Are You Ready for Christmas?

This phrase has been repeated to me thousands of times over the last week.  I finally had enough last week and mouthed off to someone "Christmas is going to happen whether I'm ready for it or not".

Seriously, exactly what is it that we are preparing for?  The birth of the Christ child?  The celebration of the birth of the Christ child?  Or the annual gift grab that so many families engage in?

We have a birthday party at our house on Christmas day, and have ever since the birth of our first child.  Cake and ice cream.  I wanted the kids to equate Christmas with a birthday party.  Just like their annual birthday party, we have lots of family over.  Before the birthday party begins, we ice the cake, and I let the kids decorate the cake with sprinkles.  Lots of sprinkles.  When the kids were still under the age of 10, it was my contention that the sprinkles on that cake alone were enough to induce a diabetic coma.

After dinner, we always have cake and ice cream.  We put candles on the cake, and we light the candles and sing happy birthday to Jesus. 

My goal, since the beginning, has been to have the kids realize that first and foremost, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birth.  We do the same things at our Christmas celebration that we do at our family parties.  Lots of family, and lots of talking, lots of fun.

The presents have always been one of the last things we do.  And, we've always made a point of handing out the presents one at a time and everyone watching while each person opens a gift.  It's never been a grab.  We've never wanted the kids to race down first thing in the morning, rip the paper off, and then race off again.  Within an hour of getting up they'd ask "What do we do now?"  or worse, "I'm bored".

A few years ago, we decided to spin things a little bit more.  Just as the Wise Men hunted for the baby Jesus after his birth, we now hunt for our Christmas presents.  (Keep in mind... our children are 18, 16, and 14.  We didn't start this until the youngest was 12!)   We leave a clue out for the children to find, and we hide more clues all over town.  It's the ultimate treasure hunt.  If you've ever been geo-caching, you know what I'm talking about.  Our clues are fairly well hidden, written in rhyme, and do take a while to find.  Usually, the presents are hidden somewhere around the house or yard, but the kids do enjoy the search, and the time we spend together.

But, when I'm asked "Are you ready for Christmas?"  I am saddened.  I see people rushing, rushing, rushing, but never taking the time to stop, listen, and be thankful just for the ultimate gift that we were given so many years ago.  Christmas isn't something that's wrapped in a bag, or tied up with string. 
And it's definitely not something tangible.

Christmas is about that wonderful gift, so freely given to us all.

In these last few days before Christmas, I invite you to stop, sit down, and spend some time with your loved ones.  It doesn't matter if everything is done "just right".  What matters is that you are able to spend time together, play some games together, and make memories that will last for a lifetime.

Mom, Can You Bring?

My oldest child is a freshman in college.  He's in the midst of final exams right now.  I am to pick him up on Monday afternoon for winter break.

His last day of class was on Tuesday, so I posted a little note on his facebook page congratulating him on completing his first semester of college, and wishing him good luck on finals.  I told him, I'll see you on Monday!

Little did I know....

He called home on Tuesday night, and I asked him what classes he was taking next semester.  "Two Math classes, two Physics classes, a Computer Science class, oh, and orchestra."  he replied. 

"Sounds interesting" I said. After I hung up the phone, I looked at my husband and said "orchestra?"  We both shrugged and said nothing.

A little back story here...  the kid has been playing Viola since he was 8 years old.  He made All-County Orchestra every year since 6th grade.   And here's the truly annoying thing.... he never practiced!  He has a knack for playing.  If he'd practice, he'd be an amazing violist.

Anyway, he played his Viola for the last time in May.  He hasn't touched it since then.  I asked him in August, when he was packing up for school, if he wanted to take his Viola along with him.  "No",  he'd replied.  "I don't see playing that thing again any time soon."

I deeply sighed, but I said nothing.

So, on Tuesday night, he tells us he's signed up to take orchestra.

Thursday morning, I get a call from him.

"Hey Mom, you know how I said I was going to take orchestra in the spring?"

"Yes"

"Well, it turns out that you have to audition to get in to the orchestra.  Is there any chance you can bring me my Viola.  Like, today??"

"What?  Why?"

"Well, my audition is this afternoon.  I could borrow one of their violas, but I'd feel better if I had my own."

And that is how I found myself headed back to school to drop off his viola on a Thursday morning.  I asked him if I could just leave it at the desk at the dorm and tell them "This is for the absent minded blonde kid".  He very quickly responded "You'd have to be more specific than that, Mom."

I guess this is the mixed blessing of having a child go to school in state. 

Anyway, I am wishing the absent minded kind of blonde-ish kid good luck!

(This was originally posted in my blog "A Mom's View" in 2011)

A New Cell Phone

My old cell phone was a beloved Nokia Mural.  I've had it for years, and I loved it.  It was one of the last generation of cell phones with web access before i-Phones became an instant phenomenon.  I had used it to take pictures at events for years.  I had even downloaded holiday ringtones for Halloween and Christmas.  My favorite feature of the phone was that I could change the colors of the lights, so the phone would ring in different colors.  My phone was usually green, but sometimes orange, and sometimes purple, and sometimes blue.  My screen saver was a picture of a waterfall somewhere in the mountains, and the ring tone was gentle chimes.

Alas, all cell phones eventually die.  I'd replaced the battery twice in the last three months.  Even with the new batteries, the charge was only lasting for 4 to 5 hours at a time.  I could turn off the phone and the charge would last longer, but that didn't really help when I was expecting calls or messages from the kids.

So, yesterday I bit the bullet and invested in a new cell phone.  I wasn't thrilled with it, but the price was right.  $10.  You know, the price should have tipped me off that all was not well with that phone.  I bought the phone and paid for a two year contract.  Brought it home.. and that's when the problems began.  The charge on my new cell phone was already gone when I got home.  I charged it again, unplugged it and took it with me grocery shopping.  Wouldn't you know?  The thing shut down because it had no charge while I was driving to the grocery store.  In the 24 hours I possessed this phone, I charged it four separate times.  After the 12 hour overnight charge, it shut down once again as soon as I unplugged it.  Did I mention that it was hot?  Hot, hot, hot.  The phone felt like it had been sitting on the dashboard of my car on a hundred degree day at high noon.

I took it back to the store this morning.  It turns out that I bought the phone from an independent contractor for my cell phone company.  I took the phone to the corporate store, but I had to go back to the independent contractor in order to return it.  Thankfully, someone at the corporate store talked to me before I left, and gave the go ahead and directions to me as to what I needed to ask them to do.

I went back to the independent contractor to attempt to return the phone with it's "30 day, no hassle return policy."  Turns out it was a bit more of a hassle than they advertised.  They kept trying to get me to exchange my phone for another phone of the same model.  I'm sorry, but in my experience when one particular batch or model of electronics is defective, typically all of them are defective.  It wasn't until I pulled out the name of the person I spoke to at the corporate office that they sullenly took care of me.  Then and only then was it a no-hassle return policy.

Here's the worst part of the return... my phone got so hot that it melted the little metal squares on the back of my SIM card.  That's pretty darn hot.  We're lucky that the phone didn't catch fire while it was charging overnight.  I am honestly expecting that we'll be hearing of a house that burns to the ground sometime in the next month due to a cell phone bursting into flame while recharging.

After I left the independent retailer, I went back to the corporate store.  Half an hour later, I walked out of the store a proud new owner of an i-phone.  I had tried to resist the lure of the i-phone, but none of the little flip phones that I love can access the internet, text, take pictures, and store my music.  Even better, my photos and music are stored in the i-cloud, so I can access them again from the cloud when I get a new phone.

We've been playing with my phone all afternoon.  I think I'm more fond of this than I was of my Nokia.  I do love Nokia phones, I've used them for over 10 years now.  But... this little i-phone is a really impressive piece of electronics. 

I am very impressed by the ability I'll have to keep track of everything in one place. 

I hate to admit that I'm impressed by the i-phone.  But.... I am impressed.

Mission Accomplished

Here it is, Monday afternoon.  After sleeping away most of yesterday, I think I'm finally capable of writing a coherent post.

Saturday was very successful in some ways, and not as successful as I would have liked in others.

I spent a lot of time Friday baking, baking, baking.  For the church bazaar, I made apple coffee cakes.

 

For the Improv. Group at the high school, I made brownies.
If you look closely, you can see my "secret" recipe!

In front- 2 coffee cakes, ready to go into the oven.
The batter and struesel are next, with the recipe back behind.

Here we have all of the finished projects.  The coffee cakes and one pan of brownies
are going to the church.  The box of brownies are going to the improv. group.

And finally, we have the boxes of stuff going to the white elephant sale.
The two boxes in the back- along with the monkey- are ours.
The rest of the boxes are all full of canning jars.  The craft group at the church swooped in
on them as soon as we brought them in and claimed them as their own, to turn into crafts for next year.

a word from the cat

Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!  I have sneaked onto the keyboard this morning! 

Life has been good.  The wood stove has been fired up since the snowstorm last weekend, and we have been basking in it's warmth in the chairs closest to the stove. 

I've made friends with the new, invader cat to the household.  We now share the bed of youngest human.  We have been curling up at the end of her bed, but now we think that we can work together to push her out of the bed and take it over for ourselves!  Ha-ha-ha-ha!  (That's Luna, cackling in the background)

We have an interloper who has been trying to take over our back yard.  He's a ginger cat.  We tried to jump him yesterday when he came sneaking into our yard, looking at our birds as his afternoon snack.  We're not sure how it happened, but somehow, we both ended up cornered up in the apple tree.  Youngest human had to bring a ladder to come and get us down.

Mom has been painting a lot.  She applied for 10 jobs in the last month, but has heard nothing  - no, not even a "we hired someone else, now go away" from anyone.  So now, she's painting.  We think it is a way to manage stress, but we are staying out of her way!  Personally, we think she'd be better off chasing some mice down in the back yard, or maybe rolling around on the floor with a catnip mouse, but what do we know?  We're just cats......

I'm going now.  I need to go keep an eye on Luna.  You never know what she might decide to do on her own if I'm not there to tell her what to do. 

-tiger.

*This was originally posted on my now defunct "Mom's View" Blog.

Reading to Your Kids

I loved reading to my kids.  Starting before they were born, I would read to them.

I read them everything I could get ahold of.  Textbooks, Dave Barry, Dr. Seuss.  When our oldest one was a wee little one with colic, the one thing that could calm him down was the sound of us reading out loud to him.  He would scream and scream, and one of us would pick him up, snuggle him up close and read the exploits of Dr. Seuss or Dave Barry.

As he got older, he eagerly awaited our weekly trip to the library.  He learned to count early because we would limit him to 20 books a week.  I'd sit on the floor of the library with my basket, and count books with him.  There were a couple of times when he'd sit and look closely between two or three books until he could find the one book that he liked the best to make 20. 

Some of my favorite preschool memories involve trips to the library.  I enjoyed picking out new books and reading new books almost as much as the kids did.  I have a Longaberger Medium sized market basket that used to go to the library with us each week.  It was the perfect size.  All of our books would fit in there.  The kids picture books would fit in spine up, with all of the bright titles shining out at us.  When the books weren't being read, they lived in the basket so that we could keep track of them between library trips.

I have to admit, we lost a few books over the years.  We've paid "rental" on several books that were late.  But the cost of those fines and replacement fees pales in comparision to the knowledge that my kids are active readers.  And I have 2 boys.  Boys are known for being reluctant readers, and yet they both love to read.

Why?  Because we set the stage early.  Reading was something we did as a family.  It brought us great joy.  We spent time together, looking at books, snuggling our children, and exploring new worlds together.

The boys did love to read non-fiction.  I do not.  So, we'd save the non-fiction books for when Daddy got home, and in the evenings, he'd sit and read endlessly from "The Animal Encyclopedia"  or "The Way Things Work" or "The New Book of Knowledge".  And, I'd sit there close beside them, listening with glazed eyes while the kids asked questions and Dad would go into infinite detail about say, how a screw worked.  And then, he'd get out his toolbox, a few screws, some wood, and a screwdriver, and they'd sit around putting screws into wood for half an hour before bedtime, all the while talking about where you'd use screws, and why you'd use screws instead of nails in certain situations...

I guess we didn't do all bad.  The oldest one graduated with a 4.0 and is double majoring in Physics and Math.  The middle one has something around a 3.5, and is an avid reader of business books and journals (and yes, he is Dyslexic, too.)  And our daughter has close to a 3.8.

I bring this up because I saw an article on CNN this morning that says something I think most of us already know  "It's the parent's job -- not the schools -- to find the books to get your kids reading and keep them reading".  http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/opinion/patterson-kids-reading/index.html accessed 9/29/2011. 

We as parents truly are our child's first and most important teachers.  What we show and model to our children is what they will live.  I know, it's frightening to think, isn't it?  They are such little mirrors of us and what we do.... 

And giving them a love of reading, which gives them the power to unlock doors, find out more, and make new discoveries?  To give them the curiosity to ask questions and find out why things are the way they are and work the way they do and see if they can understand it better, or make it work better?

I think that's the greatest gift that we can give to our children.

What Enthusiasm?

I was tx the other day, and saw a wonderful commercial with young children running with abandon through the house.

So, what happens to that abandon as we grow older?

I just watched my two teenagers leave the house.  Heads down, dragging their feet, they walked out the door and down the hill to the bus stop.  I remember 10 or so years ago, when they used to race each other to the bus stop first thing every morning. 

The joy in watching the bus pull up to the corner was only matched by the excitement in their faces as they got onto the bus, looked at me out the window with big smiles on their faces and waved enthusiastically as the bus pulled away.

Now, I'm not allowed to go to the bus stop in the morning.   I am told to stay here at home, and not even allowed to kiss and hug them before they leave.

Our college age son was home on Saturday.  He was happy beyond words when we picked him up, and chatted incessantly.  We dropped him off Saturday evening.  He got out of the car, his eyes alight with excitement.  He ran across the street, ran up the steps to his dorm, turned and waved to us enthusiastically and then went inside.

Okay, so the excitement is there, but it leads to a rather disturbing question:  was it always there and we just missed it?  Or is it just that he's thrilled to be away from us?

I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

College Move In

Today is the big day.  We moved our oldest child into college, and we managed to make it home again before Hurricane Irene began to dump serious amounts of rain on us. 

I remember his first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday.  The confusion, the lines of excited parents and children, and the very confused siblings.  Our daughter was 1 1/2 when the oldest one started kindergarten, and she was standing next to her brother, holding his hand up until he walked into the door.  She was very, very upset that we would not let her follow him into the kindergarten classroom.

This morning was amazing.  The same experience; excited parents and children, lots of chaos, and some very confused siblings. 

We moved after our son finished 6th grade, as did several of our friends.  We had some amazing people that we had lost contact with over the last couple of years with the stress of raising teenagers.

And here's the amazing part:  My son's best friends from that time in his life are also attending the same University with him.  They are all in the same dorm.  They are all on the same floor.  We saw the parents in the dining hall at lunch time, and it was like old home week!  It was wonderful. 

The boys all slunk off while we crowded around the middle of the dining hall, hugging each other and shaking hands. 

As I started to walk off with our second child, he was stopped by several kids that he's met at the regional robotics tournaments over the last couple of years.  They were all like "hey, how's it goin'??" And doing that weird handshake that they do,  and then he introduced those kids to his brother, who will be the student there this fall.

Move in was amazingly smooth, and textbooks were purchased within 20 minutes of walking in the door of the bookstore.  We left at 1:00, just as the first of the weather was arriving.  We got home safe and sound a little while later, and I'm sitting here now, listening to the rain pound down on the house. 

I still have mixed emotions about him going off to college, but I feel much better knowing that he already knows several kids before classes even begin...

All packed and ready to go!  I hope we didn't forget anything important!

Now this was cool.  It's a line of about 20 Power One electrical maintenance trucks from Florida.  They were headed East on  Highway 70 when we saw them.  Thanks for the proactive help!

And here's all of the stuff, waiting to be moved in.  The University actually had Office Movers on hand, with big carts - think of the carts that industrial laundries use.  They were there as soon as I took the picture, loaded the stuff into the cart, and took it upstairs with our son.  Total move in time: 10 minutes.

Nifty clouds.  These were swirling around as we were getting ready to leave, dumping lots of rain on us.

High School Orientation

So, my youngest child - our daughter - begins High School next week.  This morning is Orientation for all incoming Freshman, and tonight is Back to School Night for all students.

I've done the high school orientation two times before, and I'm still looking forward to today's orientation.  We'll go in and listen to the principal explain attendance policies to us.  He'll explain the Standards of Conduct. 

And then, we'll break up into small groups and tour the building.

This high school is much smaller than my high school was, and I find it to be very easy to navigate.  However, this school is much bigger than the middle school that my children attended, and it is overwhelming to them.  The fear of getting lost on the first day of class isn't mitigated at all by her older brothers giving her directions to get to the portables just outside the cafeteria by directing her through the pool.  (Our school doesn't have a pool, so you can see just how helpful they are being!)

I have some mixed emotions about sending my last child off to high school.  I was thrilled to leave elementary school behind.  We had a good school, but her 5th grade teacher left me with bad, bad memories of elementary school.  By the time the last day of 5th grade rolled around, I stood out in the parking lot with several other parents who were leaving elementary school behind forever and danced the "Happy Dance". 

Our middle school has been the bright, shining light of school for all of our kids.  We are very fortunate to have a school that challenges our kids, acknowledges that kids who are in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade will be mischievous, and works hard to challenge all of that excess energy into academic curiosity.  Considering our ranking in the state, our school test scores, and the high number of children who go on to get college scholarships, I know that they do an excellent job.  I love the teachers in that building, and I love their enthusiasm and love for the children.  When we finished middle school in June, I did cry.  I will miss middle school.

But we have an awesome high school!  The best teachers, ever, and a student body that is motivated and eager.  Why do I find myself so sad?  I think it's because she's moving on to High School.  I'm realizing that she has completed 8 years of compulsory education.  She'll only be at home for a few more years before she moves out and starts her own adventures.   It's a sobering realization.

It seems like only yesterday that she was standing at the bus stop with her brothers.  She was three years old, and wearing a purple sweat suit with a purple tutu and sneakers.  She, Philip, Kyran, and Christina were running around the bus stop, chasing each other around and yelling.  When all of their older brothers and sisters got on the bus and they had to stay behind, all of them started crying.  They were inconsolable that their siblings were going off on an adventure and leaving them behind.

I kind of hate to admit it, but that's how I've been feeling this week. 

This stage in our lives kind of stinks, you know?

East Coast Earthquake

Hard to believe, but we had a small earthquake here yesterday.  You'd think from all of the press coverage that buildings had collapsed and thousands have been killed.

There has been damage.  The National Park Service found a crack in the Washington Monument.  I've been watching the news on and off for the last 24 hours from the Washington, DC stations, and I have heard nothing about the monument leaning or being tilted.  I saw the live feed out of Washington at lunchtime, and it doesn't look as if it's tilted.  I remember looking at plans from the monument several years ago, and there is a lot of monument underneath the ground.  In order for that monument to tilt, I believe we would have had to have a stronger earthquake.

There was major damage to St. Patricks Cathedral in Baltimore, as well as to the National Cathedral in Washington.  Both are closed until furthur notice while structural engineers take a closer look at the buildings.

Where was I during the earthquake?  I was walking into the church with the kids.  I heard the building and ground rattling as we walked up to the door, but there were large trucks driving by the church at that time.  My initial thought was "Good heavens, those are big trucks.  What kind of a load are they carrying?"  We walked into the church and heard the sounds of the preschool kids screaming, and saw all of our pastors and office staff standing in the doorways in the offices. 

My middle son, who is not lacking in self-confidence, announced as he walked into the church office: "The ground trembles at my arrival!"  

In passing, I would like to note that the cats were going absolutely nuts yesterday.  They were throwing themselves around the house, running into walls, and tearing up and down the hallway.  I talked to some friends last night at church, and I heard the same thing over and over again.  Whether people owned a dog or a cat, the animals were going nuts in the hours leading up to the earthquake.  Interestingly enough, our cats have gone nuts several times since then.  The kids have a screen on the computer hooked to the National Geologic Website, and when the cats start bouncing off the walls again, we'll check their online seismograph and find out that, sure enough, we've had another aftershock.  Some of them have been too small for us to feel, but the cats have definitely felt them.

Truly, I enjoyed the earthquake.  It's a better ride than anything I've been on at HesheyPark. 

I am so glad that I don't live on the West Coast, where these things happen on a regular basis.
And I am so thankful that no one was hurt or injured. 

Be careful out there!

Eagle Scout Ceremony

Our oldest son had his Eagle Scout Ceremony on Saturday afternoon. 

His Eagle Project was to build a set of risers (or steps) onto the existing stage in the fellowship hall of our church.

His original Eagle Project had been approved by the district, but when he went through the county permit office, the project was denied, and he had to start again, from scratch.  At the time of the denial, he was 17 years old.  He had less than a year left to find a project, get it approved and carry it out.

I have to say, I have never seen him so motivated.  He found a new project and had it approved by the end of April.  It passed through the county permit office in May, and he began fundraising in June.

He carried his Eagle Scout project out on the third weekend in August - hey wait- that was the exact same weekend that we held his Eagle Scout Ceremony!

And then, he had to wade through the write-up.   His birthday is in January, and he didn't finish the write-up until December. 

He had his scoutmaster conference a week before his 18th birthday, and turned his paperwork in three days before his birthday.  Our advancement chair turned the paperwork in the very next day.  Good thing, too.  As he was leaving the Council office, it started to snow.  The area roads were shut down and schools were closed for the next two days!

His ceremony was wonderful.  All of his living grandparents were there.  His Eagle Advisor was there.  His co-workers from the Boy Scout Camp where he works during the summer were there.  And we all had a great time, talking, laughing, and reminiscing.

So much work on his part.  So many things went wrong, and yet, it all came together in the end.  Preserverance saw him through the project.  Like the rest of life, the race is not always won by the fastest, but by the one who sticks through, until the very end.

Congratulations, son.  I am very proud of you!

A Word from the Cat

Hello... my name is Tiger, and I am one of two resident cats in this house.

The computer is on, and everyone is cleaning up my latest masterful creation in the basement, so I have taken matters into my own paws, if you will, to give my story.

I have lived with this family for nine years now.  I was a little kitten when I saw a little girl with a bright green pack walking down the street to the big yellow caterpillar.  I chased her backpack straps,  and I caught them!

She got into the big yellow caterpillar, and I followed her "Mom" back to her house.  They had a nice porch with a big chair and cushion on it, so I made myself at home.  My Mom had lived in the woods by the place where the big yellow caterpillar came.  I lived there with my brothers and sisters.  Mom had been hit by a car the night before, and we were all out looking for a safe place to live and get food and water.

Eventually, "Mom" brought out food and water for me.  She let me into the house.  She put pictures of me up all over the neighborhood.  I was taken to an office where I was wrapped up in a towel, and had a couple of sharp sticks poked at me. 

But, through it all, I loved that little girl with the bright green backpack with the long dangly straps.   I'll call her Missy.

Missy has grown up now.   She no longer carries a bright green backpack, and the straps no longer dangle on the ground when she walks.  I heard that she was in something called "Kindergarten" when I adopted her, and now she is going into something called "High School".

I've taught Missy well over the years.  I've taught her to pet me when I meow.  I used to sleep at the end of her bed, but now - her feet keep hitting me in the middle of the night.  I try to lick her toes to keep her from hitting me, but does she move her feet?  No!  She kicks me!  I've taught her not to leave the lid on her fish tank open, and last night, I reminded her why she should not leave a ball of yarn down on the floor.

Recently, my family brought home another cat.  Her name is Luna.  Luna thought that she could have possession of Missy's feet, too.  She was wrong.  Luna and I have been having battles over posession of Missy's feet at 2 in the morning.  I win the battles, and possession of Missy's feet.  Unfortunately, Missy wakes up when we fight, and throws us both out of her room and closes the door so we can't get back in.  It's not fair!  I win those fights fair and square, and what reward to I get?  I get tossed out into the cold, dark hallway in the middle of the night!

Picture, Copyright 2011 BLW

And so, last night, Luna and I declared a truce.  After we were tossed out of Missy's room, we went downstairs and found the yarn basket.  Need I say more? 

I must go now.  I hear Missy coming back upstairs.

Until next time,
Tiger


 This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all! 

Coming Events: Eagle Scout Ceremony

Our oldest son earned his Eagle Scout Rank this past spring.  He received the notification from the National Office that he was an official Boy Scout about a month before he graduated from high school.  A week after he graduated, he went off for his summer job at a Boy Scout Camp.  Between his camp schedule and his work schedule, this weekend was dubbed to be the weekend of the Eagle Scout.

I have been dilligently preparing for this event all summer.  I sent out the letters to our Congressmen, Senators, and President months ago. As the letters have been coming in, I've placed them inside of the plastic page protecting sleeves and put them into a notebook.

His Cub Scout album was finished a couple of years ago, and that will be going with us. 

All of the fun badges that he's earned over his 12 years of Boy Scouting are on his badge blanket, and that is also going to the ceremony.  His Arrow of Light has been tracked down, and we will be taking it with us to the ceremony.

I slapped together a display board of his Eagle Scout project, and I submitted a press release to our local newspaper.

I found this awesome book at the scout store a month back.  It's a fabulous handbook that lists all of the segments of an Eagle Scout ceremony, and gives the scout the opportunity to choose which type of material he would like to have read for each segment of the ceremony.  We spent a couple of nights during our vacation choosing what he wanted to have in each segment of the ceremony.  Somehow, he managed to talk his sister into participating in the flag ceremony- with her in her Girl Scout Uniform.  How he did that is a mystery to me, but I am so thankful that he managed to talk her into doing this.  Talk about memorable!

What is proving to be the hardest for me is getting the food planned out. 

I will be ordering a cake from the grocery store tomorrow.
We're going to have a veggie tray, a fruit tray, and chips and crackers. 
Water Bottles in a tub, and a 5 gallon thermos full of lemonade.

I feel as if we should have more, but I am at a loss as to what else we should put out. 
I'm open to any and all suggestions......


This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all!  

A Week Away

We just spent an amazing week on Maryland's Eastern Shore for our family vacation.  One fabulous and amazing week with no electronics, and no television.  We stayed in a place where, horror of horrors - there was no cell phone reception!  The kids couldn't even text their friends!

Very sadly, I realized that this is the last year that we have as a family for vacation before everything changes.  My oldest child is headed off to college in a little under two weeks.  He'll be living on campus, beginning his own life. 

Anyway, we stayed on the Western Side of the Eastern Shore in a wonderful little house on the water.  We saw Osprey.  We saw Bald Eagles.  We kayaked every night.  We rode bicycles.  We went crabbing.  We watched the most beautiful sunsets every night.  And we did crossword puzzles,  played games, and talked.

We did spend one day down at Assateague Island.  (Where the wild ponies live.)  We were on the beach side of the island, playing in the water.  We looked up on the shore and saw a line of four wild horses come over the dune.  They walked in a line through the beach towels, giving each and every one a good sniff.  The family just in front of us had left a bag of apples on their towel.  The lead pony grabbed the bag, and twirled it around in his mouth until the apples fell out- onto MY beach towel.  They then stood around, eating the apples.  My daughter and I had left a change of clothes in a grocery bag on my towel.  Since the ponies had hit pay dirt with another grocery bag, they then nosed through our bag full of clothes.  Finding nothing, they moved on to the next beach towel. 

When we got back up to my beach towel, we found an interesting situation.  Our unmentionables had been spread out, but someone had thoughtfully scooped them back into our grocery bag for us.  Thank you mysterious, thoughtful person!  However, my beach towel was covered in horsespit, apple slime, and sand that was thouroughly ground into the wet parts of the apple slime/spit combination.  Easily one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen.  I've washed that towel a couple of times now, but I think it just may be a lost cause.

Now THAT is a priceless vacation memory!

A bald eagle hangs out on top of a telephone pole, looking for his lunch.

A look down our dock and into the river leading to the Chesapeake Bay.

Girl Scouts

My daughter has been a Girl Scout since she started first grade.  Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes.. she's been there.  Overnight events at the museums, up all night events at the Mall, mucking out horse stalls, and helping younger kids at Day Camp, she's been a part of everything.

Last night marked a major milestone in her Girl Scouting career.  She earned her Silver Award.

The Silver Award is not just handed out to anyone.  It is an earned award.  A project which benefits the community is conceived.  Hours of leadership and service must be earned.  40 hours must be spent on the project itself.  The write up must be sent to council, and then council decides whether or not the project will receive the Silver Award.  Many times, the paperwork is sent back to the girl for revisions and/or corrections.  Once the girl receives the letter telling her she has received the award she (or her leader) must take the award in to council in order to purchase the award.  They won't give the award out unless if the girl has her letter.

Her troop decided they were going to make blankets for Project Linus. 

If you are not familiar with Linus, they are an organization that makes blankets to give to children who are in need of comfort, either because of traumatic injury, illness, or otherwise in need.  The blankets are made by volunteers throughout the country. 

Our girls decided to work with the local chapter of Linus.  We received permission from council to hold a lemonade stand fundraiser to raise money to purchase the fleece for blankets. We raised $45.  The girls were very disappointed, as we thought that we would only be able to make 4 or 5 blankets with that money.

And then, the strangest thing happened.  We posted on facebook that we needed fleece for Linus.  Fleece came out of the woodwork!  People called and donated fleece.  Our local chapter of Linus had just received a huge fleece donation that they gave to us.  The church office would call and tell me to "Come and pick up this load of fleece before we trip over it!".  I would come home from running errands and find piles of fleece, unmarked, sitting on my front stoop.

By the time all was said and done, we had 50 blankets.  These were not the small, infant size blankets.  These were full size blankets that would easily cover a teenager, with some room to spare. 

But then, we sat down and realized that we had not spent the money that we raised for purchasing fleece.  And so, we went out and bought more fleece.

Another 20 blankets were made. 

In total, we made and donated 75 blankets for Project Linus.

Absolutely amazing.

http://www.projectlinus.org/index.html

Making Jelly

I spent yesterday making several batches of jelly. I love making jelly. There is nothing that compares to the taste of a home-made batch of jelly. And when you open one of those jars up over the winter, oh the taste of that jelly beats anything you can buy at the store by a mile.

I've been making jelly for several years now. I thought it was overwhelming when I first heard about it, but it's actually one of the easist preservation methods out there. You don't have to pressure can, and if you have a deep enough pot (or short enough jars) you can do this at home. I bought a canning rack at Wal-Mart for a few bucks a couple of years back, and I put this into my deep soup pot. It's a flat metal disc that sits on the bottom of the pan and keeps the jars from sitting directly on the heat.

You do need fresh fruit. Nothing moldy, or even questionable.  Think of it as a beauty contest!  Only the finest looking fruits go in!  I like to go pick our own at one of the pick-your own farms in our area. You need 4-5 cups of berries per batch, and it's more cost effective to pick it yourself and pay the bulk price. You'll also need a box of pectin. I use Sure-Jell- it's what our grocery store carries. The key to remember with jelly is to follow the directions in your pectin to the letter. I can not stress that enough! You must follow the directions to the letter! Jelly making and canning food for long term storage is not the time to experiment with a recipe! The recipes have been developed to inhibit the growth of molds and other frightening organisms that live in preserved food. Changing up the recipe could also endanger the lives of those you love. (Now, isn't that a cheery thought?)

Having said that, let's move on to the fun part!

Assemble the jars.  I use any jelly jar I have in the house!  The lids have to be new every year.  You can not re-use the lids!  (The lids are in the boxes)  You CAN reuse the bands- the hollow circular lid parts.

The directions say to crush the berries by hand with a potato masher.  I used to do that, but I've found that the blender does just as good a job.  It still leaves me with fruit chunks, but they are smaller and more evenly sliced.

Cooking the jelly.  Nothing compares to the taste of cooked jelly!  This is where I used to make my big mistakes when I first started jelly making.  I'd dump all of the sugar and pectin in and then bring it to a boil.  It would never jell, and would remain runny.  THIS is where you have to read the directions!  A portion of the sugar, and the box of pectin is added at the start.  The rest of the sugar is added once the jelly comes to a full boil.  Then, you bring the mixture to a full, rolling boil again.  Stir constantly! Once you can no longer stir down the boil, boil the mixture for exactly one minute, and then remove from the heat.  (Again, check your pectin and follow the manufacturer's instructions on the length of boiling time.)  I always use Sure-Jell, and that is the boil time for that particular brand.

The jelly has been put into jars.  I wipe the jelly off the rims, put the lids on, and then screw on the bands.  Since that big jar on the left isn't completely full, that one isn't going to be canned.  I'm going to put that in the refrigerator for us to eat tonight!

Everybody into the hot tub! This is called the "Water Bath Canning Method".   Once the jars go in, one inch of water must cover the tops of the jars in order to ensure a good seal.  The jars hang out in the water for a while.  Again, check the directions for the length of time they stay in the hot tub.  Times vary according to the fruit you are using.

Finished jelly!  About an hour from start to finish..  After the jars have cooled, check the seals on the lids.  Press down on the center of the lid.  If the lid bounces back, or pops, the seal is not complete.  You will have to refrigerate those jars and eat them first.  Make sure you label your jars with the item and the date.  I always write on the lids- it's a visual cue to myself to let me know that I've already used the lids and can't use them for canning again.  I store leftovers in mason jars in the fridge, and put an old (clean) lid on the top.  I feel better putting leftovers into a mason jar than into a plastic container.

Course Registration Day

I am definitely feeling a little blue and very nostalgic this morning. Our oldest child is at college this morning. It is their orientation experience. The kids were checked in last night at 5. The parents were "shooed" away, and the kids spent the night on campus, getting to know the University a little bit better and meeting other kids who will be majoring in the same field as them. I don't think there are that many kids double majoring in Math and Physics, but they did have a pretty full house when I left last night. I think the commonality there was the Math major. Anyway, the parents are invited to come back on campus this morning at 9, when we will get our own orientation. I'm wondering if they will have a workshop for us entitled "What to do when one of the younger siblings needs help with their math homework". It doesn't seem all that long ago that we were going off to our college orientation. I went to Virginia Tech. My Dad and I went down the night before and stayed at one of the hotels just off campus. We went in early the next morning, and he sat with me through all of the presentations, the course selection, the meetings with the advisors, and a campus tour. I remember him choking up as he said "I really envy you! This will be one of the best experiences of your life. You will always look back on your college years as some of the most meaningful, best, and carefree times of your life. Much of your adult life will be shaped here over the next 4 or 5 years." Personally, I was more excited about moving out of the house and being on my own than I was about the endless opportunities that lay ahead of me. Over the next five years, I suffered wonderful failures. Spectacular dissapointments. I learned much about myself, who I am, and what I truly believe to be important in my life. I found that money isn't everything, and pursuing what you are passionate about is much more important than earning a high salary at a job that you hate. I made life-long friends that I still keep in contact with. No matter where we are, when we get together the years melt away and I could swear we are all 21 again, with our entire lives and a future of possibilities laid out ahead of us. I even met my husband. Honestly, I met him the first semester we were there. And then, I was introduced to him again a year later. We finally met up and became friends our 4th year in college, when we were both singing in the choir. We started dating just months before graduation in our 5th year. Here we are now, 23 years later. I look at my son, and I see the endless world of possibilities laid out ahead of him. I see the lifelong friendships that he will make. I know that he will suffer specatcular failures, and learn more from those than he does from his successes. I also know that, more than anything else, he is looking forward to moving out of the house and being on his own. To be honest, I'm kind of looking forward to him moving out of the house, too.

We're Really Roughing It

My son and husband are celebrating Senior Week by camping and hiking in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.  I received this picture in a text message yesterday, along with the caption "We're really roughing it!"

Senior week presents a special challenge for parents.  I live in the Mid-Atlantic, and the kids here head to the beach for the week after graduation.  Ocean City is the biggest destination. Thousands of eighteen year olds descend upon the beach every year, full of hormones, youthful energy, and a lack of parental supervision.  Every year, stories filter back of the horrible things that have happened to the kids.  Rapes, pregnancies, and alcohol poisoning dominate the stories.  Kids come back with stitches, broken bones, and STD's caused by bad decisions made under the influence of friends, alchohol, or drugs.

Years ago, when I graduated from high school, we were living in Virginia.  I wanted to go to Virginia Beach with my friends, but my father refused to let me go.  Instead, he offered to take me anywhere I wanted to go in the lower 48 United States.  With no hesitation, I told him I wanted to go to California.  Two days after graduation, he and I were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in a rented convertible.

Now, here we are, twenty-seven years after my high school graduation.  I remember my Dad telling me when I was arguing about going to the beach: "I remember what I was like at eighteen.  There is no way on God's green earth that you are going by yourself to the beach for a week."  I look at son #1 with Dad's voice echoing in my ears.  Once again, I realize that he was right.

So, we offered our son a trip.  Anywhere in the lower 48 United States.   Just him and his Dad.  He decided he wanted to go camping and hiking on the back country trails of the Smoky Mountains.

We are not the only nut cases who have taken this stance.  I know of another family that pulled their younger children out of school for a week and are currently in Disney World.  I know of another family taking both children- 1 who just graduated High School and 1 who just graduated College - to New Zeland for two weeks.  Another family I know is headed out on a cruise next week as soon as school lets out.  The daughter is currently picking up tons of overtime at work, covering for all of the kids who are currently "Down the Ocean".

As I think through the last 18 years, midnight feedings, broken bones, homework, chores, sports practices and games, cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night, refereeing fights, and trying to figure out where to get poster board at 11:00 at night, it dawns on me:  Those were the years when we were really roughing it.

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all! 

Last Day of School for Seniors

My oldest son is a Senior in High School.  Yesterday was their last day of school.  I greeted him with a sign that said "Happy last day of compulsory K-12 school!" 

We talked at length about his last day of school.  The Seniors had plans to forma Conga Line at 2:15, but when the rumor hit the school administration, the kids were reminded that they could still serve detention on this, their last day of school.  He talked about his teachers, who have worked so hard and pushed him to do more and learn more than he thought possible.

These past two weeks have been a week of lasts:  The last orchestra concert.  The last track and field meet.  The last banquet.  The last... well, you get the idea.  It's been a time of reflecting back on everything that was, and has been.  It's been fun, remembering back to his first day of Kindergarten, laughing over the battles he had with his first grade teacher over the creation of fossils, the second grade teacher who yelled at him about reading ahead of her in the textbook.  We also reminisced about that fabulous Mrs. G. who convinced him that he could do more than he thought he could.  Mrs. M. who taught him Math for three years in elementary school, pushing him 2 levels above grade level by the time he was finished.  For the first time, he was challenged in Math, and thrived beyond all of our expecations.

He has taken as many AP classes as he could for his entire high school career, for a total of 10 AP classes.  He has continued to play his Viola, and he recently ran in his first and only Regional Track Meet.  He didn't qualify for States, but he did set a personal best at that meet.  He was the only distance athlete to do that, and he was very, very content with that result.

But, instead of looking backward at what our kids have come through, I'd like to look forward for a while.  These are kids that we, as a group of parents, have nurtured together over the years.  We've chaperoned them on field trips, had them sleep over in our houses, and gotten after them when we've seen them out and about without their parents and their behavior is... well... not what it should be.  I feel like all of these kids are mine, too!

I got my wish at our final orchestra concert this week.  Our band director, Miss J., read off a list of the Seniors.  Each student was asked to state plans for the future, major, etc.  I loved hearing the list of hopes and dreams.

The last three students were getting ready to approach the microphone, and I was feeling the bittersweet nature of the moment.

The first kid approached the microphone:  "I have earned a free ride through the Coast Guard Academy, where I am going to major in saving lives!"

The second student: "I am going to U**, where I will be majoring in Pre-Med, and Minoring in Awesome!"

The third student:  "I am going to U**, where I will be double majoring in Business Administration and Glory!!"

The past was fun, but I am looking forward to the stories of glory that we'll be hearing in the future.

Congratulations to the Class of 2011!

Just Much Too Soon

A young man in my daughter's 8th grade class has passed away.  He died of Leukemia.  He was 13 years old.  This boy fought off this hideous disease for 18 months.  He missed almost all of his 7th grade year of school, instead spending it in various hospital beds in the area hospitals, fighting for his life.  This time last year, he was declared to be in remission.  When school began in September, he was present in the classrooms.  He was in my daughter's homeroom, and in many of her classes. 

Funny and happy go lucky before his diagnosis, he returned to school with a zest for life.  Happy beyond words to be back in school.  He wasn't allowed to return to playing football, but he attended the games and cheered on his team.  He teased the girls, joked with the boys, and was considered by all a joy to be around.

Then came the day in the middle of October when he did not come to school.  Whispers ran through the school that he was sick again.  The kids asked the teachers what was going on, but the teachers were just as clueless as the students.  By the end of the day, the school received the words that they had been dreading to hear: The cancer was back, and it was very aggresive. 

Tears were shed, but everyone was convinced that he would beat it this time, too.  Packages of cards and letters were delivered from the school once a week, as the kids sent him games, books, and notes about the latest goings on in the classrooms.

Earlier this week, we received word that he lost his valiant battle. 

The reaction among the kids has been difficult to keep track of.  All of them are heartbroken.  All of them are sad beyond words.  Grief has weird ways of manifesting itself.

I know as a parent, I am heartbroken beyond words.  My heart breaks for his parents.  How awful it is to watch your child struggle for life day after day... think he has won the battle, and then lose the battle at the age of 13. 

As the mother of one of his class mates and friends, I am struggling.  We've spent a lot of time talking about what a great kid he was and how many lives he's touched in his 13 years of life.  I believe that his life will have a significant impact on the lives of his friends for the rest of their lives.  But, how do I answer the "Why?"  questions:  Why did he have to die?  Why did he get cancer and nobody else has it?  Can I get cancer and die too? Why didn't the drugs work for him? 

I've done my best to muddle through the answers, finally ending with "Sometimes, life just isn't fair.  Bad things happen, and we don't know why." 

For me, my only answer has been to hug the kids - often and long.  And tell them every chance I get how much I love them.

We love you, Cam.  You will be missed.

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all! 

Trapped in the Wal-Mart

Seriously, I was trapped in the Wal-Mart for a couple of hours yesterday.  I had just dropped by the church and thought I would run inside to pick up a thank you card for one of the kids' coaches.  That was my big mistake of the day.

Just about the same time I pulled into the parking lot, the back-hoe that was digging in the parking lot of the bank hit a gas main.  The driver of the back hoe hit the ground running, fearful of a gas explosion.  Unfortunately, he forgot to turn the engine of his machine off.  Since the gas main was leaking, no one was allowed close to the back hoe to turn it off.  They had to wait for the fire department, in full protective gear to show. 

The police officers and construction workers onsite were shuffling all of the shoppers out of the lots and into the Wal-Mart (which was deemed to be safer) while they were waiting for the fire department.  Needless to say, traffic came to a screeching halt while ALL of the roads were closed down. 

I was enjoying watching people whiz around the Wal-Mart lot, looking for a way around traffic when I was told I had to go inside of the store where it was "safer".

I'm no genius, but somehow, I don't think that cruising around the Wal-Mart for an unknown period of time, armed with a credit card is a good idea. 

I live in a fairly small town, so I actually had a pretty nice time cruising around the Wal-Mart.  I ran into my daughter's retired 5th grade teacher and her father.  I ran into my aerobics teacher.  I ran into some friends I hadn't seen in a couple of months, and I found a couple of summer employees who are home from college for the summer, that had been in Boy Scouts with my boys.  The Subway did a lot of business as we all bought our breakfast, and pulled the tables into one great big table and had a huge gab-fest.  People would get up and move around the tables periodically as they finished one conversation and began another.  Dates for lunch were set, plans for barbecues were made, and pictures were proudly displayed.  It was probably the best, most productive, and fun two hours I've spent in quite some time!

Eventually, the fire department sounded the all clear, and opened traffic on the main roads again.

I picked up the Thank You card for the coaches and headed out on my way.

I'm not certain, but I think being trapped in the Wal-Mart for two hours, forcing me to slow down and talk with friends old and new was probably the best mistake I have ever made.  I need to make more mistakes like that!

When the Power Goes Out

I was reading a very disturbing article in the paper this weekend.   We had a very heavy snowstorm last week, and branches came down over the power lines, knocking out power to several thousand people.

The person who was being lauded in the article for his "resourcfulness" was cooking indoors on a kerosene stove.  A kerosene camp stove, with the cylinder of kerosene attached to the side.

Let me repeat that:  cooking indoors on a kerosene stove.

Any kind of combustion produces carbon monoxide.  Kerosene, propane, natural gas, wood stoves.  That is why they all call for ventilation.  Wood stoves have a chimney that directs toxic fumes out of the house. 

Kerosene, propane, and natural gas should be used outdoors unless if your house is properly vented for an appliance that uses one of these fuels.  Every year, we hear of people who have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.  Some of these people were running a generator inside the house.  Some turned the natural gas on the stove on high to heat the house because their electricity went out.  Some are heating indoors with an enclosed kerosene heater.  Even cooking indoors can cause a build up of toxic gases.

So, what should you do?  Shovel off your outdoor grill and cook outside.  Put your kerosene stove out on the picnic table and cook.  Put your generator outside of the house.  Attach a chain and lock it to something sturdy, but keep it outside!!

If your electricity does go out and your house is getting cold, here are a few things to remember:
1) Find one room for your family to hunker down in.  Seal the exits to the room.  Hang blankets over the door, but know that this room is going to be your home base for a while.   Bring in your blankets, your extra clothes, games, knitting projects, whatever.  The body heat of several collective people will warm the room some.

2) Fireplaces suck heat right out of a house. 

3) The electronic ignition on pellet stoves and natural gas stoves will not work without electricity.  Many models have a battery back up.  If you have extra batteries for that stove, pat yourself on the back!

4) Wood stoves will put out a really hot heat.  Make certain you open the damper before you build your fire.  Hopefully, you have used your woodstove before the power goes out, so you know how to regulate the damper and vents in order the keep the smoke drawing up the chimney and get the most heat possible out of your wood.

5) If you are on a well, and you don't have a battery back up, know that you can melt snow to provide water.  You can use this water to drink, to cook with, to brush your teeth, and to flush your toilets.  Trust me, you want to flush those toilets. 

6) Unplug all of your major appliances as long as the power is out, especially your electronics.  The power surge from the lines suddenly coming back on can fry sensitive electronics.  Also, the power drain when the electric company finally gets your power back on and it is suddenly powering ALL of the major appliances in the neighborhood can cause the electricity to go back down again....

Stay safe and warm during these cold days!


This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Thrifty Living" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all!