Happy Halloween!

*Disclaimer: I realize the photo quality is less than desirable.  In my defense, the flash was off and I didn't know it.  Also, the lighting in our house is horrible.  But aren't we all awesome?

Random Thoughts Thursday

I get ridiculously excited when old friends find me on facebook. That, and being able to chat with Pam are really the only things that keep me there. I refuse to get sucked into any of the games.

I’m taking a bunch of Girl Scouts to the corn maze today. In the rain. And mud. Pray for me. (hey, speaking of facebook, I think I’ll go make this my status. It sounds good.)

Why is it that I agonize over writing my status updates? Everyone else writes literally whatever comes into their heads (sometimes waaaay too often – I’m just sayin’), but I have to think about it, and write and re-write, and then after I post it I get all stressed that it sounds stupid. Yeah, I think it’s best if facebook and I have a very casual, very remote relationship.

Apparently I’m ruining Ellie’s life. Bummer.

Oooh, better not forget the camera today!

Why won’t my children wear clothes?

I’ve been pondering lately why on earth there are so many differing views in the world. Good grief, can’t everyone see that MY views are the best?!

I still remember a commercial from years ago, where the announcer voice said, “home-cooked meal on a weeknight?” in a shocked voice (I think it was actually advertising KFC. Home-cooked my left toenail! Ahem...anyway...) I used to laugh at that, because weeknights were when I actually cooked. Saturdays are a free-for-all. But now that my kids are older and busier, I get it. Aha!

I should probably finish the girls’ Halloween costumes.

Chris thinks I should be Tonks (from Harry Potter) for Halloween. With pink spiked hair. But that’s as far as he can get in the costume idea. He just wants to see me with pink spiked hair, I guess.

I need to stop editing other people’s blogs for grammar. I promise I don’t do it to be critical, it’s just that I’m a total nerd. And contrary to popular belief, “yeah” is not spelled “ya”. (and yes, I am aware that “yea” is not spelled “yay”, but for some reason I’ve hated “yea” my whole life. It doesn’t look complete. Am I totally strange? Wait, don’t answer that.)

Okay, sorry, I guess I’m kind of on one today. Maybe it’s time to publish and then force bribe encourage my kids to get dressed.

Woe is me

Well, our battle with swine flu isn’t over yet. This time it’s me. I’ve been fighting what I hoped was just a really bad cold for a few days, but yesterday I was hit by the stampeding pigs. And knocked completely flat. And the worst part was that Chris was in CA all day for Walnut Village’s open house-meet & greet-schmooze-event. So it was just my miserable tissue-clutching self and the girls.  For the whole day.

And they were awesome. They fed themselves, entertained themselves, colored me pictures, and stayed out of my way all day long. I never once had to get after them for anything, and when I asked them to pick up after themselves, they did it without complaining. Maybe I should be sick all the time.

Ellie was my own personal nurse. Apparently she watched me closely the whole time her sisters were sick, and acted accordingly. She made sure I had plenty of fluids (“Okay, Mom, after you finish your juice, then you need to drink some water, because water is good for you”), a comfy place to chill (“Here, Mommy, let me fluff your pillows”), and a teddy bear, which I was required to carry with me everywhere I went.

Today Chris went to work late and came home early so I wouldn’t have to leave the house to get the girls to or from school. Isn’t he wonderful? He has to go to CA again tomorrow, so he’s doing what he can for me tonight to make up for it. Not that I’m taking advantage or anything ;)

I do not recommend H1N1. Not that anyone has much control over it – you’ll either get it or you won’t – but I highly recommend doing all that’s possible to avoid it. Get your shots, cover your cough, wash your hands, all that good stuff.

And you should probably stay away from my house for a while. We’ve going a little over a week between cases thus far, so who knows how long this will last. But right now I’m going to go curl up in bed with lots of blankets and a good book. Vicki’s book order arrived today, so I now have the rest of the Percy Jackson series. That should get me through tomorrow, I think.

Stay healthy, people.

You found me!

Welcome to the new and improved Three is a Magic Number!  You'll find all your old favorite posts here.  Of course, I'm not sure if anyone even had any favorites, but I do, and they're all here!

As you can see, not too much has changed.  Same crazy household, same crazy blog.

Enjoy.

Random Thoughts Thursday

Why is it that it sounds like life and death when they’re shouting that they need to tell you something, and as soon as you finally respond all they say is, “Wellllll...ummmm...I just...uhhhhh...I was wonnnnderinnnnng...ummmmmmm...”?

14 quarts of applesauce, 16 pints of salsa, 8 half-pints of bruchetta-in-a-jar, 6 half-pints of pear salsa (kinda more like a chutney, really), and nowhere near enough (used to be 12, but it’s a lot fewer now) half-pints of pear butter. Mmmmmm...

I listened to, among other things, World Have Your Say on OPB this morning while making applesauce. I’m all for respecting other people’s viewpoints, but honestly, there are some crazy scary people in the world.

PBS pledge drives make me feel insanely guilty.

I’m learning that the phrase “quiet time” has different meanings depending on one’s age (you'd think I'd know by now...)

I love the fall. I could live outdoors this time of year, just taking in all the colors. And our tree out front is the most awesome looking thing in the fall. The leaves stay green in the middle for a long time, but they’re edged by red and yellow. I love it!

Here is what I look like to Lexi:

I love it.

I"ve had that song that goes "I'll stop the world and melt with you" in my head all day long.  Dang Hershey's commercial.

I should really get a move on the Halloween costumes.  This year I'm making two fairies and a spider.  Care to guess who is which?

Stupid pigs

We’ve been quarantined for going on 5 days now. Well, Lexi has, but really, when you've got a sick kid you don't get out much. And we had 3 days of quarantine with Vicki a week and a half ago.

Swine flu. Oh, yeah.

Actually, if this is the dreaded H1N1 (which it must be because apparently normal seasonal flu has not hit Oregon yet) then it’s not that bad. I do realize that people have become deathly ill from this virus, but for us it’s been no worse than the seasonal variety. My kids get high fevers as a general rule, so 104 degrees, while uncomfortable, is nothing to panic about around here.

I completely understand and respect the school’s rule that kids can’t come back until they’ve been fever-free (fever being defined as 100 degrees or above) for 24 hours without the aid of medication (does that include the parents?) I don’t want my kids catching something from someone else’s kid, and I would feel awful if I knew my kids had been spreading germs around the school (more than usual, that is.) I don’t send them to school when they’re sick, period, and I expect others to show the same courtesy.

So if, when the temperature has been normal for most of the day and we’ve spent the whole day assuming she’ll go back to school tomorrow, the temperature goes back up to 101 degrees, then of course she stays home the next day. But when, that next day, it goes to barely 100 degrees but she feels absolutely fine, it becomes an unhappy experience for all involved.

Cabin fever, big time. But she’ll be back in school tomorrow. If I have to simply plead ignorance by not taking her temperature all day long, so help me she’ll be back in school.*

Sadly, all I can think of now is: two down, one (or, heaven help us, three) to go.

*We all know I'm kidding, right? I really have checked her several times today. Totally normal. Well, normal for this house, anyway.

Spam, spam, spam, spam

I have a “spam” email address that I use for online purchases and things like that. It’s the email address I give out when I know the likely result will be a bombardment of offers for products I physically have no use for (wink, wink.) Most of the time that sort of message goes straight to the spam folder anyway, so all I have to look at are harmless (except, possibly, to the pocketbook) ads for stores where I’ve bought things. Since it’s not my “real” email address and I only check it an average of once a week, it’s not a big deal.

Every once in a while, though, one slips through the net. And something must be wrong with the net, because when I signed on today I found the following from the last several days:

• Why purchase from Canadian Healthcare? (I had this one twice, with different senders)
• Impress your business partner with Rolex watches
• Excellent replicas for a reasonable price
• Now you can take your pants off with pride
• Any way you want it, that’s the way you need it

The last one is my favorite. As suggestive as it sounds, it was actually from yourmusic.com, which used to be BMG Music Service.

---------------------------------------------

And now for something completely different.
(but not really)

You know your kids can cope with just about any situation when the adults at the dinner table monopolize the conversation by repeating Monty Python quotes back and forth and the children simply eat their dinner without batting an eye.

Such is life at our house.

Even technology has its weaknesses

I got this email from my brother the other day.  When I read it I knew it was absolutely necessary that I share it with anyone and everyone who happens across this blog.  Hi-larious.  Enjoy.

Our new computer came with the latest version of iPhoto, Apple's photo-sorting application (it's great). One of the new totally cool features is facial recognition. You tag a photo of someone (like in facebook), and then iPhoto can automatically search for more photos of the same person, and you can tell it whether or not it's accurately finding the same face in other photos, and it learns the person's face that way. It makes guesses and you can either confirm or deny it. Then, if you're ever looking for a photo of someone in particular, you can simply look at their face collection. Easy and cool.

Rebecca and I visited Madame Tussauds while on our honeymoon. So, we have lots of celebrity wax figure photos in our iPhoto. I thought it'd be funny to tag the face of one celebrity in particular, so that in the "Faces" section of iPhoto, you see this person's name alongside mine, Rebecca's and the rest of our family/friends.

A few weeks later, I was going through some more photos, tagging them or whatever, and I opened this photo, and here's what I saw:

You'll probably need to click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see it better (I look horrible, so don't even look at me.  I'm not the point of this, anyway.)

Awesome.

Random Thoughts Thursday

I just found out that my cousin and her husband are adopting a baby boy in a couple of weeks! Congratulations Carrie and Zack!!!

I like to think that my mother-in-law and I have a good relationship. A healthy relationship. A relationship completely opposite from these two women.

It just occurred to me that Random Thoughts Thursday is sort of a day’s worth of Facebook status updates. Not sure what the point of saying that is, but I guess that only solidifies my point.

It’s picture day at school tomorrow. The girls have to wear their uniforms (sorry, I mean “Code of Dress”) and they still can’t decide what to wear.

Ellie has taken to wandering around singing, “Four, four, I like the number four. Four, four, I like the number four.”

I wish I knew how to convince Vicki that sleeping is actually a good thing. Maybe if she believed it was acceptable to go to sleep without crashing on top of a book she’d be more pleasant in the morning. Because I’m such a morning person, of course.

I need a bigger car.

I still haven’t turned on the furnace. Do you think we can make it until November? We did once, about 4 years ago. But not since then.

Ellie got a $10 bill from Grandma for her birthday and really wanted to go spend it at “the number 1 dollar store.”

I love fall, but the weather today is just making me sleepy.

I got an awesomely hilarious email from my brother the other day, but I think I'll save it for its own post, what with all the sleepy.  How hard do you think it would be to convince a couple of headstrong 4-year-olds to take a nap?  Yeah, probably not happening.  Ah, well, a girl can dream.  I'll post Robbie's email tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Look! I've created skeptics

At the beginning of the summer, when the TV gods failed and the digital switchover took place, the girls discovered Qubo. And I discovered that it’s possible to loathe a TV channel with a loathing so powerful it makes Chutes and Ladders sound like fun.

While the shows are sub par, what I hate most are the commercials. Oh, the commercials. They’re not even for stuff I might possibly find useful. In my opinion, everything advertised on Qubo falls into one of two categories: a) stupid kid stuff (Pillow Pets, Chixos, Moon Sand, and Bendaroos all fit here), or b) stupid adult stuff (the Snuggie tops this one, but there’s also Gold Envelope, Heel Stick, and the Cell Phone Wallet, which the girls think I need.)

I've mentioned before how I explained the possibility that you can’t always trust advertising, and how I demonstrated "before" and "after" (actually, it was “fat” and “skinny”, but same difference) for them. Well, yesterday afternoon I happened upon my children gathered around the TV set, deeply involved in an ad for a hair restoration product. And commenting out loud. “No way that’s the same person!” “Oh, you can totally tell that’s a different head!” “Look, the hair’s not even the same color!”

The small comfort in this new additude is that in all likelyhood they’ll always be safe from Nigerian bankers.

There's a difference between procrastination and last-minute inspiration

I need some help for a class I'm teaching at church Tuesday evening.  Here's what I need to know:

1. What is the best thing about Christmas cards and/or letters?

2. What is the worst thing about Christmas cards and/or letters?

Thanks!

Random Thoughts Thursday

There's a spider in my hall.

I feel like I've been playing catch-up all week long, thanks to our weekend canning extravaganza.  I'm finally mostly caught up, though.  And the laundry is actually mostly folded and put away, if you can believe it!

Speaking of canning, I believe that pear butter is quite possibly the ambrosia of the gods.  It's that good.  And if you're really, really nice to me (and if we don't eat all 20-something jars in the next two weeks, which, at the rate we're going, is a distinct possibility) then maybe I'll share :)

I have decided that shopping for presents for my girls stresses me out way more than it should.  I just don't want to end up with a bunch of junk that they'll only be excited about for a day or two.  And Christmas is coming...stress, stress, stress!

Why are there fruit flies in my bathroom?

I watched Oprah yesterday for the first time in, oh, probably seven years.  The girls were shocked when I said I wanted to watch a show at 4:00.  I never watch daytime TV.

I asked Ellie last night if she could guess what was for dinner.  She said, "Cake!" and when I said no, she said, "Cupcakes!"  Nice try, sister.

Today Vicki was shocked to realize that Julie Andrews is actually a blonde.  I remember feeling the same way.  She just is Mary Poppins, so how could she not look like her?

I learned the other day that my childhood best friend has a daughter with the same birthday as Ellie.  Crazy.

I hate it when my kids are sick.  103 degree fevers should not be allowed.  Thankfully, she's on the mend (fingers crossed, knock on wood.)

If anyone has any extra chocolate lying around, you know where to send it :)

Four

Today is Ellie's birthday.  That's right, my baby is now 4, and balks at being called "my baby".  She's growing more confident and independent all the time.  But at least she still wants me to tuck her in at night :)

In honor of her birthday, here are four things about our Miss Magoo:

1. She is always telling us about when she went to "baby school", and all the awesome things they did there.  She even has her friends convinced they went there with her.

2. She has her daddy wrapped tightly around her little finger.

3. She firmly believes that she can control automatic doors (including elevators) by waving her hands at them.

4. Her smile can light up a room.

Happy Birthday Ellie!!!

So evil you'd pronounce it e-VILL?

Lexi, Ellie, and Ellie's friend Katie have started playing a game they call “Evil Genies”. I don’t know where this game came from, or what being an Evil Genie even entails. And to be quite honest, I’m not all that sure they do, either. The most I could get out of them was that they play tricks on people. Or something like that. It was all very vague. Mostly they sit around and announce to anyone who walks by that they’re Evil Genies, with an evil laugh thrown in for effect. Sometimes they put the tips of their fingers together when they say "Evil Genies". You know, for that sinister effect.

Then on Friday morning when we got in the car to go to school, I was informed that they had all given themselves Evil Genie names.

Names like Serafina Buttercup, Sabrini Scarlet, and Peanut Butter Cup.

There is nothing more I can possibly say about this.

Random Thoughts Thursday

I would like to know what was going through the head of the woman in the tiny little BMW who followed me through the Costco parking lot and then sat, with her impatient left turn signal on, and waited while I loaded a month’s worth of super-sized containers and two small children into my car. Did she really think I’d only be a minute? My spot wasn’t even that close to the store. But that silent little turn signal continued to flash louder and louder until I could hardly stand it. So, petty woman that I am, when I had the kids in the car I walked my shopping cart all the way down to the corral instead of leaving it at the top of the parking spot where I found it, just to make her wait a few more seconds. Hey, you follow a mom with a full shopping cart and two kids in tow through the Costco parking lot and you’re asking for it.

We took the 36lb box of pears out of the fridge this morning (there’s a lot more room in there now!) and will get to spend the weekend making yummy things like pear butter and pear salsa. Maybe even some pear sauce if there’s enough. We’re wishing we’d gotten a few more boxes.

Once upon a time I was motivated to clean my house. Then I went on vacation. Ugh, the bathrooms are getting scary. Someone come visit so I’ll have some real motivation.

A friend of mine posted this public forum letter from the Salt Lake Tribune on his blog. The fact that there are people like this out there makes me afraid for our nation. Key phrase: "I don't get the logic."

I, who loves to brag about the lack of TV watching Chris and I engage in, have become addicted to the show Glee. How sad. But so, so funny.  I can't help it.  It sucked me in.

Speaking of TV watching, the girls seem to have forgotten about Qubo now that school’s started. I’m sure we’re missing a whole host of informative commercials for terribly useful items, but I’m not about to remind them.

I like it when Ellie and her friend play Sleeping Beauty. They’re nice and quiet.  Not like the time they played "see who can scream the loudest and longest."

I need some more Beatles CDs.

Why does the phrase “puffy blue dress” make me giggle today?