hiding her bottles, and vow to remember TRASH BAGS when I go to the store the next time.

Then the incredible happens. I go, and come home with $230 in groceries and, you guessed it, NO TRASH BAGS.

And Bill starts sighing heavily. Every time he has to throw something away I feel the weight of the trash bags on my shoulders.

I am completely blond to the bone.

The Smart Shopper is an electronic grocery list organizer. You can add items to your grocery list by pushing “record” and speaking into the machine. It searches the huge data base of 2500 items already pre-loaded into the machine, displays the object of desire, and you press “select” and it adds the item to your list!

I placed mine on my refrigerator (it has magnets built in on the back….very handy) and whenever I come across something I need, I tell it to the SmartShopper, and keep a running list.

When I am ready to head to the store, I select my list (you can keep 2 at the same time) and I hit “print”. The list is printed out, with items organized by categories such as “Dairy” “Canned Goods” “Fresh Produce” and many more. There is also a category called “Errands” where you can list the places you need to visit such as the bank, library, pharmacy or the ever important liquor store. Awesomeness!!

You can even add custom items to the already enormous library. Other additional features are the ability to designate item quantities, flagging for coupons and there is a cooking timer ta boot!! Also, the unit has a magnetic back so you can mount it on your refrigerator. If you have a stainless refrigerator, there are mounting screws included for wall mounting. Or, just leave it on the counter if you like.

I am really enjoying mine. Do you want one??? I am totally pleased to say that in addition to sending me one to review, I was given one to pass on to my readers. Included in this give away will be the unit, 3 rolls of printing paper, grocery item booklet, quick start guide and wall mounting kit.

So, if you would like to win a free Smart Shopper just post a comment below and tell me….do you think you made Santa’s naughty or nice list this year, and what would you like for him to bring you. You have until midnight on Sunday to leave a comment and I will announce a winner on Monday morning!

Naughty or nice? I bet it was nice.

Edit to add: If you are wanting to buy the SmartShopper as a gift, the coupon code for $5 off is: JB94528 This is good through December 31st.

Strange bed fellows

This is what happens when you are married to a surfer.

Sandy curls

It is amazing how flexible this kid is. It is also amazing how dirty he gets, and how oblivious he is to it.

I envy his ability to sleep when he is tired, no matter where that may be.

For Shannon…the return of the curls picture. Billy is NOT allowed near clippers anymore…..as itchy as he is to shear those locks.

The hardest thing

Today I took my son to school.

Many, many things went into making this decision. The biggest of which was that he wanted to go. Badly. He has been asking for months.

Why? He wants to be with his friends. He misses school. And this breaks my heart.

It has not been a smooth ride this year. Quinn is a child that is full of energy and very stubborn. In regards to doing the work, we were constantly toe to toe, nose to nose in a battle of the wills.

Don’t get me wrong. There were many, many, many days that were priceless and precious. More great ones than trying ones. But the hard ones were putting a strain on our relationship. A big strain. We were cranky with each other much of the time. It was changing our relationship in a way that I did not like, and after much agonizing and fretting, we decided to let him try school again. Try is the key here, for me. He will go for the first part of December, and we will decide over the holidays if it is the right thing for him.

This year at home has been unreal in a great way. In the time we had together, Quinn worked through the entire Saxon grade 2 program, learning so very much. It was amazing to watch. How many second graders can do multiplication and find Sicily on a map….not to mention the Tigris and Euphrates river? He read Marco Polo, Robert Lewis Stevenson, among many others, and is now starting a book about Genghis Khan.

We worked through Sonlight Core 1+2, and I have no intention of ending it there. I will order 3+4 and dive into American History with my kids as well.

I am really, really in a tender spot here, so this is not up to discussion. It is a decision that Billy and I made together at Quinn’s prompting, and we know him better than anyone. I am just really sad today, and being the self-flagellator that I am, have to wonder where I failed.

Quinn keeps patting me on the back and hugging me, saying “Mom, we will still read together when I get home. It will be fine. Don’t worry.” And then I cry. And cry. And cry some more.

I walked him to his class this morning, and he was smiling and so very happy. He saw someone he knew, and ran to sit with them, leaving me in the dust.

I had my sunglasses on and there were tears rolling down my face. I miss my Quinny.

Surfer

Saturday Billy and I watched as our son zipped on a wetsuit vest and entered the chilly water to go surfing. *GASP*

Billy said “Now he doesn’t just look like the ultimate surf rat”.

You really have to love surfing to go out after a cold front hits. I mean, it is a suffer fest like no other, and not an activity for those who “say” they are surfers. You can “dude” me up and down, and wear all the right clothes, but until you step into a wet, cold wetsuit, all I see is “KOOK”.

Only a masochistic, addicted surfer would wade out into the Gulf during a cold front.

When Billy comes out of the water after a winter session, his body is cold to the touch for hours afterward. It lowers your body temp that much. I love the way it feels to wrap myself around him after a winter surf session to warm him up. His skin is cool and tastes salty, his face is flushed, and he chatters on and on about the waves. Mmmm. (sigh)

Oh, where was I? Oh yeah. Ahem.

So, to see our son wading out into the chilly surf, we knew he was hooked.

It only took 14 years of watching us to finally feel the stoke. I was pretty sure it would not happen as he was fairly ticked off at us for moving here. I know he avoided the water the fist year for the most part just to spite us. The problem is, it is in his blood, and the kid just didn’t have a chance. He had to surrender to the pull of Nemo.

Now the big question……did I zip up and wade out into the cold-ass ocean for some surf? Not this time. No way. You see, I don’t think my wetsuit fits anymore. I bought it when I was 24 and weighed something like 105 lbs dripping wet. Wetsuits are meant to be tight, but not as tight as I imagine this one will be on me 20 years later. And, no, I won’t go surfing in a bikini and rash guard when the water temp is 65 degrees and the air temp is in the 50-60’s. Brrrrr.

I did try some on at the surf shop and I happen to know that Santa was watching.

I just might find one under the tree this year.

Imagine the fish it belonged to

I was walking down the beach, looking for sand dollars, when my eye caught the unmistakable, triangular shape in the sand. I blinked, because, great God in Heaven, it couldn’t be. It was just too big. I have found other shark teeth, but they were tiny by comparison. No, this had to be a piece of charcoal or something…..

I reached down and picked it up, and when I felt the smooth, sharp object there was no denying that it was indeed a shark tooth A huge, heavy, black tooth.

When I brought it back to show everyone, Billy could not believe it. Impossible. But it was in his hands. No doubt it was a big shark.

Later that day we hit the local surf shops. In one, they had some shark tooth necklaces in a display case. They were new teeth, but none as big as the one I found. Bill called me over to a set of jaws, and it was easily 2 foot wide, but the teeth were smaller than the one we had.

One tooth on display was shiny white, and looked similiar to ours. It was labeled “Great White Shark”, and it was much smaller than ours as well.

Great White’s will frequent the Gulf from time to time. No doubt about this. But, this tooth was really large, and black. I could not recall a shark with black teeth from my icthyology days.

When we got home, I walked to our neighbor who is a marine biologist getting his PhD. When I held out my hand to show him what I had found he exclaimed “Where did you find that. That is marvelous” and he took it from my hand and weighed it with his own. “This is a fossil shark tooth” he said, “very heavy. It is probably a great white, but maybe even more ancient. I have looked for something like this for years and have not found one. What a lucky find!!”

I got online and found this. Mine sure looks like the black one pictured.

So, in all probability it is a Great White, 3MYA.

Holy cow.

By far, the coolest thing I have ever found at the beach.

———————–

BTW, last week I wrote a post for Chris at her Ordering Disorder website. Are you following her recipes and tips there? They are mawvelous. Easy to follow and a breeze to cook. I have a really tough time committing myself to recipes that are time consuming, so the ones she posts are yummy, simple and just right for a busy mom.

Go check out her site, and try Harvest Beef Stew. Mmmmmmmmm!! I make it at least once a week and there are no leftovers!