Monday, July 31, 2006
Nakedness
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Book Worms
Jake won by reading a total of 21,273 pages at age 9.
Beth won the 6 and under category with 1293 pages.
Alex won by reading a total of 3846 pages.
I'm proud of them no matter what but today was an extra special day for these little people who hold such huge spots in my heart.
Lucy's Self Makeover
Lucy came up from her room yesterday decked out in a really crazy outfit. Her bottom layer is a wet swimsuit, the next is a long-sleeve jacket unzipped with a green and white striped sleeveless polo to top it off. I think the pants are last year's by the looks of the busting seams. Alex asked her if mom did her hair and she said no...she did it. With disbelief Alex grilled me about it and we called Lucy into the room to check out her cool do. She did it herself and it was really awesome!
Final Kitty Report...FAREWELL
Beth forgot about her own cats once she saw all the others.
Lucy's new "smile" pose...she's been using this one a lot lately!
No excuses
It's been a long week of re-adjusting to E coming back into the picture and it hasn't gone quite as smoothly as we would have assumed. So, without boring everyone with the gory details I'll leave it at that and take the next couple of posts to catch up on the good things of the week.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Four Things
Four Things About Me
A) Four jobs you have had in your life:
- Waitress
- Videomax - video clerk
- Secretary, accounts receivable, dictation - B&C, lawyer, dentist
- Catering
B) 4 movies you would watch over and over:
- A Walk to Remember
- The Notebook
- Return to Me
- End of the Spear
C) Four places you have lived besides where you live now
- Hesston, KS
- Newton, KS
- Halstead, KS
- Pittsburg, KS
D) Four TV shows you love to watch:
I don't really watch TV but here are a few I can think of that I used to watch
- Storm Stories
- Trading Spaces
- While You Were Out
- ER
E) Four places you have been on vacation:
- Deer Isle, Maine
- Colorado
- Burlington, Vermont
- California
F) Four websites I visit often:
- many blogs :)
- Amazon.com
- eBay
- the bank and the library
G) Four of my favorite foods:
- Cheesecake with a granola crust and homemade whipping cream
- Fresh Blueberries or pineapple
- cottage cheese and jalapenos
- Peanut butter and honey
H) Four places I would rather be right now:
- Cooler climate - Maine?
- Starbucks with friends
- In Kansas with friends and family
- On a weekend getaway with E somewhere mountainess and cool
I) Four friends I think will respond:
I think I've used up all my friends in the past month. :)
Friday, July 21, 2006
Gifts from China
Beth received a beautiful metal horse. Each kid asked for something specific so E worked hard to get what each one wanted.
Jake received a bronze dragon.
Alex wanted a flashy rolex. She got what she asked for!
Family gift - Chinese Checkers in a hand painted and lacquered sheepskin box
Lucy asked for a Chinese American Girl (only this kind of contradiction would come from Lucy!). This is the closest thing he could find. They had porcelain and plastic so he bought plastic knowing it would last a couple of days instead of a couple of hours with this little girl.
This is just a little taste of the treats he's been passing out for the last 24 hours. Words can't do justice to the relief and happiness we're feeling having Eric back. I think I'm smothering him. :) I did get to go to the store by myself for the first time in months. It took me longer than usual because I was trying to savor every minute. We just finished a wonderful family supper and getting ready to tuck everyone in for the night. The jet lag hasn't consumed Eric as much this time...probably because he was acclimated to the time change well enough before switching back...another positive aspect of being gone so long. Again, just so thankful tonight to be reunited.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Counting the hours...
Thanks Gail
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Nanny 911 - Reinforcements have arrived
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Monday, July 17, 2006
Pray for E
Lucy's Bad Day
Beth and Lucy
Lucy and Beth coloring instead of running around like crazy girls or playing in the dirt. This was a rare occurance so I thought I needed a picture of it.
At this game they were getting a little naughty so I made them sit in the car with me. They found Jake and Alex's KU hats in their boredom.
Beth and Lucy's last game and last team huddle.
Weekend Partier
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Never eat out with the Bullers...
Save Spots
"Realize that God uses hardship to perfect our faith (see Rom. 5:1-10). God promises that we'll one day reap if we don't grow weary."
Praying today that some good is coming out of this time alone and that I would not grow weary. The end is in sight.
Friday, July 14, 2006
Last game of the season...almost
1 down, 4 to go...
Friends
-- Baltasar Gracian (1647)
Thanking God tonight for many good friends who have divided all the evil in my week.
"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you."
-- Elbert Hubbard
Thursday, July 13, 2006
It's Thursday...
"This day still is mine for the taking--it just looks a little different."
(thanks Jody)
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Germ-a-phobe
This also reminds me of another story from Kansas...our friends get together on New Year's Eve and have a "Fry Fest" out at a local camp. Everyone brings food to fry and there's a huge fryer set up and it just fries all night long. The kicker is that the fryer is set up in one of the most unimaginable places...the men's bathroom. Here's a picture of me relieving the "head" fryer of his duties for a little while so I could make sure all the bacteria was choked out by all the grease...
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Ok, I thought of something reasonably nice...
I've got nothin'
Well, mom. I'm finally obeying...
Monday, July 10, 2006
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Lucky 13
Did I tell you Lucy is back to normal???
The kids and I have had a great day. As I sat back and watched them swim today (overlooking the minor bickering) I realized I am such a lucky girl. The kids are relatively normal (as good as can be expected with me as their primary influence) and they love people. They may not be the quiet, respectful kids that sit back and portray the old saying "children are to be seen and not heard" but I am very glad. They make friends with everyone they come in contact to...from the empty nest couple suntanning at the pool to the waiter at Applebee's. They hug their friends, they hug MY friends, they love people. I have made a ton of mistakes but if they just grow up and love people I am content. We stuck to the plan today; swimming, Applebee's and church, added in a few visitors to play with the kittens, and ended the day with finishing up a package to send to E and dropping it off at the Schmidts. The kids hugged and loved on Dave so he could pass it on to daddy (just a sidenote E, the sloppy wet kiss Dave will give you is from Lucy...I'm saving mine for you personally). As we snuggle into bed tonight, having our weekend campout in my room, we are thankful that we have each other. The sun has set on day 13 and we have 13 days to go.
It's a New Day
Just kidding. But, I am able to work out in the privacy of my own bedroom and I love it!
AND - I finally got out last night. My kids were up late too so everyone slept in...some are still sleeping and I've decided to mow another day. We're off to play and then to Applebee's to use our free kids meals from the summer reading program. What a difference time away makes.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Desperate
And, I keep noticing more nice looking males at the ballpark than I ever have before.... (watch out E, maybe you better catch the next flight home after all) :) just kiddin' (about the flight anyway...)
...maybe I just need to get out.
Day 11
My friend Gail called this morning and reminded me that her mom parented alone for 9 years (this came up AFTER she validated my pity party...she didn't just call and say this right off the bat). She is very right. Many women do this for life and I only have to do it for a month...
Our first 11 days seemed to have flown by really. There's so much to be thankful for:
- Even though Lucy's infection was no picnic I am thankful I have had things on my mind to keep me busy.
- I am thankful that I've been falling into bed at night dead tired and not getting around to the dishes or nightly chores.(ok, this only came after 3 nights of NO sleep)
- I am thankful that everyone has slept in, including myself.
- I am thankful for pull-ups that I can put on Lucy at the ballpark when she has to pee 4 times.
- I'm thankful for my friends who continually call or email and check on me.
- I'm REALLY thankful for diet coke.
- I'm thankful the kids are still giggling - I haven't been the most fun mommy and the giggles have been getting on my nerves.
- I'm thankful the library ladies took pity on me and my plight and took care of my $24.30 library fees on overdue books (all due the day Lucy got sick).
- I'm thankful we're almost 1/2 way through our month.
- I'm thankful the Suburban is still going strong (hope I'm not jinxing it).
- I'm thankful for Blockbuster and the library movie selections.
I'm sure this list could go on and on. Just keeping myself accountable to be thankful and not complain. I've got it really, really good.
The 4th
Well, I'm not the best hostess. We had a family in for the 4th and my kids were bouncing off the walls with nautiness, my parenting was short-fused, and I forgot about the burgers on the grill. But, the kids were HAPPY, there was plenty of OTHER food, and my friends were FORGIVING. Happy 4th of July!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Day 9
Nourishment
I haven't really taken time out to realize how much I need friends. A couple of girlfriends just left after bringing in a movie to watch. It was great nourishment for my soul. I really do need my friends.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Blogging etiquette
We (a couple of funny girls) FIXED the mower
RESULTS...finally
I BROKE THE MOWER!
(I'm going to take Jake out with me and fix it. He's old enough that some kind of natural ability for fixing it will come out of him, right?)
Sorry E!!!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Stories from South China
Not much to blog here tonight. Everyone is alive (although my DVD player didn't survive the day...). That's about all I can say. I have few words tonight so I'm stealing a funny story off of E's blog. We're thinking of him and reminded that his absence leaves a hole in our sanity and reasoning abilities. :)
E:
The pictures you see are of my dinner: Chinese Hotpot. Basically, you make a soup full of "flavor enhancing ingredients", bring it to a boil, and then you throw meats, veggies, and things from the "other" category in to cook. In this case, half of the pot was "regular" soup and the other half was "make a grown man cry" spicy soup. As you can see, on my plate is tofu (my parents would be so proud), two types of mushrooms, garlic cloves, cabbage, and some lamb. At the bottom of the picture, you will notice a small round seed. My host told me that it is a seasoning, but if I chew on it I will receive a strange sensation in my mouth. Since I am always willing to eat something stupid once, I popped it in and started chewing (in spite of the terrible taste). She didn't tell me I only needed to crack it, and then spit it out. As soon a I began feeling the "tingle", I swallowed the seed and chased it with some hot tea. By then, it was too late. Beginning with my tongue, my entire mouth became numb, except for the incessant tingling. My saliva glands were working overtime as my mouth began to fill up with spit. As soon as I would chase the spit down with the hot tea, my mouth would fill up again. It only took five minutes to recover most of the feeling in my mouth, but it was the longest five minutes of my life. The good news is, my hosts got a good laugh. Ha Ha, very funny! The paralyzing seed and I now share the same name: Numb Nut.