Red River Gorge, Here We Come!

We're off this weekend to spend the last few days of Spring Break '08 in a cabin with my brother and his family, plus two more nephews. We'll have 8 kids in all (and I thought the first part of spring break was rough). We'll do some hiking, make some s'mores, build a few bonfires, and play some games. I'm just looking forward to being out of my house with fewer toys, more cousins, and less stress. No ringing phones, no computer calling me, no laundry, and best of all, Daddy will be around for three whole days!!
Check back for posts with pictures of our adventure.

Goodbye to Spidey

Did I mention that Spidey the Hermit Crab from last summer's trip to South Carolina finally bought the farm? I think we might actually have slowly starved and dehydrated him to death forgetting on a regular basis to feed and water him. Or it could be that he finally succumbed to the near freezing temperature of our house. I read someone where that they like to between 70-75 degrees, and our house hasn't seen that temp since October. Too bad they don't make little crab sweaters.

But the actual discovery of his death was pretty creepy. Ian reached into his tank and pulled him out waving to me saying, "Look mommy, here's Spidy." As I turn my head Ian has this look of terror on his face as crabby slid out of his shell hard as a rock and landed on the craft table, shriveled as an old toenail. Yikes. I did not respond well I'm afraid to say. In fact, I may have even escalated the situation. "Oh my god, oh my god," I shrieked, "We've got to throw him away, holy cow." I think the kids actually were handling it better than me. I finally pulled it together to comfort Ian. I don't know exactly how attached he was to Spidey, and I think like me, he was a little more freaked out by that hard crusty naked crab on the craft table than the thought of "death."

He ended up in a butter dish with a quick goodbye (I think I might have even saved the dish) before being tossed into the kitchen garbage. We're not ones for sentimentality around here. No funerals, no final thoughts on Spidey.

He was a good crab. He lived a long time for our house. He switched shells 4 times. We're sorry we weren't better crab parents. So long Spidey.

Boys Will Be Boys

Ian has two good buddies on our street. Burly boys who love to wrestle and dress up in superhero costumes to fight the bad guys. They spend hours building forts, and running around cheeks flushed creating imaginary scenarios where they rid the world of evil. Anything can serve as a crime fighting weapon: paper towel rolls, kitchen spatulas, markers, magic wands, and, of course, one of the many toy swords that have made their way into our otherwise peace loving household. I worry sometimes that while I have encouraged dancing, singing, planting sunflowers, and knowing the difference between a skip and a gallop, that I've forgotten most boys this age are far more into throwing balls. This was never more evident than a few days ago when to the sheer horror of his pals, Ian wanted to give them both hugs and kisses. They ducked their heads; the cootie talk already beginning at age four. I saw that he was confused and a little crushed at their rejection. Oh, my heart went out to this sensitive boy who will probably have to get a few Indian burns on the arms to get over that kissing thing. "Ian, you can kiss mommy anytime," I said, "I love your kisses." He ran over to me and planted a sweet one right on my cheek. Looking over at his friends he said, "Do you know why I love kissing my mom? Because she smells so good."

Could he be any sweeter? I don't care if he does decide to be a theatre major or a gymnast, I'm not trading those hugs and kisses for a homerun any time soon.

Vote for Change!

Today is the day Ohio may redeem itself for helping George Bush take an undeserved second term in office. Let's make a change Ohio. I'm excited to be voting for a candidate rather than against one. Don't forget to vote for issue 10-all kids deserve quality education. Listen to what Michelle Obama says about being hte product of public education.

http://oh.barackobama.com/LookupOH

Yes we can!