Last night, my husband and I were watching tv in bed. He suddenly cocked his head with a weird expression on his face, and looked off the side of the bed. There was Harvey, M's hamster, coming for a visit. He put her back in her cage.
About 20 minutes later, I hear a scratching sound, and look over. There is Harvey, walking on a piece of paper that had fallen off my side table.
I am so glad that hamster always comes to our room when she escapes. Befuddled, but grateful.
We invited my mother, the murophobe (fear of mice/rats/other rodents) to spend the night after telling her about this. Shockingly enough, she politely declined. LOL
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Art
I wanted to share some of M's art.
Like every other artist, his art wasn't appreciated. Note the teacher comment in the upper corner. Now, in his defense, when he drew that picture, his teacher had told them to imagine they had a new puppy. They were to draw a picture of a rule they'd have for said puppy. Well, I've got to admit that what he drew would be near the top of the list of rules I'd have for my puppy too.
This door hanger was done at primary. I've got to wonder two things. One, what his primary teacher thought when she saw that, and secondly, how she didn't keep from collapsing into a fit of giggles when she saw it.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
The time I lost a person
This actually happened in March of 2005, but I was looking at my old blog and laughing over this story, so I thought I would share it.
We signed up to host a Japanese engineering student for 3 weeks. Y attended college in Tokyo, and came here for about 3 weeks. Each student stays with a volunteer family. We had three other families in our neighborhood who are also hosting students.
The boys arrived Thursday evening, dead on their feet from jetlag. They were expected to be at the college at 8:30 the next morning. We put together a carpool with the families in our neighborhood so we weren't all driving every day. So, it was my turn to pick up the boys after school the first day.
I arrive at the university and get in the car pickup line. I get up to the front, and tell the translator who I am picking up. Three of the four boys hop in, including Y. I ask about the fourth, and they point to another car and say he's riding with them. I told them I was supposed to bring him home. I ended up having a couple of admin types there, and they assured me everything was ok. I was really unsettled about the whole thing, but felt like I had no choice but to leave. Especially since the other car had already left!
I immediately called S, the host mom to the boy. Got voice mail. Told her what had happened, and that it just wasn't sitting well with me. I just knew that S would've called me if there had been a change in plans. Asked her to call me back.
So around 6pm, S calls me, and I can tell two things. 1- She hasn't gotten my voice mail. 2- Her student never made it home.
She and I go into full panic mode and she begins calling the other host families and administrators on the list, trying to figure out where this kid has gone. He finally got back to Sarah's place about 8:30pm.
Long story short, here's what happened: Another host parent, who shall hereafter be referred to as "Kidnapper" had a carpool going with HostFamily3. Kidnapper was supposed to pick up on Tue, Wed, and Thur, and keep the student until 7pm. Since it was FRIDAY (duh!), Hostfamily3 had come, picked up their student and left before Kidnapper arrived. So Kidnapper arrives, gets his student, and thinks KidnapVictim is his other charge ("Since they all look alike" he said). Tells him to get in the car.
They go merrily on their way, not knowing there was a problem til 7pm. When Hostfamily3 doesn't come to pick up their student, things begin to fall into place. By this time, all of the instructors and half of the host families are aware of the situation and are in full blown panic.
Poor kidnapvictim is so upset and traumatized by the whole thing that he begins to cry. Poor kid is probably exhausted due to jet lag, doesn't speak English, and has been in the US less than 24 hours. I felt so bad for him.
I felt so awful for my role in the thing. I don't know what more I could've done, short of flinging myself in front of the other car.
It could be worse though. I could have inadvertently kidnapped one of the students! LOL
We signed up to host a Japanese engineering student for 3 weeks. Y attended college in Tokyo, and came here for about 3 weeks. Each student stays with a volunteer family. We had three other families in our neighborhood who are also hosting students.
The boys arrived Thursday evening, dead on their feet from jetlag. They were expected to be at the college at 8:30 the next morning. We put together a carpool with the families in our neighborhood so we weren't all driving every day. So, it was my turn to pick up the boys after school the first day.
I arrive at the university and get in the car pickup line. I get up to the front, and tell the translator who I am picking up. Three of the four boys hop in, including Y. I ask about the fourth, and they point to another car and say he's riding with them. I told them I was supposed to bring him home. I ended up having a couple of admin types there, and they assured me everything was ok. I was really unsettled about the whole thing, but felt like I had no choice but to leave. Especially since the other car had already left!
I immediately called S, the host mom to the boy. Got voice mail. Told her what had happened, and that it just wasn't sitting well with me. I just knew that S would've called me if there had been a change in plans. Asked her to call me back.
So around 6pm, S calls me, and I can tell two things. 1- She hasn't gotten my voice mail. 2- Her student never made it home.
She and I go into full panic mode and she begins calling the other host families and administrators on the list, trying to figure out where this kid has gone. He finally got back to Sarah's place about 8:30pm.
Long story short, here's what happened: Another host parent, who shall hereafter be referred to as "Kidnapper" had a carpool going with HostFamily3. Kidnapper was supposed to pick up on Tue, Wed, and Thur, and keep the student until 7pm. Since it was FRIDAY (duh!), Hostfamily3 had come, picked up their student and left before Kidnapper arrived. So Kidnapper arrives, gets his student, and thinks KidnapVictim is his other charge ("Since they all look alike" he said). Tells him to get in the car.
They go merrily on their way, not knowing there was a problem til 7pm. When Hostfamily3 doesn't come to pick up their student, things begin to fall into place. By this time, all of the instructors and half of the host families are aware of the situation and are in full blown panic.
Poor kidnapvictim is so upset and traumatized by the whole thing that he begins to cry. Poor kid is probably exhausted due to jet lag, doesn't speak English, and has been in the US less than 24 hours. I felt so bad for him.
I felt so awful for my role in the thing. I don't know what more I could've done, short of flinging myself in front of the other car.
It could be worse though. I could have inadvertently kidnapped one of the students! LOL
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Started a photography blog
I wanted to have a place where I could showcase some of my favorite photos I've taken.
You can see it here:
http://dabblingphotography.blogspot.com/
You can see it here:
http://dabblingphotography.blogspot.com/
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Food Storage
There is a case lot sale this week at Macey's, a local grocery store. Being a good Mormon girl, I strapped my littles in the car, and drove on over after the big kids were in school. I put Z in a front carrier so I actually had room in my cart, and put S in the nifty little race car seat.
Let me back up. LDS people are counseled to have a year's worth of food storage at all times. Well, that's not technically true. When we lived in Japan, it was only a 72 hour kit per person. I've been told by my military friends that they've been told to keep cash that would last a while. I can't remember whether they were supposed to keep that money in the bank or not. However, since I am a Utah Mormon, it is a year's worth of food, and two weeks worth of water. As a point of reference, one adult needs 14 gallons of water for two weeks. Nursing mothers like me, and pregnant women need more.
Why a year's worth of food storage? It's anticipated that some hard times are ahead of us, and we are counseled to be prepared for that. Do I personally think it'll be a year's worth of hardship and no food shopping? No. I think we will be expected to help those out who don't have any. After all, we are a Christian church, and would it be very Christ-like to turn away starving kids with a shotgun? Of course not!! I had a girlfriend have her husband lose his job, and they didn't have much money in savings. They lived off of their food storage until he got a new job. She said having that food saved was truly a lifesaver for them.
We have some food storage on hand, but definitely not a year's worth. This was the inspiration for today's trip. That, and the fantastic deals.
You are supposed to store food that you will actually eat and use. Then, once you get a pretty good supply going, rotate the food through, buying a few cans here and there so it's not something you go into debt for. With these tips in mind, I bought a case of diced tomatoes, a case of tomato sauce, a case of tomato paste, a case of water chestnuts, a case of cream of mushroom soup, 25 lbs of flour (I will go through that within a month or two, given my penchant for baking) and 20 lbs of sugar.
I am exhausted, trying to get all that stuff in my cart without crushing Z while lifting it in, dealing with a hungry and cranky toddler. But, we are that much closer to being prepared.
K begged my to make salsa today, using our veggies from the garden, so I need to take a breather before she gets home from school. I am sure she'll want to help. She did a lot of the work for our pasta sauce, so I expect she'll want to help again. I expect I'll blog about that, including pictures of our soon-to-be-made beautiful salsa.
If you would like to read more about food storage, and living wisely, visit this website: http://providentliving.org/
Let me back up. LDS people are counseled to have a year's worth of food storage at all times. Well, that's not technically true. When we lived in Japan, it was only a 72 hour kit per person. I've been told by my military friends that they've been told to keep cash that would last a while. I can't remember whether they were supposed to keep that money in the bank or not. However, since I am a Utah Mormon, it is a year's worth of food, and two weeks worth of water. As a point of reference, one adult needs 14 gallons of water for two weeks. Nursing mothers like me, and pregnant women need more.
Why a year's worth of food storage? It's anticipated that some hard times are ahead of us, and we are counseled to be prepared for that. Do I personally think it'll be a year's worth of hardship and no food shopping? No. I think we will be expected to help those out who don't have any. After all, we are a Christian church, and would it be very Christ-like to turn away starving kids with a shotgun? Of course not!! I had a girlfriend have her husband lose his job, and they didn't have much money in savings. They lived off of their food storage until he got a new job. She said having that food saved was truly a lifesaver for them.
We have some food storage on hand, but definitely not a year's worth. This was the inspiration for today's trip. That, and the fantastic deals.
You are supposed to store food that you will actually eat and use. Then, once you get a pretty good supply going, rotate the food through, buying a few cans here and there so it's not something you go into debt for. With these tips in mind, I bought a case of diced tomatoes, a case of tomato sauce, a case of tomato paste, a case of water chestnuts, a case of cream of mushroom soup, 25 lbs of flour (I will go through that within a month or two, given my penchant for baking) and 20 lbs of sugar.
I am exhausted, trying to get all that stuff in my cart without crushing Z while lifting it in, dealing with a hungry and cranky toddler. But, we are that much closer to being prepared.
K begged my to make salsa today, using our veggies from the garden, so I need to take a breather before she gets home from school. I am sure she'll want to help. She did a lot of the work for our pasta sauce, so I expect she'll want to help again. I expect I'll blog about that, including pictures of our soon-to-be-made beautiful salsa.
If you would like to read more about food storage, and living wisely, visit this website: http://providentliving.org/
Friday, September 14, 2007
Questions, questions, questions
These are all questions that M asked me while eating his breakfast this morning:
How do you make a molecule by hand?
Do we have a microscope that sees molecules?
What are bowling pins made of?
Do you think that if you played baseball, using a bowling pin as the bat, would the bowling pin break?
If my arm gets cut off, will you buy me a mechanical arm?
How does a mechanical arm work?
Are there any dangers to a mechanical arm?
Could magnetix harm a mechanical arm?
What day is it?
What are we doing today? (this has been asked 5 times, and it's 7:47am)
Can you get a mechanical stomach?
Can you get a mechanical toe?
When you put your fingers on the home row when you're typing, how do you figure out how to push the other keys?
Well, he is done eating, so I shall cut off the questions that I'm repeating. For now. LOL
How do you make a molecule by hand?
Do we have a microscope that sees molecules?
What are bowling pins made of?
Do you think that if you played baseball, using a bowling pin as the bat, would the bowling pin break?
If my arm gets cut off, will you buy me a mechanical arm?
How does a mechanical arm work?
Are there any dangers to a mechanical arm?
Could magnetix harm a mechanical arm?
What day is it?
What are we doing today? (this has been asked 5 times, and it's 7:47am)
Can you get a mechanical stomach?
Can you get a mechanical toe?
When you put your fingers on the home row when you're typing, how do you figure out how to push the other keys?
Well, he is done eating, so I shall cut off the questions that I'm repeating. For now. LOL
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
That's it, I'm moving
Our gorgeous, beautiful sandbox that my husband built, and the scene of the latest spider incident.
I blogged about finding that hobo spider in our bathroom Sunday.
Today, I let all three kids go play in their fancy sandbox. The big kids took the cover off. Lurking in one of the pails was a black widow! I am so, so glad that the big kids found it and told my husband, who killed it. I shudder to think of S not knowing it was poisonous and trying to pick it up. Or one of the kids not noticing it and getting bit.
I am really upset now. :(
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